BLEvo app working on Vado!!

[Stefan Mikes]

Firmware 7.3.4 ?
Is that the BLEvo firmware or is it a Specialized motor firmware?

It's some rubbish data, PaD. Same with my BLEvo.

 

[Ike582]

Stefan, that's great to hear. I'm going to contact my LBS where I purchased the bike and try to arrange this work in the off-season. Many thanks,
Ike

 

[Kam1936]

BLEvo cannot connect to the motor tuning section. Now I can remember it was the reason I was not using it. Yet, the rich information display and post-ride information are valuable.

That's odd. It connects to mine fine. That's one of the reasons I prefer BLEvo. It allows me to tune in 1% increments instead of 5.

 

[Kam1936]

Firmware 7.3.4 ?
Is that the BLEvo firmware or is it a Specialized motor firmware?

That's one of three Firmwares for the Turbo Vado. In my case 5.0. That number can be found in BLEvo as well as Mission Control.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

That's odd. It connects to mine fine. That's one of the reasons I prefer BLEvo. It allows me to tune in 1% increments instead of 5.

It indeed seemed odd. Because the Bike Setup part of BLEvo suddenly started working for me, giving a good insight into the bike tuning.

• Do you think @Kam1936 the Acceleration and Shuttle sliders really work for Vado? I thought it was only supported by Levo
• The Wheel Circumference can be set in BLEvo (to give accurate readouts in the app) but it doesn't seem to affect the value set in the TCU
• The Speed slider luckily doesn't affect the Vado. Which is good because it might upset the 45 km/h or 28 mph speed limiter.

For me, adjusting the assistance by 1% as compared to 5% of the MC is not critical. The Bike Monitor is what really won me for BLEvo.

Although I'm not sure what kind of motor power BLEvo really indicates. Is it the motor power or the battery consumed power? Let me list some facts:

1. I know the rated Max Motor Power of the 1.2s is 520 W. When I maxed the motor out, BLEvo gave 676 W. I have checked it out against Mission Control, Diagnostics, Battery. It turns out the value of some 666 W is what my Vado is drawing from the battery. If that is so, it means the 1.2s efficiency is 100 * 520/676 = 77%, and that's about right.
   
   
2. If I set Assistance to 20% (of rated 3.2x for the 1.2s), the assistance amplification shall be 0.2 * 3.2 = 0.64x. Meaning, 0.64 W of motor power per each Watt of the rider's leg power input. The Motor Max of 20% means maximum 0.2 * 520 W = 104 W max motor power. When I input my 100 W, the motor should respond with 64 W. The maximum motor power should be limited to 104 W. Now: when I input 100 W, BLEvo tells me the motor produces 150-160 W. How come?

I wouldn't trust BLEvo very much but at least it gives a lot of interesting information.

Besides, long time no hear, @Kam1936!

 

[Kam1936]

It indeed seemed odd. Because the Bike Setup part of BLEvo suddenly started working for me, giving a good insight into the bike tuning.

• Do you think @Kam1936 the Acceleration and Shuttle sliders really work for Vado? I thought it was only supported by Levo
• The Wheel Circumference can be set in BLEvo (to give accurate readouts in the app) but it doesn't seem to affect the value set in the TCU
• The Speed slider luckily
  doesn't affect the Vado. Which is good because it might upset the 45 km/h or 28 mph speed limiter.

For me, adjusting the assistance by 1% as compared to 5% of the MC is not critical. The Bike Monitor is what really won me for BLEvo.

Although I'm not sure what kind of motor power BLEvo really indicates. Is it the motor power or the battery consumed power? Let me list some facts:

1. I know the rated Max Motor Power of the 1.2s is 520 W. When I maxed the motor out, BLEvo gave 676 W. I have checked it out against Mission Control, Diagnostics, Battery. It turns out the value of some 666 W is what my Vado is drawing from the battery. If that is so, it means the 1.2s efficiency is 100 * 520/676 = 77%, and that's about right.
   
   
2. If I set Assistance to 20% (of rated 3.2x for the 1.2s), the assistance amplification shall be 0.2 * 3.2 = 0.64x. Meaning, 0.64 W of motor power per each Watt of the rider's leg power input. The Motor Max of 20% means maximum 0.2 * 520 W = 104 W max motor power. When I input my 100 W, the motor should respond with 64 W. The maximum motor power should be limited to 104 W. Now: when I input 100 W, BLEvo tells me the motor produces 150-160 W. How come?

I wouldn't trust BLEvo very much but at least it gives a lot of interesting information.

