Specialised Como 5

[Stefan Mikes]

Some customers are best sent to your competitors
I wonder whether Ade's R&M is a Smart System e-bike yet.

 

[mfgrep]

Some customers are best sent to your competitors
I wonder whether Ade's R&M is a Smart System e-bike yet.

All this talk about bicycles and problems..... I think I'll go for a ride now.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

All this talk about bicycles and problems..... I think I'll go for a ride now.

There is one of national holidays of Poland today. Too hot to ride! Perhaps some short ride in the evening...

(I wonder what kind of trousers has one to wear to have them entangled inside the chainguard? Oh, wait. I can remember one of VanMoof promotional vids)

 

[Chuck_M]

There also is the MicroTune feature for the new Specialized Turbo e-bikes. Learn how to adjust the assistance in micro steps. Observe the Range and Range Trend on the display as you ride. That will help you a lot.

Summary: the current 710 Wh Como 5.0 battery is really huge, and it will provide a big range provided the rider is ready to put some effort in the pedalling, and understands how the assistance works.

The micro-steps is very useful. That's how I discovered the IGH absorbs almost 20% of the battery.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The micro-steps is very useful. That's how I discovered the IGH absorbs almost 20% of the battery.

An interesting observation! Would the IGH be so inefficient?
@Sefutau2020: That might explain your ordeal with the Vado IGH. You had a stronger motor on the IGH that on your chain Vado but...

 

[Chuck_M]

An interesting observation! Would the IGH be so inefficient?
@Sefutau2020: That might explain your ordeal with the Vado IGH. You had a stronger motor on the IGH that on your chain Vado but...

Yes, this manufacture of IGH has a documented drain on power. If you turn off the assist, you are lucky to move the bike. At a high cadence setting I couldn't move faster than walking.

 

[Chuck_M]

Specialised Ebike[AH1]

COMO 5​

Having bought a Specialised Como 5 Ebike from Ark Cycles, Brimscombe, Stroud, Gloucestershire, at a cost of £4500, in Feb 2023. It is proving, due to its very expensive batteries very limited endurance, proving to be a major disappointment.

[AH1]O 5

The riding modes can be adjusted to reduce power drain.
You can have, for example, 20% of the power from the motor and also reduce the motor output (amp) to 20%. On the como with will give you a "normal" feeling bike effort.
But if the (amps) are set at 100%, this will have the motor pushing 20% of the power, but amps at 100% of that usage.
So if you drop the settings to 20/20 or 50/50 you'll get more miles per charge. That's what the microtune settings are 10/10, 20/20 and so on.
I think my ECO mode is 20/40 which means I do 80% of the work, and the motor contributes 40% of its full power providing 20% of the load.

 

[kershekm]

Specialised Ebike[AH1]

COMO 5​

Having bought a Specialised Como 5 Ebike from Ark Cycles, Brimscombe, Stroud, Gloucestershire, at a cost of £4500, in Feb 2023. It is proving, due to its very expensive batteries very limited endurance, proving to be a major disappointment.

The bike itself being comfortable to ride, it includes such niceties as a radar, which shows dots on the display on the handlebars, indicating what traffic is behind you and automatic gears. It has proved to be useless for the Sunday rides I purchased it for, where accompanied by between 5 to 15 friends, we go off on a day long cycle rides. Stopping along the way to visit cafes and pubs and socialise with other like-minded cyclists along the way.

Taking my first Sunday ride February using the Como 5 Ebike in eco, sports and power modes - as required by the terrain. I ended up having to push the bike home for the last 5 miles, of what would have been a 27-mile ride, after the battery bottomed out.

A battery being the most essential element of any electric bike, instead of its claimed range of 60 miles range in sports mode. The Como 5 has an actual range of around 28 – 32 miles using sports mode on very flat terrain. Using all the modes to suit the terrain, I get 20 – 28 miles. The very hungry Power mode - 7miles

The last 20% of the battery depleting faster than water going down a drain. 5% having been reserved to ensure these batteries don’t go completely flat. The last 20% of the battery vanished in 2 to 3 miles in eco mode.

