In Depth 2015 Turbo X Review

[ROJA]

Thanks again. I've now ridden the X in a M and L and really like it. One question- other e bikes usually have 3-4 power settings. Am I right that Turbo only has these choices:

1. Turbo
2. Eco XX [customizable from 10-90]
3. Off (no assist)
4. Regen

Not a deal breaker, but I'd rather be able to choose maybe 40 - 70 -100 or 50 - 70 -100 instead of having nothing between 0 and 70.

Otherwise loving it. Rode a Turbo S and while it's faster, it rode MUCH rougher.

 

[reoutput]

The eco mode is customizable in 10% increments from 30-90%. I'm not sure if you can go lower than 30% with older models, but I'm sure the 10% steps are the same. There is also a throttle mode that is only good up to 11mph which is kind of useless.

 

[ROJA]

The eco mode is customizable in 10% increments from 30-90%. I'm not sure if you can go lower than 30% with older models, but I'm sure the 10% steps are the same. There is also a throttle mode that is only good up to 11mph which is kind of useless.

Thanks. But there's no easy way to go from, say Eco50 to Eco70 while riding, right?

 

[reoutput]

Not really. I forget the process but it involves holding the brake and toggle switch in a certain direction for 3 seconds.

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Thanks. But there's no easy way to go from, say Eco50 to Eco70 while riding, right?

Yes you can. You do not hold the brake at all. Just hold the toggle to the right for 3 seconds right after you switch into ECO (while the ECO level is still showing). This can be done coming up from NO ASSIST or down from TURBO. The ECO level indicator will start flashing. You then can toggle ECO levels up or down as you would like.

Thus, the usable levels on a Turbo while still pedaling are:

1. Regen
2. No Assist
3. Eco 10%
4. Eco 20%
5. Eco 30%
6. Eco 40%
7. Eco 50%
8. Eco 60%
9. Eco 70%
10. Turbo (100%)

I believe that 10 different levels (all while still riding) is pretty good. I find that the ECO levels are a pretty darn accurate percentage of full 100% power in terms of available range. Since the power required grows as the square of speed, the cruising speed in ECO50 is not twice that of TURBO, though the range seems to track much closer. On my bike, ECO40 gets me 55-60 miles while TURBO nets me 25-28 miles.

Doug

 

[ROJA]

Interesting and very helpful. So it's not the push of a button, but it sounds easy enough to do on the fly. For example, I could see wanting to do this in a case where I'm running through the battery quicker than expected and I want to cruise in Eco50 instead of Eco70 or something like that, but you wouldn't change it for every hill you encounter.

I was thinking that I would switch my default to something like Eco50 and then use Turbo for the paved parts of my ride where I want to go fast and switch to Eco50 for dirt/unpaved sections where the conditions warrant riding at a slower pace for control and safety (that should also prolong the battery's life). Eco50 also sounds about right for sections of a MUP where you need to slow way down to pass walkers.

Does all that sound about right?

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Sounds like you got it. I tend to ride in ECO40 - ECO70 and save TURBO for help on climbs or for mad demon sprints.

 

[ROJA]

You had me at "mad demon sprints"!

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Mad demon sprints = riding as fast as you can with a gleeful evil grin on your face.

 

[James Kohls]

I guess it depends on your riding style, but I've never really feel the need to change my Eco % on the fly. My go-to is Eco 50 and I really only change it unless, say it is a windy day out and I feel like I need more boost on a consistent basis. Then I just change it before I set off for my ride. Otherwise, if my legs are feeling tired, I'll just flip up to Turbo, then back down to Eco 50 again.

I don't like to change my Eco % on the fly. If you don't have the finger motions down to memory, I find it takes too long looking down at the display, which is dangerous if you primarily ride on roads, like me. Granted, I'm not well practiced, but I've timed myself and it takes about 10-12 seconds from the time I look down to successfully changing to a new Eco mode while riding. I did that on an empty bike path to see how bad it would be to try on the road. 12 seconds at 20MPH is 352 feet, almost the length of an NFL football field.

 

[Douglas Ruby]

James...true. I usually choose an ECO level and only change it at a rest stop. It does take some time, though I set my handlebar controller at a more comfortable angle since decoupling it from the brake lever.

 

[ROJA]

I bought the X today! Looking forward to sharing our experiences and tips. Super excited for my first commute (Friday)!

 

[reoutput]

Sweet! You're going to have fun..

 

[James Kohls]

I bought the X today! Looking forward to sharing our experiences and tips. Super excited for my first commute (Friday)!

CONGRATS! Will be excited to hear about your first commute. That first day is always fun. So many new things to learn about how your e-bike will change your commute. I found it took about a week before my ride style synced up with how the bike operates. Coming from a non-ebike, there were certainly some difference I had to get used to. My first week of rides at times felt overwhelming and underwhelming, but I now that I know how to adjust gears and eco %'s to get the feeling I want to have from the bike, it is pure joy.

 

[James Kohls]

View of downtown St. Paul. Capital city of Minnesota. (Street View: Google Maps)

While my home town of St. Paul is still playing catch-up to its Twin Cities neighbor, Minneapolis; we still have miles and miles of uninterrupted off-street bike paths.

 

[James Kohls]

Casual morning bike ride from neighborhood near Como Park in St. Paul via University of Minnesota bike routes to the Mississippi River.

Turn on Subtitles for Landmark Notes

 

[Douglas Ruby]

James...very cool.

 

[James Kohls]

0 to 26 at moderate effort on 2015 Specialized Turbo X on relative flat grade, fairly smooth road surface, in Turbo mode. (GPS Calculated Speed)

 

[James Kohls]

@James Kohls - That infrastructure you got there in post #36 rocks. I think I would love riding there.

Minneapolis/St Paul is a great place to be a biker. We have plenty of dedicated trails and new bike lanes are popping up on streets constantly. Each city has a policy now that any restructuring of streets and even resurfacing requires reassessment of multi-modal transportation. There is still a lot of work to do, but

Check out what they're doing to our downtown streets:

That used to be all cars lanes and parking!

 

[Admin]

Loved your review @James Kohls! Thanks for taking the time to write and share pictures, it was awesome