Well guys, what a day... Thought I'd drop you a quick update.
My test ride today went beyond my expectations! The bike is great, and when they say Super Light they mean SUPER LIGHT. Picking it up it was hard to tell the difference from my Specialized Sirrus, a bike with no motor or battery! The SL apparently weights 4-5kg more but honestly, its hard to tell just picking it up, it felt incredibly light. To the point I wondered if it had a battery inside it!! As others have mentioned it rides just like a traditional bike without power - the motor completely disengages without any resistance felt when pedalling. The difference between this bike and my 35kg+ Frey EX is like day and night! I can't see me having any fears of running out of power. I can power this bike on Mars Bars alone!
I wasn't expecting too much from the motor with it having just 35nm (after having a bike with 120nm!) but it propels it well just in ECO, nothing earth shattering but perfectly adequate. Upping the power to Sports/Turbo just put a smile on my face
. The Cadence Sensor felt responsive and smooth, no jerkiness or unexpected surges. I won't go into every detail as you guys already know! But a really well sorted bike!
I have to say the guy in Evans Cycles was fantastic (A specialized owner too!), extremely knowledgeable and couldn’t have been more accommodating! He even took down a couple of bikes from a display stand and set them up for me to try in store... a Vado 4.0 Step-Thro and another Vado SL in large! I really appreciated this as it confirmed I needed an XL frame rather than Large.
I liked the bike so much I immediately ordered one! (A bit cheeky as I ordered online instead of in store!
). Anyways, I have a 2024 Vado SL 5.0 XL frame, and in Silver on its way! It will be delivered in 4-5 days so I'm now officially in the Vado SL club.
Now this isn't the EQ version, and I know Stefan has told me I should get an EQ and I did try! I searched everywhere but stock is incredibly low. The only ones I could find were the wrong size, or Step-Thro models. This bike is obviously incredibly popular! Anyways, I'll work around the issues. I have to say I'm just pleased to have one at all!
There are too many of you to name you all, but a big shout out to
@Jeremy McCreary ,
@Te. S ,
@2wheelsgood and especially
@Stefan Mikes , his knowledge of Specialized Vados is unsurpassed! I would have never made this decision so quickly without all of your helpful replies!