Search results

As Stefan noted above mrs levity has 27.5 wheels with 1.9 Gravel King tires. I run Specialized Tracer 700x47 tires on the OEM wheels on my bike. Both roll and grip fine and provide pretty good cushion at 28-30 psi. I’ve also run Specialized Pathfinder Pro 700x42 tires and these are also pretty...

The map below shows a trace of the ride to Dante’s View. (including Zabriski Point just for you!) The two hiking photos above were taken a bit below Zabriski Point. Here’s a pic taken slightly higher up a few years ago that shows more what the view from the Point looks like. (Young Mr...

Artist Drive looks like a wide bike path, but it’s a narrow one-way road. Cars usually drive slowly so it’s pretty safe. And there are pull-outs for them to use if you pass them on the steep curvy downhill sections! Map and an elevation profile of the Drive segment are below. The Artist Drive...

Mrs e-levity and I made our annual pilgrimage to DVNP here in California, and this time took our Vado SL 5 ebikes. A weather window between late-February to early-March usually affords nice daytime tempertures as the desert begins to warm but before things really heat up. Most of our riding this...

Agree! Here's my Vado SL posing beneath one of Ricardo Breceda's "mammoth"sculptures near La Casa del Zorro

You’re keeping up on way too many threads, Mr. Mikes! 😂 (Of course we all appreciate that!) But, yes, that’s my 2018 Vado 6 pictured to show @BikeOn what the DT Swiss XM421 27.5 wheels look like. More info on the mods can be found here...

It’s a bit complicated. Rear wheel - As long as you specify a Shimano Microspline freehub/driver with the rear wheel you will only need to transfer the SLX 12-speed cassette from your OEM wheelset to the new rear wheel. Front wheel – You need to make sure the supplier can provide endcaps with...

Ok, here are some approximate measurements of the pedal spindle height on mrs levity’s SL, my SL, and a Creo (all with 172,5 crank arms): Vado SL with 27.5 x 1.9” (actually 2.1”) tires: 105mm Vado SL with 700 x 47mm tires: 123mm (estimate ~3mm higher than with 700x38 tires) Creo EVO with 700 x...

Oops, I thought we were discussing SL 5 bikes. I also neglected to ask you how much you wanted to lower the handlebars. I don't see why flipping the bars over would have an adverse effect. You'll have to play with their rotation which may affect reach. Since the handlebars have a 15mm rise...

The “duckbill” is the plastic topcap spacer that sits on the base of the Future Shock just above the frame. The photo below shows a short duckbill, a tall duckbill (15mm taller), and a tall duckbill snapped apart. The short version has a hole on the drive side to allow direct access to the 4mm...

A 700x42 Pathfinder tire will fit in the fork of the SL with fenders. However, we found that the largest tire that would fit in the back with the stock rack and fenders was 700x38 due to contact with the small bolt in the center of the rear rack that attaches it to the fender. If you remove that...

Stefan - You can use any combination of flipping the handlebars, inverting the stem, removing spacers, and using the short “duckbill” top cap to lower the bars. The largest change is made by inverting the stem. If you don’t need to lower your handlebars more than 30mm below the stock setup you...

@Rás Cnoic - The pic above with the seatstay bridge is my Large Vado SL 5. The seattube on the Large size is longer than on mrs levity’s Medium, so the seatstays are longer and attach higher up allowing space for a separate bridge. Yes, the SL4 uses different rims. I don’t know if they are...

@Rás Cnoic – Your bike photo makes it pretty obvious why you need fenders in the UK! And, yes, 700x40 is about as large a tire as you can fit under them. re bottom bracket height – Specialized shouldn’t be concerned about using 650b wheels with larger tires. The Vado SL has less bb drop than a...

Thanks to all for the kind comments. Mrs levity is enjoying the bike, and as they say "Happy Queen, Happy Life"! @BioWheel - Yes. that's a Timber Bell on the handlebars. Re the derailleur clutch: we're mountain bikers at heart so it's always on. And what is the "mud" stuff of which you speak...

We decided to convert Mrs levity’s Vado SL EQ to a GQ, i.e. make it a gravel bike “fit for a Queen”. We used bits we’d saved from her previously modified Vado 6 and Creo to customize a new Medium sized SL: EQ parts: Remove the lights and fenders since we’re fair weather riders in southern...

We’ve used Bikeflights several times to ship and receive bikes, but no ebikes thus far. Service was smooth and flawless. We always add insurance, but we have not had to make a claim ( fortunately) so I can’t comment on that.

Dang! Let us know how it turns out so we’d can be prepared.

Maybe just unplug the TCU to attempt a cold reboot? In any event riding it with the Power on but no assist just requires a little more rider input. 😆

I've been running this narrow-wide 40t chainring with a 11-45 cassette for over 1,000 miles without any issues: