kevin.bleakley
New Member
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- Europe
Any past history intuition from Specialized on typical delay times between bringing out the carbon and later the alu models?
specialized creo 2
- Thread starter Jaspal
- Start date
AvalancheRun
Well-Known Member
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- USA
Those that ordered Comp models while in stock, were they set to be delivered immediately? I read some mentioning waits until January. Would like to know if that was an estimated re-stock date, or for the initial deliveries.
AvalancheRun
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- USA
Stefan, have you tried a carbon Diverge? I am curious to hear if you find compliance to be as good as your Vado 4.0 SL with Redshift setup.I really regret I will not but a Creo 2 as now my priority is finishing the next year gravel marathon on a pedal bike. Otherwise, this beautiful e-bike checks all the boxes! Honestly, I was not happy riding a Creo 1 with the 25 km/h limiter on road... I guess roadies laughed at me!While a Creo 2 would be fast enough off-road with all necessary bells & whistles, and when it comes to the road... (don't tell anyone: there are derestrictor chips!)
Just saying.
OTOH, I recently was on a gravel ride together with a greybeard who struggled on his pedal gravel bike at 15-16 km/h. He is a target buyer of a Creo 2!
I have now tested a Domane carbon, Diverge Sport carbon (FS 2.0) and BMC URS 01 THREE, and - holy cow! - these bikes were magnificently light and comfortable, especially the latter two.
Creo 2 is just ideal because of the huge flexibility e-bikes afford us here in Texas. Dealing with (daily) 40C heat, hills, grocery runs become a breeze. Just wary about compliance/comfort as it's been an issue for me.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
I tried a Diverge EVO E5 with a carbon fork and FutureShock 1.5; it was a shockingly good combination, surpassing what I experience with the RedShift. Even if that Diverge had no rear suspension, riding into a very unpleasant rough surface felt as if I were perfectly isolated from it!
WildPaul
Active Member
- Region
- USA
On my creo 2, after making several adjustments, the bike is now one of the most comfortable and compliant I’ve ever ridden. It’s even more comfortable than my full fat Vado 5 with suspension seat and front shocks!
Changes I made that drastically improved comfort:
- Replaced the extremely heavy and uncomfortable dropper post with a roval terra carbon post (biggest improvement)
- S-works pathfinder tubeless tires (running around 45psi, second biggest improvement)
- S-works power mirror saddle (my personal favorite)
- Flipped reversible stem to +6 degree rise (I have a bad back)
- Shimano XTR clipless pedals
After making these changes I was honestly a bit shocked by how compliant and comfortable the ride became. I don’t have a ton of experience with super high-end carbon bikes like this one, but I was expecting there to be some major comfort tradeoffs compared to the plush Vado 5. As it turns out, after these changes the creo 2 has actually become my most comfortable ride.
Paul
Prairie Dog
Well-Known Member
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- Canada
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- Red Deer
Well done. Glad to hear that those changes made improvements in your ride. Sweet lookin' bike!
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss, to be precise
What size?
mschwett
Well-Known Member
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- USA
a lot of people don’t take into account that carbon can be very carefully designed for varying degrees of stiffness all along the length and intersections of each tube, with whatever shape is desired. it isn’t just for weight. a huge problem with e-bikes is the very, very large downtubes they require are very limiting when formed out of aluminum. you can only make aluminum so thin and have it hold up, and the resulting properties of stiffness and vibration are suboptimal, to say the least.
on reasonable roads, a lightweight carbon bike tuned for comfort with well designed frame, post, bars, wheels, and reasonably large (28-32mm) tubeless tires is a very, very smooth ride, absorbing small chattering bumps as well as poor pavement quality. works great on hard packed dirt and fine “gravel.” the difference between that and a heavy aluminum machine is very significant!
WildPaul
Active Member
- Region
- USA
Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss, to be precise
Actually no it’s the (new?) s-works pathfinders, 700x42.
Check em out: https://www.specialized.com/us/en/s-works-pathfinder-2bliss-ready/p/205546
So far I *really* like them. They’re super light, roll FAST on pavement, and have decent grip on gravel (not quite as grippy as the stock 47 tires though).
Dazmanturbo
Well-Known Member
AvalancheRun
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
Right!? Riding the Diverge with FS 2.0 was indeed surprising in how little impact or buzz reached the rider.
Actually just stumbled upon an article from Cycling About comparing FS with RS. They came to the same conclusion.
Thanks for the detailed write up! You’ve put more info out there than all of the press reviews combined.
I had a short ride today on a Creo 2 S-Works, and Diverge Pro. Diverge was clearly more comfortable, but it was closer than expected. I feel really good knowing that there are some easy modifications to improve on comfort further, like going tubeless.