It being the last 20% of the battery that is the most relied on, especially when coming to the end of a day’s ride. This caught me short on that first Sunday ride. Having run the battery down a number of times since then. The last 20% always reacts the same. Just enough juice left to barely power the lights

Getting it home that day, not being easy, due to the automatic gears not functioning without battery power. The bike remained stuck in one of its lowest gears. Going up inclines like pushing a barrow half full of bricks uphill. Without battery power, the Como 5 proved a tough ride on any terrain other than on the level, or downhill.

.

It being stated in the bike’s manual, the battery loses its capacity to hold a charge by 1.25% per month, or 15% per year, whether it’s in use or not. A battery with a 30-mile range instead of the claimed 60 it’s supposed to have, will lose its capacity twice as fast. After all, it will need to be charged twice as many times.

So, with its present capacity to hold a charge set to shrink by between 20% and 30% before this year is out. I am most certainly not prepared to pay £1000 to replace one dud with another such dud. ABSOLUTELY NOT – NO - NO - NO. That’s going to leave me with an expensive, very useless Ebike in less than a year.

Stan, the person who suggested I do this review after test riding the bike for 25 miles himself. He has calculated it will cost him considerably less for petrol, tax and insurance using his 250cc motorcycle to travel the 200 miles to and from work each week, than it would cost doing around 100 miles a week using this Ebike.

With most Ebikes in the £4.500 to £5.500 range being capable of around 70 - 90 miles in sports mode. Even a Halfords cheapy with a wheel motor and a battery on the rack, can boast better mileage than this Specialised dud. I know, because the two Halford Ebikes used on that ride back in February, were still going strong when the Como 5 conked out.

Having taken the bike back to the Arc Cycles shop, where I complained about the batteries lack of performance. I was surprised when both the mechanic and sales persons tried convincing me this was probably normal. Due the mechanic stated, to the bike having a radar and automatic gears. Having disabled the radar and the front light, (not the gears) it made little or no impression on the battery’s terrible performance.

The online Specialised Turbo Range Calculator: indicating this bike should have a range of around 60 miles in sports mode on level terrain, for a man of my size (I had reviewed and checked this before I purchased the bike) It is instead is proving to be more like one of those Laptops, which last half the time they are supposed to when powered by battery. Unlike Ebikes however, laptops can still be used while they are charging, and you don’t have to push them miles home when the battery conks out.

The mechanics attitude at Arc Cycles, indicating I should accept the poor milage for this bike as the norm. Striking me as being his usual response to complaints of this kind. It is natural to conclude Specialised bike batteries are in the main - despite being very expensive - very very poor performers.

Coincidentally, concerning batteries, I was visiting a supermarket recently when I met a friend who had just purchased a new bike for himself. This one having a Bosch motor and Bosch batteries. He had, he informed me, already done 45 miles on a full charge, with the display indicating the battery was capable of covering another 45 miles in sports mode.

A replacement Bosch battery for his bike, being capable of 1200 charges (not the very limited 300 charges of the fast-depleting Specialised battery) It costs £750 and is not only much cheaper and much more powerful than its Specialised counterpart. It will also over the next several years, save its owner thousands of pounds by not having to be replaced annually.

I still have an old Kalkhoff bike. (Nine years old now) and while it is proving impossible to get spare parts for it. Despite its age, its battery is still capable of outperforming the two-month-old Como 5 battery.

The Kalkhoff being the bike I must use, if I want to continue the Sunday rides. Just to avoid having to push the Come 5 home for the last 5 to 10 miles. (At 75 it can be quite tiring) I have it seems, been left with a right lemon where the very short-range, very expensive to run, Specialised Como 5 is concerned.

The Como 5 going back to the shop on Tues 25th of April, to fix the back LED light which failed within a month of my purchasing the bike. They will also, I have been informed, check the battery.

The female assistant in the shop having suggested the first time I returned the bike; I should try riding it without the battery if I wanted more mileage. (I would have bought a standard mountain bike if I intended doing that) This completely unhelpful suggestion made me realise what I might be up against when dealing with them.

Rather than spending a fortune over the next ten years, regularly replacing batteries which will undoubtedly end up costing you way more than your Specialised Ebike did – anyone reading this should avoid purchasing a Specialised Ebike.

