I bought a Turbo Tero X 6.0, AMA

[Stefan Mikes]

Hi Ben, great post, i've been close to settling on the Tero X 6.0. Since it's so pricey I'm wavering a bit. I'm wondering a few things:

1. What kind of riding do you generally do, meaning road vs off-road?
2. I noticed you got new tires, did that make a nice difference when you are road riding?
3. Do you find you can comfortable to do like a 30 mile "fast" ride on it on the road?
4. Have you ridden it on a relatively non-technical single track and how did it do?

Probably obvious that i'm debating if it can really be a "do-everything" bike for me. If i'm being real with myself, I will probably ride it 60% on roads, 40% on fire roads/gravel/single tracks etc with my mountain biking brother.

I'm very much interested with @Ben J answers myself! (Especially as Ben is a self-aware rider indeed!)

Here, my own impressions of the demo Tero X 4.0 ride. I was positively surprised with the less expensive model but again the terrain was not hard at all.

2023 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos

I was hoping to go to the motorcycle racing at Knockhill today but with winds over 30mph I decided to give it a miss, I could have gone in the car but I preferred to get the bike out as the winds weren't as gusty at home! I was hoping to head down the Clyde Valley on my last ride but the weather...

forums.electricbikereview.com

Were I to buy a Tero X myself, I would probably ride it for the first few months without any modifications. For instance, I liked the stock tyres very much.

 

[Ben J]

1. What kind of riding do you generally do, meaning road vs off-road?
2. I noticed you got new tires, did that make a nice difference when you are road riding?
3. Do you find you can comfortable to do like a 30 mile "fast" ride on it on the road?
4. Have you ridden it on a relatively non-technical single track and how did it do?

Probably obvious that i'm debating if it can really be a "do-everything" bike for me. If i'm being real with myself, I will probably ride it 60% on roads, 40% on fire roads/gravel/single tracks etc with my mountain biking brother.

1. I ride a mix of streets, paved (but often bumpy) paths, hard packed gravel, loose gravel, and dirt. Overall my mix is probably 25% road, <10% loose/chunky gravel, and the rest is a mix of paved trails of various quality and packed gravel.
2. There's noticeably less rolling resistance on paved surfaces (at the same air pressure) on the Johnny Watts. Also less noise/vibration. The stock tires also throw stones like crazy in the pea-to-1/2" size range which the Johnny Watts do not. It's more annoying than you'd think because of fenders.
3. For me, most of the comfort was from changing the saddle (I should make a post on how much I like my sqlab saddle!) and the grips (I do gripe about the stock grips above) and also adding innerbarends (sqlab again, lots of posts mention them on here). I find road riding very comfortable. I usually ride in higher assist levels on the road and go fast (20mph+) to get where I'm planning to ride. If you're worried about range, I rarely get the battery below 50%. I used 54% yesterday in 28.5 miles/1100' elevation gain in mostly eco (half gravel, half paved). I usually go much lower assist (10% or off when I'm on the interesting part of the trail) but I was intentionally going fast (16.5MPH avg) because I was dressed too warm and needed the airflow.
4. Sadly, the MTB trails around here are not ebike friendly (if they tend to look the other way I wouldn't know because I'm too law-abiding). I've ridden off (and on) a lot more curbs than dirt features.

I'd probably shorten the fenders (see another thread about that idea in the forums) before going on serious singletrack rather than risk having the trail shorten them for me.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Thank you, Ben!

As for the saddle, I normally ride the Bridge Sport (the stock on the Tero X and several other Turbo e-bikes) and could not be happier That's a personal thing, though. Same with the grips. I am a big fan of Innerbarends but cannot fancy using them on a Tero X (yet). Your observations related to JW vs GC7 and pebbles are very interesting. Again, I'm a big fan of JWs. Not sure if I changed anything in the Tero X if I bought it. Early replacing components on a new e-bike has always been my defect but I think I changed my ways

Shortening the mudguards seems to be a good idea!

 

[Ben J]

Bridge Sport (the stock on the Tero X and several other Turbo e-bikes) and

It's not a bad saddle. It just so happens that I am fat and big boned (wide sitbones) so I like the flatter, wider SQLab saddle because it distributes the load more (still to the bones). Only downside is that it's got very little padding so it can be less comfortable if you aren't using any kind of chamois.

