For Specialized SL owners. Have you bought the bottle battery and is it helpful to you?

mschwett said:
you referred to 400+ watts as making the climb much slower, so i thought you were talking about the sustained effort.
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I was suffering from the "confirmation bias" when I was writing my earlier post on climbing. Later, I could analyse the trip to find out Vado SL was faring well on mild climbs, especially with the powerful low-end gearing. My idea is the SL xx/100% assistance is really rewarding the rider's effort while remaining economic. Of course, the stronger the rider is the lower xx should be set!
 
Captain Slow said:
Yeah 325 watts for four hours is amazing. So much, that I wonder how many on this forum with the ebike they own and a single battery could average 325 watts for four hours.
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i think most riders could do 100w for four hours? with a food stop? so they'd need a 1,200wh battery, roughly, at 80% efficiency. 7 or 8 specialized range extenders 😄
 
Stefan Mikes said:
It is certainly depending on how good your legs are. The more rider's contribution to the ride the less battery use.

I often watch on Strava how @BioWheel rides his Vado SL as Karl always publishes the e-bike/rider data from BLEvo. His legs are twice as strong as mine (160 vs 80 W). Karl's rides are usually of order of 80 km (50 mi) with up to 700 m (2,100 ft) elevation gain.
  • On a usual ride, Biowheel is roughly at the 35% assistance, contributes 77% to the ride, has the battery consumption factor of 3.16 Wh/km (5.1 Wh/mi) and comes back home with 50% of the Main Battery charge still left. His average speed is around 25 km/h (15 mph).
  • On a hot day, Biowheel used around 55% assistance. His battery consumption factor became double of the usual, his own contribution dropped to 62%, the average speed was just a bit higher, and he rode for 88 km (55 mi). Suddenly, he used 109% of battery, which meant the Range Extender turned out to be necessary.
I show these use data to demonstrate how heavily the Specialized SL system depends on the rider's contribution to the ride, how sensitive it is to the assistance level used, and that the Range Extender could be necessary, especially for 80+ mile rides, or, when the assistance is high.

@BioWheel could you please shed some light on the conditions of your latest ride? Did you manipulate the Max Motor Power setting? Going from 3.16 up to 6.0 Wh/km must have come from something! Thank you!
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Hey Stefan - you are correct, I typically ride with only a little assistance (eco) and typically go for 40 and 50 mile rides. On my last go, temps nearing 100f - I went out eco and then switched to mainly 60% e-support as my power output decreased. For me, and maybe you can explain this, when I go to Sport mode, my power numbers go up. My contribution increases. Unsure if it's me sensing an increase in speed and responding with greater power or maybe just the increased inertia of the bike makes it easier and I power up - unsure. But - yes, I run a range extender and this way I don't have to obsess on if I will get back with power. I've purchased a Levo SL and plan to get a second range extender to carry. This way, I can increase the range of the bike and in this way pedal to trails and back as opposed to driving bike to trails.
 
BioWheel said:
Hey Stefan - you are correct, I typically ride with only a little assistance (eco) and typically go for 40 and 50 mile rides. On my last go, temps nearing 100f - I went out eco and then switched to mainly 60% e-support as my power output decreased. For me, and maybe you can explain this, when I go to Sport mode, my power numbers go up. My contribution increases. Unsure if it's me sensing an increase in speed and responding with greater power or maybe just the increased inertia of the bike makes it easier and I power up - unsure. But - yes, I run a range extender and this way I don't have to obsess on if I will get back with power. I've purchased a Levo SL and plan to get a second range extender to carry. This way, I can increase the range of the bike and in this way pedal to trails and back as opposed to driving bike to trails.
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climbing is the same, riding uphill at 200w feels like so much more work than riding on the flats at 200w! there are more physics explanations for this but the increased cooling of a 20mph wind vs 5 is part of it for sure.

the SL bikes also are a little more optimistic with their rider power numbers at higher assist levels 😇
 
I tried 40/100 on my ride today. Seemed to work fairly well in the flats. 1-2 miles per % of battery. Then I hit the hills. Had to use turbo in some spots. Only had about 20% left combined main + RE.

Screenshot_20240702_213241_Connect.jpg
 
BioWheel said:
For me, and maybe you can explain this, when I go to Sport mode, my power numbers go up. My contribution increases. Unsure if it's me sensing an increase in speed and responding with greater power
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It is my observation, too. Try the Turbo mode once and you will see it yourself. Yes, we tend to work harder when we feel the speed! My stats prove that my greatest contribution in the ride used to happen with high assistance modes!

