Specialized Turbo Vado SL: An Incredible E-Bike (User Club)

[BEC111]

I have been using a Zero Gravity wall hanger for my bike. The Rack hangs the bike from the top bar. When I bought it I had an analog hybrid bike that weight about 28 pounds. When I got my Vado SL1 4 EQ I still had no serious problem lifting the bike onto the rack. Now that I have the SL2 5 EQ, I’m finding lifting it becoming too difficult. I’m 78 and not as strong as I was 6 years ago so this is not too surprising.(Zero Gravity is out of business. )

My garage is pretty small with barely enough side clearance for my Honda CR-V and only about 5 feet clearance from the front of the car to the mounting back wall.I need suggestions on alternatives that don’t require lifting the bike three feet off the floor.

 

[RunForTheHills]

This is on sale for $7 at Harbor Freight. Or you could get an electric winch.
https://www.harborfreight.com/bicycle-lift-95803.html

 

[2wheelsgood]

Another month, another rattle.

This one was easy to locate, the front light just rattles around and has lateral movement of around 10mm both sideways and up and down, so just flapping around. I have not had time to have a proper look but I could not see anything to tighten.

 

[2wheelsgood]

Had to take the bar clamp off to to add a bit of tape to try and get a firmer grip on the light slot but the plastic fixing slot snapped off pretty easily. I have had to tape the light to frame for now The bike is only 2 years old but the list of issues to fix are building up now.

To think it was only serviced two months ago.

 

[mogulman]

SL 1 brake upgrade report
After 60-70 mi of testing on some pretty steep terrain and a variety of surfaces, happy to say that my all-Shimano brake upgrade appears to be a success.

View attachment 209597View attachment 209598
New rotors and calipers.

Compared to the stock Tektro brakes, much better stopping power, vastly better modulation, and just love those new 1-finger levers! Also saved a little weight in the rotors alone. With nonmagnetic ceramic pistons, fingers crossed that the rear Tektro's recurring piston sticking never returns.

View attachment 209599
The only downside: Due to the way the outside (grip) end of the new lever body is braced against the bar, the remote had to be moved inboard of the lever mount. Still getting used to the longer reach to the buttons, but not a deal-killer.

Parts list:
Deore XT BR-M8110 2-piston gravel calipers
L04C-MF finned metallic pads
GRX SM RT64 160 mm gravel rotors
Deore BL-M6100 trail levers
SM-BH-90 SS hose kits
BR RS505 front caliper mount bracket
SM-MA-R160D/D disk brake adapter

The $300 in labor included dropping the motor to route the rear hose through the frame. Total cost about $750.

Worth it? If the improved performance continues, and the rear pistons never stick again, I'll be happy with the cost.

My rear brake was sticking today on a ride. About to go out there and see if I can unstick it.

Was there a cheaper option you considered? I feel like I don't really need a lot of stopping power most of the time.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

My rear brake was sticking today on a ride. About to go out there and see if I can unstick it.

Was there a cheaper option you considered? I feel like I don't really need a lot of stopping power most of the time.

Since I wanted to fix the sticking rear piston problem AND improve stopping power at the same time, I pretty much had to change the calipers — and specifically to ones with ceramic pistons. (Mechanic said that steel pistons are more prone to caking with dust, as mine were doing.)

But due to all the tricky compatibility issues in bicycle disk brake systems these days, every new caliper option meant changing other things as well.

Ultimately, I chose to go up 2 tiers in Shimano brake quality and performance. And of course had to change the entire system to make it all work together — levers, brake lines, calipers, pads, and even rotors.

Could probably have saved $100-200 with a lesser upgrade. But I'm really happy with the result. I live in a hilly area, and now the SL's as responsive in braking as it is in every other respect.

 

[mogulman]

I worked on the pistons this afternoon (clean and lube) and got some new pads. We'll see.

 

[2wheelsgood]

Fixed the front light. the little plastic attachment was 10 pounds with delivery which is a bit crazy but I had no choice. It is now rock solid with no play and I am still a bit confused how the previous part was so loose.

Next project is getting the Eagle AXS gear change working smoothly again. I think when my chain guard fell off and the screws got stuck in the chain and it has done some damage to the cassette and/or the front chain ring, to be fair they have had a hard time anyway for the 2 years I have had the bike so time for another upgrade.

I do most of my riding above the 25km/h cut off limit so I am thinking of moving to Wolf Tooth 46T front ring. A little chat with Mr GPT came up with the following proposal. I know that AI can easily go off the rails with this stuff so I would love to check with the real experts on this thread on possible way forward with the upgrade.

Your current drivetrain​

• Rear derailleur: GX Eagle AXS (your upgrade)
• Cassette: SRAM PG-1230 NX 11–50T
• Chainring: 44T 110 BCD
• Crank: Praxis M30
• Rear hub: Specialized Boost 148

Option 1 – Best value (£300–£400)​

• Wolf Tooth 46T Drop-Stop B
• New SRAM PG-1230 cassette
• SRAM X01 Eagle chain
• Hanger alignment and full setup

Option 2 – Premium (£450–£600)​

If your Specialized hub can take an XD driver:

• Wolf Tooth 46T
• GX XG-1275 cassette
• X01 chain
• XD driver
• Full setup