Put down a deposit on a Creo E5

[Captain Slow]

Went to my LBS and asked about the aluminum Creo since it's now on the Canadian website. They didn't have one in stock, but indicated that a shipment was sent yesterday to them. They will be getting one in each size and he figures they will arrive by Friday.

I put down my deposit and will hopefully next Saturday I'll be test riding it and then bringing it home. I'm pretty sure I'm going to like it, but hey you never know.

Excited that I could be the owner of a Creo in a week.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Congrats on that one! That is gonna be some fun.

 

[Knolan]

Had a look at the Creo models in my local Specialized store when I was in getting a spoke repaired on my Vado. They’re a very nice bike!

 

[Ebiker01]

I liked the Creo a lot , but now with the Trek +HP that just came out which has a removable Bigger 500wh battery +a 500wh portable spare battery, it's a total no-brainer to choose the Trek one.
I anticipate that a lot of peopel will be selling their Creo's to get the 1000watts Trek Domane +HP. It's 37lb vs 30lb . Almost Same thing , the motor does the work anyway...

Domane+ HP | Trek Bikes

www.trekbikes.com

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Congratulations @Captain Slow! Please post some pics when you get the bike!

 

[Captain Slow]

I liked the Creo a lot , but now with the Trek +HP that just came out which has a removable Bigger 500wh battery +a 500wh portable spare battery, it's a total no-brainer to choose the Trek one.
I anticipate that a lot of peopel will be selling their Creo's to get the 1000watts Trek Domane +HP. It's 37lb vs 30lb . Almost Same thing , the motor does the work anyway...

Domane+ HP | Trek Bikes

www.trekbikes.com

Trek has never sold a class 3 bike in Canada. The Crossrip+ and the original Domane+ were not sold here and I doubt they would sell the Domane HP+. I did think about driving over the border to buy one, but it's considerably more expensive than the Creo and I'd have to pay both Washingston state sales tax and BC tax making it even more expensive. On top of that, who knows if a future firmware update would limit the bike to 20 mph and then I would have spent all that extra money for nothing. But yes, I'd love to have the Domane HP+

 

[Jimbo08]

Congrats Captain Slow....wickedly good bike. The battery in the Creo is purposely sized so it goes in your carry-on luggage for those who want the option to travel with their bike.

 

[Johnny]

Seriously, selling Creo to buy hp ? Additional battery is not something specific to a bike brand, any Bosch system can be retrofitted to take a second battery as long as there is space on the frame. When you add the housing and battery the bike will weight close to 45lbs not 37. Also it comes with the older 500wh tube battery instead of 625wh which is a negative.

If Creo is not locked then one can just build a higher capacity battery and use it as range extender.

To the OP, Creo seems like a very well designed road bike, I hope you will enjoy it.

 

[Ebiker01]

I was told in nov'19 that it was going to have the newer 625wh but probably design issues couldn't accommodate that.

just build a higher capacity battery and use it as range extender.

- ok, but how will it be carried ?

-also Creo's don't allow the battery to come off unless taking the motor out ;
What if there's an issue where you do need
to inspect the battery ? A lot of issues on ebikes are resolved by doing that. Sure with a drill can take it out , but not when out on the road.
I still like the Creo, but for practical reasons i would go with an Domane +HP.

- with the xtra battery @ 45lb it's still lightweight (the user's weight matters most) , with that 1kw battery capacity , could go for a looooong ride or do hills on it for a few hours.

ong as there is space on the frame

- the +HP is custom made to take an external Bosch pack. And actually that pack can be 6-700wh if using a 3rd party builder. It has the railings and that matters.
On another bike , you could have the space but is not easy to make a nice, clean design for the 2nd battery. And then is the wiring work.

-

 

[Johnny]

Your first three points are valid. Although imo when you reach 45lbs that begins to defeat the purpose of these bikes which is minimal assistance to accelerate and climb hills but after that same experience to a road bike.

...
- the +HP is custom made to take an external Bosch pack. And actually that pack can be 6-700wh if using a 3rd party builder. It has the railings and that matters.
On another bike , you could have the space but is not easy to make a nice, clean design for the 2nd battery. And then is the wiring work.

-

There is nothing special about +hp frame, all other manufacturers are taking the same approach, leave a wide enough flat platform on the down tube to install the additional battery housing on top of the in tube battery. Most new haibikes for example are made to take the additional battery similar way.

Bosch locks its bms so rebuilding the packs are tricky and the current powerpack is maxed out, you can not increase the capacity by rebuilding a 500wh ppack since it is already using pretty much the highest capacity cells so that pack can not be 600-700wh unless you use a custom case. There seems to be a European third party manufacturer that does this but I believe they don't even ship to US.

 

[Ebiker01]

European third party manufacturer that does this

Yes, and it is with a custom case like you've said. 745wh !

745Whr replacement batteries + 7A charger from E-bike Vision

I was happy to see that a company is offering higher Ah battery replacements for Yamaha and Bosch powered E-bikes. For Yamaha - PW, PW-Se, PW-TE and PW-X systems are compatible. It is a straight swap and you get 745whr battery instead of 500whr. It goes where the frame mounted batteries go but...

electricbikereview.com

Repacking a Bosch :https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=94771

But on a Creo that would be hard to do(have a 2nd battery on the down tube).

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Went to my LBS and asked about the aluminum Creo since it's now on the Canadian website. They didn't have one in stock, but indicated that a shipment was sent yesterday to them. They will be getting one in each size and he figures they will arrive by Friday.