I am a big fan of Innerbarends but cannot fancy using them on a Tero X

Hand/wrist numbness has been the biggest range limiter for me. Switching to the GP1 grips helped, adding innerbarends for an alternate grip helped, and switching gloves (different padding arrangement) helped. Still not perfect, though. I think I have a tad too much reach (if I'm not focused on keeping them bent, my elbows always lock) but I haven't gotten a new stem yet.

Another thing in the category of "compromise by mixing features from extremes": The full width MTB style bars (750mm for the non-small frames vs something like 680mm for the Vado) are not that comfortable for distance riding. One reason I don't have a new stem is that I'm debating shortening the bars and admitting that I will not really take this bike on singletrack, and that would help with my reach issue.

 

[kencopen]

1. I ride a mix of streets, paved (but often bumpy) paths, hard packed gravel, loose gravel, and dirt. Overall my mix is probably 25% road, <10% loose/chunky gravel, and the rest is a mix of paved trails of various quality and packed gravel.
2. There's noticeably less rolling resistance on paved surfaces (at the same air pressure) on the Johnny Watts. Also less noise/vibration. The stock tires also throw stones like crazy in the pea-to-1/2" size range which the Johnny Watts do not. It's more annoying than you'd think because of fenders.
3. For me, most of the comfort was from changing the saddle (I should make a post on how much I like my sqlab saddle!) and the grips (I do gripe about the stock grips above) and also adding innerbarends (sqlab again, lots of posts mention them on here). I find road riding very comfortable. I usually ride in higher assist levels on the road and go fast (20mph+) to get where I'm planning to ride. If you're worried about range, I rarely get the battery below 50%. I used 54% yesterday in 28.5 miles/1100' elevation gain in mostly eco (half gravel, half paved). I usually go much lower assist (10% or off when I'm on the interesting part of the trail) but I was intentionally going fast (16.5MPH avg) because I was dressed too warm and needed the airflow.
4. Sadly, the MTB trails around here are not ebike friendly (if they tend to look the other way I wouldn't know because I'm too law-abiding). I've ridden off (and on) a lot more curbs than dirt features.

I'd probably shorten the fenders (see another thread about that idea in the forums) before going on serious singletrack rather than risk having the trail shorten them for me.

Thanks Ben for the thoughtful replies, this thread has really helped me. And @Stefan Mikes as well for your many thoughtful posts, I almost got a Turbo Vado SL based on your experiences! I rode one and really liked the ride on that too.

Anyway, I just drove up to my shop and bought the Tero X 6.0 today, took it right to some trails in Sonoma, CA for my first ride. I had an absolute blast. One thing I do think i'm going to do right off the bat is definitely shorten the fenders as you suggested. Might even take the front one off as it's not working well with my hitch rack.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Congratulations, Ken! Would love to hear about your riding experiences!

As for myself, I might need something more lightweight (when I am in the right financial position again). The reason being, I might be confronted with very tricky situations where I sometimes ride, such as a walkway over a creek made of a fallen tree

I shuddered when I saw that photo taken by a cycling mate of mine

An e-bike in the weight class of a Tero X is simply a no-go for me... I intend to demo ride a Levo SL, perhaps that would be the future for me? The older I get the more I am ready to sacrifice the speed and motor power in favour of bike light weight... Otherwise, Tero X is an extremely nice e-bike!

Ben, I hear ya regarding your hand numbness, reach, etc. I do understand. As for me, I even did not notice the wideness of the Tero X bars perhaps because I owned an e-MTB before and the bar width does not matter for me. (I admit I demo rode both Diverge EVO and Tero X off-road, and neither of the rides was really long!)

 

[Ben J]

I'd probably shorten the fenders (see another thread about that idea in the forums) before going on serious singletrack rather than risk having the trail shorten them for me.

I had an opportunity to test the fenders a few days ago. There was a big tree down across the trail I was on, and I snagged the plastic extension fender on the front wheel both times I lifted my bike over it. It snapped back with no problem. It's tougher than it looks!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@Ben J,
I thought to myself that if I'd ever consider buying yet another e-bike, that might be the Tero X 6.0. Please satisfy my curiosity:

