Ordered Creo 2 Comp need info about app, bike, etc please

[ALscott]

Just ordered the bike yesterday and super excited. I need help understanding the Specialized App. Can I plan routes with it and my iPhone or is a computer better for that. Also, will the bike or Spec App show cadence and speed with iPhone and do I need to buy cadence/speed sensors for that? If so, which ones work best? Also, any info on good tires with more of a road focus would be great. Maybe smaller too. 38c? Most of my riding will be overwhelmingly asphalt.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Just ordered the bike yesterday and super excited.

Congrats! Love my Vado SL 1 but would've gone for your Creo if it came with flat bars.

I need help understanding the Specialized App. Can I plan routes with it and my iPhone or is a computer better for that.

I use the latest (black logo) app on a handlebar-mounted Android phone in lieu of a bike computer and as a supplement to the Mastermind TCU ( top tube display). Quite well done overall. Very easy on the phone battery in dark mode on an OLED phone screen.

No planning or navigation cue capability in the app, so I use RideWithGPS on my phone for that. But the app's ride recording and mapping work well, as do the post-ride data report and analysis tools.

Personally get everything I want from the Specialized app + TCU + RideWithGPS combo and feel no need to invest in a Wahoo or Garmin after 1 yr and 3,000 mi. HOWEVER, I rarely use navigation, some don't want a phone on their bars, and many find great value in a bike computer.

The app shows 6 programmable data fields below the map while recording with dozens of available data items for each, speed and cadence included. Just tap the field at any time and select what you want to see there.

Also a quick and easy graphical interface for tuning assist modes. The factory tunings on my SL were very good, so I'd give your Creo's a good trial before experimenting.

Learn to set up the TCU to show the data you're most interested in while riding, as it's always easy to read — even in bright sun. This is my custom TCU wake-up page.

I watch this custom 2nd TCU page 90% of the time.

Also, will the bike or Spec App show cadence and speed with iPhone and do I need to buy cadence/speed sensors for that?

App and TCU will both show all of this and much, much more. All sensors are built-in, including a rider power sensor.

 

[ALscott]

Thanks! That answers a lot. So it does not display speed in MPH? And to confirm you don’t have to buy sensors for cadence?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Thanks! That answers a lot. So it does not display speed in MPH? And to confirm you don’t have to buy sensors for cadence?

Yes, the TCU and app will both display speed in mph or km/hr as you choose. That's the big 0.0 in my first photo: speed in mph.

No, along with several others, cadence, ground speed, and rider power sensors are all built into the bike, and you can see their outputs in the app, TCU, or both.

You should wait and see for yourself what the app and TCU provide. I tried to poke around in the app before my SL arrived, but you can't get in till you've linked the app to a physically present Specialized ebike via Bluetooth.

 

[ALscott]

Wow, I had no idea. First time with a bike like this. I had the first version of the Tero, never really liked it, but I don’t think it had all of this capability.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Al, Jeremy has answered your questions. Let me put my answers a little bit differently so you get the whole and clear picture.

I had the first version of the Tero, never really liked it, but I don’t think it had all of this capability.

It had exactly the same capability, only you were unaware of it All Specialized Turbo e-bikes since 2019 have had the same capability, only Mission Control was the old app and Specialized App is the new one.
Importantly (and differently from Tero, which had a display on the stem) your e-bike display is named Mastermind TCU and it is located on the top tube of the frame. It allows up to 5 data screens with a plethora of information (120 data field configurations are possible).

Just ordered the bike yesterday and super excited. I need help understanding the Specialized App.

You can mount your iPhone on a good third party mount on the stem of Creo. Specialized App will allow you:

• Tuning your motor (that is, setting very precisely assistance and max motor power per an assistance level: ECO, SPORT, TURBO)
• Defining how the Range Extender battery would be used (relevant in case you buy one and the related stuff such as cables)
• Monitoring your and your e-bike performance as you are riding (the Specialized App allows a big dashboard with your and e-bike workout data)
• Providing advanced assistance mode known as Smart Control:
  • Ride for a defined distance and elevation gain, still return on the e-bike battery
  • Ride for a defined time, still return on the e-bike battery
  • Ride at a defined basic assistance; allow the system to adjust assistance so your HR won't exceed a defined threshold
• Registering your rides and uploading them to Strava

What are the downsides of using a smartphone as the e-bike monitor and ride recorder?

• Short phone battery life
• Touchscreen sensitivity to precipitation
• Hard to operate the phone in full gloves
• Phone vulnerable to crashes.

Can I plan routes with it and my iPhone or is a computer better for that.

Specialized App is not a bike GPS computer. Any of the major bike GPS computer (Garmin Edge, Wahoo Roam or Hammerhead Karoo 3) is equipped with LEV ANT+ protocol and connect to a Specialized Turbo e-bike, including Creo 2. Any of these computers allows you extracting vital information from the e-bike (speed, distance, cadence, rider's power, e-bike battery level and range). As you can navigate with the GPS computer, it records your rides and uploads your rides to many sports tracking services but it has no downsides of the smartphone, using a Garmin, Wahoo or Karoo is a better choice unless your rides are shorter than the phone battery life (and it never rains).

I don't want to elaborate but the ultimate bike GPS computer for Specialized Turbo e-bikes is the older Wahoo Bolt v2 or Roam v2.

Also, will the bike or Spec App show cadence and speed with iPhone and do I need to buy cadence/speed sensors for that? If so, which ones work best?

As you already know, Creo 2 has speed, cadence and power sensors as the part of the system. There is also an E-Bike sensor

Also, any info on good tires with more of a road focus would be great. Maybe smaller too. 38c? Most of my riding will be overwhelmingly asphalt.

Creo 2 is a gravel e-bike in the first place. Going with too skinny tyres -- given wide rims -- would create a wrong profile of the tyre. There are also other (geometry) considerations not to go too low with the tyre size. Specialized recommends the minimum tyre width as 40 mm, and installs Pathfinder TLR Fast Gravel Tire 700x40c, GRIPTON T2/T5 on less expensive Creos. Bear in mind that installing a more skinny tyre will require you to ask your dealer to set the proper Wheel Circumference in the e-bike firmware.

Were I you, I would enjoy riding the fantastic 47 mm tyres for at least several months before you change them. Wide tyres would provide enormous comfort to your rides (not always on perfect tarmac, eh?) Any increase in the rolling resistance would be compensated by the motor. Bear in mind, it is an e-bike not a traditional pedal bike!

Many happy miles!