While Specialized has had electric bikes in its family for a while, encompassing road, gravel, MTB, and commuter/urban models, there has been a cargo-shaped void in the range, in the UK and Europe at least. While North America has had the Haul ST and Haul LT models to make use of for some time now, the UK and Europe are finally joining the cargo party with the new Turbo Porto.
The form is similar to the Haul LT, insofar as it’s a long-tail cargo bike, but the Turbo Porto has electrics setup for the European market, and larger wheels too. With more families opting to go car-lite or even car-free, what can one of the biggest names in the bike business bring to a segment of the market dominated by companies whose sole focus is urban mobility?
Tech specs
The heart of any haulin’ focussed electric bike is of course going to be the motor and battery. Specialized claims the Turbo Porto is the most powerful bike in its class on the market, offering 90 Nm of torque, and a 710 Wh battery. In real terms this translates to up to five hours of ride time, the battery is removable for ease of charging, and locks to the bike frame to help avoid theft.
All this power is necessary, given a maximum system weight of 200kg, with the front and rear racks having a maximum capacity of 20kg and 60kg respectively. The bike itself, unladen, weighs in at 39.6kg, and is 2.065m long. While it looks long, the fact that it uses smaller than normal wheels means it is shorter than the brand's Turbo Levo electric MTB by approximately 10cm.
Internal gearing takes care of the shifting, away from the elements, and it's belt driven too, so no messy chain lube to worry about. There are integrated front and rear lights, a built-in Garmin Varia radar system, and to bolster the battery lock, there is also a steering lock and motor lock, so when the bike is secure not only would would-be thieves be unable to pinch the battery, but they would also be unable to steer or use the motor too.
In terms of fit, the Turbo Porto is adjustable to fit riders from 155cm up to 195cm, and given the heft of the thing a kickstand is also a valuable and necessary inclusion.
Modularity and Pricing
Given the bike is somewhat designed to replace a car, why not make the buying process like that of buying a car too? The base model includes all that is mentioned above, but you can add on a number of options to make the Porto fit your needs.
To haul children you can equip a pair of cushioned seats to the rear, and add on a safety rail to hem the kids in, and a set of running boards onto which they can rest their feet. If you only want to carry one child you can swap the running boards for a set of foot pegs, freeing up the space at the rear for Specialized’s own bucket panniers, though it is assumed any pannier will fit on the rails if you want a set that aren't open to the rain.
For younger children there’s a more traditional, harnessed child seat, and if you want more capacity than a bucket pannier can offer there’s even a 44 litre polyester canvas side bag that can take up to 25kg of goods, and can rest on the running boards too.
No kids? Well, if you want to maximise the rear capacity there is a flat aluminium baseplate for the rear rack that can take a Eurocrate, a load of bags, or anything else you can think to secure to it, and it works in conjunction with the side bags too.
The base model, before adding extras on, will set you back £5,500, or approximately €6,400.
