I will be keeping my Specialized Tero 3.0!

[michaeljk1963]

With type 1 diabetes, and frequently going off cell phone service, you might want to invest in a Garmin Inreach mini . https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=c8a9...3d3cuZ2FybWluLmNvbS9lbi1VUy9wLzU5MjYwNg&ntb=1
Tracks you by satellite and about $30 a month. Can call for help via satellite.
I've had a friend go into the coma at work. Too much calculation and balancing required.

That's a really good idea. I need to look into a satellite solution, not just for eBiking, but also for Cross Country Skiing in the winter when I am alone.

 

[michaeljk1963]

Does anyone know if I could use the Garmin Inreach Mini, would I be able to connect it to Specialized Ride app so I can use the app for routing and GPS when I don’t have cell coverage?

 

[indianajo]

The inreach mini has only text display. For $50 more you get a GPS display. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/outdoor/which-inreach-device-is-right-for-you/
Garmin has their own ensemble of software, so I imagine they have blocked any access from specialized.
I like the mini because if I fall off the bicycle, it is in my pocket, not up on the road where the bicycle landed. One bike rider's body was found down in the ditch by county mowers on Salem Rd. after he went missing several years ago. Months after the accident.
I was pitched over the handlebars on my chin 5 times 2007-2018. Something about fast steering, and cruiser/MTB posture. I'm not a head down hips up rider.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Garmin has their own ensemble of software, so I imagine they have blocked any access from specialized.

Please do not spread the wrong information.
While I know nothing of Garmin Inreach Mini, Garmin Edge computers (and some Garmin watches) support LEV ANT+ protocol and are fully compatible with Specialized e-bikes.

Michael: you do not connect Garmin devices to the Ride App. You connect Garmin devices to a Specialized e-bike.

 

[michaeljk1963]

Thanks @indianajo for your suggestion and thank you @Stefan Mikes for your insights and cautions.

This topic should maybe be a separate thread at this point. I think I will post it as the start of a new thread. I might also go look for a specialized forum to see what my options are for getting my Tero and a Garmin satellite device to work together, or just contact Specialized support. I currently own a fairly old Garmin "e20" (I think that's the name). Great little device for navigation, but very small screen. I have used it to help me figure out where I am going in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (my cabin is about 20 miles from there), when you can't tell with observation whether what's in front of you is a peninsula, an island or maybe even an isthmus between two lakes! This will work for me for Mountain biking in a pinch, but for sure, I'd have to stop my bike, take it out, take my reading glasses out (I will be 60 in about 6 weeks), figure out where I am, and then put it away until the next time I am not sure where I am. It doesn't have bluetooth to connect to anything, including my phone, and it doesn't have any kind of communication built in (well, usb port solely for firmware and OS upgrades).

I don't have to go far at all near here (my cabin) to lose reception. There's basically a single highway coming out of Duluth along Lake Superior to Canada (made famous by Bob Dylan--Highway 61), along which there is fairly reliable cell reception, but move even just a few miles from the highway and you lose any signal. My cabin borders the Superior National Forest (I am very lucky that way), which is enormous, beautiful, and ver quicklJust yesterday, my wife and our two collie dogs were hiking up Carlton Peak Trail. There was a faint signal in the parking lot, 1 bar at most. We knew there was a chance of rain, but the Weather app put it at 30%. ½ mile into the hike, no signal. On our way up the trail, the wind picked up, then thunder, then rain, we waited for it to pass for a little while, but then it didn't, and the thunder became more frequent. We turned around, not knowing what to expect, and not wanting to be on the peak if there was lightning.

