Specialized Turbo Creo 28mph Electric Road Bike

[Johnny]

Just saw the TREK Domane+ e-road bike and though I'm a Specialized fan, the Domaine+ seems to have the Creo beat: integrated lights, bigger motor, bigger battery.

I don't see how bigger motor is a plus , it is heavier and bulky on top of that without support there is some resistance when pedalling. Creo has a modified ligth motor which doesn't have any resistance.

The battery may have less capacity but thanks to it the bike is lighter and it is integrated very well to the frame.

No Domane is not better or different, it is simply Trek not bothering with designing the electrical components and slapping the last gen bosch system (motor +500wh battery) to the frame. The frame is beautiful though (except the bulky motor).

I remember reading trek switching to something like Fauza which should make the new Domane a nice, ;ight road bike as it should be.

 

[MRE]

Specs look more like the Creo Comp. Not electronic shifting and no carbon wheel set.
So the price is similar for the Specialized Carbon Comp compared to the Domane.
As MikeDee stated, it's a preference. I would not say one is better than the other. Just different.

Thanks. I have two 2015 basic Turbos and they have a bigger motor and battery (also a LOT heavier) and i wonder how the Creo (hopefully an aluminum model) will handle all my hills.

I don't see how bigger motor is a plus , it is heavier and bulky on top of that without support there is some resistance when pedalling. Creo has a modified ligth motor which doesn't have any resistance.

The battery may have less capacity but thanks to it the bike is lighter and it is integrated very well to the frame.

No Domane is not better or different, it is simply Trek not bothering with designing the electrical components and slapping the last gen bosch system (motor +500wh battery) to the frame. The frame is beautiful though (except the bulky motor).

I remember reading trek switching to something like Fauza which should make the new Domane a nice, ;ight road bike as it should be.

I guess I'll have to try the Creo if it comes out in a less expensive model. The motor has been my concern due to my age and the hills where I live.

 

[Steve Porter]

I don't see how bigger motor is a plus , it is heavier and bulky on top of that without support there is some resistance when pedalling. Creo has a modified ligth motor which doesn't have any resistance.

The battery may have less capacity but thanks to it the bike is lighter and it is integrated very well to the frame.

No Domane is not better or different, it is simply Trek not bothering with designing the electrical components and slapping the last gen bosch system (motor +500wh battery) to the frame. The frame is beautiful though (except the bulky motor).

I remember reading trek switching to something like Fauza which should make the new Domane a nice, ;ight road bike as it should be.

Just curious if you have ridden the Domane+ Johnny?

 

[Solom01]

I'm interested in seeing how this plays out. There is a lot of interest in light weight road bikes with a small amount of "electric assist" as compared to the normal electric bike with a powerful motor, huge battery and heavy weight that are normally what forum members use and are reviewed and talked about. I'm expecting the Creo to be like the Orbea Gain in that when they talk range they are expecting the rider to normally just use pedal power with the motor being used only in exceptional moments like when climbing a steep hill or facing a lot of wind. They're very different types of bikes and they both have a place, but it's important for people to know that if they buy one of these assist bikes they're trading huge amounts of power and electric range for the nimbleness and handling of a lighter bike. Micah Toll just recenty reviewed the Bianchi light weight bike and it was interesting reading his thoughts on this type of bike when he normally uses more traditional type ebikes. It's a great read.

First Ride: Bianchi Aria E-Road - Believe it or not this is an electric bicycle

I recently got the chance to test out the Bianchi Aria E-Road at Eurobike 2019. This lightweight road bike has...

electrek.co

 

[Johnny]

Just curious if you have ridden the Domane+ Johnny?

I wanted to but my local Trek dealer is only letting you take their emtbs for a ride so I could only look at the fit and finish. The build quality seemed very good though, I like Trek's carbon frames.

 

[Steve Porter]

I wanted to but my local Trek dealer is only letting you take their emtbs for a ride so I could only look at the fit and finish. The build quality seemed very good though, I like Trek's carbon frames.

The Domane + is fabulous. You might be surprised how well it handles. I don't find the weight troubling, and that is after years of riding a 17 lb Specialized S-Works carbon Roubaix. My only complaint is the drag of the gearing at low speed when the motor is off. Once up to speed that is not an issue, and I usually turn if off on flat ground, but it does make it hard to climb significant grades at lower speed with the motor off. For anything at more than 6-8% it doesn't matter to me as I have the motor on (otherwise I would be on my Roubaix), but lesser grades are a chore. But by using a Nyon I have custom modes that can add just enough assistance to neutralize the gearing resistance on lower grades. I think that is critical, and I would never buy a road e-bike (and this is my second; I had a Haibike Race S 6.0 for 1 1/2 years) without the ability to customize the assistance levels. The standard levels with Bosch motors are too high for most fit road bikers.

