Hi there! I didn’t spot this ‘introduce yourself’ board when I posted on the Specialized thread a few weeks back - I’ve recently got a Specialized Vado SL 4, my first e bike and although I’m not one for message boards or social media, the members & all your brilliant thoughts/ideas & passion for e bikes on here has been very helpful. Took me a while to decide on the vado SL. I knew what help I needed but had to figure out which bike fitted the bill and all during the pandemic which limited test rides etc. I’m 50, been cycling all my life but admit that has faded away the last 14 years or so and realise now my health has suffered because of that. Now my kids are old enough to cycle, teaching them got me back into it so last few years has seen a steady increase in cycling, mostly some trail riding in the forestry tracks & graduating onto light MTBing as they got older. But back in March when the lockdown started here in UK I took to cycling the car-free roads around here and really enjoyed it. With winter approaching I was determined to try and cycle throughout the winter months. As I mention in the other thread, where I live is full of hills and I began looking at e bikes because I knew the motivation to get out and cycle on dark wet days AND have to deal with the lung busting hills would be too hard. So I wanted assist to get over the hills and something robust enough for the tiny, muddy, potholed lanes we have here but still get a decent workout.
I looked at some of the Ebikemotion equipped bikes, for example there is a range of e bikes by English bike company Ribble that are just gorgeous. Ribble I think is the second oldest bike manufacturer after Bianchi, dating to the 1890s but their bikes are very modern, anyway the one thing I was worried about was their rear hub motor not being suitable for the frankly brutal hills here & it was impossible to test ride one. On the other side, I was concerned a full on Bosch motor might make things too easy - I know myself and if there is 4 x me available, then I’ll be stabbing that turbo button on the hills! The big brother Vados, Comos, the Treks and the Giants and Cubes that I looked at all look fantastic bikes but I settled on the Vado SL because of its weight being closer to what I’m used to and the motor not being too powerful. Plus the 4.0 was right at the top of my price range which sadly ruled out some amazing looking e bikes like a lot of the German ones.
Anyway, it’s almost mid Nov and the nights are coming in, dark here around 4.30pm now and yet I’m managing to get out 3 to 4 times a week, clocking about 100 miles per week (which means 8-9000ft climbing pw) rain or shine (though mostly rain). It's really fun. I'm relieved and happy I made the right e bike decision re motor size/power. The hills are still hard, occasionally I have to stop when I run out of gears but it’s pretty rare. Seems the narrower the road the steeper the hill! But that also means I get to explore a whole new world of quiet and remote farm lanes that previously were inaccessable on bike as just too steep for me. I get bored doing the same route, the e bike has allowed me to explore, making each trip an adventure. My legs are feeling it after the longer rides and I suddenly think a hot tub wouldn't be a bad idea...
Now I have the bike nearly a month, soon I’ll do a proper review of what I like and don’t like about it. But mostly what I love.
I looked at some of the Ebikemotion equipped bikes, for example there is a range of e bikes by English bike company Ribble that are just gorgeous. Ribble I think is the second oldest bike manufacturer after Bianchi, dating to the 1890s but their bikes are very modern, anyway the one thing I was worried about was their rear hub motor not being suitable for the frankly brutal hills here & it was impossible to test ride one. On the other side, I was concerned a full on Bosch motor might make things too easy - I know myself and if there is 4 x me available, then I’ll be stabbing that turbo button on the hills! The big brother Vados, Comos, the Treks and the Giants and Cubes that I looked at all look fantastic bikes but I settled on the Vado SL because of its weight being closer to what I’m used to and the motor not being too powerful. Plus the 4.0 was right at the top of my price range which sadly ruled out some amazing looking e bikes like a lot of the German ones.
Anyway, it’s almost mid Nov and the nights are coming in, dark here around 4.30pm now and yet I’m managing to get out 3 to 4 times a week, clocking about 100 miles per week (which means 8-9000ft climbing pw) rain or shine (though mostly rain). It's really fun. I'm relieved and happy I made the right e bike decision re motor size/power. The hills are still hard, occasionally I have to stop when I run out of gears but it’s pretty rare. Seems the narrower the road the steeper the hill! But that also means I get to explore a whole new world of quiet and remote farm lanes that previously were inaccessable on bike as just too steep for me. I get bored doing the same route, the e bike has allowed me to explore, making each trip an adventure. My legs are feeling it after the longer rides and I suddenly think a hot tub wouldn't be a bad idea...
Now I have the bike nearly a month, soon I’ll do a proper review of what I like and don’t like about it. But mostly what I love.
