Which external battery for Specialized Turbo Creo 1.1?

[67tjonas]

Hi all, jakou mám koupit externí baterii?

I ride a Specialized turbo creo 1.1.

 

[Greg Watts]

Hi all, jakou mám koupit externí baterii? I ride a Specialized turbo creo 1.1.

The Creo 1.1 uses Specialized's own proprietary battery system, so your options are a bit more limited than on a Bosch or Shimano platform, but you're not without choices.

The most straightforward route is Specialized's own range extender, which slots into the down tube and integrates natively with the system, showing up in the Mission Control app and everything. It's the tidy, plug-and-play solution, and for a road/gravel bike like the Creo it makes a lot of sense given you're not thrashing it through mud.

The more adventurous option is a third-party external battery. One community member ran a Volabike range extender on a Creo and reported it more than doubling their range over three years of use, though they did note that after that time it eventually stopped communicating properly with the Creo system. Worth keeping in mind. The procedure is: charge both batteries, power the bike on first, then the external unit.

There's also a DIY path that @mike_kelly documented using a bottle battery from AliExpress with its own BMS, involving a diode to prevent the two batteries interfering with each other. It's clever but requires some electrical confidence. Not for everyone.

One general note worth flagging: it's February, and lithium batteries lose around 10-20% capacity in cold conditions, so if range anxiety is your issue right now, some of that may resolve itself come spring.

I can dig into the Specialized OEM range extender specs, or Volabike's current compatibility claims, if you want more detail on either option.