EBR made me do it! (new Vado SL 5.0 EQ)

[Jeremy McCreary]

I get it. That said, I think mine is similar in size, and it has come in very handy in an impromptu shopping experience.

No worries there. After I finish paying for this bike and all the mods and accessories, I'll never be able to go shopping again.

 

[DaveMatthews]

No worries there. After I finish paying for this bike and all the mods and accessories, I'll never be able to go shopping again.

I hear ya mate.
I am rapidly becoming close to retirement.
My insane guitar acquisitions will become a reversal I think.
My bike choice may change as well, and I have no idea what might fit my plan/budget/lifestyle yet...

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I hear ya mate.
I am rapidly becoming close to retirement.
My insane guitar acquisitions will become a reversal I think.
My bike choice may change as well, and I have no idea what might fit my plan/budget/lifestyle yet...

It'll be fun to figure out. We're enjoying retirement a lot, and ebiking has become a big part of that for me.

 

[DaveMatthews]

It'll be fun to figure out. We're enjoying retirement a lot, and ebiking has become a big part of that for me.

That's awesome.
I know for sure ebiking will be a part of me until I cannot...

 

[Prairie Dog]

What are you Vado SL riders doing for daily storage?

Perhaps you could add a smallish wedge frame bag to house essentials for quick access. Apidura offers a good selection of frame bags to choose from starting from as minimal volume as 1L. There is even a handy interactive sizing tool to help determine the size of pack for your bike.

Sometimes we carry along a feed bag attached to the bars/headtube which also doubles as a holder for an additional water bottle. We use the Stuff Caddy from Lezyne.

STUFF CADDY

Simple, versatile handlebar stuff bag. Quickly and securely mounts to handlebars, frame, and fork, or wherever you strap it. High quality, durable, and water resistant. Adjustable straps increase versatility and an integrated draw cord keeps contents secure. Reflective features for safety. Draw...

ride.lezyne.com

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Perhaps you could add a smallish wedge frame bag to house essentials for quick access. Apidura offers a good selection of frame bags to choose from starting from as minimal volume as 1L. There is even a handy interactive sizing tool to help determine the size of pack for your bike.

Sometimes we carry along a feed bag attached to the bars/headtube which also doubles as a holder for an additional water bottle. We use the Stuff Caddy from Lezyne.

STUFF CADDY

Simple, versatile handlebar stuff bag. Quickly and securely mounts to handlebars, frame, and fork, or wherever you strap it. High quality, durable, and water resistant. Adjustable straps increase versatility and an integrated draw cord keeps contents secure. Reflective features for safety. Draw...

ride.lezyne.com

Great suggestions! The Stuff Caddy has real promise.

Thanks for introducing me to Apidura. They make nice stuff. If this 2.4L frame pack left more room in front of the top-tube bosses, it'd be perfect:

Apidura x Canyon Frame Pack | Apidura

The Apidura x Canyon Frame Bag is a lightweight & waterproof bag for weekenders & everyday riding, reimagined to perfectly complement the Canyon Grizlt

www.apidura.com

 

[Stefan Mikes]

What are you Vado SL riders doing for daily storage?

A pannier, or two

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I'm sure the Turbo power delivery system is largely top secret, but...

What do we know about the sensors it uses to dole out assist?

On the mechanical side, wheel speed for sure. Since the TCU can show real-time cadence and rider power, there must be either cadence and power or cadence and torque sensors.

What else? Motor temperature? Motor shaft speed? The latter would allow the controller to locate the motor on stored empirical torque-speed and efficiency-speed curves in real time.

On the electrical side, surely battery voltage and motor current draw at the very least.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

What do we know about the sensors it uses to dole out assist?

There are up to 6 principal sensors on a good mid-drive motor e-bike:

1. The rear wheel rpm sensor. Given the wheel circumference it translates to the actual cruising speed (and the distance ridden in time)
2. The pedalling torque sensor
3. The pedalling cadence sensor. The torque and cadence sensors allow calculating the cyclist's pedalling power
4. The motor rpm sensor
5. The inclinometer
6. The accelerometer.

