- Joined
- Nov 12, 2015
- Posts
- 6,357
I rode a Creo last week. It is an E5 SL, so the base model. They don't do an E5 Evo, but the Evo is pretty much the same bike. Exact same frame. We put 38c Donnely tires on ours to make it a gravel bike.
I took it up to Craftsbury, VT where my daughter was running with friends and figured I would ride it back to Stowe on roads/trails I've done before while also exploring some new stuff. Planned on riding 60ish miles. If you don't know, the Creo is a SL motor bike, so half power relative to a full power bike such as the Specialized Levo and with a correspondingly smaller battery. It is a Class 3 so will give assist up to 28mph. It's a single chainring (46t) with a cassette of 11-42. It was below freezing, so I kept the bike indoors overnight to make sure I wouldn't lose any battery from the cold.
So I set off bound for Hardwick. I rode across the top of the hill toward Craftsbury Common and down the river following it toward Lake Elligo. From there, there is a big hill where I think on y Canyon I'd be going 3-4 mph and be grinding it out for an hour or so. Now 6 mph isn't blazing fast, but it does cut the length of that climb in half. It's not that it makes it easier, but I do go faster and so yeah, you can do more ride in less time if that's your thing. It was here that I noticed very smooth shifting and how the motor power is delivered so smoothly, intuitively. It never did anything I wasn't expecting, or failed to do something I did expect. At the top of that first hill though I had my first shot of range anxiety. A couple of bars were already gone.
I buzzed down into Hardwick and went over to Buffalo Mountain Road. A true VT Class IV, Jeeps and Land Rovers only. Realm of the snowmobiles. 27% grade in places (if Strava can be trusted on this). This is where I found the gearing to be inadequate. I have ridden on this on my Canyon Grail with a 34/34 low gear. With the Creo I actually had to get off and walk at one point. The motor wants you to be spinning or it just doesn't have enough torque to give you assist. The motor on the Levo does not care, but with a 46 chainring and a 42 cog I couldn't keep it going.
At the top of the hill I had my second hit of range anxiety. I was only at mile 15 and 50% of the battery was gone. So time for Plan B, I started heading for Wolcott doesn't Kate Brook Rd with a quick exploration of a road called Eagle Ledge. I will definitely be going back there probably with a fly rod.
When I reached Wolcott I was already down to 30% battery. Uh-oh, Plan C ride back on Rt 15 a nice flat paved road. The motor died completely as I reached Morrisville. 36 miles. It sort of makes me wonder what the use case for this bike is. On the one hand, I could totally commute on this bad boy. But on the weekends, I normally ride farther than that. I wanted to use this bike to ride farther and explore stuff I might not have the legs for. But it is limited on range and limited on capability too. An Etap setup with a road MTB mix would do a lot to fix the latter problem. Specialized does offer the range extender battery (which would take one bottle mount away). That would add 20 or so miles of range for a couple hundred bucks more.
Oh yeah, ride was a bit harsh compared to my Grail, and the Futureshock did very little to smooth the rough roads. I think what it was good for though was big jarring impacts like unseen potholes. It would be helpful to keep your hands from getting blown off the hoods.
I took it up to Craftsbury, VT where my daughter was running with friends and figured I would ride it back to Stowe on roads/trails I've done before while also exploring some new stuff. Planned on riding 60ish miles. If you don't know, the Creo is a SL motor bike, so half power relative to a full power bike such as the Specialized Levo and with a correspondingly smaller battery. It is a Class 3 so will give assist up to 28mph. It's a single chainring (46t) with a cassette of 11-42. It was below freezing, so I kept the bike indoors overnight to make sure I wouldn't lose any battery from the cold.
So I set off bound for Hardwick. I rode across the top of the hill toward Craftsbury Common and down the river following it toward Lake Elligo. From there, there is a big hill where I think on y Canyon I'd be going 3-4 mph and be grinding it out for an hour or so. Now 6 mph isn't blazing fast, but it does cut the length of that climb in half. It's not that it makes it easier, but I do go faster and so yeah, you can do more ride in less time if that's your thing. It was here that I noticed very smooth shifting and how the motor power is delivered so smoothly, intuitively. It never did anything I wasn't expecting, or failed to do something I did expect. At the top of that first hill though I had my first shot of range anxiety. A couple of bars were already gone.
I buzzed down into Hardwick and went over to Buffalo Mountain Road. A true VT Class IV, Jeeps and Land Rovers only. Realm of the snowmobiles. 27% grade in places (if Strava can be trusted on this). This is where I found the gearing to be inadequate. I have ridden on this on my Canyon Grail with a 34/34 low gear. With the Creo I actually had to get off and walk at one point. The motor wants you to be spinning or it just doesn't have enough torque to give you assist. The motor on the Levo does not care, but with a 46 chainring and a 42 cog I couldn't keep it going.
At the top of the hill I had my second hit of range anxiety. I was only at mile 15 and 50% of the battery was gone. So time for Plan B, I started heading for Wolcott doesn't Kate Brook Rd with a quick exploration of a road called Eagle Ledge. I will definitely be going back there probably with a fly rod.
When I reached Wolcott I was already down to 30% battery. Uh-oh, Plan C ride back on Rt 15 a nice flat paved road. The motor died completely as I reached Morrisville. 36 miles. It sort of makes me wonder what the use case for this bike is. On the one hand, I could totally commute on this bad boy. But on the weekends, I normally ride farther than that. I wanted to use this bike to ride farther and explore stuff I might not have the legs for. But it is limited on range and limited on capability too. An Etap setup with a road MTB mix would do a lot to fix the latter problem. Specialized does offer the range extender battery (which would take one bottle mount away). That would add 20 or so miles of range for a couple hundred bucks more.
Oh yeah, ride was a bit harsh compared to my Grail, and the Futureshock did very little to smooth the rough roads. I think what it was good for though was big jarring impacts like unseen potholes. It would be helpful to keep your hands from getting blown off the hoods.