I can clearly recollect one of my most exciting rides on Vado 5.0 (the 45 km/h version). It was a big group gravel ride for 104.5 km, which we completed at the average speed of 26.2 km/h (which is a performance speed for riding gravel in the forest). I was in a higher assistance mode and pedalled hard and fast to keep up with the group! It was not only the high assistance but also the joy of riding fast making me working out hard! That was the day I got my E-Bike KOM on the Fire-Road #33 I keep to this day! (7.33 km at average speed of 31.9 km/h) :)


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Stefan Mikes said:
Now I have found where I needed the power, and that was not the climb! I was about to lazily ride a pretty long bike path against headwind when I was overtaken by a couple of touring cyclists. I patiently followed them for a while but noticed I could potentially ride faster than them. Without changing the assistance, I started pedalling hard and fast, and immediately left that couple in the dust :) I got the momentum, so I rode through the completely empty little town up to the shopping mall I'm very often riding to, jumped onto an asphalt bike path to meet that couple again! (They took a shorter path). Eventually, they got lost on the complicated bike path system, were left at the red light and lost several minutes.

As I was sitting on a bench and drinking water, they passed me for the last time. I greeted them and wished having a fantastic day!

I only needed the leg power burst to gain the momentum and speed against the headwind, and only a short burst sufficed to get in the lead :) I checked my power on the trip climbs and it was far lower than I thought!

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Well thats awfully good. Not having it with my Vado SL

yesterday on my birthday I biked 21 miles with 1100 feet of elevation gain, adjusted rider power of 93 watts. had 42% battery left


I was exhausted ! Maybe I will improve. Maybe not

ordered the bottle battery a few days ago and can’t wait to use it
 
I’ve been riding with the RE all the time for a while now. my regular rides are between 10 and 30 miles. I do two or three rides a week and can often c(rage just once a week. The RE has often given me the capability of taking unplanned longer rides without range concerns.

I bought my Vado SL for its weight and range. my goal was to be able to do 40-50 mile rides without range anxiety. With the RE I can do those rides and a couple of shorter ones without the need to recharge.
 
Llcjay said:
for those who have bought the range extender, are you actually glad you did and how is it useful to you?

In the hills of central PA in. Vado SL and getting Around 30 miles per charge most of the time in maximum boost. Maybe I can trim back to sport mode eventually

was thinking about buying the range extender and cable. Should add 50% to range. I like the idea of having a reserve battery in case I wander off exploring new trails and add to my ride. It’s nice not having to worry about range.
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My Levo SL carbon (2021) replaced my 2016 Levo. The early bike was heavier, but also had a larger battery capacity. Being an octogenarian, I need all the help I can get! to continue riding in my hilly area. I purchased the RE because of the lower battery capacity of the new bike, and the normal range angst. I'm very happy with it, and have it set to draw from both batteries when riding.
 
rede said:
My Levo SL carbon (2021) replaced my 2016 Levo. The early bike was heavier, but also had a larger battery capacity. Being an octogenarian, I need all the help I can get! to continue riding in my hilly area. I purchased the RE because of the lower battery capacity of the new bike, and the normal range angst. I'm very happy with it, and have it set to draw from both batteries when riding.
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Drawing from both in parallel is best for battery life.
Plus the store mechanic told me the large battery can have issues if the small battery is used first
 
Llcjay said:
Drawing from both in parallel is best for battery life.
Plus the store mechanic told me the large battery can have issues if the small battery is used first
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I recall early on that I had it inadvertently set it to draw from RE first. Happily riding along and the power suddenly went way down. Uh oh. Then looked at tuning screens, and switched that off. Immediately returned to normal performance.
 
I have been non-active for a number of years and have decided to become fit/healthy. I got the range extender to help with the additional support needed initially. You don’t need it, but it is nice to have.

Plus, I got the Turbo Vado SL because I wanted a light bike. I got the range extender because I didn’t want to recharge as often on the days I ride to work (I don’t ride to work very often). I sent the charge limit to 80% for normal bike riding to save battery life. Max charges is 130% instead of 80%.

Someday I want to buy a mountain ebike, and the SL range expender is compatible with that type of specialized ebike. That’s an additional reason why I got it.
 
Llcjay said:
Plus the store mechanic told me the large battery can have issues if the small battery is used first
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No, never.

Discharging both batteries in parallel makes sense for long rides. Discharging a relatively inexpensive Range Extender first makes sense on many short rides to save the main battery.
 
Llcjay said:
I’d draw them both all the time. Less load on the small battery
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I'd say the parallel discharging is optimal unless you own more than one Range Extender :) Then you want to equalize the number of recharges on all the batteries.

However, the "Discharge RE first" does not cause any technical issues. Interestingly, the main batery kicks in sometimes to help the RE match the current power demand (not to put too much "stress" on the extra battery).
 
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Following this thread with great interest, as my new SL 5.0 EQ is only 4 days away now!

The SL will be my 1st mid-drive AND 1st lightweight ebike, so not quite sure what to expect on my hilly home turf. Short grades of over 10% are pretty common on inland rides, and even the coast rides are more rolling than flat.

Plan A is to hold off on an RE as long as the hills and my so-so fitness allow — partly for the weight, and partly to give my credit card (and wife) some time to cool down.

If I can get a reliable 30 mi out of the main battery at current fitness, I'll be happy. If the SL increases my ride distances beyond that as hoped, the RE will be a nice reward.
 
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