Specialized's free over-the-air update boosts peak power and torque figures on the 3.1 Motor, fitted to the Turbo Levo 4.
The S-Works Levo 4 gets a 130W power boost to 850W, while torque remains at 111Nm. The non S-Works bikes – which have less power and torque as standard – are upped to 810W and 105Nm from 666W and 101Nm.
In a landscape of power and torque top trumps – with Bosch's 100Nm and 750W and DJI's 120Nm and 1,000W – it looks as though Specialized's update is a bid to keep its motors as competitive as possible.
Four additional features have been added during the 30-minute over-the-air update.
First is a rider-matched power setting for MicroTune. This new setting is claimed to match motor assistance precisely to rider input – you put in 100W of power to the bike and the motor gives you 100W of support.
Specialized says it's designed to give the rider the "ultimate control" and boosts efficiency.
The transition between the support cut-off at the assistance speed limit has been remapped, and is claimed to be smoother as a result. Support now tapers down towards the speed limiter, helping the bike feel more natural on the trails.
Overrun has also been remapped, with "sharper" behaviour. When you stop pedalling, the overrun is said to be more responsive, with the aim of making it easier for the rider to get up steps, roots, rocks and obstacles.
Walk mode has been given three speed settings; you can now set the bike to move at your pace.
Specialized is keen to extoll the virtues of its over-the-air (OTA) updates, made accessible via the Specialized smartphone app.
Marco Sonderegger, the brand's leader of turbo technology, says: "With over-the-air updates, every Turbo bike becomes a living evolving machine that gets better over time… With a simple software update done from the convenience of their home, riders' bikes get more powerful, more refined, and more personalised."
The brand also states "this milestone marks the start of a new era… keeping bikes running the most advanced software Specialized has ever created."
It's an arms race
But free OTA updates are nothing new; Bosch's recent 100Nm and 750W update was delivered to its Gen 5 Performance Line CX motors via the Flow smartphone app
DJI's latest 120Nm and 1,000W boost also came via app, giving the Avinox motor the highest figures of any mainstream manufacturer.
There's more to it than headline figures, however.
How the power is delivered, and the bike's assistance or support ratio or percentage are just as important.
The Bosch Gen 5 motor is hardly lacking in the power or torque departments, but its 1:4 or 400 per cent support ratio can make it feel lacklustre compared to the Avinox's 1:8 or 800 per cent figure.
100W of rider power gives you up to 400W of Bosch motor power, totalling 500W. In the Avinox camp, 100W of your power will generate up to 800W of motor power, totalling 900W.
As I found in a recent head-to-head test between the Bosch and Avinox, the support ratio makes DJI's motor shine everywhere.
Specialized doesn't disclose its support ratios in the same way Bosch and DJI do, making direct comparisons hard.
Instead, the brand quotes its support and power as a percentage, rather than treating it as a rider amplifier number.
We don't know how much rider input is required to access the 850W or 810W of peak power on the Turbo 3.1 motor.
Whether or not Specialized's latest updates will edge it closer to the feel of a DJI motor remains to be seen.
