Specialized Turbo Creo 28mph Electric Road Bike

[Deacon Blues]

I agree that the motor cutoff of 17.5mph is too low for a road bike where speeds are often above the set limit. On my Pedego RidgeRider (street/trail ebike) I was able to reset our Canadian limit of 20mph to a more realistic cutoff of 24mph, or 40kph. Mind you, my RidgeRider weighs 55 pounds.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Or the motor is just for the hills ?

That seems to be the principal purpose. That's why the motor is super-light and the battery not really big. It looks the philosophy behind Turbo Creo is "It is not a speed e-bike; it is a road e-bike" meaning you need to pump your own watts into the crank but the dreaded part -- the hills -- will be easier to negotiate.

The law is the law. "Dura lex sed lex". If Creo were to be a speed bike, regulations would require many obligatory heavy components unwelcome in a road bike.

 

[Ebiker01]

cutoff of 17.5mph is too low

Is even lower then that for them . 15.5mph is 25kmh the Aussie limit. I think is the same in Eu for the Class 2 , and class 3 need license, reg./insurance.

 

[Ebiker01]

law is the law. "Dura lex sed lex". If Creo were to be a speed bike,

I like the Eu regulations regarding the technology , specifically , the massive amount of information that google and all this other companies gets for free from the citizens.
That EU privacy law was a very good regulation !

But with ebikes , limiting is not safe. Limit the cars , motors and trucks Engines by design and then we are all safer.
That especially when us , people on bikes are the most vulnerable. Our bikes or ebikes should actually be allowed to fly and the cars be forever limited or doomed to road use not air

 

[Stefan Mikes]

European Class 3 is code-named L1e-B; 45 km/h limit, no driving license needed over age of 18, registration and insurance is necessary. What is quite interesting, European "Class 3" e-bike may have the motor up to 4 kW yet I haven't seen nothing more powerful than 500 W commercially made. UK Class 3 rider must wear a motorcycle helmet, just a helmet elsewhere.

The Class 2 does not exist in the EU law. In Europe, you have to pedal to ride an e-bike. And Class 1 is treated as a regular bicycle, up to 250 W of continuous motor power, 25 km/h limit (15 mph in UK).

We may contend with the law but that's why e-road bike purpose is as I described: negotiating hills only.

 

[Solom01]

It's telling that the super high ranges reported with light bikes such as the Turbo and Orbea are always from countries where the cut off is set at 15.5 mph, but it makes sense. These bikes are light enough that riders in decent shape (who are the intended audience) are often riding above that speed and not using any battery power most of the time so, of course, that makes for huge range. In places where the cut off is 20mph if you have the bike at the same setting you'll be using the battery a lot more, so you'll have a much shorter range. You could, of course, just turn the motor off and on and achieve the same result, but that's a bit of a pain. It would be nice if ebike motion gave users the option of lowering the cut off speed in their app so users in the US, for example, could set it to cut off at 15.5 mph. That's actually pretty funny, most people are trying to figure out ways to increase the cut off speed on their bikes, not lower it. I guess that's one of the main difference between these bikes and "regular" ebikes, reinforcing that their power is only meant for occasional help.

 

[Captain Slow]

Solom01 I generally agree and I am the target audience for the Creo. I have been waiting years for something like the Creo. I like my Juiced CCS for commuting, but I hate the upright position which causes a lot of wind resistance. Particularly once I get to about 35 km/hr. going any faster just results in the battery draining really quickly and I'm not going much faster. I'd greatly prefer a more aero road position for efficiency.

In the US the Creo is rated for 80 miles of range and it assists to 28 mph (45 kmh) so I'd say that's a high assist speed with a long range. Now if you run the range calculator on their website you'll see that's for a flat ride and if you're in the hills the range drops pretty fast. But that's true of any ebike.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The Range Calculator of Specialized is a blatant lie.

 

[steve mercier]

The Range Calculator of Specialized is a blatant lie.

I got a fever and the only cure is...more batteries

 

[Ebiker01]

registration and insurance is necessary.

And license plate no ?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Registration implies the license plate.

I got a fever and the only cure is...more batteries

I bought me a cowbell. Always helpful.

 

[smorgasbord]

What is quite interesting, European "Class 3" e-bike may have the motor up to 4 kW yet I haven't seen nothing more powerful than 500 W commercially made.

The M1 Spitzing Evolution R-Pedelec has been advertised has having an 850Watt TQ motor. The new Haibikes for 2020 are supposed to have the same/similar motor, but rumor is they'll spec it down to 500 watts to not be a Class 3 - at least in Europe.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

European L1e-B (Class 1) means max continuous power to be 250 W. To avoid speculation.

 

[OzGreg]

This is a totally different ride on the Creo to the one linked in my post on page 7.
It is a ride through the beautiful Dandenong ranges close to Melbourne.
Everything in this area is either up or down, not much is flat.
I’m riding with a group that is stronger than me and if I was on a normal road bike they would be waiting for me at the top of every climb.
I have tried to show the effortless climbing on the Creo where my heart rate is quite low while climbing steep pinches and I’ve also tried to show the superb handling of the Creo in fast twisting descents.
I hope you enjoy the beautiful scenery and the Aussie music (INXS) soundtrack. [edit: Sorry YouTube restricted this video due to the copyrighted music (even though they previously allowed the same content), so I have unfortunately replaced the soundtrack with elevator music]

At the start my battery is full charged and I have selected Sport mode with 40% support and 65% peak. This means the bike will put in up to 40% of my input with a maximum of 156 Watts (65% of 240W). The power output of the Creo is always proportional to my input, that's what makes it feel so natural to ride. I did not touch any settings during the ride, just rode the bike at a pace to stay with the stronger riders all the way and did not try to conserve battery, showing how the Creo truly is just set and forget. The bike is perfect for this kind of riding just turn it on and enjoy the ride.

Climbing starts immediately, 288m from the start and already 5%. Power shown is Me+Creo.
The second battery reading is for the Garmin.

The start of this ride is straight up an average 5% climb and after 20 minutes and just over 6km the battery is already down to 91%.
Assist Mode is the Creo setting which can be 0 (Off), 1 (Eco), 3 (Sport) or 5 (Turbo)

By the 18km mark (511m of climb and 1 hour riding) I’m down to 71% battery.
Both me and the bike working hard here on 13% gradient.

At 30km battery now 56%

At the end of the ride 48km and just over 1000m of climb battery is 42%

 

[Scott Adams]

The future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed.

 

[Captain Slow]

Says video unavailable when I click on the link

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Now we all know what is the Creo for Thank you @OzGreg for the review!

 

[rob_s]

I get video unavailable as well

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Looking forward to the video as well... I imagine it got whacked for the INXS audio. Time to bust out the kazoo!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Sorry to say @JayVee but at least the Highway Code of Poland does not recognize L1e-A as a separate class. There is either the bicycle (0.9 m width maximum, powered by human power, can be assisted by electric motor of continuous power not higher than 0.25 kW and assistance that gradually ceases to exist at 25 km/h) or a moped, which is a bi- or a tri- cycle equipped with internal combustion engine of capacity not greater of 50 cm3 or with electric motor of the power not greater than 4 kW and of which construction limits the maximum speed to 45 km/h.

That Code was last changed as per 2nd of January 2020.

Therefore, at least in Poland, all L1e classes have been classified as the moped. I should know better as I registered and insured my Turbo Vado and it was really pain in ass.

RAD may say what they want. What does the Highway Code of your country exactly read?