2020 Turbo Vado 5.0 w/Handbuilt Wheels

[Brendon@OEB]

Here's the new bike to get back and forth to the shop with. Still dialing in the fit, might cut the bars down and go a little shorter on the stem. Wheels are DT 350 hubs to Velocity Aileron rims. Not tubeless yet, running some leftover Continental tires for now. Racktime trunk bag works great. Park it in level 3 going to the shop and home, could probably do it on a single charge but I top it off at the shop and at home. 16.5 miles to the shop, about 40 mins no prob with 43-50% batt left working as little as possible.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

What a beautiful upgrade! The yellow makes the black a living colour!

 

[Brendon@OEB]

Thanks! My camera didn't do a good job capturing the color, it's "mango" from Velocity, a color they offered over the last few years. I think it goes well with the gloss black of the bike!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Thanks! My camera didn't do a good job capturing the color, it's "mango" from Velocity, a color they offered over the last few years. I think it goes well with the gloss black of the bike!

I'm not good at the colour recognition. Mango it is!

 

[Captain Slow]

Congratulations on a nice ride. I love hand built custom wheels.

But to be honest, I like the Pinarello in the window more.

 

[Brendon@OEB]

That's my old e bike, rode it over the winter a bit, for sale now!

 

[Captain Slow]

I'm curious as to why the switch? Did you just love the Vado, were you unhappy with the Pinarello? I hadn't noticed it was an electric until you mentioned it.

 

[Brendon@OEB]

The Pinarello Dyodo Gravel is an incredible bike, fit almost perfect to my race bike, Dogma K8S. Honestly I wanted something different. The Dyodo, like the Creo SL, is more of a passive type of assist. I wanted something more and since we picked up Specialized this time last year I decided to give the Vado a go. Thought about the 3.0, great price point, but wanted the better motor and larger battery doesn't hurt. Now I can head up to Portland to visit friends with a full load of gear in the low mode no problem. Without racing this season it's hard to motivate to train! I can cruise the Vado to work in casual clothing in about 40 mins, otherwise it's about 1hr on my road bike, not including showering when I get to the shop.

I will say, the Dyodo has the best handling I've felt in any e-bike, something Pinarello is known for. It's not to say that the other e bikes, or Vado is "bad" but the Dyodo feels like a proper road bike, albeit a touch heavier. Here's the Dyodo as I had it setup.

 

[Captain Slow]

Do you mind telling me what bike shop that is? Seems like a cool shop. Might not be able to visit it anytime soon (I'm in BC and the border will be closed for a while) with the pandemic, but hopefully next year.

 

[Brendon@OEB]

My shop is The Bicycle Shop of Monmouth, tbsm.bike, we're a small town shop. We're Specialized, Pinarello, Bulls, and Yamaha dealers. Showroom is pretty tiny as I can't afford too much inventory, but the passion is high! We ship all over, free, everything comes in, built, tested, then reboxed to ship out. Shameful plug, sorry about that. Depending on your height we'd be happy to setup the Dyodo for you to take out for a spin!

 

[Captain Slow]

Don't apologize for the plug, I asked for it.

 

[PaD]

Here's the new bike to get back and forth to the shop with. Still dialing in the fit, might cut the bars down and go a little shorter on the stem. Wheels are DT 350 hubs to Velocity Aileron rims. Not tubeless yet, running some leftover Continental tires for now. Racktime trunk bag works great. Park it in level 3 going to the shop and home, could probably do it on a single charge but I top it off at the shop and at home. 16.5 miles to the shop, about 40 mins no prob with 43-50% batt left working as little as possible.

Looking good!
You changed the seatpost and stem too. I guess the stem change was to get handlebars lower.
I get neck pain when riding and will try handlebars with more rise. 40mm vs standard 15. I’m not at all sure this will help but will see if I hunch less.
About the wheels
You can now go tubeless and they look good. Are they lighter than standard Vado wheels?

 

[Oberst]

Nice bikes! Your mods lead me to ask a question: I have been toying with the idea of converting my Vado 3.0 to drop bars. Curious if anyone has done that. I think Specialized makes a bar that fits the stem so it may be possible to only need GRX shifters if they work with Deore mech and brakes. The only issue would be the controller which is sized for MTB bars but I think a longer bolt might work although it would leave a gap which is somewhat inelegant I know.

 

[Mr. Max]

Sweet!! Looks awesome!! Congrats!

 

[TMH]

Very nicely done on that Vado!

The Vado type bikes are awesome (I've got a 4.0), but no other bike type can really give you the feeling of efficiency like a dedicated road or road/gravel bike. I am so fortunate to have both, with my Vado and my Raleigh Tamland iE.

