New Turbo Creo - First Impressions

[mikeschn]

Guys,

If I bought a Turbo Creo SL Comp Carbon EVO...
...would I regret my decision?

size M, White Sage colour

It doesn't come in white sage colour!!!

 

[kahn]

Guys,

If I bought a Turbo Creo SL Comp Carbon EVO...
...would I regret my decision?

Why buy and why potential regret?

It will not have any more power than your existing bike but would probably be substantially lighter? Would you turn it into a gravel bike? I thought you did not like the body position on road bikes.

I, too, wonder if I'd have been better off with one of the carbon Creo's versus my aluminum one? What I still don't know is if you can put racks on the carbon fiber frames and how much weight if racks can be accommodated.

 

[mschwett]

Why buy and why potential regret?

It will not have any more power than your existing bike but would probably be substantially lighter? Would you turn it into a gravel bike? I thought you did not like the body position on road bikes.

I, too, wonder if I'd have been better off with one of the carbon Creo's versus my aluminum one? What I still don't know is if you can put racks on the carbon fiber frames and how much weight if racks can be accommodated.

there are frame mount rear racks for carbon bikes, e.g. tailfin. decent capacity; 9kg top and 9kg per side. carbon frame is not an ideal choice for a heavily laden bike.

if one rides with assist on most or all of the time, or rarely rides uphill, the extra few pounds of a vado sl or aluminum creo vs a carbon creo is not very significant. a bigger factor is ride quality, drop bars, and the available options for the creo, including things like di2/eTap, carbon wheels, etc.

if one doesn’t like drop bars, choice made -> vado sl

if one wants to carry a LOT of stuff, choice made -> vado sl

the lightest creo for road use is going to be around 28lb, for gravel, closer to 30. (tires, dropper, bigger ring/cassette).

 

[kahn]

there are frame mount rear racks for carbon bikes, e.g. tailfin. decent capacity; 9kg top and 9kg per side. carbon frame is not an ideal choice for a heavily laden bike.


the lightest creo for road use is going to be around 28lb, for gravel, closer to 30. (tires, dropper, bigger ring/cassette).

Really? That is their lightest Creo? I thought it might come in a bit lower in weight.

 

[mschwett]

Really? That is their lightest Creo? I thought it might come in a bit lower in weight.

various numbers have been cited for the s-works version; 26.2, 27, 28…. after going to tubeless carbon wheels, carbon cranks, lighter cassette and chainring, one piece carbon bar/stem, s-works seat and seatpost, speedplay pedals, new through axles etc on my comp carbon XL, it came in around 27.5lb.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Would you turn it into a gravel bike?

Creo Comp EVO is a gravel e-bike. I'm wondering whether the ride quality would be different from Vado SL. The Creo Comp is available for demo rides here.
Available in Satin Sage Green/Black.

 

[Calcoaster]

Creo Comp EVO is a gravel e-bike. I'm wondering whether the ride quality would be different from Vado SL. The Creo Comp is available for demo rides here.
Available in Satin Sage Green/Black.

I went from a Vado sl to a creo comp carbon and for me it was a big step up in performance, though probably some of the step up is mental. I only ride on the road so I don’t know if your gravel rides would feel faster on a creo.

I know you changed your VSL bar height and use the inner bar ends (I did too) which puts it closer to a creo geometry, but the creo still feels more road bike like than a modified VSL.

I’d take it for a long demo ride! And I’d like to hear your evaluation afterwards.

I got my Creo for 25% off last month and then got a power company rebate on top of that. I sold my VSL to Pro’s closet for a good price and I’m very happy with my trade-up.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I’d take it for a long demo ride! And I’d like to hear your evaluation afterwards.

I will definitely do it if I can mount the size L (that's the size of the available demo Creo). I only need to find time as I will be abroad already in May and June.
There are good "gravel cycling" areas southwards of the Specialized Warsaw. I was testing a Tero there.
I have already had a demo ride on a Creo E5 (road) size M and I didn't like it. Perhaps a bad bike-fitting. I could give the EVO another chance.

What will be really bad for the demo ride is the 25 km/h speed restriction. That speed will be OK there in the forest but it will be shameful to ride that slowly on-road Of course, I would derestrict the e-bike soon after the purchase.

 

[rochrunner]

I got my Creo for 25% off last month and then got a power company rebate on top of that. I sold my VSL to Pro’s closet for a good price and I’m very happy with my trade-up.

Just out of interest, what was the procedure for shipping your bike to Pro's Closet? That seems to me to be a fairly complex thing to "box up" a bike and ship it. Did you have to partially disassemble it? Who was the freight carrier?

 

[Saratoga Dave]

I just did the same thing, but had my LBS package it up for me. They charged me two hours labor to do so, off it went (ProsCloset pays the shipping) and the money was in PayPal in a couple of days. Couldn’t have gone better. CarMax for bikes.

There is a short video on their website on how they want it shipped, but I figure the bike shops do this all the time and they were happy to do so.

 

[Calcoaster]

Just out of interest, what was the procedure for shipping your bike to Pro's Closet? That seems to me to be a fairly complex thing to "box up" a bike and ship it. Did you have to partially disassemble it? Who was the freight carrier?

