Testing an electric gravel bike has been one of my biggest goals, so I was thrilled when I got the opportunity to test one of the best options available, the Specialized Turbo Creo SL.
I was even more thrilled when I found out that I would not only get to try the carbon version but also the more affordable, aluminum one too.
Let’s find out how well those bikes perform.
Gravel E-Bike Concept
I watch the gravel e-Bike market with great interest because I believe that there are numerous advantages.
You can ride with support to work and ride home without it to get a proper workout. You can enjoy more speed on hilly forest roads and easily conquer bigger hills. The motor will easily overcome the weight of heavier (comfort) components and even the rolling resistance of your tires. You can explore the world with more ease and more enjoyment.
That was my mindset when I started riding these electric gravel bikes from Specialized. And I was right (mostly).
Riding An Electric Gravel Bike
If I needed to use one word to describe the experience of riding an electric gravel bike, I would say it’s wonderful!
But at the same time, it’s limiting too. Let me explain.
The Specialized Turbo Creo SL is not the most powerful electric gravel bike out there. Specialized is advertising that it has the power of twice you (that’s 240 watts). Yet the power it delivers, especially in the highest level of assistance is more than enough to magically upgrade your rides from enjoyable to wonderful.
The most enchanting thing is the ability to accelerate at a truly unbelievable pace. You brake, you turn, and you accelerate hard. You get to speed quicker and that demands your full attention. The acceleration speeds are what makes these bikes a thrilling experience.
I found that riding at the limit of my possibilities on narrow forest roads was something I quickly got addicted to. But at the same time, this wonderful experience is limited because of two things.
The first one is the law that forbids electric bikes to support you above a certain speed. In Poland, this is only 25 km/h, which means you reach this limit very quickly. After that, you feel as if someone robbed you of the great fun you were having. I now know how my three-year-old feels when I stop him from watching cartoons.
The other thing is the way the electric motor works.
I had only ridden on Bosch and Yamaha motors before the Creo. My main complaint with these motors is that they are slow to engage, and more annoyingly, slow to stop after you’ve stopped pedaling. Bosch improves these reaction times in every new generation of its motors but we are still not at the point where the motor works in natural harmony.
The Specialized motor is not the quickest responder either.
When you start riding from a standstill, the motor engages with a delay – you have to do two or three crank rotations to get it fully working. For these initial seconds, it feels like you’re fighting with the motor instead of working with it.
Most motors are most effective at a cadence of around 80RPM – below 60 and above 100RPM and they simply do not work as seamlessly. In light of this, I’d recommend changing your gears before you stop so that you can quickly get to 80RPM.
The problem is not the same when you are riding slowly and want to accelerate (as you’re already pedalling at a higher cadence).
Next is the way the motor reacts when you stop pedaling – it’s still working for a moment. Not a long one but you can feel it ‘knock’. In my opinion, this is the biggest challenge for e-bike manufacturers. Please see my short video to understand what I mean.
Levels of Motor Support & Battery Range
You control the support level by pushing control buttons that are very neatly integrated into the top tube. There are four support levels but I found the first two to be rather insignificant.
I simply switched the assistance off completely if I wanted a workout. And if I didn’t want to break a sweat, I was always using the two more powerful modes.
Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to fully drain the battery (the weather did not allow that long ride) but I can say that on my normal rides, I could easily do more than 50km/31mi in the Turbo mode. Of course, the real-world range depends on so many things so it’s very hard to give any exact range numbers.
If you have range anxiety, you can always use the range-extender battery that sits in one of your bottle cages. It offers up to 64km/40mi more range according to Specialized.
Normally I would be very worried about riding an electric bike in wet conditions but Specialized reassured me that this bike will deal with wet conditions with ease.
The thing that can be slightly annoying for some is the noise of the motor. The Creo SL does not have the quietest motor, which is especially noticeable at lower speeds.
How Does The Turbo Creo Ride?
Beautifully. In a previous test, I really enjoyed riding the Specialized Diverge gravel bike. But I truly think that Specialized has perfected the Creo frame geometry. This contributes greatly to the overall feeling of this bike.
The Creo has less BB drop (78 vs 85mm on the Diverge) and a slightly longer chainstay length (426mm vs 421mm on the Diverge). All of these small changes make a big difference. The bike felt stable hammering down the narrow forest trails, but at the same time, it felt quick and agile.
