2022 Turbo Vado and Turbo Tero comparison: Same bike?

[Camasonian]

I submit the following two photos from the Specialized web site of the brand new 2022 Turbo Vado 5.0 and 2022 Turbo Tero 5.0 Examine the two bikes with respect to the frames. Do you see any differences?

There are some very subtle differences in the frame measurements that could actually be passed off as rounding error. It looks to me that they are essentially the same bike with different, forks, tires and accessories. I haven't gone through the entire component set, but at first glance they also use the same SRAM componentry.

According to the spec sheets on the web site, the frame measurements are are all identical as follows, as are the motors, forks, and electronics:

2022 Turbo Vado 5.0
Headtube Length 135mm 150mm 165mm 190mm
Chainstay Length 470mm 470mm 470mm 470mm
Seat Tube Length 400mm 450mm 460mm 500mm
Fork Length (full) 480mm 480mm 480mm 480mm
Fork Rake/Offset 44mm 44mm 44mm 44mm
Fork: Rockshox Recon Silver RL, 80mm travel, Motion-Control, fender-mounts
Motor: Specialized 2.2, 90Nm torque, custom tuned motor, 250W nominal
UI/Remote: MasterMind TCD, w/handlebar remote, built-in anti-theft feature, Bluetooth® connectivity, customizable display pages
Battery: Specialized U2-710, alloy casing, state of charge display, 710Wh

2022 Turbo Tero 5.0
Headtube Length 135mm 150mm 165mm 190mm
Chainstay Length 470.4mm 470.4mm 470.4mm 470.4mm
Seat Tube Length 400mm 450mm 460mm 500mm
Fork Length (full) 480mm 480mm 480mm 480mm
Fork Rake/Offset 44mm 44mm 44mm 44mm
Fork Rockshox Recon Silver RL, 110mm travel, Motion-Control
Motor: Specialized 2.2, 90Nm torque, custom tuned motor, 250W nominal
UI/Remote: MasterMind TCD, w/handlebar remote, built-in anti-theft feature, Bluetooth® connectivity, customizable display pages
Battery: Specialized U2-710, alloy casing, state of charge display, 710Wh

Most of the other spec measurements are different, but that could be attributable to the use of different stem, handlebars, and tires, although the both use 650B wheels, the tire dimensions are different. Essentially it looks to me that one should be able to covert a Vado into a Tero simply by swapping out for more aggressive knobby tires and stripping off the racks and fenders. And go in the other direction in reverse by putting rack, fenders, and smooth tires on the Tero. The main difference seems to be the different forks, the Tero has a longer one with more travel so that subtly affects some of the other measurements.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You either took wrong data or don't understand bike geometry Camasonian (sorry to say that).

Tero 5.0 size M and Vado 5.0 size M.

Different Reach, Trail, Head Tube Angle, Trail, BB Drop, etc etc. These are critical parameters making a commuter e-bike of Vado and an XC e-bike of Tero.

It is impossible to fit either 80.mm travel or 110 mm travel fork to the frame of the same geometry!

 

[Camasonian]

I'm using these spec sheets for the 2022 models off the US web site.

Turbo Vado 5.0:

Product Specs | Specialized.com

www.specialized.com

Turbo Tero 5.0:

Product Specs | Specialized.com

www.specialized.com

All of the actual frame measurements are the same. Measurements like "reach" and "fork trail" would change with the swapping out of different stems, forks, handlebars, and tire sizes. But all of the physical measurements of the frames appear identical across all sizes:

 

[Allan47.7339]

I'm not sure what you are reading but a least the headtube angle is different and stack is different. The frames does not appear to be the same. I usually use bike insights but the new Tero has not been entered yet.

Bike Insights - Geometry comparisons and design analysis

Find your ideal bike using bike-on-bike geometry comparisons with diagrams, powerful search tools, and category analysis.

bikeinsights.com

 

[ava1ar]

It is impossible to fit either 80.mm travel or 110 mm travel fork to the frame of the same geometry!

What? I would agree when you want to swap 60mm with 160mm, but 80->110 will be hardly noticeable. I replaced 80mm stock C380+ spring fork with similar air one with 100mm travel and have no issues whatsoever. Why is it "impossible"? Yes, the geometry of bike will change (so just replace fork and you can "convert" your urban Vado to MTB Tero), but I don't see why you can't do that.

 

[Camasonian]

I'm not sure what you are reading but a least the headtube angle is different and stack is different. The frames does not appear to be the same. I usually use bike insights but the new Tero has not been entered yet.

