Specialized teases Turbo e-road bike to tame the switchbacks

Written by Tyler Benedict Jul 13, 2019 11:15 a.m. ET

sneak peek teaser for new 2020 specialized road e-bike

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Specialized just posted a little teaser for an upcoming hill killer, set to tame the mountains. While no details are given, the timing around the Tour de France and the switchback reference leads us to believe it’s gonna be a pedal-assisted drop bar road bike. Why pedal assist? Because the Turbo moniker is what identifies Specialized’s e-bike line, from commuter to mountain bikes.

They certainly aren’t the first, and drop bar e-bikes are quickly becoming a thing for both road and gravel. Recent introductions from BMC, Whyte, Ridley, Cannondale, and Pinarello, among others.

Specialized.com

Tyler Benedict

11,203 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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Jclaa

4 years ago

Do you get to claim you climbed a hill if the motor did it?

Greg

4 years ago

Reply to Jclaa

Who cares? Just get outside and have fun on a bike and stop worrying about what other people think.

Dominic galenti

4 years ago

Reply to Greg

100% agree it’s all about the fun!!

Marc Smith

4 years ago

Reply to Dominic galenti

I am 100% for ebikes. I cannot wait to get my hands on an ecargo. I wished companies suck as Spech would invest in e city solutions. I still race my madone now and then but those days are rather over. The problem I have here is the absolute ridiculous waste in money and niche for which Spech seems to be going for, The Climbing Crowd… I mean sure, my 85 year old dad with tremors cannot get his heartbeat high enough to tackle a mountain pass, but thats not what he does or need, nor do I. I am guessing this is just a phase until stupid MBA people light up that 5 WATTS and say “Thats not really what the emarket is all about”. Waste more to pay more is all about the price tag of those stupid marketing lycra clad gimmicks.

roadstain

4 years ago

Reply to Jclaa

Not sure. I am going to go watch Wall-E and think about this one….

Eggs Benedict

4 years ago

Reply to roadstain

He’s pretty good at Pong.

Huffagnolo SuperMagna

4 years ago

Reply to Jclaa

Considering you need to pedal in order to get any assist and also who the hell cares, I would say sure!

Ride a bike and enjoy life!

roadstain

4 years ago

Reply to Huffagnolo SuperMagna

Trophies for everyone!!!! Why waste time with the pesky pedals. Heck, why not install a nice leather chair to sit on while we are at it? Now, grocery delivery service has more Cheetos and Twizzlers for me, time to watch Wall-E again…..(may watch a bit of the TdF on Youtube)

DingDang

4 years ago

Reply to roadstain

Try golf.

Heffe

4 years ago

Just get outside and have fun on a motorbike.

roadstain

4 years ago

Reply to Heffe

I prefer one with 750cc or so….

Craig

4 years ago

Reply to Heffe

Why? Someone’s not going to get any exercise on a motorbike. Maybe you dont know but a rider still has to pedal on an e.bike. MotorBikeAction is that way….

Andrew

4 years ago

Ya know the stories of people who lost 50 lbs just cause they got out and started walking everyday? That’s kinda who the turbo’s are for.. people that wouldn’t be able to cycle otherwise, if you want a turbo, you buy a turbo, if you wanna do it yourself you buy any one of the 100’s of different bikes out there..

Like Greg says, who cares? It’s about getting off the couch and expanding the activity to everyone.. looking down on someone with en e-bike is elitist and unnecessary.. it like getting the side eye from the fit people when your fat at the gym.. don’t be that guy

Earl

4 years ago

Reply to Andrew

Clearly Specialized is not marketing this bike to new riders who are 50lbs overweight. If so the ad would be illustrating riding around a park or neighborhood instead of showing some giant mtn with many switchbacks. No overweight new rider, e-bike or not, is setting out on this type of ride. This new product is clearly aimed at people already riding who want/need e-assist. This is exactly where these bikes are missing the mark. They should instead be 100% focusing on drawing new people into riding and not making it about helping existing riders climb more or go farther or their rides. New riders in the sport is a good thing. Unfortunately, performance e-road bikes will not bring them here.
Typical Specialized, so close but still so far.

Eggs Benedict

4 years ago

That road looks awesome. Tianmen mountain road.

Craig

4 years ago

I’m looking forward to seeing this e.bike. You know it’s going to be full of innovation coming from Specialized.

Marc Smith

4 years ago

Reply to Craig

No innovation, just market niche for overworked orthodontist as opposed to real world city transport. Once again, Spech showing their disdain for the man.

Michael

4 years ago

This is just depressing. Since a lot of people don’t actually want to ride a bike they would use a modified motor-bike instead.

Huffagnolo SuperMagna

4 years ago

Reply to Michael

It is sad that people on bikes make you depressed. Luckily I won’t let it bring me down and continue riding and be happy more people are getting on bikes!

Bikes are awesome all of them except maybe those damn recumbents…LOL

Padrote

4 years ago

Reply to Michael

Maybe you shouldnt let a bicycle get you depressed.

Michael

4 years ago

Reply to Padrote

These are motor-bikes, and I don’t think seeing more people using motorized transportation makes me happy when I live in a big city full of them. I’ll just enjoy being fit and doing climbs under my own power.

Greg

4 years ago

Reply to Michael

Michael, that’s the great part about it… nobody is telling you that you, yourself can’t ride the bike that you choose to ride, so congrats on that. The cyclists that feel like they have some sort of authority to tell other people which type of bike they should or shouldn’t be riding dumbfounds me. It’s like the anti gay marriage crowd who feel they should somehow be in charge of deciding who gets to marry who. Why are people so concerned with what other people do, or with what type of bike they ride?

FYI, I’ve been riding MTB since ’93 and have been a roadie since ’07 and I recently added a pedal assist mtb to my fleet and I love it. Splitting time evenly between the road bike, the mountain bike, and the pedal assist mtb is great, and I’m loving having the option to ride what I want, when I want. I also love that I’m wise enough to realize that I should ride what I want, and not what some disgruntled stranger online, who doesn’t even know me, seems to think I should ride.

Craig

4 years ago

I can’t wait for e.bike road racing to start.

STF_ill (@stf_ill)

4 years ago

Reply to Craig

It already has… http://giroe.it/

Lyford

4 years ago

Interesting article on e-bike motorpacing:
https://www.velonews.com/2019/07/voices/beyond-limits-a-new-generation-of-paced-training-video_495686

I can see a lot of good uses for e-bikes. They let riders of different abilities ride together at the speed of the fastest rider, not the slowest. Some bike tour companies are already using them this way.

As we age, our power output and maximum heart rate is going to drop no matter how hard we work. It’d be nice not being restricted to slower and shorter rides.