Specialized’s ultra-light 120-mile range e-bike - Turbo Vado SL

I don't see why Specialized wouldn't keep both models, since they're quite different in their execution. My neighbour, a lady in her late 60s, just bought a Vado 4.0. My wife almost bought a Vado, until she found out about the WWSuperbike I was planning on ordering. I ended up ordering one for her too.
Both women would not buy a Vado SL . They want more power, especially on the hills and the SL just wouldn't cut it for them.
 
A few points here from what I see just going over the specs and material on Specialized's web site:

1) The web site (or some related article) pretty much pointed out directly that this is aimed at the commuter market, which is also what the Allant+ series is focused on. Thus the solid fork and tires that are more at home on the streets.

2) The solid fork would put me out of the market for it. I expect my Vado 4.0 to be an all-road bike with some trips on smooth-to-rough unpaved roads and other roads where I'd like the softer fork. I do take my solid-framed Felt on some of those same roads, but then again it's a carbon frame made to allow some flex in the right places.

3) Has anyone considered that one reason for not offering a step-through is changes they made to achieve a "lightweight aluminum frame"? A step through needs more heft in the frame members to make up for lack of the bracing of a top tube. Using lighter frame tubing might have ruled that style out.

4) That said, I really wish that my Vado were 20lbs lighter. I know that it's bike+rider weight that is a factor in riding range, but my concern is that the current bike is about at my limit for being able to lift onto my carrier, especially since I recently re-injured my back and have been hobbled the last couple of weeks. I'll have to give that ramp that came with my carrier a try.
 
I just got back from a short 40km ride on my Defy. I really do love this bike, especially the Di2 shifters.

To be honest, I didn't want to buy the second WWSuperbike for my wife. For the way she rides it's completely overkill, but she said "If you can buy one why can't ?"
Hard to argue with that, so I ordered one for her too, although I doubt that bike will ever see anything over 20mph.

I own three bikes and the WattsWagon will make four. Heck, that's nothing. At one time I owned 5 cars. :p
 
Did I miss the part where anyone listed the torque on the SL? I did look. Maybe not hard enough?
 
Deacon Blues said:
I just got back from a short 40km ride on my Defy. I really do love this bike, especially the Di2 shifters.

To be honest, I didn't want to buy the second WWSuperbike for my wife. For the way she rides it's completely overkill, but she said "If you can buy one why can't ?"
Hard to argue with that, so I ordered one for her too, although I doubt that bike will ever see anything over 20mph.

I own three bikes and the WattsWagon will make four. Heck, that's nothing. At one time I owned 5 cars. :p
Click to expand...


He who dies with the most Electric toys wins! ;)

1589488973143.png
 
Last edited:
I am currently riding a 2015/16 base model Turbo with the 200W rear wheel motor. While I love the bike, 20 lbs would be very nice. The Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ seems just about right to me. My only question is how expensive is the add-on waterbottle battery and how many watt-hours does it give you? My current Turbo has the 691Wh Turbo SL battery with bluetooth and the 11 speed Deore XT 11-42 mech. With this combination I get around 50+ mile range at full Turbo boost and over 100 mile range in ECO 40 mode. BUT THE DAMN THING WEIGHS 60 lbs equipped the way the Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ is equipped.
 
Seems to be a hot item with its target demographic. My son, an acoustic bicyclist who's looking for his 1st ebike, just received the following communication:

"...At this time, we’re not anticipating stocking the Vado SL, though we have already special ordered some for customers. These bikes are currently about a month out, and will very likely be sold out when they arrive. Not intending to pressure, but customers who want a Vado SL really need to pre-order, or it may be a fairly long wait..."
 
rochrunner said:
2) The solid fork would put me out of the market for it. I expect my Vado 4.0 to be an all-road bike with some trips on smooth-to-rough unpaved roads and other roads where I'd like the softer fork. I do take my solid-framed Felt on some of those same roads, but then again it's a carbon frame made to allow some flex in the right places.
Click to expand...
A correction on this: I see now that it comes with the Future Shock feature that they've been using on some of their road bikes. In most cases, this would smooth things out sufficiently on rough roads. It's not equivalent to the forks on a MTB, but neither is the regular Vado fork.
 
rochrunner said:
A correction on this: I see now that it comes with the Future Shock feature that they've been using on some of their road bikes. In most cases, this would smooth things out sufficiently on rough roads. It's not equivalent to the forks on a MTB, but neither is the regular Vado fork.
Click to expand...
Is future shock on all SL Vados or just the top end?
 