Afterthought​

What do you think would happen if one of the Arc Cycles staff purchased an electric car with a purported range of 200 miles, only to discover after using it a few times it only had a range of 100 miles.

Would they say “That’s ok, that seems normal.”

Of course not, that car would be back to the dealers faster than you can blink.

I am quite sure the same would apply to this Ebike, if one of them had purchased it.

---

[AH1]O 5

I just purchased a Turbo Como 5.0 IGH bike. Here is my review. I need to use the bike to commute to work 7/7 each way for a total of 14 miles. Sometimes when I ride, I like to put my bikes in turbo or PAS 5 and cycle hard, making good time to/from work and getting a decent workout. I have a Lectric Cargo bike (and I love it). But I wanted a commuter bike. I purchased the Specialized and my review is mixed.

I did a test drive using it in turbo (highest 100% micro setting); at Hardest Gear. I traveled an average of 25-27 miles per hour. My calculated range was about 29 miles which is good. I say "calculated" because I had my battery set to only charge to 80% to maintain long battery life. So, starting with 80%, I was able to get a range of just over 23 miles; that calculates to about 29 miles if the battery was at 100%.

The bike is a decent bike, but way, way over priced. The automatic gears is nice. It comes in handy when starting to pedal from a stopped position. But, I would have preferred if Specialized adopted a throttle to accomplish this. There is no throttle on this mike. Another huge negative for this bike is that the front handle bars cannot be adjusted towards the rider. For a bike in this price range, it should. This is important because for a bike that purported to be a commuter bike, you want a bike where you can ride in an upride position. I am 5'11''. The medium frame bike was good because the handle bars were close to the body where you need not lean forward too much. Leaning forward with pressure on the handle bars often creates numbness to the hands. I opted to go with a large frame because my height was such that I needed a seat elevation where my leg fully extended downwards when peddling. Not to have that extended leg setting can cause knee fatigue. But having a large frame, I am leaning too far foward. If the handle bars could be adjusted, it would great.

Another hugely negative problem with this bike is that the design is flawed for a commuter bike. It is too low to the ground. When turning and pedaling at the same time, your pedal scrapes the ground. It is hard to believe a company could make such a mistake. i've ridden many bikes and never seen such a design. There are some who will say... welll, just don't pedal when you turn. Or keep the pedal on the side you are turning up and the other pedal down. Yes, those are solutions to the problem. But for a bike that is ridiculously priced, the pedals should not be scraping the floor and causing a potential class action law suit for the company. I would imagine there will be people will have wipe out when turning corners, possibly seriously injuring themselves.

My Lectric Cargo Xpedition 2.0 bike which weighs over 100 pounds (two 750 watt batteries), is excellent and handles steep hills effortlessly. The torque seems to be better than the specialized. The battery life on the Lectric is excellent noting that it does have TWO long range batteries. I am getting 90-120 miles in mixed terrain use. I will test the Turbo Como 5.0 IGH to see what range it gets in mixed use and post again later. But I would think it will get 40-60 miles with mixed use.

The Turbo Como does not have turn signal capability. Many newer bikes do, that cost lot less.

The battery is ridiculously expensive. $1200 for a replacement battery (or auxiliary battery to use for longer trips). Other batteries are in the $300-600 range for a comparable 700+ watt battery. To connect the plug to the battery is very awkward and time consuming. The battery is encased in a metal frame and you can't see what you plugging the cord into.

The Turbo Como comes with a built in app-based Lock where an alarm goes off if some tries to moves it when parked. The alarm sound is way too soft to deter any theft.

I know a guy who owns a bicyle shop. He says that mid-motor bikes are much more difficult to repair and often cost more. I would imagine that the cost repairing the automatic gear shifting would be expensive also. Hopefully, these components will be durable.

The bike is smooth and comfortable to ride. I don't know if I regret buying this bike yet. But it is an insane amount of money just for company whose bike-branding are hyped up way too much. I came close to purchasing Lectric's new "Lectric One" for $2300. It has a mid motor and automatic gear shifting. The reason I opted not to get it, is that is cadence based motor rather than torque. My wife has a cadence based bike and I don't like it. I would have liked to have tried the Lectric One out. I hope this helps.