One of the things I like about the Creo specs is assistance up to 28 mph. I read many road bikers saying they don't need assistance at speeds greater than 20 mph, that they can ride at those speeds without assistance. I would respectfully submit that most of those folks have not ridden a bike like the Domane +. Yes I don't "need" assistance then either--I can ride even the 38 lb Domane + with the motor off at speeds in the low to mid 20's mph range on flat roads and frequently do. But the fact is it is just dang fun to ride at 28-30 mph using assist, either to move with traffic coming back from my ride through urban areas or as today when coming back on the windy roads after climbing Mt. Tam north of San Francisco. It's also great in the strong headwinds that can be common here especially along the coast. In my view once one has experienced that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages of the bike weight.

 

[MikeDee]

The Domane + is fabulous. You might be surprised how well it handles. I don't find the weight troubling, and that is after years of riding a 17 lb Specialized S-Works carbon Roubaix. My only complaint is the drag of the gearing at low speed when the motor is off. Once up to speed that is not an issue, and I usually turn if off on flat ground, but it does make it hard to climb significant grades at lower speed with the motor off. For anything at more than 6-8% it doesn't matter to me as I have the motor on (otherwise I would be on my Roubaix), but lesser grades are a chore. But by using a Nyon I have custom modes that can add just enough assistance to neutralize the gearing resistance on lower grades. I think that is critical, and I would never buy a road e-bike (and this is my second; I had a Haibike Race S 6.0 for 1 1/2 years) without the ability to customize the assistance levels. The standard levels with Bosch motors are too high for most fit road bikers.

One of the things I like about the Creo specs is assistance up to 28 mph. I read many road bikers saying they don't need assistance at speeds greater than 20 mph, that they can ride at those speeds without assistance. I would respectfully submit that most of those folks have not ridden a bike like the Domane +. Yes I don't "need" assistance then either--I can ride even the 38 lb Domane + with the motor off at speeds in the low to mid 20's mph range on flat roads and frequently do. But the fact is it is just dang fun to ride at 28-30 mph using assist, either to move with traffic coming back from my ride through urban areas or as today when coming back on the windy roads after climbing Mt. Tam north of San Francisco. It's also great in the strong headwinds that can be common here especially along the coast. In my view once one has experienced that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages of the bike weight.

What is the range of the Domane + (under power all the whole time)?

 

[Steve Porter]

Can’t really say—I never use power all the time and when I do I use custom levels generally lower than the standard ones. But to give you an idea my ride yesterday was about 32 miles with 3400 feet of climbing and used 48% of the battery.

 

[Steve Porter]

It's a Bosch Powertube 500 Wh battery. No provision for external battery. Yes those numbers are perfectly good for me, but don't be deceived by them--if I was riding with standard assist levels on fulltime they would be much, much lower. No different from any Bosch-powered bike.

 

[ghukins]

The elephant in the room here is how much this bike is a step up from the Ebikemotion bikes in the US, while not much of a change in countries with the 15.9 limit. To get this bike with a 28 mph assist is kind of like buying a bit of a hot rod! Not sure I would pay the steep up charge in EU but here in the states, well let’s just say I am very anxious to give it a try! The other side of the coin is that the US Ebikemotion powered bikes such as Orbea would be a real option if they assisted to 28 mph. Yes it will very rarely be utilized but it is nice to have the option.

The only issue I have with Orbea, is that the front forks on all but their $10K model are QR!!! I had a bad experience a few yeas ago with a VERY expensive bike in the infancy of disk road bikes and would never touch a QR disk again. You can't order the top bike's fork and do a swap as it is tapered and the others are straight - not compatible. A shame, really. All other manufacturers using Ebikemotion use thru axle forks.

 

[MikeDee]

The only issue I have with Orbea, is that the front forks on all but their $10K model are QR!!! I had a bad experience a few yeas ago with a VERY expensive bike in the infancy of disk road bikes and would never touch a QR disk again. You can't order the top bike's fork and do a swap as it is tapered and the others are straight - not compatible. A shame, really. All other manufacturers using Ebikemotion use thru axle forks.

That's incorrect. My M30 has a thru axle fork.

 

[Ebiker01]

The Domane + is fabulous. You might be surprised how well it handles. I don't find the weight troubling, and that is after years of riding a 17 lb Specialized S-Works carbon Roubaix. My only complaint is the drag of the gearing at low speed when the motor is off. Once up to speed that is not an issue, and I usually turn if off on flat ground, but it does make it hard to climb significant grades at lower speed with the motor off. For anything at more than 6-8% it doesn't matter to me as I have the motor on (otherwise I would be on my Roubaix), but lesser grades are a chore. But by using a Nyon I have custom modes that can add just enough assistance to neutralize the gearing resistance on lower grades. I think that is critical, and I would never buy a road e-bike (and this is my second; I had a Haibike Race S 6.0 for 1 1/2 years) without the ability to customize the assistance levels. The standard levels with Bosch motors are too high for most fit road bikers.