The size large aluminum Creo felt similar to the medium carbon Creo. Perhaps a little harder to change direction (due to the extra length) but it was actually more enjoyable. In fact, if I had to choose between those two sizes I would choose the large as it has less saddle-to-handlebar drop, making it more comfortable on my longer rides.
Vibration Testing The Specialized Turbo Creo SL
This is my favorite part because I had the opportunity to vibration test both the carbon and aluminium versions of this bike.
Specialized is using its very effective Future Shock front suspension on both bikes. In my previous vibration tests, the Future Shock is the most effective damper you can buy.
The carbon model has the more advanced Future Shock 2.0, while the aluminum model is using the same Future Shock 1.0 that you can find in the current Diverge series.
I will be comparing the front and rear vibrations of these e-Bikes to my Jamis Renegade benchmark bike. This bike is fitted with a Lauf Grit SL suspension fork, Redshift ShockStop suspension stem, Ergon Allroad Pro seatpost, and a Brooks C17 saddle. The tires are Soma Cazadero 700C x 42mm running at 25 psi.
Vibration Test Results
You can see my vibration measurement procedure & outdoor test courses HERE.
As you can see, the Future Shock continues to be the best option for damping vibrations at the front of the bike. Even with a suspension fork, suspension stem and wider tire, my benchmark bike still has around 6% more vibrations at the brake hoods on the bumpy forest trail.
It gets even worse on the fast gravel road. The difference between the Future Shock and my benchmark bike is a whopping 20%. That is almost unbelievable!
The rear was a different story. The seatpost and saddle on the Turbo Creo bikes were approximately 3 to 7% behind my benchmark bike in terms of vibration attenuation.
I wanted to also find out the vibration differences between the aluminium and carbon Turbo Creo SL bikes. For this test, I changed the tires to Specialized 28mm road slicks and pumped them up to 60 psi. This minimises the damping effect of the tires almost entirely and allows us to see what the other components can do.
The Future Shock 2.0 upgrade definitely made the carbon bike more comfortable with high-pressure tires. It was damping 6.8% more vibrations on the bumpy forest trail and 11% more on the fast gravel road.
But keep in mind you will likely not be using road slicks on gravel roads. When you use Soma Cazadero 42mm gravel tires at appropriately low pressure, I can guarantee you will not notice any comfort difference between the two Future Shocks.
A benefit of the Future Shock 2.0 is that it’s a bit quieter – you can sometimes hear the 1.0 clicking as it moves. You can also adjust the compression of the suspension using a dial, but I honestly found little difference between middle settings – on or off was perfectly fine for me.
Both carbon and aluminum Creo bikes were equally comfortable at the rear on both test courses.
Specialized Turbo Creo SL Specs and Prices
The Turbo Creo SL was first introduced as a carbon-only bike, and it was very expensive. The one I am testing is US $9500.
But you pay not only for the years spent on the development of this bike (the biggest and most expensive bike project Specialized has done) but also for the specs.
For US $9500, you get Roval C38 carbon wheels and Shimano Ultegra Di2 shifting, which is very quick and crisp – even under load when the motor was adding 240 watts to my ride. Di2 was a real joy to use.
The gearing was very well matched to the motor – it was a 1X setup with a 46-tooth Praxis chainring and 11-42 tooth rear cassette. With that range, you can be fast on the descents and easily conquer any hill (with motor assistance).
The Specialized Creo SL Comp is much more affordable at US $6000 dollars. For this price, you get a nice Shimano GRX 812 groupset, which I really enjoyed using (once I adapted to the bigger and more grippy levers).
If you ask me, this spec on the aluminium version is more than enough and works beautifully with the electric motor.
Would I Buy The Specialized Turbo Creo SL?
I am honestly considering buying the aluminum version but I would not use it as my one and only bike.
For faster rides, I still prefer my benchmark bike as it feels great to ride beyond 25km/h. But I think the Turbo Creo SL would be perfect for riding to work or conquering hilly terrain on weekends.
When you use Soma Cazadero 42mm gravel tires on both the aluminium and carbon models, the measurable vibration differences between the bikes completely disappear. And should you install a Redshift ShockStop suspension seatpost, you would likely achieve a level of overall comfort that’s not available on any other gravel bike!
Overall, I enjoyed my experience with the Specialized Turbo Creo SLs and am looking forward to testing them more.