• The Tero X comes in the "mullet" configuration, that is with its wheels of a different size. Did it ever feel weird to you? Can you notice any benefits of riding a mullet e-bike, or you just treat it as "it is as it just should be"?
• The SRAM shifter requires pushing either of the levers (unlike the Shimano shifter that allows pulling a lever to upshift). How easily have you got used to it?
• E-bike cassettes wear out quickly. Is the 12-speed SRAM cassette expensive? Did you have to replace it yet?
• The X 6.0 comes with a 200 mm front brake and a 180 mm rear one. In my experience, sudden braking with 203 mm rotors on a true MTB is so abrupt you can experience a crash. How do the Tero X brakes feel?
• How do Ground Control T7 tyres feel on the pavement? Loud or acceptable? Do you think they wear out quickly?
• How do you like the dropper seat-post? Does it allow getting as low as you can plant both feet on the ground if the seat has been totally dropped?
• How about the riding position? The 750 mm handlebars are really wide (I owned an e-MTB with 780 mm handlebars). Are the wide handlebars acceptable for you?
• Have you ever weighed your Tero X 6.0? The information on Specialized website (49 lb, 9.7 oz) does not agree with my feeling of the weight of that e-bike!

I'm sure you already answered some of these questions before but if you would be as kind as to summarize the answers here, I'd be grateful!

Yes, I rode a Tero X 4.0 for an hour but that ride was not representative for me. It was too a short time to think about everything...

 

[Ben J]

I'm sure you already answered some of these questions before but if you would be as kind as to summarize the answers here, I'd be grateful!

• I think the main think you'll notice is that the bike is very "pointy". It really wants to go where you turn it. It doesn't feel like a long bike unless you're fully stopped and trying to turn around. Compared to having a 29" in back, the 27.5" gives you another 5% in effective gearing, which is a pro or a con depending on your use case.
• In addition to being push-push, the shifter is also limited to one gear of downshift per click (you can't just give a long press and dump 3 gears at once). It takes a moment to get used to it whenever you switch back and forth, but honestly it's a bigger deal to go between a 12 speed and a 7 speed because of the step size. I also had to adjust the position of my shifter pretty carefully so everything was in reach but a normal grip position didn't bang or rub my thumb on the levers. There are a bunch of adjustments available.
• The cassette is doing fine and the chain is also going strong. If I get to the point where the cassette has to be replaced, I'll probably convert to SRAM Transmission because it seems like a good fit for the bike (and I'm curious).
• The Ground Control tires were a bit noisy on pavement and you could feel the vibration. I can't comment on wear because I put on the JW at 100 miles or so.
• I love the dropper post. I use it every time I stop or get on/off the bike. I drop it an inch or so to lower my CG sometimes. It started out very smooth and got a little sticky pretty fast and stayed that sticky since. It basically means if you push the lever it doesn't just drop, you also have to shift your weight slightly. I can put my feet flat on the ground without going all the way down. All the way down my feet are down and my knees are bent.
• I find the bars a bit wide, but of course they're easy to cut down. I'm holding off until I take the bike somewhere where long bars are an advantage to see if I want to keep them stock.
• I have not weighed it, but I've picked it up a lot (and carried it up/down stairs) and I think 50lbs is a reasonable estimate.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Thank you so much Ben for your insights! There were several things I didn't think of myself!

I wouldn't trim the bars myself. Wide bars are useful in rough terrain for quick steering. I even don't know whether Innerbarends would play their role with such wide handlebars!

The SRAM Transmission, what actually it is?

 

[Ben J]

The SRAM Transmission, what actually it is?

There's a whole thread about it: https://forums.electricbikereview.c...transmission-on-any-specialized-e-bike.53455/

tl;dr It's the next generation MTB derailleur that can shift smoothly under full load.

 

[niko83]

Hi Ben. Nicola from Italy. Here I find very few feedback concerning this model.
After some months, are you happy with tero x? Have you seen also other ebike first to buy specialized? I have seen cube 120 allroad, centrurion 2700i eq and Scott axis evo tour fs. Have you tried a hard single track? In your opinion, will be possible use it like all Mountain without fender and rear carrier?
Are you happy about motor specialized 2.2? I have tried bosch cx ( good), Panasonic gx ultimate ( excellent) and polini mx (very powerfull). Have you some comparison with these motor?

Sorry for all this questions.
Thank you

 

[Ben J]

Hi Ben. Nicola from Italy. Here I find very few feedback concerning this model.

I am still happy with the Tero X. It is exactly what I hoped it would be when I bought it.

I don't have the skills for hard single track. It is possible to remove the fenders, but the rear fender has an integrated light. To unplug the light from the bike requires opening up the motor. You would not want to do it every day (unless you modified that wire to add an inline connector). If you want to ride single track with no fenders all the time, you probably want a Turbo Levo instead.