Here is what I care about: I want to be able to use a reliable map app on my phone when I have no cell signal, I want to be able to send an emergency SOS signal via satellite, and would also prefer weather access, two way messaging, and if possible, have it sync up to my Specialized Mission Control app and Ride app to record my ride. I took the suggestion of @indianajo and bought a Garmin inReach Mini 2. FYI, the link he sent in his recent message is for the inReach Mini, but there is a much improved Mini 2 version, with apparently 3 times the battery life, several new features, better bluetooth connectivity, and the ability to use Garmin's apparently much improved app (Explore rather than Earthmate). I bought my Garmin InReach Mini 2 from REI in case it doesn't end up "ticking all the boxes." Once I get it, I will try to figure out how to connect it to the Specialized Mission Control app, and report on my success or failure. I did see that the Specialized Ride app does have an option in Settings for "Connected Accounts" and "Garmin Connect" is one of the options. I just don't know yet if the inReach Mini will let me use Garmin Connect to connect to the Specialized Ride app. Even if it fails at that, if the Garmin Explore app gives me the ability to reliably use their navigation app on my phone that will be sufficient for me (some reviews of the original Mini complained about this). There were other much more robust satellite GPS devices out there, including the Montana 700, but they are much more expensive, heavier, larger, and don't have nearly the battery life of the inReach Mini 2. So, I'll try the inReach Mini 2 and see how it goes.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Michael take my advice - get, e.g.,- a Wahoo ELEMNT Roam and never look back. The issue with Joe from Indiana is he has never owned a Specialized e-bike and his advice is - politely saying - useless.

See the things working on my older Vado. They will work perfectly on your Tero, too, and you need no network coverage whatsoever. It is virtually impossible to break a Wahoo, and the Roam has a big legible screen that can be magnified with button clicks.

 

[indianajo]

I took the suggestion of @indianajo and bought a Garmin inReach Mini 2. FYI, the link he sent in his recent message is for the inReach Mini, but there is a much improved Mini 2 version, with apparently 3 times the battery life, several new features, better bluetooth connectivity, and the ability to use Garmin's apparently much improved app (Explore rather than Earthmate). I bought my Garmin InReach Mini 2 from REI in case it doesn't end up "ticking all the boxes."

Be sure to teach your wife how to access your Inreach track from her phone. If your location stops for 2 hours or more, you may be in trouble.
Not a lot of diabetics get comas, but who does is unpredictable. I have diabetes type 2, have had no trouble with my conciousness or balance, but we all get older. Then there are always rocks, slides, bears, cougars, and tree branch falls, out in the woods. I was nervous about walking a path down the face of a cliff at Mesa Verde National Monument, where there was no cell phone service. Hohenweep Nat Mon was also serviceless. There I turned around when the path to the ruins went across the face of a bare rock slanting at 15 degrees to the valley. My US Army damaged knees were the problem there. Some old ladies missed a turn to the Florence Mall in Kentucky, drove off the path of cell service, tried to turn around in a wet field: the bodies were damaged by coyoties.
See this thread about connecting garmin products to a common bike software package emotion: https://electricbikereview.com/foru...e-work-with-ebikemotion-equipped-bikes.36988/

 

[michaeljk1963]

I have looked at the Wahoo ELEMNT option and it really looks like a great option for navigation, but unless I am missing something, it doesn't look like it has Emergency SOS signaling and other communications options (text and weather) when out of cell phone range, which is really a dealbreaker for me. I really do want this option, not only for biking, but also for hiking, cross country skiing. I should have purchased something like this a long time ago, with my age, diabetes, and distance at the cabin.

 

[michaeljk1963]

Be sure to teach your wife how to access your Inreach track from her phone. If your location stops for 2 hours or more, you may be in trouble.
Not a lot of diabetics get comas, but who does is unpredictable. I have diabetes 2, have had no trouble with my conciousness or balance, but we all get older. Then there are always rocks, slides, and tree branch falls, out in the woods. I was nervous about walking a path down the face of a cliff at Mesa Verde National Monument, where there was no cell phone service.
See this thread about connecting garmin products to a common bike software package emotion: https://electricbikereview.com/foru...e-work-with-ebikemotion-equipped-bikes.36988/

