Thoughts about my first 2013 Turbo-S Ebike

[kdv10]

Hi folks,

Took a demo ride of a specialized Ebike over the weekend and fell in love with it. When I came back, the dealer told me the demo bike I was riding was for sale.

It is a red 2013 Turbo S. Priced is $3700. No warranty on it, not even the frame warranty would be in effect. However, he was going to provide me a new battery since the demo bike's battery was not holding up too well.

So, I immediately went home and started doing research on this bike and others. My questions are: Should I take a chance with this demo bike with it's lack of any type of warranty? What would I need to look out for (motor life, total mileage?) if I wanted to buy this particular bike? And also, is this a fair price for this demo bike?

I really like the Red color of this bike and noticed the 2015 onward bikes lacked this option. I would primarily use this bike for a 10 mile round trip to work and for weekends buzzing around town.

Many thanks!

 

[Allan47.7339]

A new battery would alleviate a lot of the concen of a used Turbo. If it has had enough use to replace the battery it would be a good idea to check bottom bracket, headset, cassette, chain ring and chain which are standard maintenance items. I haven't had one long enough to know if I need to worry about the motor but I haven't noticed any posts about motor issues. I don't know what the used prices are for Turbos.

 

[Cameron Newland]

Hi folks,

Took a demo ride of a specialized Ebike over the weekend and fell in love with it. When I came back, the dealer told me the demo bike I was riding was for sale.

It is a red 2013 Turbo S. Priced is $3700. No warranty on it, not even the frame warranty would be in effect. However, he was going to provide me a new battery since the demo bike's battery was not holding up too well.

So, I immediately went home and started doing research on this bike and others. My questions are: Should I take a chance with this demo bike with it's lack of any type of warranty? What would I need to look out for (motor life, total mileage?) if I wanted to buy this particular bike? And also, is this a fair price for this demo bike?

I really like the Red color of this bike and noticed the 2015 onward bikes lacked this option. I would primarily use this bike for a 10 mile round trip to work and for weekends buzzing around town.

Many thanks!

I think the price is high, considering that you can get a brand new Turbo (albeit with different specs/parts) for less than $4,000. The 2013 Turbo S was probably pretty expensive when it was a brand new model, but $3,700 is probably too much for that bike even if it had 0 miles and came with a two year warranty.

If the shop had put a fair price on the bike in the first place, perhaps they wouldn't be in the position of holding onto 3 year old inventory.

Just my $0.02.

 

[kdv10]

Thanks Allan. Thanks Cameron for the above suggestions. Yes, I think the price of $3700 is a bit high as well. I will keep all of this in mind as I go about my search for this bike.

I also searched my local Craigslist and found a few sellers of this bike as well. I will look at this option too.

On another note, I downloaded the user manual and looked over the guide. I was wondering if I look at used bikes, is there a way to determine the number of miles put on the motor of this bike and the number of charges the battery has taken? I couldn't find this info any place.

 

[Allan47.7339]

The Specialized dealer only software can read that information. The battery is about 800 retail. I have a Turbo S because it's the one I liked when I was trying out bikes. I like that it's integrated and I didn't want to mess with a kludge. It depends on your personal criteria as to the value.

 

[kdv10]

Thanks for that tidbit about end users not able to read the mileage on the motor without dealer software. I am curious, can the battery be had for less than $800? Other sources for these?

Marko, yes,a new battery would be part of $3700 price the dealer offered me. Hopefully, I would get the 504wh one as I don't believe specialized carries this any longer. He was going to allow me to also keep the demo-bike's existing battery (342 wh) as well.

 

[OldGuy]

You can read total mileage / trip mileage / battery % on the display, unless it is entirely different on the 2013. The mileage is stored in the battery, so check before it gets replaced.

 

[kdv10]

Thanks Oldguy for that tip!

To update: I ended up purchasing a new in box 2015 Turbo S from a third party. It still has the 250watt motor, but comes with the 504wh battery.

Got a chance to ride it a few times and it definitely puts a smile on my face.

One thing I noticed is the battery moves back/forth and doesn't seem snug. I read someplace where you put some stickers around the battery to shim it in place? Does anyone have this issue?

 

[Allan47.7339]

There is an adjustment to make sure you have good contact with the system. The battery also has two seal strips that should keep it from moving too much. And to clarify my earlier comment I meant the number of charge cycles and any faults the battery has had you need the dealer software.