One of the things I like about the Creo specs is assistance up to 28 mph. I read many road bikers saying they don't need assistance at speeds greater than 20 mph, that they can ride at those speeds without assistance. I would respectfully submit that most of those folks have not ridden a bike like the Domane +. Yes I don't "need" assistance then either--I can ride even the 38 lb Domane + with the motor off at speeds in the low to mid 20's mph range on flat roads and frequently do. But the fact is it is just dang fun to ride at 28-30 mph using assist, either to move with traffic coming back from my ride through urban areas or as today when coming back on the windy roads after climbing Mt. Tam north of San Francisco. It's also great in the strong headwinds that can be common here especially along the coast. In my view once one has experienced that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages of the bike weight.

Q-Does the Domane + takes a bigger front ring to get a faster top end speed ?
I have a 28pmh commuter and after swapping the 48t for 54T it does 33-34mph top speed.
If Domane can get to 30-32 that’s amazing.

 

[Scott Adams]

A few thoughts after riding a Creo this weekend.

This is the closest bike to my ideal as envisioned shortly after starting in ebikes 13 years ago.

Just enough power to feel like a "magic bike" but you are definitely supplying as much energy as the motor with your legs.

The front shock is nicely hidden in the headtube and can be tuned by dialing a knob at the top.

Di2 was nice, still wished I could try this bike with a belt drive and a Rohloff, which I have never ridden but would like to try.

There is a very slight sound from the motor which I actually liked. I only heard it when it was quiet around me and it had a slight "whirr." I'm normally a fan of silent propulsion, but this is very close to silent, just a polite reminder that the bike is an active partner in the ride.

This is a connoisseur's ebike, for now it also requires a connoisseur's budget, but that will change.

The Founder's edition is beautiful in blue and gold.

I should mention that it is very light and agile, and that the motor dovetails perfectly with your effort.

I can't wait until Specialized introduce a mountain bike with this Mahle motor and battery in the down tube.

 

[Ebiker01]

The “Founders “ edition, all 250 of them , was sold out weeks ago. Was looking at their website at that time. That’s surprising for a 19k price tag.

 

[Oberst]

My main concern is the semi permanent battery. My garage is not temp controlled so, not being able to easily remove the battery to take indoors would likely drastically reduce its lifespan.

 

[Scott Adams]

My main concern is the semi permanent battery. My garage is not temp controlled so, not being able to easily remove the battery to take indoors would likely drastically reduce its lifespan.

That's understandable.

OTOH, the idea of a battery which is highly immune to rain and water intrusion while riding is the other side of that coin. At least it is light enough to easily carry inside for those who wish to. Likewise, if the battery only needs to be removed and installed once per year to protect it from the worst of winter temperatures, the effort might be worthwhile.

 

[Oberst]

That's understandable.

OTOH, the idea of a battery which is highly immune to rain and water intrusion while riding is the other side of that coin. At least it is light enough to easily carry inside for those who wish to. Likewise, if the battery only needs to be removed and installed once per year to protect it from the worst of winter temperatures, the effort might be worthwhile.

Agree but am also thinking summer temps can get pretty toasty in the garage. I take all my batteries indoors after each ride so they stay in a controlled environment.

 

[JRA]

There was a 13k version hanging from the ceiling of an eBike Store I was in yesterday and I turned the cranks and felt more restistance there than I would have expected. The salesman kept grabbing at it and I wondered what was going on and that is when he told me it was a 13k bike but then he directed me to a lesser version close by on the floor and obviously had been ridden. I did the same test and felt less resistance but enough so that it was quite noticeable.

On the other hand my son's neighbor had bought a Vado from the same shop that he uses to go to a gig he has had for 23yrs. and wanted to spice it up a bit and came to the conclusion he needed more outside time. He has a satisfactory pannier setup to carry his guitar in a travel bag on one side and a regular pannier on the other to carry his mic's and cords. A front mount pack to carry the essentials and he is as happy as a clam at high tide. He claimed he could even make it to the gig 10 minutes faster than in his car. 0% financing with a year to pay it off via his gig proceeds and it should do him service for a long time.

It will be interesting to see if he rides when it is raining sideways when he needs to go......

 

[rob_s]

JRA, what country are you in?

 

[JRA]

JRA, what country are you in?

Oregon, USA