Several years ago, I was cross-country skiing on a fire road in the National Forest about 10 miles from my cabin. I was dumb. I brought a protein bar, water, and a tube of glucose tablets, but I didn't actually check to see how many tablets were in the tube (just grabbed it from my dashboard). I also failed to tell anyone where I was going (single at the time), and the trailhead parking lot was mostly empty because it was later in the afternoon, and snowing. At about 5 miles out from the car, I started to feel light-headed. Ate the protein bar, checked my blood sugar, was 55 and going down (100 is normal, below 30 lose consciousness, and below 20 coma), kept going down to the monitor just saying "LOW" (means below 40), I grabbed my glucose tube, but realized I only had 3 tablets. Ate them, and continued on, but then my blood sugar dipped again, and I couldn't stand. It had also started to snow really hard (we get very dense lake-effect snowfalls here that can add many unexpected additional inches to the weather predictions) and was getting dark. I tried to find a place off the road enough to avoid getting run over, but close enough to the side so they could find my body if they came looking. I lay down in the snow and fell asleep, resigning myself to the very real possibility that this was it, my life had come to its end. Maybe 30 minutes later I woke up, groggy, but conscious, weak, but determined. My liver had apparently kicked in with a "glucagon" response and I managed to clumsily get back to my car after an arduous way back, where I had a full tube of glucose tablets.

You'd think this would have been the "wake up call" to get an SOS alert system, but until yesterday, I never did!

 

[California]

Sounds like you found the right bike for you. If I didn't live somewhere with extreme hills, I would have been happier with a smaller torque than my Tero 6.0.

When looking at emergency devices, also consider that they don't work great in dense tree cover. Exactly what the parameters are I am no expert. But having one of these and being careful to let someone know where you are going and expected back is a great idea.

 

[Rich W.]

I haven’t read all of this but I use a Garmin 530 on top of the bike display. The combination gives me all the info/capability I need including the ability for others to track me with “Incident Detection”. https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/edge530/EN-US/GUID-F109FB24-B55D-49D2-B388-D042E7FBA965.html . Also pairs with my Eagle AXS for some nice info and gear displays including the gear I’m in. Also the SRAM app records how long you were in each gear and other interesting stuff.

I‘m too lazy and its cocktail hour so I’m not sure if and/or how any of this pertains, but if its useful, great! If not, just send me back for another round and I’ll cope.

Cheers!

 

[Rich W.]

Sounds like you found the right bike for you. If I didn't live somewhere with extreme hills, I would have been happier with a smaller torque than my Tero 6.0.

When looking at emergency devices, also consider that they don't work great in dense tree cover. Exactly what the parameters are I am no expert. But having one of these and being careful to let someone know where you are going and expected back is a great idea.

Hey speaking of that motor, my 5.0 is in the shop for warranty evaluation because of rather significant motor noise after riding only a couple miles. I know I ride it a little hard, and probably use turbo on steep hills more than I should, but I figured the 2.2/90 could take it. Maybe not so it’s something to watch (listen) for. It was never quiet, but it’s been getting progressively worse and it’s now pretty loud. By comparison riding next to the 3.0 on the same ride, same conditions, I can’t even hear her motor and she can really hear mine.

When I’m riding our back roads with occasional traffic and no shoulders I tend to try to keep my speed up (hence the 44t chainring), even climbing hills, so I can make it to the next pull-out before traffic gets to me (they don’t seem to recognize that the ditch isn’t that great an option), and this includes standing on the thing in turbo and grinding to the top as fast as possible. I‘m concerned that this may be excessive for the machine.

I’ll advise on the results in a new thread titled something like Turbo Tero 5.0 motor noise issue. I should have an answer on a few days.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I need including the ability for others to track me with “Incident Detection”. https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/edge530/EN-US/GUID-F109FB24-B55D-49D2-B388-D042E7FBA965.html .

The issue here is the feature requires mobile network coverage. Michael is looking for a solution for wild areas with no network coverage.

 

[Rich W.]