Other thoughts in case you guys are interested:
The bike felt heavy, but once you hop on the weight basically disappeared. Great handling bike. I don’t need sharper handling than this for what I do. Diverge clearly better there of course.
The motor was pretty quiet. Quieter than my new Bosch Performance Line standard. The pitch was lower and less brash. Lower PAS were quieter (not really the case with my Bosch). That said, I would need a lot more time to draw a solid conclusion on noise. Once you’ve spent time listening to something the ear is better at picking it out.
Power, it seems fair to say, was more than anyone would need, but why not have the option? It adds to the fun. Even on a small 52 (I ride 56) without full leg extension it was easy to climb unpowered. Pedal a few seconds in turbo and - boom - you’re going over 20 mph.
Power delivery was more natural than my Bosch. There is a little slack in the crank arms on the Bosch. It makes a clack sound when you don’t hook up motor power perfectly with your leg power. Didn’t notice that here. It felt more like I was doing the work than being pushed by a tailwind. And I mean that in a good way.
This felt - by far - more like a bicycle than any of the e-bikes I’ve tested. So many others feel like small motorized vehicles.
If a Creo 2 were available I would snag it - tough call!
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
WildPaul
Active Member
- Region
- USA
Great writeup! My overall impressions having ridden the bike for several weeks now are very similar to yours. In general, I find that product marketing is usually just hot air, but the Specialized "It's You Only Faster" slogan perfectly fits this bike - in terms of how it actually feels to ride.
For context, I currently have my creo 2 power levels set to eco 25/25, sport 50/50, and turbo 75/75 and I'm very comfortably using eco 80% of the time. I'll pop into sport if it's later in the ride and on a 5%+ grade (or against severe headwind) and just don't feel like grinding. I hardly ever activate turbo on this bike (less than 5%), which at "just" 75/75 power setting still feels like too much assistance, except when the grade climbs above 15% or something awful like that, and then it's very nice to have ;-)
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
@AvalancheRun: The article you quoted has brought two interesting aspects. One is RS vs FS. While RS is an excellent product, I do agree the FS is even better! The other thing was the choice of 38mm Pathfinder (Pro) 2Bliss for the gravel bike. I chose those tyres for my Vado SL not without a reason: they are fast With my low leg power and low motor power I was looking for something to give me some extra edge. And Pathfinders are so supple!
With my low leg power and low motor power I was looking for something to give me some extra edge. And Pathfinders are so supple!
AvalancheRun
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
Interesting! They showed me their screen which basically had zero info. Will have to ask about pre-ordering. I’m honestly so torn between these two…You can pre-order it via your LBS, I think
A great write-up!
Such a nice bike! Have you tried the heart rate mode which turns motor assistance on when your HR reaches a certain threshold?
I could find uses for that turbo mode: traveling a few sweat-free miles on errands in July in Texas.
Btw, on the topic of comfort, been hearing good things about Cushcore with tubeless. The LBS even swore by it.
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Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
I'd like to understand how it really works... Paul and Dazman have got their Creo 2... I reckon it never gets really cold in Texas and you would ride all year long?
Decisions, decisions... Both are marvels of engineering. If you feel you'd never need any assistance, want to enjoy the exceptionally low weight of the traditional bicycle, and feel no range anxiety ever, that would be the Diverge. On the other hand, the Creo 2 gives you a lot of flexibility (like, tire selection), and all that fancy electronics... Power & cadence meters included for one, the advanced Smart Control modes such as HR control...
In my case, the most lightweight and fancy traditional bike would mean I'd still be crawling at low speed, making me look a bit funny
I'm also a data geek, and the Specialized electronics is a great toy for me. Riding an e-bike means a lot of fun; on the other hand, you already do own an e-bike! Dazmanturbo
Well-Known Member
Stefan....I wish. Not seen a single one here in the UK as yet. I will get one when they arrive. Looking like December at present
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Oh.
I hear something like late November for Poland...
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
@AvalancheRun: I had an afterthough today.
I was about to ride for small grocery shopping, 5 miles one way. There was a massive headwind on my way to the store. I put 60/60% SL assistance to only get at the speed I normally ride my Vado SL unassisted. The SL Turbo allowed me riding at the speed normally achieved with the 60/60% assistance. Now, if there were a massive headwind where you live, would you ride a Gazelle, a Diverge, or a Creo 2?
I was about to ride for small grocery shopping, 5 miles one way. There was a massive headwind on my way to the store. I put 60/60% SL assistance to only get at the speed I normally ride my Vado SL unassisted. The SL Turbo allowed me riding at the speed normally achieved with the 60/60% assistance. Now, if there were a massive headwind where you live, would you ride a Gazelle, a Diverge, or a Creo 2?
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