Bike Insights - Geometry comparisons and design analysis

Find your ideal bike using bike-on-bike geometry comparisons with diagrams, powerful search tools, and category analysis.

bikeinsights.com

Those measurements will all change if you swap out a shorter fork for a longer fork. The fork is very definitely longer on the Tero which you can see from the difference in wheel clearance from the top of the wheel to the fork crown on the two bikes. The tires are the same size so that extra clearance is due to longer fork blades. The front of the bike will elevate with a longer fork, changing the headtube angle, fork rake, stack, and wheel base.

Clearly the two bikes have different forks. But the main frames look to be identical visually and in terms of measurements.

 

[mschwett]

clearly they share a lot of profiles, and quite a few design elements and relationships... but they are not the same. if you assume specialized used the same size frame for the photos, and align the longest dimensions, doublechecking that clearly identical dimensions like bottle bosses and spider bolt spacing are same scale, then rotating the bikes around the crank to try and match up the angle caused by the rake... you'll see that there are definitely differences up front. VERY similar, but not identical frames. slightly more different than different sizes of the same bike.

 

[Allan47.7339]

Heat tube angle of the Vado 5.0 per the table is 68 degrees. The head tube angle of the Tera per the table is 66.4 degrees. They will have different steering characteristics. This wolftooth page for their geoshift headset explains the differences:

GeoShift Angle Headset

What is head tube angle and why should I care? In the bicycle world, we define head tube angle (or head angle for moderate brevity) as the angle between the center axis of the frame’s head tube (also called the steering axis), and the horizontal (90° being a vertical line). It is one of the...

www.wolftoothcomponents.com

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Frame specific differences (Tero vs Vado):
Headtube angle: 66.4 vs 68 degrees (Tero has a more slack geometry than the Vado)
Reach: 426 vs 444 mm
BB Height: 313 vs 285 mm
BB Drop: 57 vs 70 mm
Trail: 114 vs 96 mm
Front Center: 736 vs 724 mm
Chainstain Lenght: 470.4 vs 470 mm

Frameset specific:
Fork Length: 516 vs 480 mm

Non frameset specific.
Handlebar width: 750 vs 680 mm
Seatpost Length: 400 vs 350 mm

These two frames are very different.

For instance, you could actually rebuild a Vado SL to have a drop bar, road-cycling drivetrain etc but you wouldn't make a Creo from Vado SL. And you won't get an XC Tero from Vado whatever you did. For instance, changing the fork from 480 to 516 mm would have raised the front of the bike, changed angles and made the thing inherently unstable.

You cannot make a horse from a cow.

 

[ActionJackson]

I submit the following two photos from the Specialized web site of the brand new 2022 Turbo Vado 5.0 and 2022 Turbo Tero 5.0 Examine the two bikes with respect to the frames. Do you see any differences?

There are some very subtle differences in the frame measurements that could actually be passed off as rounding error. It looks to me that they are essentially the same bike with different, forks, tires and accessories. I haven't gone through the entire component set, but at first glance they also use the same SRAM componentry.

According to the spec sheets on the web site, the frame measurements are are all identical as follows, as are the motors, forks, and electronics:

2022 Turbo Vado 5.0
Headtube Length 135mm 150mm 165mm 190mm
Chainstay Length 470mm 470mm 470mm 470mm
Seat Tube Length 400mm 450mm 460mm 500mm
Fork Length (full) 480mm 480mm 480mm 480mm
Fork Rake/Offset 44mm 44mm 44mm 44mm
Fork: Rockshox Recon Silver RL, 80mm travel, Motion-Control, fender-mounts
Motor: Specialized 2.2, 90Nm torque, custom tuned motor, 250W nominal
UI/Remote: MasterMind TCD, w/handlebar remote, built-in anti-theft feature, Bluetooth® connectivity, customizable display pages
Battery: Specialized U2-710, alloy casing, state of charge display, 710Wh

2022 Turbo Tero 5.0
Headtube Length 135mm 150mm 165mm 190mm
Chainstay Length 470.4mm 470.4mm 470.4mm 470.4mm
Seat Tube Length 400mm 450mm 460mm 500mm
Fork Length (full) 480mm 480mm 480mm 480mm
Fork Rake/Offset 44mm 44mm 44mm 44mm
Fork Rockshox Recon Silver RL, 110mm travel, Motion-Control
Motor: Specialized 2.2, 90Nm torque, custom tuned motor, 250W nominal
UI/Remote: MasterMind TCD, w/handlebar remote, built-in anti-theft feature, Bluetooth® connectivity, customizable display pages
Battery: Specialized U2-710, alloy casing, state of charge display, 710Wh

Most of the other spec measurements are different, but that could be attributable to the use of different stem, handlebars, and tires, although the both use 650B wheels, the tire dimensions are different. Essentially it looks to me that one should be able to covert a Vado into a Tero simply by swapping out for more aggressive knobby tires and stripping off the racks and fenders. And go in the other direction in reverse by putting rack, fenders, and smooth tires on the Tero. The main difference seems to be the different forks, the Tero has a longer one with more travel so that subtly affects some of the other measurements.