The 2.2 motor is great. It's quiet, and in the Tero X 6.0 it's extremely powerful. I rarely need to go over 50%. It also doesn't rattle when the bike is rolling downhill. There are some good YouTube videos comparing all the MTB motors out there for speed, feel, noise, etc.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@niko83: Ben is right. A Specialized Levo is the thing.

If you look at the Cube Hybrid 120 Allroad, Centurion Numisis, or Scott Axis Evo Tour then you'll see all of them belong to the category of SUV e-bike, same as Specialized Tero X. All of them have fenders, rear rack, lighting, and a kick-stand. Neither was made for technical singletracks! You can ride trails on any of them but in no case technical singletracks! You would need to remove both fenders, rear rack, lighting and the kickstand to make any of them similar to an e-MTB, still not making any them a true e-MTB.

Now, there is even more confusion. You said "All Mountain". Oh, no, its a misconception. A true technical singletrack e-MTB such as Specialized Turbo Levo is of the Trail class. It means it is great for technical climbs but it has not been designed for bombing hard descents or doing big jumps. The All Mountain or Enduro class are bikes or e-bikes that are as good at the climbing as they are on technical descending. An example of such an e-bike is Specialized Turbo Kenevo. Finally, no e-bike I know of is certified for the most extreme category of Downhill (DH) where you are lifted or carried to the top of the downhill trail and do not need to climb.

No SUV e-bike comes even into the Trail category. These are full-suspension Cross Country e-bikes at best.

Even if I could ride technically, I would not have used a SUV e-bike on a technical singletrack.

 

[AvalancheRun]

In a surprise twist, these are back in stock, btw.

If you compare it to a Riese and Muller Delite it's a steal.

 

[niko83]

@Stefan Mikes Thank you for your answer.
Yesterday I tried the tero x 5.0. Fantastic. I'm going to go order the 6.0. I agree with you that one will not be able to ride too technical trails with such a bike, also because I would not even have the skills. However, I think that time or 2 a year that I want to try trails or tracks that are a little out of the ordinary, it certainly won't give me any problems. I'm convinced of that. It is the lightest "suv ebike" around, in my opinion trails without jumps or off-the-wall descents, it can handle them without problems. Considering that in any case my use will be all-around use, I think it will be the perfect bike for me. The seller told me that this type of bike is little known but as soon as customers see it they often buy it. And I agree with him. I also tried the Bianchi e-Vertic FT Type SX 12s, a sight too, I was very undecided, identical price. Very little known but very fun. Resaleability-wise, I think I'll have better luck with specialized.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Glad to hear it, Niko! Enjoy!
You'll find out the Tero X electronics are unrivaled! This e-bike type is one of the last additions to Specialized portfolio, and Ben has been one of the first users.

The Bianchi you mentioned is a true e-MTB, and if you were to make any comparison, you should compare it to a Levo. According to your needs, you actually need an all-rounder (SUV), not an e-MTB.

 

[Ben J]

Just replaced the original chain at 1585 miles. It was mostly lubed with Muc-Off dry lube, which I quite liked. But the last couple hundred miles were with Muc-Off wet lube, and that is a gloopy mess. I check chain wear regularly, so I know the old chain just hit 0.5% wear.

I couldn't find it in the manual, but it turns out to use 124 links of chain. The SRAM X01 Eagle 12-speed chain is 126 links.

Up next: SILCA Synergetic Wet lube (based on a rec elsewhere). But I won't know if it's better until I get a few rides in.

By the hours, I should probably rebuild the shock and the forks. This is all making me wonder how the bikes of my youth survived for years with near zero maintenance.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I should probably rebuild the shock and the forks.

Why do you think so?

Just replaced the original chain at 1585 miles

It makes sense! How much of assistance do you typically use? Are your legs strong (W)?

 

[Ben J]

Why do you think so?

100 hours is the recommended service interval. I have no experience to know how strict that is. I do know I've been running the shock about 10% over its max pressure due to combined rider/bike weight to get the desired sag.

It makes sense! How much of assistance do you typically use? Are your legs strong (W)?

Total average rider power + motor power is usually around 300W. On my last ride looks like I did 450W up a hill and the bike would have added about 250W more in ECO for 700W total. That's not outside the capability of elite human riders. I can hit 650W but probably not all the way up that hill