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Specialized UK is joining the eCargo bike sector with the launch of the all-new Turbo Porto – a first for the brand in the UK.
On launch, the brand positions the Turbo Porto as, “meticulously crafted to be the highest performing, most refined, most beautiful way for you, your family, and your things to move … because what you ride means something.”
Further reinforcing the utilitarian focus, the brand points to a bike which is, “easy and safe to ride for everybody… fully loaded with kids and cargo, or stripped down on the go.”
An integral part of this ease of use, no matter the journey or cargo, is a motor delivering 90 Nm of torque, powered by a 710 watt battery, delivered via belt drive. Specialized claims, “no bike in its class has more power”.
For an audience looking at making an eCargo bike something which is dependable daily transport, the brand point to a wide variety of tailored accessories – arguably as important as power and range – which will be critical to making the Porto a ‘daily transport’ success, in what is an already crowded market segment.
Why Porto?
In the Specialized world (and in their own words), performance matters to every rider: “we only make performance bikes, no matter how you define performance” reads the press release.
What’s different here is that ‘performance’ is about getting you and your cargo, including the kids sat on the back, home safely. For a bike brand dedicated to making what it calls the highest performing bikes in the world this – cycling as transport – represents a very different yard stick, a very different success metric.
With the all-new Porto, “the supernatural power of Turbo” is repurposed to power what the brand calls, “the most thoughtfully refined, family-first cargo bike in its category”.
As anyone familiar with Specialized Turbo bikes will have come to expect, the Porto comes with “the technology, confidence and power to make a bike first lifestyle more comfortable, more convenient, and more elegant than ever before”. It’s here that the Specialized brand power will likely have most influence. When marketing to a lifestyle customer, messaging such as, “It’s more than just a luxury ride, it’s the Luxury to Bring it All.” will likely hit the mark for the intended audience.
UK Price: £5,500