The issue here is the feature requires mobile network coverage. Michael is looking for a solution for wild areas with no network coverage.

So I would get a Garmin inRech or similar product like this: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/765374/pn/010-02602-00 and not try to get apples from oranges. I would use whatever bike computer best suits my cycling needs (wants) and have an emergency sat com unit for emergencies. I still haven’t found a product that does both and if there is one, it is likely the worst of both worlds, or at least lacking in one or both. If emergency notification is truly a necessity, I would use a specific purpose-built product, just like an epirb for sailing. Separate, specific, dedicated, etc.

 

[Rich W.]

Hey speaking of that motor, my 5.0 is in the shop for warranty evaluation because of rather significant motor noise after riding only a couple miles. I know I ride it a little hard, and probably use turbo on steep hills more than I should, but I figured the 2.2/90 could take it. Maybe not so it’s something to watch (listen) for. It was never quiet, but it’s been getting progressively worse and it’s now pretty loud. By comparison riding next to the 3.0 on the same ride, same conditions, I can’t even hear her motor and she can really hear mine.

When I’m riding our back roads with occasional traffic and no shoulders I tend to try to keep my speed up (hence the 44t chainring), even climbing hills, so I can make it to the next pull-out before traffic gets to me (they don’t seem to recognize that the ditch isn’t that great an option), and this includes standing on the thing in turbo and grinding to the top as fast as possible. I‘m concerned that this may be excessive for the machine.

I’ll advise on the results in a new thread titled something like Turbo Tero 5.0 motor noise issue. I should have an answer on a few days.

FYI my Tero 5.0 is getting a new motor under warranty. So if you have one that starts getting progressively louder, get it in before the warranty period ends which appears to be two years from the original purchase date.

 

[Shooter88]

About 3 months ago I bought a Turbo Tero 3 and I liked it alot. I wound up trading it in for a Tero X4 mainly because I wanted the full suspension as I ride a bit of single track with it. The 3 is a 9 speed and the 4 is a 12 speed. I believe the 3 shifted better as I have to be a bit more careful on the 4 to lighten up on the pedals when shifting up or down. I think the 3 ergos were slightly more comfortable out of the box. The 3 and 4 have the same motor and I've always found them to be plenty powerful. The components on the 4 are supposed to be overall a bit better. If you don't need a full suspension bike I think the Tero 3 clicks all the boxes.

 

[gromto]

About 3 months ago I bought a Turbo Tero 3 and I liked it alot. I wound up trading it in for a Tero X4 mainly because I wanted the full suspension as I ride a bit of single track with it. The 3 is a 9 speed and the 4 is a 12 speed. I believe the 3 shifted better as I have to be a bit more careful on the 4 to lighten up on the pedals when shifting up or down. I think the 3 ergos were slightly more comfortable out of the box. The 3 and 4 have the same motor and I've always found them to be plenty powerful. The components on the 4 are supposed to be overall a bit better. If you don't need a full suspension bike I think the Tero 3 clicks all the boxes.

I am in the same boat as you- just bought a Tero 3 and I am about to trade it in for a Tero X4. Are you still happy with your decision to make the change to the X? How does the full suspension perform on single track? Do you find the weight difference a problem? I want to ride some single track with rocky patches- in southern CA. Anything you regret?

 

[Shooter88]

I am in the same boat as you- just bought a Tero 3 and I am about to trade it in for a Tero X4. Are you still happy with your decision to make the change to the X? How does the full suspension perform on single track? Do you find the weight difference a problem? I want to ride some single track with rocky patches- in southern CA. Anything you regret?