But the poor Tamland just doesn't get enough street time as I regularly ride with my wife, and if I took the Tamland for those rides it would feel as if I were cheating!

But when I do go out for rides alone, the Tamland is always the chosen partner. And it never fails to put a huge grin on my face. And while I consider it to be a beautiful machine, it doesn't really hold a candle to that Pinarello!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

it doesn't really hold a candle to that Pinarello!

Off topic: I always thought Italian was a soft and melodic language (my Mum could speak that language and I have been to Italy for several times myself) until I heard an Italian road-cyclist pronouncing "Pinarello"

 

[Brendon@OEB]

Looking good!
You changed the seatpost and stem too. I guess the stem change was to get handlebars lower.
I get neck pain when riding and will try handlebars with more rise. 40mm vs standard 15. I’m not at all sure this will help but will see if I hunch less.
About the wheels
You can now go tubeless and they look good. Are they lighter than standard Vado wheels?

Thanks! Seatpost is a bit lighter and the smaller diameter has some give to it, plus I had it laying around. It's an older Shimano PRO Vibe 7s post. Wheels are a little lighter, I could go lighter but these are bombproof. The hubs are better and already broken in. Plus the tires are more road oriented, the main difference is it's easier for the bike to hold 46kph thus giving me a little more range. Not needed, but I like parking it as fast as it'll go on my way to the shop

Nice bikes! Your mods lead me to ask a question: I have been toying with the idea of converting my Vado 3.0 to drop bars. Curious if anyone has done that. I think Specialized makes a bar that fits the stem so it may be possible to only need GRX shifters if they work with Deore mech and brakes. The only issue would be the controller which is sized for MTB bars but I think a longer bolt might work although it would leave a gap which is somewhat inelegant I know.

Converting would be pretty easy with a couple moves. The main challenge is you've got to replace the rear derailleur, Shimano mountain and road derailleurs and shifters have different cable pull ratios. Additionally you want to note which calipers and brake hoses you use, sometimes there is a road drop lever that can work with that system which lets you just replace the shifter/master cylinder versus the entire brake system. GRX stuff is totally rad and would work well, same thing Spec. uses on the Creo. Both the flat bars and 99% of road bars have a bar clamp diameter of 31.8mm, no issue switching over.

 

[PaD]

Nice bikes! Your mods lead me to ask a question: I have been toying with the idea of converting my Vado 3.0 to drop bars. Curious if anyone has done that. I think Specialized makes a bar that fits the stem so it may be possible to only need GRX shifters if they work with Deore mech and brakes. The only issue would be the controller which is sized for MTB bars but I think a longer bolt might work although it would leave a gap which is somewhat inelegant I know.

Have a close look at the controller ( we’re talking about the + - and set?) To me it looks like it may not be as simple as a longer bolt.
It doesn’t have flexibility like e.g. the handlebar grip for the TCD. Looks very much made to fit the outer ends of mountainbike handlebars, 22.2mm.
I don’t want to be right, I want you to fix what you want with your Vado and happily tell us about it
But have a look. I noticed this just an hour ago when I exchanged my handlebars to get more rise.

 

[PaD]

Thanks! Seatpost is a bit lighter and the smaller diameter has some give to it, plus I had it laying around. It's an older Shimano PRO Vibe 7s post. Wheels are a little lighter, I could go lighter but these are bombproof. The hubs are better and already broken in. Plus the tires are more road oriented, the main difference is it's easier for the bike to hold 46kph thus giving me a little more range. Not needed, but I like parking it as fast as it'll go on my way to the shop

Thanks for your info. Would you have an approximate price for 2 wheels like yours? You will however not get the order as I live in Sweden
I just changed back to original Vado tires, Trigger Sport, from Marathon plus ( heavy!) and lighter wheels really make a difference

 

[Brendon@OEB]

No worries on not getting the orders, happy to give Velocity some business, they're great folks.

https://www.velocityusa.com/product/rims/aileron-622

Make sure to check out the custom colors, that's what mine are. Hubs are DT350, the front is 15x100 axle, rear is MTB boost, 12x148. 32 hole laced 2x with straight 14g and brass nipples. A little heavier, sure, but very serviceable. We ride year round here in Oregon so making sure I can beat on them through the rain and still be able to true them up.

Pricing might not really be relevant, I have no idea what you'd pay overseas, you can check out those details and figure out local market prices.

Lastly I misunderstood regarding the =/- control, that is best mounted by the stem. There are accessory brackets for lights/computers and that might be able to be mounted there. Check out the cockpit setup of the Yamaha Wabash or Urban Rush.