The sensors 1-4 must be present in any mid-drive motor while 5-6 are optional (Giant/Yamaha use them).

The electrical sensors found on Specialized e-bikes include at least these:

1. Battery voltage meter. Combined with a precisely calibrated curve, that sensor gives battery charge, including a Range Extender
2. Current (amperage) meter. Voltage times amperage gives the electrical motor power. Now, Specialized knows the motor efficiency, so the e-bike can determine the current mechanical power delivered to the drivetrain
3. Battery thermometer
4. Motor thermometer.

I am sure there are more. Just fancy how sophisticated the TCU software must be! Plus, the software of the Specialized App that has to handle all Specialized e-bike models (sadly, not very old models).

@Jeremy McCreary: Now think what it needs to:

• Balance the main battery and the Range Extender, regardless what the level of each battery is...
• And parallel charging of the Main Battery and the Range Extender...

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

If all goes to plan, the new SL is 2-3 days away now. Thanks to all for the valuable intel on this exciting new bike.

Took the hub-drive on an undulating 24-mile, 2-stop coast ride this morning to simulate certain aspects of the SL. Nearly all with motor off, most of the rest at lowest assist, starts and intersections without throttle, etc.

Pretty slow without the motor, but I burned well under 150 Wh — less than half the SL's capacity.

Conclusions:
1. I foresee getting a lot of use out of Microtune in this kind of terrain.

2. Knees will definitely miss the hub-drive's throttle. They really don't like strenuous accelerations of any kind. Thankfully, the SL will have less linear and rotational inertia to accelerate.

3. Given the SL's lower weight and rolling resistance, certain now that it'll be great on typical coast rides without the RE.

4. Performance on inland hills is the only remaining concern.

We shall soon see...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Jeremy,

I'm impressed you could ride your heavy e-bike with minimum assistance for 39 km! Now, let us set some perspective (using Imperial units).

My favourite constant assistance setting for Vado SL is 55/55%. An early long ride with a few mild hills resulted in the average speed of 12.6 mph, and the main battery range was 48 miles. Note: My Vado SL was restricted to 15.5 mph on that ride, which was a contributing factor for a better range. Now, the setting of 40/100% (that can only be set with Specialized App for one of the standard presets such as ECO) gave me the main battery range of 47 mi at average speed of 13.6 mph (more mild hills there); the e-bike was unrestricted, which made it similar to the U.S. Vado SL in the terms of performance.

I think your Vado SL will give you a lot of assistance and a decent range. Especially the Micro Tune, Range, and Range Trend should give you a lot of confidence!

Hills? Well. Turbo and the granny gear if needed!

This waiting must be killing you. Myself, I cannot wait!

P.S. Jeremy, save yourself a little bit of trouble. Please download and install the Specialized App (black icon) now. Set your account on specialized.com to be able to use the App. When collecting the e-bike, please ask the LBS person to pair the Vado SL with your phone. Then you would be able to control your new ride from the first moment! (The Specialized App can be quite confusing in the very beginning) Also: I trust the LBS guys are professional but ask whether the tyres have been inflated

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Jeremy,

I'm impressed you could ride your heavy e-bike with minimum assistance for 39 km! Now, let us set some perspective (using Imperial units).

My favourite constant assistance setting for Vado SL is 55/55%. An early long ride with a few mild hills resulted in the average speed of 12.6 mph, and the main battery range was 48 miles. Note: My Vado SL was restricted to 15.5 mph on that ride, which was a contributing factor for a better range. Now, the setting of 40/100% (that can only be set with Specialized App for one of the standard presets such as ECO) gave me the main battery range of 47 mi at average speed of 13.6 mph (more mild hills there); the e-bike was unrestricted, which made it similar to the U.S. Vado SL in the terms of performance.

I think your Vado SL will give you a lot of assistance and a decent range. Especially the Micro Tune, Range, and Range Trend should give you a lot of confidence!

Hills? Well. Turbo and the granny gear if needed!