I put down my deposit and will hopefully next Saturday I'll be test riding it and then bringing it home. I'm pretty sure I'm going to like it, but hey you never know.

Excited that I could be the owner of a Creo in a week.

Very cool.
In Canada, is this a Class 3 bike or Class 1 bike ?

 

[Captain Slow]

Unfortunately it will be a class 1 bike. I would prefer a class 3, but will have to settle for class 1 which I think I'll be ok with. If it were limited to 25 km/hr. I would not buy the bike. I think it was Aussie Greg who said there's a 10% allowance on the speed limit and that Specialized takes advantage of that, so if that's true then I should get assist to 35 km/hr, which is good enough for me. Ideally I'd want assist to around 40 km/hr. but if I can get to 35 that will be ok.

Having said that, perhaps the 10% allowance is an Australian rule and maybe they don't have it in Canada and I'll have to live with 32 km/hr.

The way I look at it, this bike will allow me to clear out my garage a bit. I can get rid of my Juiced CCS and Cervelo. Will give the CCS to my brother and sell the Cervelo. I was wanting a gravel bike as well so this will be 3 bikes in 1 for me. Gravel, road and electric commuter. Plus it has an integrated power meter, so I'm actually looking at the price and rationalizing the purchase as I'm getting pretty good value for the whole package.

 

[Johnny]

Yes, and it is with a custom case like you've said. 745wh !

745Whr replacement batteries + 7A charger from E-bike Vision

I was happy to see that a company is offering higher Ah battery replacements for Yamaha and Bosch powered E-bikes. For Yamaha - PW, PW-Se, PW-TE and PW-X systems are compatible. It is a straight swap and you get 745whr battery instead of 500whr. It goes where the frame mounted batteries go but...

electricbikereview.com

Repacking a Bosch :https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=94771

But on a Creo that would be hard to do(have a 2nd battery on the down tube).

The link you provided is for the Classic battery, the newer ones (powerpack 400-500) seem to be bricking the BMS if it is disconnected from the battery. Some people tackle this problem by connecting a parallel power source before disconnecting the old cells but it is tricky.

 

[HLM]

I doubt if even one person will be selling their Creo for any alternative currently on the market. The weight difference and top assisted speed is decisive in terms of the market. For those who think that the weight isn't critical, the weight of the bicycle and how its distributed makes a huge difference in the feel of the ride, not to mention that if you're out of battery, a light weight is much easier on the hills and during acceleration. With the Creo's Range Extender the battery differences are moot.

I liked the Creo a lot , but now with the Trek +HP that just came out which has a removable Bigger 500wh battery +a 500wh portable spare battery, it's a total no-brainer to choose the Trek one.
I anticipate that a lot of peopel will be selling their Creo's to get the 1000watts Trek Domane +HP. It's 37lb vs 30lb . Almost Same thing , the motor does the work anyway...

Domane+ HP | Trek Bikes

www.trekbikes.com

 

[Ebiker01]

With the Creo's Range Extender the battery differences are moot.

That will bring it to 34-35lb , Trek already has a removable 500wh pack- bike weight=37lb.
And can also install a small rear rack +fenders on +HP.

I agree that weight affects riding characteristics. Both are very close in weight. Cabron fibre both of them . Or carbon if you are a newbie...

Most issues on ebikes involve accesing and fiddling aroumd with the battery/charging port/ mounting position , etc...

CAN NOT Do that with Creo . Pay the dealer to remove it. Hey, another 50-75$ to remove the motor in order to remove the battery is peanuts... but it can happen often even for a great brand .

Plus with a Grin Satiator can charge an +HP at probably 6amps. Can't do that on a Creo either.
I'll visit TREK store in Nyc(they have 3 stand alone stores) to get a feel for the +HP. They sell and repair Only Treks.
Specialized is too cheap to have their own stores...

 

[FInx]

I was in the market for a Class III road ebike. I really wanted the Creo, but ultimately decided to go with the Domane+ HP. The deal breaker for the Creo for me is the non-removable battery. This bike will be my primary commute option 9 months out of the year, and I need to be able to charge the battery during the day. Being able to remove the battery on the HP and charge it at my desk was the deciding factor between the two.

 

[Ebiker01]

I was in the market for a Class III road ebike. I really wanted the Creo, but ultimately decided to go with the Domane+ HP. The deal breaker for the Creo for me is the non-removable battery. This bike will be my primary commute option 9 months out of the year, and I need to be able to charge the battery during the day. Being able to remove the battery on the HP and charge it at my desk was the deciding factor between the two.

Smart decision ! You can also get the xtra battery to put on the down tube. That gives you 1kw .
The other issue like i've said earlier is even if Creo wouldhave had the battery removable it CAN NOT BE charged FAST. It takes 6-7hours @2amps. That's 2012/2013 ebike charging speeds.

The +HP is also my goal amd I am working towards that. Hopefully in Mid april /early May.

 

[Captain Slow]

I got my Creo today and charged the battery, was quite a bit faster than 6-7 hours. Battery had about 2 bars when I picked it up. I didn't time the charge, but it was roughly in the 2.5 to 3 hour range.

 

[Ebiker01]

Well but it had 2bars, that's probably 35-40%.

I sincerely wish you an enjoyable and issues free experience.

Ps- after you get some miles in, looking foward to read your review.

Both are the reference e road bikes with amazing fitness, well being , anti aging and mental benefits which are reasons alone to justify an investment for health..

I'm happy that neither one of them has the vastly inferior fazua or ebike motion motor. The market has spoken and wants power , range and lightness.