I really like the 4X as it's so versatile in that it can do virtually anything, and do it all pretty well. even single track, (but I don't jump the bike). I come from a background of racing off road hare scrambles motorcycles and being 67 y/o am slowing that down considerably and transitioning to ebikes and the Turbo Tero's check all the boxes if you want versatility, (street/trail/gravel). I did also recently buy a Levo comp carbon, (I had to try it) and it is better in the really rough stuff but the Tero is quite capable and the Tero is a class 3 where the Levo is a class 1. The 4X even with the 50 NM motor has plenty of power. I would suggest that you look to the Tero 5X as it has a 70 NM motor and most importantly it has the bigger 700 watt battery and that is very nice to have, It also has upgraded components, (shock/fork/brakes/etc) on it. I really think between the Tero 4, 5, and 6X the 5 is the sweet spot on these bikes in terms of features, (better components) and price point, and the full suspension rides soooo much nicer than the hardtail especially for us older guys that don't stand as much as we used to. Whichever model you choose I'm certain you will be happy with it. I think long term, I'm --probably-- going to wind up selling my 4X and the Levo and get a 5X, as the 5 will do everything I need at this point in my life. Good luck and report back what you decide!

 

[gromto]

I really like the 4X as it's so versatile in that it can do virtually anything, and do it all pretty well. even single track, (but I don't jump the bike). I come from a background of racing off road hare scrambles motorcycles and being 67 y/o am slowing that down considerably and transitioning to ebikes and the Turbo Tero's check all the boxes if you want versatility, (street/trail/gravel). I did also recently buy a Levo comp carbon, (I had to try it) and it is better in the really rough stuff but the Tero is quite capable and the Tero is a class 3 where the Levo is a class 1. The 4X even with the 50 NM motor has plenty of power. I would suggest that you look to the Tero 5X as it has a 70 NM motor and most importantly it has the bigger 700 watt battery and that is very nice to have, It also has upgraded components, (shock/fork/brakes/etc) on it. I really think between the Tero 4, 5, and 6X the 5 is the sweet spot on these bikes in terms of features, (better components) and price point, and the full suspension rides soooo much nicer than the hardtail especially for us older guys that don't stand as much as we used to. Whichever model you choose I'm certain you will be happy with it. I think long term, I'm --probably-- going to wind up selling my 4X and the Levo and get a 5X, as the 5 will do everything I need at this point in my life. Good luck and report back what you decide!

Thanks for the quick response. I need to make my decision by tomorrow. The 4X is on sale for 3750, the 5X is actually more expensive than the Levo and out of my budget. And I have never found the power in the 3.0 lacking, so I think I should be ok with the 4.

I am a younger guy but I still get some back pain from the hardtail and find myself constantly trying to avoid ruts and rocks, whereas I feel with the FS, you could just fly over them.

May I ask what kind of terrain or region of the US you ride in? And did you leave the fenders on?

 

[Shooter88]

Thanks for the quick response. I need to make my decision by tomorrow. The 4X is on sale for 3750, the 5X is actually more expensive than the Levo and out of my budget. And I have never found the power in the 3.0 lacking, so I think I should be ok with the 4.

I am a younger guy but I still get some back pain from the hardtail and find myself constantly trying to avoid ruts and rocks, whereas I feel with the FS, you could just fly over them.

May I ask what kind of terrain or region of the US you ride in? And did you leave the fenders on?

I think the 4X will suit you fine. I live in Kansas and the terrain varies, anything from smooth flowing 2 track to some pretty gnarly single track with lots of switchbacks, rock steps and some elevation changes. I have three off road riding parks all within about 8 miles so I'm lucky there and a couple of concrete bike paths close too. I have left the fenders on however the front comes off easily but not the rear as the tail light and wiring is integrated into it. Somone posted that they removed both fenders but had to find a way to electrically terminate the rear tail light. I don't ride the Tero real fast off road but do enjoy riding it on tight single track at a slower pace, kinda like motorcycle "trials" riders do. Anyway, $3750 is a very good deal. I rode my Tero for the first time at night recently and was quite surprised on how bright the headlight was. You can depress and hold the F1 button after turning the bike on and that shuts the lights if you don't want them on during daylight hours. I do that to help save the battery. Grab it, I think you'll like it.