This waiting must be killing you. Myself, I cannot wait!

P.S. Jeremy, save yourself a little bit of trouble. Please download and install the Specialized App (black icon) now. Set your account on specialized.com to be able to use the App. When collecting the e-bike, please ask the LBS person to pair the Vado SL with your phone. Then you would be able to control your new ride from the first moment! (The Specialized App can be quite confusing in the very beginning) Also: I trust the LBS guys are professional but ask whether the tyres have been inflated

Downloaded the black-icon app last week hoping to poke around. Set up an account but can't get any farther till I connect to a bike. Will have the LBS do as you say before pedaling away.

Yes, the waiting's killing me. After today, pretty sure that avoiding an RE will eventually require a smaller chainring. Will try your 40/100 ECO early on.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

March 13th, 2021: 'I'd like this e-bike but it isn't for me!'

June 13th, 2021: A Vado SL demo ride.

June 23rd, 2021: Pairing my new Vado SL with Mission Control (later replaced by Specialized App).

June 23rd, 2021: Ready to ride for my first 20 miles. I badly missed the rear-view mirror!

June 24th, 2023: A day post the warranty expiry. A Specialized person updating the firmware on my Vado SL and all four Range Extenders.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Bummer, the SL's been delayed a week in transit. Need a big distraction so I can stop obsessing and taking up everyone's time with pre-trial hand-wringing.

Thought about re-bingeing the Tour de France, but that's what started this whole light and nimble yellow bike mania to begin with.

Meanwhile, I'll try to beef up my skinny old climbing legs on the hub-drive.

Thanks to all for your help and patience!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Bummer, the SL's been delayed a week in transit.

Now, we are going to suffer together for another week...

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Now, we are going to suffer together for another week...

Make that 2 weeks. The week delay puts the bike in my hands 2 days before a week out of town, and I can't take it with me.

That puts any serious hill testing — and any report beyond a quick first impression — over 2 weeks out now. Good thing the trial period is 30 days!

 

[BEC111]

Bummer, the SL's been delayed a week in transit. Need a big distraction so I can stop obsessing and taking up everyone's time with pre-trial hand-wringing.

Thought about re-bingeing the Tour de France, but that's what started this whole light and nimble yellow bike mania to begin with.

View attachment 181269View attachment 181270View attachment 181271

Meanwhile, I'll try to beef up my skinny old climbing legs on the hub-drive.

Thanks to all for your help and patience!

This has been a fun thread. It should go on.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Perhaps you could add a smallish wedge frame bag to house essentials for quick access. Apidura offers a good selection of frame bags to choose from starting from as minimal volume as 1L. There is even a handy interactive sizing tool to help determine the size of pack for your bike.

Sometimes we carry along a feed bag attached to the bars/headtube which also doubles as a holder for an additional water bottle. We use the Stuff Caddy from Lezyne.

STUFF CADDY

Simple, versatile handlebar stuff bag. Quickly and securely mounts to handlebars, frame, and fork, or wherever you strap it. High quality, durable, and water resistant. Adjustable straps increase versatility and an integrated draw cord keeps contents secure. Reflective features for safety. Draw...

ride.lezyne.com

Thanks again for the great storage ideas! Frame bag is Plan A for the trial period. The small Apidura may be too big, but dealer said this one won't block anything, and it's in stock.

If the SL's a keeper, maybe matching seat and feed bags, the seat dedicated for tools as you suggested. Any seat bag will have to play well with the Redshift suspension post.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

This has been a fun thread. It should go on.

Well, I've certainly done my part to go on and on and on and on and on about this.

Trust me, it's only gonna get worse once the bike's in my hot little hands.

 

[RandallS]

Nice bike - I've been looking at those too as MTB types of rides not working very well for me these days - I'm mainly on pavement or packed gravel trails lately (hip issues - can't really get much power in one leg).
I think I'll steal the excuse of EBR being the cause, but I'll wait 'til spring to decide if I need to do it.

Looking forward to your impressions once you get it.