Just got back from the longest loop I currently do. 11.5 miles. The only other bike I did this loop was the current. Some observations:
The current is faster. It has a higher high gear and it shows on the downhills and flats. But, on the uphills, I think the vado was faster. It has a lower low gear and just feels easier a lot of the time. I pushed cadence well into 100+ at times. Totally not worth it and just started coasting on hills instead.
The expedition gel is surprisingly comfortable. No numbness or other issues like that *but* it is definitely not positioned correctly for this saddle. I kept wanting to slide forward which pushed my weight on to my hands. This only created some numbness in the hands, surprisingly, particularly my left hand. I didn't have to stop and rest or anything like that. So, I am going to play with saddle position. It's odd because it feels like two big lumps I am sitting on, but it's not uncomfortable. Even with these "issues" this may have been the most comfortable run of this loop. I did level the saddle, but I think I need to level it differently. It feels like "level" should be the rear bumps and the nose, or at least closer to that rather than the cutout channel. But, it also may simply be that this saddle needs to be a bit further forward so I sit a bit further back on it naturally.
Battery life: Started at 100% and ended at 71%. I didn't use mission control so I don't get to see the watt hours number (but it really should be 205?). This is a mix of turbo and eco for the most part. My math puts a range of 40 miles. Not terribly impressive. One of my personal goals is to do this ride fully in eco. But, I suspect that is a while off. Particularly the hill back to my house, which seems to eat most of the power. This was only a climb of 772 feet total, most of which is in the hill up to my house. The specialized turbo calculator puts the same thing in turbo for 3,300 feet with the same range while using turbo exclusively. Interesting.
Charging: This bike seems to only charge when it is turned on, and the plug is inserted while the bike is on. If you plug it in while off, or turn it off while plugged in, no charging. My answer to this is simply to never turn the bike off. Plug it in when I get home, and just let the thing manage itself. Seems to work fine.
Integration Question:
@Stefan Mikes you can probably answer this. I currently prefer Ride With GPS as my main tracking app. Is there a way to get the bike to hand data about power usage and whatever else it tracks to ride with gps? Or any other app? I don't really like specialized app and would rather just use it to control settings. I might be able to tolerate strava just for tracking purposes (but not for planning).
Clipping in - I tightened up my cleats to make walking easier. This made clipping in a touch harder. I finally bit the bullet and decided to order the double sided magped enduro2 as these seem to address every problem. No looking for when "clipping" and no looking for when using normal shoes. Of course, when using SPD, there is no option to use them "unclipped" since both sides have the magnet. Since I highly prefer to be clipped, I don't think that will be a problem.
I Learn new things on every ride.
Happy Riding!
My wife has a Bontrager MIK trunk without panniers and while it's nice, I prefer the Topeak trunk bags.