Besides, long time no hear, @Kam1936!

Yep. It's been awhile. I haven't ridden my Vado much or visited this forum much. The science behind all of the information (BLEvo) is a mystery to me. The range, max speed, average speed, ride distance, battery monitoring, have all been very accurate for me. That's all I look at while listening to the audible information during the ride. I don't bother with MC anymore.

 

[Kam1936]

One other thing the speed slider won't effect the bike. It will report accurate speed in BLEvo when set if your bike has Planet 3 installed. It will report accurately speed and range while your TCD-w will lie to you.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

One other thing the speed slider won't effect the bike. It will report accurate speed in BLEvo when set if your bike has Planet 3 installed. It will report accurately speed and range while your TCD-w will lie to you.

The only thing I haven't mastered yet is the Range. I think I put it into the screen configuration but need to make more rides to ensure it works for me

 

[PaD]

That's one of three Firmwares for the Turbo Vado. In my case 5.0. That number can be found in BLEvo as well as Mission Control.

Thanks.
I thought 7.3.4 could be a new motor firmware but I checked all three firmwares through Mission Control and now see that it’s the battery firmware. I have the same. My firmwares were updated in June

 

[Nubnub]

Although I'm not sure what kind of motor power BLEvo really indicates. Is it the motor power or the battery consumed power? Let me list some facts:

1. I know the rated Max Motor Power of the 1.2s is 520 W. When I maxed the motor out, BLEvo gave 676 W. I have checked it out against Mission Control, Diagnostics, Battery. It turns out the value of some 666 W is what my Vado is drawing from the battery. If that is so, it means the 1.2s efficiency is 100 * 520/676 = 77%, and that's about right.
   
   
2. If I set Assistance to 20% (of rated 3.2x for the 1.2s), the assistance amplification shall be 0.2 * 3.2 = 0.64x. Meaning, 0.64 W of motor power per each Watt of the rider's leg power input. The Motor Max of 20% means maximum 0.2 * 520 W = 104 W max motor power. When I input my 100 W, the motor should respond with 64 W. The maximum motor power should be limited to 104 W. Now: when I input 100 W, BLEvo tells me the motor produces 150-160 W. How come?

I wouldn't trust BLEvo very much but at least it gives a lot of interesting information.

My guess is that it is measuring consumed power since it would be easier to measure.

1. That is a much easier way to think about it, thanks for pointing this out.

2. So for an SL that would be .32x If pp setting is high enough, this will hold true for any rider power I generate. Looking at details, my last ride is avg biker power of 168 W and avg motor power 59 W. Calculated motor power would be .32x 168 W = 53.76 W. I assume motor efficiency will vary wildly depending on cadence and biker power levels. I think it is conceivable this supports that Blevo is reporting battery consumed - but it is close enough that it may actually be motor power as well.

Agreed that Blevo info is hard to trust. On the SL with range extender it will always ask capacity of range extender at start of the ride. But it only reports start end battery pct for the main battery and assumes the range extender is half that. So if I start with 39% and do a short ride that only drains the range extender - it reports 0Wh consumed. Further ride details do show motor energy. But as long as Blevo data is consistent with itself, it provides useful interesting info for me.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

My guess is that it is measuring consumed power since it would be easier to measure.

1. That is a much easier way to think about it, thanks for pointing this out.

2. So for an SL that would be .32x If pp setting is high enough, this will hold true for any rider power I generate. Looking at details, my last ride is avg biker power of 168 W and avg motor power 59 W. Calculated motor power would be .32x 168 W = 53.76 W. I assume motor efficiency will vary wildly depending on cadence and biker power levels. I think it is conceivable this supports that Blevo is reporting battery consumed - but it is close enough that it may actually be motor power as well.

Agreed that Blevo info is hard to trust. On the SL with range extender it will always ask capacity of range extender at start of the ride. But it only reports start end battery pct for the main battery and assumes the range extender is half that. So if I start with 39% and do a short ride that only drains the range extender - it reports 0Wh consumed. Further ride details do show motor energy. But as long as Blevo data is consistent with itself, it provides useful interesting info for me.

I'm sure BLEvo is the best application for 25 km/h Levo (and Levos equipped with Planet3), with the spare battery carried in a backpack. It was never developed for other Specialized e-bikes because Paolo only owns a (European) Levo Still, a very useful application!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Hereby, I Revoke All Negative Comments I Happened to Make About BLEvo. It is a great app and the only I use for my EU Vado 5.0 S-Pedelec now.

