ActionJackson
Well-Known Member
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- Asia
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- Tokyo
I write my Japanese on notebook paper to show to people. Maybe you can do the video where you have cue cards, and just toss them one at a time. I’ve thought about using those in Japanese
Specialized Turbo Vado SL: An Incredible E-Bike (User Club)
- Thread starter Stefan Mikes
- Start date
ActionJackson
Well-Known Member
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- Asia
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- Tokyo
Your English is probably better than mine is these days ha ha!
rochrunner
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Rochester Hills MI
No, and thanks for posting this. I have mounted my bikes like that on occasion but found the dismount awkward at best. Even leaning the bike requires you to sort of hop out to the side. It also depends on the actual height of the top bar since frame designs differ as to the slope of the top bar -- not sure if the Vado SL is lower than typical or about average.
As for the gearing discussion, one attraction to me for the 5.0 is the 11-50 cassette that would give me a 44-50 lowest gear: quite sufficient for anything I'll encounter even with assistance off! Since I'm a hill-climbing wimp (don't enjoy suffering like serious "roadies" seem to do) my carbon road bike has a 46/30 crankset as opposed to the common 50/34. With my 11-34 cassette I again have a very favorable 30-34 lowest gear, which allowed me to make it up the steep hills on a group bike tour a couple years ago that had some of the older participants walking their bikes or calling in the support van! The downside is that the bike will "spin out" at 46-11 on the steeper downhills, but I really have no business going 30+ while wearing typical summer riding kit!
Great video Stefan.
I wish I had your flexibility. And was able to speak more than one language! (A little Spanish but not very understandable).
You make it look easy, especially the hopping backwards on one leg. I have an an image of me falling over and the ebike falling on top of me.
kahn
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- northWET washington
BRAVO. BRAVO. ENCORE. (accompanied by huge applause)
I think, from saddle height, you might be taller than this "incredible shrinking man!" But I shall try this over my grass later today.
BEC111
Well-Known Member
Bravo! I’m going out in a little while and will try it. I can swing my leg over the seat, even with a trunk bag, though I have to tilt the bike a bit to do that. But it’s not easy and as I get older it may get harder. So time to practice what may be an easier way.
Thanks for being obvious.
ActionJackson
Well-Known Member
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- Asia
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- Tokyo
Ok Captain, tell us the secret, what size of frame are you on? Mine is L, top tube is 815mm by the specifications. I wasn’t born an egret or a crane so I can’t get that high. I don’t have the bike yet so I can’t try. I do have a 70 cm high dresser, and my wife caught me trying to hoist my leg over the top. Wasn’t one of my more graceful moves.
My last bike had a fairly high seat, which I had no problems with mounting. The basket was higher than the seat though and sometimes after a ride I didn’t have the energy or coordination or whatever it takes to dismount over the basket. So I don’t think I’ll be putting a basket on this - a single left side mounted pannier style cargo bag should be fine.
Sometimes I think I bought too big of a frame, but the tube just matches my inseam length and is about an inch below my package so I guess it will be OK. I tested the frame with flat driving shoes on , I’ll be wearing tactical boots for riding, which have almost a 20mm higher sole.
There’s also the trick of lowering the bike height relatively by standing on a high square curb but some ppl don’t have that readily available perhaps.
kahn
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- northWET washington
I've use the curb or similar height difference. But for a few months. I used my oak tree (I've got ten planted in the parking strip). I would wheel the bike over to it and use it as support to mount. Out in the field (as it were), I would find lampposts or fences or similar to dismount and mount. For some reason, I became a bit more limber in the last year and stopped needing the external support. But I do still use care as I don't want to lose my balance. Also, as noted, replacing the rear luggage on a rack with a hanging and therefore, lower pannier has removed that obstacle or interference.
Dallant
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
To each his own when mounting or dismounting. I couldn’t do it your way as I’d be afraid of falling over backward, which is how I injured my shoulder years ago. I still find it hard to mount my wife’s Allant+7 Lowstep.
rochrunner
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Rochester Hills MI
In the olden days when road bikes all had horizontal top tubes, the way to measure frame size was to straddle the bike flat-footed on the ground. If the top tube just barely cleared your crotch it was considered to be your size. Newer designs with the sloping top tubes shot down that "fitting" method.