Appears there are slight differences in the frame geometry but that gets washed out after people install suspension posts & stems, new handlebars, different tires etc etc. not to mention adjusting the seat and handlebars. The Vado also has a guard to keep long skirts from getting entangled in the chain, that’s why it’s so popular with both men and women alike in Poland.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The Vado also has a guard to keep long skirts from getting entangled in the chain

Probably your Vado and your kimonos...

Appears there are slight differences in the frame geometry

Designing a bike geometry is an art. It is know-how mastered by companies who have been in the market for a very long time and become market leaders. It is actually quite funny to read about "slight differences"...

 

[ava1ar]

It is actually quite funny to read about "slight differences"...

Well, take a look at picture made by @mschwett and explain where do you see significant difference between 2 frames there? Most measurement you list are depending on the components installed (like heastube angle) and not really frame specific - they take this measurements after the bike is fully assembled. Take everything off the Tero and put to the Vado frame and you will see most numbers didn't change at all.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Most measurement you list are depending on the components installed (like heastube angle) and not really frame specific - they take this measurements after the bike is fully assembled.

Incorrect. Frame geometry is frame geometry. Same related to the frameset (frame + fork).

 

[ava1ar]

Incorrect. Frame geometry is frame geometry.

Again, please take a look at the two framers overlay picture above and explain where is the difference?

I don't know where do you take this, but bike geometry and frame geometry are different things. Frame measurements are fixed, unlike bike which depend on the components installed.

Right now I believe my eyes more than your words and see these frames are 99% identical.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Again, please take a look at the two framers overlay picture above and explain where is the difference?

Where?

 

[ava1ar]

Where?

2022 Turbo Vado and Turbo Tero comparison: Same bike?

I submit the following two photos from the Specialized web site of the brand new 2022 Turbo Vado 5.0 and 2022 Turbo Tero 5.0 Examine the two bikes with respect to the frames. Do you see any differences? There are some very subtle differences in the frame measurements that could actually be...

electricbikereview.com

Red contour line from Tero, image in front is Vado. Can you spot the differences?

 

[Camasonian]

If you take two identical frames and install a longer fork and different stem on one of them, that will affect: reach, wheelbase, head tube angle, fork rake, etc. Because you will be elevating the front end of the bike and changing all the angles.

What won't change by swapping out fork and stem is head tube length, top tube length, chain stay length, seat tube length, and all the other measurements that are limited to the frame itself, and not the frame and fork combined.

It looks to me like Specialized is taking the same basic frame and building half of them up into Vados and the other half into Teros. Which makes a lot of sense frankly.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

If you take two identical frames and install a longer fork and different stem on one of them, that will affect: reach, wheelbase, head tube angle, fork rake, etc. Because you will be elevating the front end of the bike and changing all the angles.

What won't change by swapping out fork and stem is head tube length, top tube length, chain stay length, seat tube length, and all the other measurements that are limited to the frame itself, and not the frame and fork combined.

It looks to me like Specialized is taking the same basic frame and building half of them up into Vados and the other half into Teros. Which makes a lot of sense frankly.

OK, Camasonian, you might be right, I admit that.

Now, what would you like to do? Convert a Vado into Tero?

 

[Camasonian]

OK, Camasonian, you might be right, I admit that.

Now, what would you like to do? Convert a Vado into Tero?

I don't want to do anything in particular. It was just something I happened to notice. The pre-2022 Vados were clearly much different bikes. But for 2022 Specialized seems to have consolidated their manufacturing and are producing two different bikes off the same basic frame. Since I'm shopping for a Vado it is interesting and reassuring that they feel the frame is robust enough and versatile enough to use offroad as well, with some minor changes. I would be more comfortable using a Vado on rough logging roads, for example.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I don't want to do anything in particular. It was just something I happened to notice. The pre-2022 Vados were clearly much different bikes. But for 2022 Specialized seems to have consolidated their manufacturing and are producing two different bikes off the same basic frame. Since I'm shopping for a Vado it is interesting and reassuring that they feel the frame is robust enough and versatile enough to use offroad as well, with some minor changes. I would be more comfortable using a Vado on rough logging roads, for example.

First of all, there was no Tero before MY 2022. Secondly, I regularly ride my rigid fork 2017 Vado in rough terrain. Adding a decent sus fork, wide tyres, dropper post is all you need to create a Cross Country bike.