Like saratogadave, I had my lbs ($85) pack up my Vado sl and send it off to Pro’s Closet, who had emailed me a fedex shipping label. I knew my shop would pack it up securely and thought it wouldn’t be worth the hassle for me to do that myself. I had the agreed upon amount in my PayPal account within a week of shipping. Very smooth transaction and they gave me a good price. I saw my VSL on their site, listed at the retail price I paid new. It was gone in a week.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Looking at the geometry of the vado SL and Creo, the Creo looks a much shorter, snappier ride. The Vado SL longer and more stable:

 

[Calcoaster]

Looking at the geometry of the vado SL and Creo, the Creo looks a much shorter, snappier ride. The Vado SL longer and more stable:

View attachment 122613
View attachment 122613

Yes, I studied the two frames using this site. It was very helpful for me to see what my reach and bar height would be on a creo vs a Vado sl. The VSL has a longer reach, but once you factor the hand position in, the creo is a little longer reach.
One word of caution - several months ago I noticed the specialized Site had both the 2021 model Vado SLs and the new 2022’s. The geometry charts were different, at least on the VSL 4.0 that I was familiar with. I emailed Spec and was told they would pass it on to their web team. I checked a month or so later and it hadn’t been corrected. Not sure if they fixed it yet. The site used above for the frame comparisons used the older, correct, numbers.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

I waste far too much time on that site comparing bikes I'll never own! Interesting the new Surly Ghost Grappler has similiar geometry to the Vado SL. It's a - I guess, monster cross gravel bike but with a lot of mountain bike dna. Designed for long distance off road bike packing trips. I'm guessing the long wheelbase is good for off road stability (while carrying a load). And in the Vado SL's case it also seems to be more similiar to the Sirrus then the creo.

It's why I think the Vado SL could be a better choice then the Creo for full on off road. Though the Creo would definitely be more fun!

 

[Steven Seaweed]

Why buy and why potential regret?

It will not have any more power than your existing bike but would probably be substantially lighter? Would you turn it into a gravel bike? I thought you did not like the body position on road bikes.

I, too, wonder if I'd have been better off with one of the carbon Creo's versus my aluminum one? What I still don't know is if you can put racks on the carbon fiber frames and how much weight if racks can be accommodated.

Hey Kahn. I have that bike and with a Specialized seat collar, you can easily mount these racks to the frame. Not sure of the weight limitations, however.

 

[Creo rider]

Just my 2 cents on the noise from the SL motor - I have the Creo Expert (so carbon frame) and there is definitely a fair bit of noticeable noise under certain circumstances. As others have noted, it is high cadence, low speed and pushing hard (eg up hills) when it is most noticeable. When riding at speed in a peloton its not really noticeable at all - presumably because of all the other environmental noise. I went out with a friend who has a new Bianchi Aria with the eBikemotion hub motor - there was no doubt that motor was much quieter. In fact almost nothing to hear going slowly up hills. But for me it's not an issue at all. I'm not trying to hide that I'm on a ebike, and the noise of the motor is not really loud and annoying - just noticeable that's all. The bike is simply superb ...

 

[Rás Cnoic]

I think for me, because the steepest hills I ride on tend to be narrow lanes and because I cycle alone and it's always really quiet with little or no cars, the whine of the (Vado) SL motor seems very loud there. It's also an embarrassment factor as just when I'm struggling is when I'll invariably meet walkers or farmers and of course the motor sounds suddenly even louder! And I feel at that point, which is very silly, that I'm cheating! I don't mind the motor noise normally, hardly notice it, nor do I normally feel like I'm cheating, couldn't care less. Just seems sods law that when I'm struggling with 20% gradient some cheerful and curious walker will pop out and stare at the whining bike and its gasping rider.

 

[rochrunner]

I've not noticed any objectionable motor noise from my Vado SL even though my previous Vado 4.0 was totally silent. Where I notice a big improvement with the SL is the much quieter freewheel ratcheting when coasting. My Vado 4.0 had a clicking that was loud enough that a few people riding next to me commented on it; the SL is pretty much "normal" in that regard.

(Strangely, in road riding circles these days, having a hub with what they call a "swarm of bees" freewheel is apparently getting to be a thing. Go figger!)

 

[BioWheel]

I've not noticed any objectionable motor noise from my Vado SL even though my previous Vado 4.0 was totally silent. Where I notice a big improvement with the SL is the much quieter freewheel ratcheting when coasting. My Vado 4.0 had a clicking that was loud enough that a few people riding next to me commented on it; the SL is pretty much "normal" in that regard.

(Strangely, in road riding circles these days, having a hub with what they call a "swarm of bees" freewheel is apparently getting to be a thing. Go figger!)

I finally replaced my stock SL 4 wheels with CF and a Onyx Vesper hub. It's completely silent freewheeling now. Guess I'm happily out of fashion RochR...

 

[Saratoga Dave]

There’s definitely a whine on this thing, but it’s quieter than the whining I would be doing riding up these hills around here without the motor.

Both my Yamaha powered bikes have/had a sort of a whine to them as well, but it was lower pitched and more subtle. If this is the curse of the Creo, I accept it gladly.