@Captain Slow , the trail is 12 foot wide and almost empty once get passed a few miles. It is mostly cement and pretty smooth, you could ride without light at night (if it wasn’t closed at dark) as long as could see the outline. I am not sure of your comfort level but 28 mph with 40 miles to get home just isn’t that fast worrying about squirrels crossing in front of you
 
Stefan Mikes said:
As I said before, the buyers for the SL can be easily found. I am overly critical, true. I still believe the full Vado (Class 3) is the king of the class. OK, Allant+ 9.9S is the strong competitor. I might even add that dual-battery Class 1 R&M bikes are long range runners, even though the Homage 2 x 500 W ridden by an experienced user reaches 150 but not 160 km (I have asked the rider).

Only don't tell me a pannier-loaded SL rider will make 100 miles on the small battery + the extender.
Click to expand...


Not sure about 100 miles, but I rode the same route this week (different days) on both a Creo SL Carbon Comp Evo and a Trek Allant 8S. Limitations in a direct compare since there are different assist levels, and other variables. The route: 15 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah, 4500 ft elevation gain. I live at 9000ft altitude near the top of the canyon and did not use assist on trip down. My energy effort was about the same for each ride. For the Allant with the Bosch Gen 4 motor, I was in level 2 of 4 (Tour) throughout the ride except for about 3 miles of the route where I went to Level 3 of 4 (sport) for some of the steeper sections. I used 67% of the 625 Watt battery. For the Creo, I was in level 2 of 3 for the route except for level 3 for about 3 miles. I had the range extender battery and used 48% of the main 320 watt battery and 48% of the 160 watt range extender battery. I also completed the uphill ride 25 minutes faster with the Creo.

My impression is that a lighter bike with narrower tires despite the smaller battery could likely compete in range with the heavier bigger battery bikes. The range extender may be a great item to get and my dealer gave me a $200 discount of the RE battery ($250 vs $450) when I bought the bike. I really like the Creo think the Vado SL will be a terrific bike. With the 55lb Allant, it is hard to get up stairs (5 steps on my porch) and on a bike rack. Also the heavier bike is far less nimble.
 
Beamer said:
Not sure about 100 miles, but I rode the same route this week (different days) on both a Creo SL Carbon Comp Evo and a Trek Allant 8S. Limitations in a direct compare since there are different assist levels, and other variables. The route: 15 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah, 4500 ft elevation gain. I live at 9000ft altitude near the top of the canyon and did not use assist on trip down. My energy effort was about the same for each ride. For the Allant with the Bosch Gen 4 motor, I was in level 2 of 4 (Tour) throughout the ride except for about 3 miles of the route where I went to Level 3 of 4 (sport) for some of the steeper sections. I used 67% of the 625 Watt battery. For the Creo, I was in level 2 of 3 for the route except for level 3 for about 3 miles. I had the range extender battery and used 48% of the main 320 watt battery and 48% of the 160 watt range extender battery. I also completed the uphill ride 25 minutes faster with the Creo.

My impression is that a lighter bike with narrower tires despite the smaller battery could likely compete in range with the heavier bigger battery bikes. The range extender may be a great item to get and my dealer gave me a $200 discount of the RE battery ($250 vs $450) when I bought the bike. I really like the Creo think the Vado SL will be a terrific bike. With the 55lb Allant, it is hard to get up stairs (5 steps on my porch) and on a bike rack. Also the heavier bike is far less nimble.
Click to expand...


Some additional information to put these two Canyon rides in perspective. I weigh 180 lbs and am 64 years old. I have ridden bikes a lot throughout my life, but mostly road/commuting and less mountain. I am not in the best of shape yet this year. I did not ride much last year while recovering from knee surgery and the ski season was cut short. I have been riding for about the past 2 months and am getting stronger. Once I get in better shape, I feel that I could easily do the entire ride in only level 2 of 4 on the Allant and level 2 of 3 of the Creo. Both bikes feel very sluggish in the lowest assist level when going uphill and will likely not use those levels while climbing since it take away the fun. It took me 1 hr 45 min to complete the ride on the Allant and 1 hr 20 minutes on the Creo. I was monitoring cadence on both rides and maintained a fairly consistent pace of about 80 rpm on both bikes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Jeremy McCreary
Vado SL 1 and 2 vs. Creo 2 — modeling rider power and range
Replies
11
Views
2K
Jeremy McCreary
Jeremy McCreary
M
Vado SL 2 Alloy version released
12 13 14
Replies
263
Views
44K
mfgrep
M
rochrunner
SL 2 Step-Thru
Replies
13
Views
3K
Stefan Mikes
Stefan Mikes
Y
Rear light cover of my Vado SL had fallen off
Replies
8
Views
2K
Jeremy McCreary
Jeremy McCreary
Douglas Ruby
Vado SL and Vado SL 2 assist levels
2
Replies
20
Views
9K
Jeremy McCreary
Jeremy McCreary
Back