The e-bike revolution is here and it has come surging in with the speed and style to match that of even peloton favourite, Peter Sagan. Through an innovative electric-assist motor, advanced electronics and an all-round sleek design, Specialized’s Turbo range are revolution leaders, bikes that will leave even triple world champions in your wake. It’s still you on that bike, only a whole lot faster.
World Beater
No matter whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, the various Specialized Turbo models foster the ultimate ride experience through customisation and top-end technology. Featuring the smoothest, quietest and most powerful bottom bracket motors in the world, the Turbo’s extra oomph comes from an integrated belt drive and built-in freewheels. A lightweight design also benefits the motor, a bevvy of light, silent moving parts that still manage to do all the heavy lifting when out on the road, amplifying your pedal power by up to 320%.
With Specialized taking care of the all the techy essentials, it’s just up to you to do the rest – stamping on the pedals. Custom software senses the torque and power you are applying with each pedal stroke and amplifies it accordingly, meaning the more power you apply, the more power the motor puts out. The software also senses speed and cadence, ensuring you’re never powered above that legal speed limit.
Roadies may call e-bikes a fad – clunky battery-powered machines that only serve in robbing them of their prized KOMs – but there’s often a reason things become a craze, and that’s because they’re so darn enjoyable to ride.
“You have to try it. I mean, you can feel however you like to feel about it, but it’s really run to ride,” says Matt Hunter, former Canadian professional mountain biker and winner of the 2003 Ultimate Freeride Challenge.
One other who is totally enamoured by e-bikes, is Grandma Joan – perhaps a future world champion in the making. It’s not often that Peter Sagan comes up against another rider of equal, if not better, quality. Well, on this hill-climbing showdown in sunny California, Sagan finally met his match in – or rather, was put in his place by, Grandma Joan…
Leading the revolution
Specialized’s four horsemen of the two-wheeled apocalypse, leading the e-bike revolution with all their integrated battery-powered tech, are here to impress. Riding any of them is about as much fun as you can legally have on two wheels.
The Turbo Vado and the Turbo Como are built to take on the city streets in style, each with a distinctive riding style and personality for both the commuters and the more casual cruisers. The Vado is low fuss but high tech and has enough battery life to power you through countless inner-city errands – perfect for the point A to point B commuting types. The Como is a little more leisurely, taking pride in its good looks, ergonomic fit, and simple tech over high-quality performance. For those that live ‘la dolce vita’, the Como is the perfect option – just sit back, relax, and the Como will get you there on time.
The next two bikes in the Turbo range are aimed more at performance – dirt-munching machines designed to glide over the most technical of off-road trails with relative ease. Is that gravel hill getting in your way again? That cambered section just a little too hairy for you? Then the Turbo Kenevo is the perfect bike to floor those barriers.
For those mountain bikers looking to stoke the fires of wanderlust and continue their rides as far as the horizon can take them, the Turbo Kenevo has all the right tech to help them do just that. Based on Specialized’s Enduro model, the Kenevo comes with the same increased travel and impeccable handling confidence. It’s also a beast on the downhills, meaning no trail is left untravelled when you have the Turbo Kenevo at your feet.
The final bike in Specialized’s Turbo range is the Turbo Levo, the model which has been converting even the harshest of e-bike critics. Designed to provide keen, performance-mad endurance mountain bikes with the capacity to go even harder for even longer, the Levo caters for all levels of off-road experience.
As is typical with Specialized’s off-road machines, the Levo features exquisite handling and supreme traction, no matter the roughness of terrain beneath the wheels. All these features create a bike that instils the utmost confidence in a rider – perfect for technical trail riding.
If you fancy all the extra oomph that an electric motor provides, without all the sweat and effort of a standard pedal bike, then a Specialized Turbo will be the bike for you. Click here to see the full Turbo range.