I used to be shy about BLEvo in the past. One of things that were making me afraid was this:

I own a legal 45 km/h Vado. I tried to set the slider to 45 km/h and was unable to do it. I was afraid I might spoil my Vado by using BLEvo and that would have invalidated my warranty.
My fears have been baseless. I simply don't touch these sliders and everything is OK.

The breakthrough happened when Under Armour announced discontinuing the Endomondo sports tracker. I had to find a replacement, so I went for Strava. And I knew BLEvo worked very well with Strava. So I started using BLEvo, and by using the app I understood how great it was.

My "BLEvo Advantages" Post

There is only a single thing I cannot understand about BLEvo: The Motor Power indicated. It is not Motor Power. It is "Power Drawn from the Battery". For instance, the 666 W displayed as Motor Power should be multiplied by the motor efficiency of 0.78 for the Specialized 1.2s motor, and then the true motor power will be close to 520, or the rated Maximum Peak Power for that motor. That is a marginal thing though.

I would take this occasion to apologise @Kam1936 for any negative remarks on BLEvo I made in the past. I was not capable to understand how great BLEvo was at that time. (Meanwhile, Paolo managed to do several bug fixes as well).

Great product! Highly recommended.

 

[Kam1936]

Hereby, I Revoke All Negative Comments I Happened to Make About BLEvo. It is a great app and the only I use for my EU Vado 5.0 S-Pedelec now.

I used to be shy about BLEvo in the past. One of things that were making me afraid was this:
View attachment 75708
I own a legal 45 km/h Vado. I tried to set the slider to 45 km/h and was unable to do it. I was afraid I might spoil my Vado by using BLEvo and that would have invalidated my warranty.
My fears have been baseless. I simply don't touch these sliders and everything is OK.

The breakthrough happened when Under Armour announced discontinuing the Endomondo sports tracker. I had to find a replacement, so I went for Strava. And I knew BLEvo worked very well with Strava. So I started using BLEvo, and by using the app I understood how great it was.

My "BLEvo Advantages" Post

There is only a single thing I cannot understand about BLEvo: The Motor Power indicated. It is not Motor Power. It is "Power Drawn from the Battery". For instance, the 666 W displayed as Motor Power should be multiplied by the motor efficiency of 0.78 for the Specialized 1.2s motor, and then the true motor power will be close to 520, or the rated Maximum Peak Power for the motor. That is a marginal thing though.

I would take this occasion to apologise @Kam1936 for any negative remarks on BLEvo. I was not capable to understand how great BLEvo was at that time. (Meanwhile, Paolo managed to do several bug fixes as well).

Great product! Highly recommended.

Thank you sir for clarifying. Apology accepted. I've consistently maintained without waver that BLEvo works great with my Turbo Vado 5.0. 2019 edition against all those who were critical of the app. However, I cannot speak for other Vados, just my own. I have no idea why it works for some and not for others. If you are reluctant in purchasing the app, contact the developer. He issued me a refund when I couldn't get it to work with the BLOK display. I ended up repurchasing the app when I upgraded to the TCD-w display. I was happy to find that it worked flawlessly with the new display..

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Thank you sir for clarifying. Apology accepted. I've consistently maintained without waver that BLEvo works great with my Turbo Vado 5.0. 2019 edition against all those who were critical of the app. However, I cannot speak for other Vados, just my own. I have no idea why it works for some and not for others. If you are reluctant in purchasing the app, contact the developer. He issued me a refund when I couldn't get it to work with the BLOK display. I ended up repurchasing the app when I upgraded to the TCD-w display. I was happy to find that it worked flawlessly with the new display..

EU S-Pedelec Vado is not the U.S. Class 3 Vado. That was the point that used to make me be wary of BLEvo. I should have not be afraid though

 

[Kam1936]

EU S-Pedelec Vado is not the U.S. Class 3 Vado. That was the point that used to make me be wary of BLEvo. I should have not be afraid though

Well at least we know now there are "2" reporting BLEvo working with Turbo Vados 5.0 European/ US editions. Never heard back from the person with 4.0 Vado that said BLEvo was reading his battery correctly. Never posted any stats or any follow up. Crazy politics (Election/Covid/Social unrest) here might be the reason. It has been for me. I hardly ride my Vado anymore against all the madness.

Update: Almost 2200 miles. Same Tires. No flats or punctures. Same chain. Same firmware. No issues. I don't think the Trigger Black Belt is designed for 3000 or 4000 miles. The middle part of my tires are worn. I will probably have to replace soon so I don't get a flat. Other than that, Vado is holding up well