I own a Cannondale Tesoro Neo X Speed. It is big and heavy, sort of a cross between a commuter bike and a mountain bike, and has a fairly aggressive fit. It is a true Class 3 bike in the US market, not sure about Canada, and thus is very fast. The Bosch Performance Speed drive unit has way more power than I need. I converted it to a dual battery setup for long range. My build thread is here.
I have also built a few Tesoro X1's, X2's and X3's in the shop. They are designed and built very well, as you would expect from a major brand such as Cannondale. The lower cost bikes use hub drives. If you can get any of these Tesoros on closeout, they are a great value. I paid $2,149 for my Neo X Speed via retail. That's in the same price range as an
Aventon or
Velotric. The headlight alone (Supernova M99 Pro Mini) is $300 by itself.
The Tesoro is a great bike, but I wanted something lighter and easier to transport, so I just bought a Pinarello Nytro E5 Allroad. It's similar to the Skitch, but uses the TQ-HPR50 lightweight mid-drive. I got it below cost because I work at a dealer, but they are stopping sales of this bike in the US and are closing them out. I don't know what's happening in Canada. It's worth a phone call to find out if they'll offer you a deal. The Allroad is based on the carbon Grevil E5 gravel frame, with all the Pinarello niceties like full internal cable and wire routing, and those cool flip-out through axles. The TQ drive unit has an open electronic architecture, so it will send data to ANT+ computers, and supports Shimano Di2 electronic shifting with an adapter.
We don't sell
Specialized, nor have I owned a Specialized bike, so no help for me there. For something more casual, like a
gulf of mexico graphic tee, I can comment generally, but not on Specialized bikes from experience. I'm told that there's a Specialized fanboy here named Stefan that owns two Vados. Look him up.
Good luck.
