Specialized Turbo Review and Ride Report

[Green Machine]

Specialized has just released the Turbo electric bike in the USA market.

I got the opportunity to test ride the Specialized Turbo and wrote complete review here:

http://www.electricbike.com/specialized_turbo/

I would appreciate any insight you guys have to offer.

I do not think its worth the asking price of $6000. Even at half price this would be a hard bike to swallow.

Both the Neo jumper and Stromer St1 at $4000 I like better.

Here are the pros and cons of the specialized turbo in my mind:

Pros
Super elegant bike with nice fit and finish
Good company name behind it
top notch components all the way around
super well built bike with no weaknesses anywhere
excellent battery indicator
Decent speed with hard pedaling
Cons
$6000 price point is very high
350 watt hour battery pack is too small and offers limited range
Not good for any off road riding
slick tires can be slippery
Bike has agressive road bike feel that can be uncomfortable

 

[miro13car]

Green Machine,
thank you for review
Have not seen more detailed ebike revews than yours.
You care to include details no other reviews would mention.
I like where you wrote about Specilaized motor " obviously not desiged by Chinese engineers".
Definitely such motor will last,
Keep them /reviews/ coming especially of quaity ebikes , some need some comparison with quality stuff sold.
I agree Stromer is a winner.

 

[etard]

Great review, whoever decided to put this bike into production is not living in the real world and will probably be looking for a new job by the end of the year.

The problem I have with expensive ebikes is I can't picture a scenerio where I would park my bike outside and go in a building for an hour or two without stressing about whether or not it will be there when I come out. Maybe if I lived in Canada or Europe...

 

[Green Machine]

Thanks guys.


Hey Etard i really liked your point about the bike possibly getting stolen.

I put it in the conclusion of the review.

For a bike that is being sold as a city commuter, it certainly would be a jackpot for a bike thief.

I know living in SF i would never lock a bike like that outside anywhere in the city.

Micro13...when i first started electricbike.com just a year ago there were barely any quality production electric bikes on the market. Now a year later..things have really changed.

It blows me away all the quality products coming to market. Its exciting times for production ebikes.

 

[Tinto]

It's gorgeous and I'm grateful bikes like this exist from a manufacturer like specialized.
Plenty of Specialized customers are paying that price point and up - and have pedal power only.
Many of us are willing pay more for a brand we trust. I drive a VW, not a Skoda, even though they are very similar under the skin (even owned by the same company!).

I'm also fortunate enough to be able to park my bike in my office, so commuting on an expensive bike is a reasonable option in the future. I haven't been able to comfortably park a bike in a public rack since primary school, but I know that wouldn't be the case for everyone.

I really enjoyed the read - going to give it a second pass now.
I'm a regular on your site - updates at just the right pace.

 

[Green Machine]

It's gorgeous and I'm grateful bikes like this exist from a manufacturer like specialized.
Plenty of Specialized customers are paying that price point and up - and have pedal power only.
Many of us are willing pay more for a brand we trust. I drive a VW, not a Skoda, even though they are very similar under the skin (even owned by the same company!).

Thanks for this insight and it is a good point. I should add this sentiment to the review as well. I will add it in the paragraph with the headline "is it worth $6000"

Thanks guys again. You guys are awesome. Thanks ambroseliao as well for helping me over PM.

Regarding the site and the reviews. Without ES there would be no EB.com. When i joined es a few years ago i had no understanding of electric bikes..just enjoyed riding them. I quote ES and link to ES all the time. I can see through the analytics that we send an average of 100 people to ES a day and i am assuming those are mostly newbies.

 

[Ykick]

Enjoyed the review, thanks!

Yeah, too expensive. Maybe not for Gucci customers but anybody really looking to commute ain't gonna buy one of those. It almost seems "dated" by about 5 years too? As if the company worked on this in their spare time with little understanding of how these things will actually be used?

Even at it's modest weight for an electric, designers appear to ignore the fact that electric gear adds weight? At least judging by your "harsh ride" comment.

Props to Specialized for doing this but I suspect most will likely sit, and sit, and eventually go for clearance prices. At which point, they might be a good buy....

 

[miro13car]

I think it is just initial/introductory price and it will be lowered.
Optibike , /I don't know if it is good comparison/ is still in business despite high prices.
time will tell.

 

[Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh]

greenie, you're no pete prebus.
he's soo dreemy. *sigh*

 

[50yearoldebiker]

It's a good bet they will lower the prices or they'll be stuck with a million dollars worth of of e-bike with dead batteries that never sold

 

[Green Machine]

From what Specialized said at the SF event (the Specialized owner was at the event, owns the Turbo and rides one everyday), they already know that the bike is selling well in Europe, especially Germany. So according to them the gamble of developing the bike looks to have paid off. He said that ebike sales in europe have taken off, that 1/4 of all new bikes sold are ebikes in Europe.

It is a big question on whether this bike will sale in USA. (i doubt it)

It seems to me that the ebike movement is more happening in China and Europe, and it hasnt caught on here. But because of those two huge markets, we are seeing a lot of new quality bikes here in USA.

For example many of the millions of ebike owners in China are switching from lead acid to lithium ion, thus the price of lithium is going way down.

 

[Green Machine]

greenie, you're no pete prebus.
he's soo dreemy. *sigh*

LOL Yeah but I occasionally get called Pete.

Check out this recent comment from Pedego company owner on my regenerative braking story published last week. The stuff I put up with. Pete and Pedego are buddies, and i can just imagine how the conversations go. But I'm not Pete.

By the way one of the features I really like on the Specialized Turbo is regenerative braking. It is nice when manufacturers go through the little bit of extra trouble to provide it.

Don DiCostanzo (owner of Pedego)
Pete,
All of our research and development support the opinion that regeneration is not effective on an electric bike. We believe that the amount of energy captured by even the best of systems is irrelevant to extending range. Claims of it by manufacturers is purely hype and I would question the integrity of those that make the claim.


ElectricBIke (green machine)
Don, thank you for checking in. Regenerative braking is not hype...it is used on high end electric bikes which use direct drive hub motors such as the Stealth Bomber, the Stromer St1, Smart, Grace, all bionx bikes and the Specialized Turbo. I really encourage you to read the testings and findings done by Justin in this thread http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7891. Interestingly in that thread he says that the negative stigma of regen was created by the manufacturers who do not offer regen.. surprisingly you claim the opposite...but i think regen would be a great addition to your Interceptor and Comfort Cruiser lines. Seriously read that post and consider it. And please don't call me "Pete".

 

[4REEE]

@Green Machine: Excellent review on the Turbo.

How does one change the rear tire if the hub/dropout interface is unique only to Specialized?

 

[Green Machine]

@Green Machine: Excellent review on the Turbo.

How does one change the rear tire if the hub/dropout interface is unique only to Specialized?

Its just a through axle...like you see on a lot of high end front suspension forks.

The tire is a standard 700c tire and should be no problem replacing. The hub motor however is proprietary, and special design to work with that through axle.