Jan Hermanson
Member
For those few that still ride the good old Turbo's I thought I'd share my experiences with my 2016 Turbo S up 'til now. I bought the bike 1 yr and 11 months ago (important as you will find below) and live in Stockholm, Sweden. I am using my Turbo S as my commuter vehicle - 30 km total distance per day. On average I bike 3-4 days per week as I frequently travel to other places for work. All year round. I have also taken off for longer multi-day rides (+200 km) during the summer holidays. The bike is a true workhorse and the 500W engine and 691 kwh battery has worked like a charm. All components, like the little display thing and lights, have never caused any problems unlike what has been reported by others. Winter wear is tough on bikes up here in the north which means that I have changed chain and cassette twice during this period and brake pads go like butter. I have not made much mods to the original setup, except replacing the front fender with a generic back fender to take away some spray, an installment of a saddle shock damper and adding a new 12mm rear axle from the Robert Axle Project to fit a trailer.
But this early spring I encountered my first serious problem with the bike(!). The battery reported a discharge error and the engine cut out a couple of times when riding home. Given the -5 celsius temp and snow I thought this could well explain the bad behavior. Nevertheless, I took the bike to my local shop and they decided to replace the engine (!). As my problem occurred before the magic 2 yr mark it was all free of charge. I did not protest, but argued that it might be a battery problem rather. One week later I got the bike back and made two more commute rides when the battery reported same error again and then decided to die. Back to the shop, new battery installed, again free of charge. So 1 yr and almost 11 months since I purchased this steel horse I have now essentially received a new bike. I sense that I have had more luck than I deserve.
On a more general note - this is of course not in favor for the Specialized Brand and their relatively high priced products. A bike at this price level should not need replacements of key components within the guarantee period. But it is a proof that large brands often underestimate the challenges to go into a new sector, in this case e-bikes. Specialized ebikes (at least the Turbo or rather the ebike specific components on the Turbo) are not necessarily the high quality products you may think. Reading all threads I feel I am extremely lucky to have had so little problems during my ownership and when problems arouse, Specialized very expediently solved those. I have absolutely no complaints on the service. And I will continue to ride this beast as I have not seen any ebike yet that have a significantly better performance or feel when riding (not that I have tested many either). Specialized did not make much profit on my bike, but they sure have a happy rider. And I will continue to be so, fingers crossed, for another couple of years, if things work as they have until now. Swoosh!
But this early spring I encountered my first serious problem with the bike(!). The battery reported a discharge error and the engine cut out a couple of times when riding home. Given the -5 celsius temp and snow I thought this could well explain the bad behavior. Nevertheless, I took the bike to my local shop and they decided to replace the engine (!). As my problem occurred before the magic 2 yr mark it was all free of charge. I did not protest, but argued that it might be a battery problem rather. One week later I got the bike back and made two more commute rides when the battery reported same error again and then decided to die. Back to the shop, new battery installed, again free of charge. So 1 yr and almost 11 months since I purchased this steel horse I have now essentially received a new bike. I sense that I have had more luck than I deserve.
On a more general note - this is of course not in favor for the Specialized Brand and their relatively high priced products. A bike at this price level should not need replacements of key components within the guarantee period. But it is a proof that large brands often underestimate the challenges to go into a new sector, in this case e-bikes. Specialized ebikes (at least the Turbo or rather the ebike specific components on the Turbo) are not necessarily the high quality products you may think. Reading all threads I feel I am extremely lucky to have had so little problems during my ownership and when problems arouse, Specialized very expediently solved those. I have absolutely no complaints on the service. And I will continue to ride this beast as I have not seen any ebike yet that have a significantly better performance or feel when riding (not that I have tested many either). Specialized did not make much profit on my bike, but they sure have a happy rider. And I will continue to be so, fingers crossed, for another couple of years, if things work as they have until now. Swoosh!
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