Does the Vado SL 4 EQ fit in your car?

[Thought I’d finished]

Hi all, I’ve just joined this forum and am hoping to learn a lot from your posts. I’m wondering if any of you who have the Vado SL4 EQ find it easy to transport it in the back of the car? I moved away from full-sized bikes a while ago, finding that a Brompton was more suitable for my needs, so no longer have my tow bar or bike rack. If I were to go for the Vado, I’d need to be able to put it in the back of a Peugeot 3008. Any advice would be appreciated. The Vado is trying to lure me back to a bigger bike set-up!

 

[lloose]

I have to take off the front wheel on my non SL to get it to fit in the back of my wifes mini van. Its a pretty big bike. I don't know if I could fit it in the back of my Accord.

 

[BEC111]

I can fit mine into my 2018 Honda CR-V with the rear passenger seat down. I can do it myself, but the help of a friend makes it easier.

Don’t know if that will help.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Snap. I can fit mine into the back of my ten year old Honda CRV with the back seats down. It is tight but does fit without needing to take off front wheel.

 

[Thought I’d finished]

Thanks, both. That’s really helpful; sounds like it might be more than I can manage (with non quick-release wheels and being mostly on my own) alas. it just looks so darn good! I appreciate your help.

 

[BEC111]

FWIW, I‘m planning on getting a platform hitch rack. It’s too much of a pain in the neck to get the bike into the back of the C-RV.

If you’re willing to spring for the bike, even an expensive rack bought at the same time won’t feel as painful. Of course, that assumes your Peugeot can have a hitch installed.

 

[Thought I’d finished]

FWIW, I‘m planning on getting a platform hitch rack. It’s too much of a pain in the neck to get the bike into the back of the C-RV.

If you’re willing to spring for the bike, even an expensive rack bought at the same time won’t feel as painful. Of course, that assumes your Peugeot can have a hitch installed.

Many thanks, BEC111. I suspect the overall outlay is on the high side for me. If I hadn’t got rid of the tow bar and bike rack a while ago, it’d be straightforward enough, but that’s what I get for streamlining! I’ve certainly enjoyed doing some homework on the Vado, at any rate. All the best.

 

[jodi2]

We had 10 year a Volkswagen Caddy to carry 2-3 bikes safe and easily.
Now we have a BMW i3, which is very small (short and narrow, but a good/well-shaped trunk), but one bike is still possible without removing anything. All my bikes are size L-XL and also my XL Stromer ebike fits, but is a pain to carry alone with it's 28kg. A Vado SL with about 11kg less is no problem for an average man without back-problems. My Creo SL is easy peasy in the i3, in the bigger 3008 even more.
Of course you loose the seats in back/have to turn down the backrests and a second bike is not possible. At least not in the i3, but even in a bigger car it's not good to carry one bike over another.

 

[Thought I’d finished]

We had 10 year a Volkswagen Caddy to carry 2-3 bikes safe and easily.
Now we have a BMW i3, which is very small (short and narrow, but a good/well-shaped trunk), but one bike is still possible without removing anything. All my bikes are size L-XL and also my XL Stromer ebike fits, but is a pain to carry alone with it's 28kg. A Vado SL with about 11kg less is no problem for an average man without back-problems. My Creo SL is easy peasy in the i3, in the bigger 3008 even more.
Of course you loose the seats in back/have to turn down the backrests and a second bike is not possible. At least not in the i3, but even in a bigger car it's not good to carry one bike over another.

Thanks, jodi2. That sounds promising, although I’m an average female. Incidentally, without starting another thread, could I ask if any of you have used the Cycle+ scheme? The Specialized (and most of the ebikes I’d be interested in) exceed the £3k allowance, but the BS has said they’d accept a personal cash payment for the extra amount. This seems good, but it does further lower the savings I’d apparently make on the scheme; still some savings, but I’m on the fence. Sorry to ask a question which essentially has nothing to do with the thread I started, so please feel free to ignore. Of course, if I do end up buying, I’ll never be able to tell anyone the cost of the bike! And there was me thinking a while back I’d cracked the bike buying thing and would be satisfied with one.

 

[jodi2]

For an "average" woman it's different and also a Vado SL still heavy to put in the trunk, that's maybe the same as my 28kg Stromer for me. I guess it's possible alone but no fun, if you do it once a year, it's ok, but once week it's annoying.
Just try/test it with an average tour bike, with carrier and fenders weight is almost similiar to a Vado SL.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Yep I’d agree with that. I’m a fella & I find it a pain to put the Vado SL in the Honda. It fits & is do-able but it’s an awkward process and I try and avoid it too often Mostly cycling from home which is fine for me here, but not ideal if your main riding routes are tricky to get to.

 

[Allan47.7339]

I transport my Vado SL EQ in the back of a Subaru Forester with the rear seats folded down. The Vado SL only weighs 15 kg so it's fairly easy to lift the rear wheel into the cargo area and then roll it in tilted to the non-derailleur side. The only issue is one pedal will sometimes catch on the gap between the folded seats and cargo mat so I have open a rear door to lift it over.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I transport any of my three e-bikes (Vado 5.0, Giant Trance E+, and Lovelec Diadem) in my Renault Megane estate-car with the front wheel removed and the rear seats folded. I think Vado SL has a thru-axle that needs to be unscrewed using a hex wrench (pay attention to not to destroy the bolt socket!).

None of my e-bikes is small. I can even manage to transport as many as two e-bikes at the same time. When the first e-bike is in, I cover it with a large piece of cardboard. Then, I remove the non-drive side pedal, and the seat-post of the second e-bike. Not that complicated, did it several times to enable a remote friend enjoy e-bike rides together with me.

It should be far easier with lightweight Vado SL. The only thing to take care of is to pay attention to the handlebar orientation so the front mudguard is not destroyed.

 

[BEC111]

I transport my Vado SL EQ in the back of a Subaru Forester with the rear seats folded down. The Vado SL only weighs 15 kg so it's fairly easy to lift the rear wheel into the cargo area and then roll it in tilted to the non-derailleur side. The only issue is one pedal will sometimes catch on the gap between the folded seats and cargo mat so I have open a rear door to lift it over.

Rear wheel first! I’ve got to try that. I’ve been going front wheel first.

I need to resolve this to some extent since the hitch racks that would work for me are either too expensive, out of stock with long delivery delays or both.

 

[devgolfs]

I just picked up a Vado SL EQ. I was able to get it into the Volvo XC90 pretty easily with the seats down. I'd transported other bikes easily with the front tire off.

I took the front tire off the Vado (pretty easy, had to remember the brake lock), but what I wasn't anticipating was dealing with the front fender. I ended up just having the handlebar up and down in the back (which I imagine would be hard in smaller cars), as opposed to laying the handlebars flat as I had with other bikes.

As far as can tell there's no easy way to pop the fenders on and off. Does anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions on the best position to lay the bike down so as not to damage the fender when the front tire is off?

 

[ActionJackson]

Any suggestions on the best position to lay the bike down so as not to damage the fender when the front tire is off?

Hi, for me that is yet to be discovered. However I did find if you remove the back plastic extension from the metal fender it helps somewhat. I have a roof rack but I’m still looking at ways to fit it into the trunk easily once I clear out my wife’s junk. I’m thinking to loosen the stem and turn it 90° as if it were going into a shipping crate and try that.

 

[jimk]

Toyota Prius no problem with the front wheel on. Just picked up an ID 4, also no problem.

 

[Allan47.7339]

I also trimmed my handle bars about one inch on each side. I didn't really need the wide MTB style bars and it makes it easier to get in the car.