MattTheHat 

The motor in my Creo started slipping at about 7 weeks post purchase. I took the bike in on 10/22/20 and there didn't seem to be any reason for the occasional popping noise I was hearing. So, we scheduled a more in-depth appointment for 11/09/20 (which was yesterday). I got got off the phone with my dealer. Apparently the motor needs to be replaced already. I have exactly 2012.6 miles on the bike.

On the up side, the bike is an absolute blast to ride. But, I am concerned that the replacement motor will suffer the same fate after a further 2 months of riding, but time will tell. I'm not real happy at this point.

I've read there have been many, many problems with this motor in their e-mountain bikes. This does not inspire confidence.

Pop N Wood

Man that sucks. Maybe the guys building it had an off day, hopefully it isn't a defective design.

As expensive as that bike is they should give you a loaner bike while it gets fixed.

trailangel

Search the internet about problems with Specialized and Brose motors...... a lot of problems.
Buy Yamaha!

veganbikes

Search the internet and find out the Creo SL does not use a Brose motor. Also Specialized occasionally has problems but not a whole lot and they have an excellent warranty department to help out. We have sold probably at least 300+ Comos in the past year or so and probably had motor warranties on 13 of them. Not a huge number but yeah it happens. In probably half of those cases it is a broken belt. If you are going to blame someone for a belt breaking it would need to be Gates but honestly I wouldn't stuff happens. We don't replace that many motors honestly and if I were suggesting anything else it would be Bosch where the numbers of Bosch motors we replace is usually 1-2 per year if that. Their stuff is super rare but they don't have the belts which tend to be what goes on the Brose motors.

In the OPs case, just have Specialized warranty it, it hopefully shouldn't happen again. We replaced an SL motor and wasn't super difficult and the bike was used quite roughly by someone younger but it still got warrantied and supported.

trailangel

Search the internet and you will see the Specialized motor and the Brose motor have the most problems.

veganbikes

I work for a Specialized Retailer and sell a lot of specialized e-bikes to a wide range of people and I also deal in a lot of other e-bikes. I don't need the internet because as Honest Abe Lincoln said "The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is hard to verify their authenticity." There also probably is not an actual scientific poll of e-bike repair shops talking about what motors they replace most often in comparison to what they sell.

The old original Turbo and Turbo X with the hub drive motor had a ton of problems but they stopped making that a while back but there are probably still listings on the internet for that. That was a hub drive and hub drives aren't super reliable generally but if you are going to add those to their current line up, it is not really fair. They learned their lesson and moved onto a better motor. Yes they do have some problems but again re-read my last post about belt issues.

Bob S

You have put a lot of miles on your bike in a short period of time. What kind of riding do you do, commuting, hills, or ... What level of assistance have you primarily used and do you switch often between levels?

Also there are some comments here about belts failing. I believe that Specialized changed their motors a while back to gear driven.



Also articles say: "For the newly designed SL 1.1, Specialized is not working with Brose, but rather an unnamed German automotive manufacturer, explained Dominik Geyer, Turbo Business Lead."

MattTheHat 

Not commuting, I’m just able to ride for a couple of hours each day. It’s not very hilly where I ride. About 30 feet of elevation per mile, on average.

The sound the motor makes sounds exactly like a toothed belt slipping a single tooth. I generally ride in the middle or high setting. I have middle tuned for 65 percent assist, high is tuned for 80 percent. I don’t often switch modes.

MattTheHat 

Got the Creo back tonight but only had a few minutes to run around the block. The new motor is much quieter than the old one. I’m fairly certain that the first motor was nearly s8lent at first too. It will be interesting to see if this motor fares better.

veganbikes

The SL motor isn't Brose. It is Mahle which is another German manufacturer. However the SL motor is only in the SL line so Vado SL, Creo SL and Levo SL, the Como, Vado, Levo are all still Brose motors and those haven't changed yet.

A lot of folks do big miles on their e-bikes especially early on but usually it keeps going. They are a ton of fun so it is easy to ride and ride without getting as worn out meaning way more miles and way more smiles. A lot of folks at work were e-bike naysayers then we got them to ride them on a company trip and they were all "yeah I kinda want one now".

Bob S

Per Specialized re the Creo Sl Comp Carbon: "The lightweight SL 1.1 motor doubles your effort with as much as 240 watts of silent and powerful assistance to amplify your ride." https://www.specialized.com/us/en/tu...ext=98120-5002

nomadmax 

I'm following this one as I'm considering a Carbon Comp Creo.

mpetry912 

I have a theory on "motor failures", based on what I've observed in terms of the habits of e-bike riders, many of which are new to the Cycling Industrial Complex.

in conventional, lightweight bikes, a skilled rider uses the gears to match their effort, fitness and cadence to the terrain.

what I have observed with many ebike riders is that they are riding in impossibly high gears, and on the highest assist level.

my ebike (Spec Vado 5) has about 2000 miles on it and I've had zero problems with it - I ride it like a road bike, I change down to low gears for hills, and usually on the "low" assist. Maybe bump it up to "2" if I am climbing a hill with a couple wine bottles in the panniers.

My theory is that if you always ride at the highest assist level on the controller, and especially at low pedal RPM, you're exposing the gear train to the highest loads and the motor windings are seeing very close to a dead short.

the nearest and best analogy I can think of is "lugging the engine". altho I do agree that things "should be" designed to accomodate any possible condition the rider encounters, if my theory is true, than rider habits (maybe lack of knowledge) are contributing to early motor failures.

following the "lugging the engine" analogy, If you drive a Porsche in 4th gear at 20 mph, you'll go thru the main bearings or throw a rod, because of high loads and low oil pressure. Same thing.

what I'd like to know is - does my observation comport what what you've observed ?

Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA

Pop N Wood

That is why you don't buy a Porsche. I drive my V8 powered Datsun at 20 mph in 5th gear all the time

Sorry, couldn't resist. American V8's rule.

I agree with you. Most ebike primers say to not lug the motor at low speed in a high gear. I make a point to shift normally and keep a good cadence. Can't be good for the motor.