For comparisons of "standover height" (basically the height you'd be stepping over) here are the specs for the Large size:
Vado 833mm
Vado SL 815mm
Vado SL ST 655mm
My current Crosstrail hybrid is close to the SL in standover, so I'll give Stefan's technique a try the next time I take it out. But the ST is still the more attractive, especially since I can't be sure what lies ahead physically as I continue to age.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Mine is size M.
Our group had a 140 km ride today. On that occasion, Jacek let Justyna ride our Trance E+ size M. Justyna is not a short person (she could ride my full Vado without changing the seat height), and she used the dropper post on Trance E+. She normally rides quite a big XC bike with straight top tube. She could not mount Trance E+. I described my technique to her, and she suddenly could ride the e-MTB!
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ActionJackson
Well-Known Member
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- Asia
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- Tokyo
I wasn’t aware of the ST design until after I had bought my bike, but sadly it’s not offered in Japan anyway. Perhaps eventually the next bike would be like that. In the meantime now, my job is to see if I can accumulate enough miles to wear out this Vado SL.
Oddly my last bike had a similar frame to the ST and I had problems doing the step-through on it. I could easily mount the bike with the basket, dismounting, especially with groceries onboard or after a long ride, was the real issue.
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Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Vado and Como SL ST models will be available in Europe only in the coming December. It shouldn't be different for Japan.
I liked the diamond frame of my Vado SL as it is pretty small, and I can use the space in the front triangle for many purposes (you cannot do that with an ST).
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
I mean using the Range Extender, a 160 Wh battery in the shape of water-bottle. Main battery (320 Wh, or 100%) and the RE (160W, or 50%) give 150% at the ride start. The best scenario is setting "discharge both batteries at the same rate". It is hard to get that "150%" is actually your "total 100%" when you make range considerations. BLEvo app with its excellent Range Estimate helps a lot!
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
How true Ras! If I bought an SL as the first e-bike, I would be greatly disappointed. (Similarly to one elderly EBR Forum poster who spent all his savings to buy an SL, and to discover the bike didn't satisfy his needs, especially regarding the e-bike's power).
Riding thousands of kilometres on full power Euro e-bikes gave me endurance, strength, confidence and experience. Now, I'm riding my SL as a person fully aware why I have chosen Vado SL as my fourth e-bike to become my everyday ride! I'm aware of its strong and weak points. The short SL experience (a single metric century so far) made me work harder on the full power Vado as well. Sunday's long group ride proved I contributed with 5 percentage points more, that is, with 19% progress. Unbelievable?
BEC111
Well-Known Member
Believable! Knowing what to expect from an ebike is one of the biggest challenges when purchasing your first one.
There are so many threads about the test rides vs. brands and models available to test vs. Internet bikes that can’t be tested. It’s why EBR is such a valuable resource. It’s the forums and folks who contribute as you do that help us understand our options and narrow our range of choices so a test ride can be worthwhile.
Art Deco
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Selinsgrove Pennsylvania
What interests me is that in about a year of riding you are in good enough shape to buy the SL ... that you didn't even think you could ride a year ago. Pretty quick progress, I say.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Right. I even didn't think of it a month ago... Good that a demo ride was possible! From what I can see now, the only e-bikes available at Specialized Warsaw are Levos. Very expensive and the wrong area of the country.
Now that I ride The Bike, I can see how weak rider I am. Yet, it is so much fun to ride it, and I can just take the bike in my hand and walk out for a ride (I actually am on a ride right now!)
I've just been comparing my ride experience to heavy but fast Lovelec on the same route. It seemed it was taking ages to get where I am now (despite of the e-bike speed). The SL gives the impression you travel faster, even if it is slower. The ride time is about the same within 2 minute tolerance.
Art Deco
Well-Known Member
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- USA
- City
- Selinsgrove Pennsylvania
2 minutes over what distance? Flat and calm ?
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
5 miles. Flat with one overpass and a single tunnel. Weak headwind. If that were a smooth straight road, it could have been different. Here, it is bike paths and small town traffic that really limit your local rides.
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