Marts, surprisingly to myself, I find answering your questions quite difficult
As I understand, you are a relatively young man, and that puts the perspective differently compared to a quite old, ailing man as myself
The first generations of Vado SL (2020-2024) were meant to be a "fitness bike". The target user would be a regular, moderately fit, healthy person. Vado SL is a lightweight e-bike that technically can be ridden unassisted, and a "normal" user would only turn the assistance on for the hills or headwind; or, the e-bike would be ridden at the default ECO assistance for some boost. The e-bike being relatively lightweight enables the owner lifting and carrying the e-bike whenever necessary. I would say Vado SL un-EQ is a flat handlebar gravel bike, while the EQ version has extra uses for urban or multi-day touring rides. It is not a coincidence two friends of mine ride Vado SL, one of them being in his thirties, and another being in his forties.
The full power Vado has two possible functions:
- A commuter e-bike, so you come to work with no sweat on, or
- An adventure e-bike for long travels, especially in high mountains or on serious hills.
Let us put is straight:
- Vado SL (2020-2024) has the max Assist of 1.8x and maximum motor power of 240 W. The base battery is 320 Wh (plus possible 160 Wh extenders)
- Vado 5.0 has the max Assist of 4.1x and maximum motor power of 565 W (no extender but an extra battery can be carried in a pannier).
Now, I would say that a Vado SL 4.0 EQ would weigh some 18 kg while a standard Vado could be 26 kg. I would not pedal the "big" Vado without the assistance, at least as low as 15/20%.
You can put very heavy panniers on the big Vado while the cargo weight for a standard Vado SL EQ is really limited.
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While I love my Vado SL, I would not take it in any high mountains of Poland (and we have some pretty serious mountain ranges here).
In your case Marts, you might simply not need the "big" Vado but it is a must for me at times
Overtaking gravel cyclists, 14% grade ascent.
In high mountains.
This mountain is 1 metre higher than Ben Nevis
Middle high mountains.
Low mountains However, you can meet a 19% grade climb there!
I would not dare taking my Vado SL to real mountains!
But googling, it says the "Full Power" Vado has a range of 75miles. But the smaller capacity Vado SL does 80miles!!!
Bullshit. Either Vado or Vado SL configured to provide the same assistance has basically the same performance, and the bigger battery on the big Vado ensures more range at identical assistance (do not compare the %%%!)
I suppose I won't be able to fully answer this conundrum until I can arrange test rides.
Exactly!
