My experience with my new Vado 4.0 (2020)

[milehighguy]

This is my first post about this bike. I purchased it on 4/15/2020. It was ready around the first of May. I am 66 years old and in decent shape. I am retired. These past few years I noticed I was riding my Trek hybrid less and less and realized how much I missed riding on all these incredible Denver bike paths. After doing a ton of research I got the vado 4.0 and the $1,064 discount which was really nice. I could not be happier. This bike has changed my life. I now can go to downtown Denver and back without feeling like I'm about to die. But I still get lots of exercise. I'm hooked. I now have around 650 miles on it and try to ride it as often as possible. My longest ride yet was around 50 miles. Had about 32% battery remaining when I got home. Downtown and back is 40 miles and just a beautiful ride. Never on a road. Denver has so many miles of great bike paths. I have found it is very difficult to get this bike up to 30 mph. The problem is the 40 tooth front sprocket which I plan to replace with one that has more teeth. This one issue also means that I really only use about 2 or 3 speeds. I think changing the front sprocket will fix these minor issues. I bought a racktime pannier off ebay which snaps on perfectly to the rear rack. That's where I keep bottles of water, snacks and a frozen ice pack to keep things cold. Putting the water bottle on the frame makes getting the battery off nearly impossible. Not worth the hassle to me. The bike is incredibly comfortable and stable. Probably due to the weight. This is my first bike with disc brakes. I will never own another bike without them. I looked at Trek and other brands. I just felt those companies took a bike and retrofitted a motor and battery on it. The vado 4.0 seems to be engineered from the ground up as an ebike. It's just a rock solid bike. The computer works perfectly and is easy to set up and use. I have downloaded the mission control app and paired it with the bike. However I have never really felt the need to use it. 50 to 60 miles is the most I will ride and I always get home with battery remaining. I try to use eco mode 80 to 90% of the time to get some exercise and conserve the battery. But if I am heading home and tired I will not hesitate to use sport mode and turbo mode. Turbo mode is amazing. That's when I can blow past these Lance Armstrong wannabes with ease. But like I said I prefer eco mode just for the exercise. Everyone who has ridden my bike says they want to buy one. They had no idea these existed. One neighbor bought the same bike I did and she loves it. I live next to a huge state park (Cherry Creek State Park) that has water skiing, sailing, camping, RV camping etc. From my house around the park and back is about 20 miles. I can do this easily 3 times during the week and after 3 times I'm down to about 30% battery remaining. At that point I charge it up. So to sum it all up I couldn't be happier. I ride the heck out of this bike and should easily have 1,000 miles on it in a month or two. Best purchase I've made in many years. I hope this helps anyone considering a purchase like this. If you have questions let me know.
Don - Denver, Colorado

 

[Papa G]

This is my first post about this bike. I purchased it on 4/15/2020. It was ready around the first of May. I am 66 years old and in decent shape. I am retired. These past few years I noticed I was riding my Trek hybrid less and less and realized how much I missed riding on all these incredible Denver bike paths. After doing a ton of research I got the vado 4.0 and the $1,064 discount which was really nice. I could not be happier. This bike has changed my life. I now can go to downtown Denver and back without feeling like I'm about to die. But I still get lots of exercise. I'm hooked. I now have around 650 miles on it and try to ride it as often as possible. My longest ride yet was around 50 miles. Had about 32% battery remaining when I got home. Downtown and back is 40 miles and just a beautiful ride. Never on a road. Denver has so many miles of great bike paths. I have found it is very difficult to get this bike up to 30 mph. The problem is the 40 tooth front sprocket which I plan to replace with one that has more teeth. This one issue also means that I really only use about 2 or 3 speeds. I think changing the front sprocket will fix these minor issues. I bought a racktime pannier off ebay which snaps on perfectly to the rear rack. That's where I keep bottles of water, snacks and a frozen ice pack to keep things cold. Putting the water bottle on the frame makes getting the battery off nearly impossible. Not worth the hassle to me. The bike is incredibly comfortable and stable. Probably due to the weight. This is my first bike with disc brakes. I will never own another bike without them. I looked at Trek and other brands. I just felt those companies took a bike and retrofitted a motor and battery on it. The vado 4.0 seems to be engineered from the ground up as an ebike. It's just a rock solid bike. The computer works perfectly and is easy to set up and use. I have downloaded the mission control app and paired it with the bike. However I have never really felt the need to use it. 50 to 60 miles is the most I will ride and I always get home with battery remaining. I try to use eco mode 80 to 90% of the time to get some exercise and conserve the battery. But if I am heading home and tired I will not hesitate to use sport mode and turbo mode. Turbo mode is amazing. That's when I can blow past these Lance Armstrong wannabes with ease. But like I said I prefer eco mode just for the exercise. Everyone who has ridden my bike says they want to buy one. They had no idea these existed. One neighbor bought the same bike I did and she loves it. I live next to a huge state park (Cherry Creek State Park) that has water skiing, sailing, camping, RV camping etc. From my house around the park and back is about 20 miles. I can do this easily 3 times during the week and after 3 times I'm down to about 30% battery remaining. At that point I charge it up. So to sum it all up I couldn't be happier. I ride the heck out of this bike and should easily have 1,000 miles on it in a month or two. Best purchase I've made in many years. I hope this helps anyone considering a purchase like this. If you have questions let me know.
Don - Denver, Colorado

Great choice milehighguy. I too am 66 years (for another couple of weeks) and purchased the same 2020 Turbo Vado 4.0 around the same time you did, with the same discount, and have about the same number of miles on the odometer. This was my 2nd ebike, as I already own a 2018 Trek Super Commuter +7. I wanted a class 3 and liked the Turbo Vado 4.0 (and the promo they were running). My wife has a 2018 Electra Townie Commute 8i. When I got the Vado 4.0 she mentioned that we should have another step through for friends and family to be able to ride with us. She wanted the “black” one so we ended up getting the Vado 5.0 for her. It has been nice having 4 ebikes to take friends and family out to ride with us. I was always a cyclist, riding mountain and road bikes, but it wasn’t something my wife really enjoyed, especially all of the hills around us, so most of my riding was solo or in groups. The road bike group I was a part of sort of faded away, so discovering ebikes and riding with my wife, who loves riding the ebikes, has been wonderful. We mostly ride the American River Bike Trail near Folsom, CA as the trail head is just down the street. My daughter and her family live in Denver and I have ridden my road bike on many of your bike trails from Highlands Ranch to Mile High Stadium and have ridden out to Cherry Creek Reservoir. I’ve made some upgrades to the Vados including ergon grips, Kinect suspension seat posts, and etc. I will post a photo. Enjoy your new ebike and the enhancement it will bring to your life.

 

[Papa G]

Here is the photo of my 2020 Turbo Vado 4.0.

 

[Papa G]

 

[Marci jo]

This is my first post about this bike. I purchased it on 4/15/2020. It was ready around the first of May. I am 66 years old and in decent shape. I am retired. These past few years I noticed I was riding my Trek hybrid less and less and realized how much I missed riding on all these incredible Denver bike paths. After doing a ton of research I got the vado 4.0 and the $1,064 discount which was really nice. I could not be happier. This bike has changed my life. I now can go to downtown Denver and back without feeling like I'm about to die. But I still get lots of exercise. I'm hooked. I now have around 650 miles on it and try to ride it as often as possible. My longest ride yet was around 50 miles. Had about 32% battery remaining when I got home. Downtown and back is 40 miles and just a beautiful ride. Never on a road. Denver has so many miles of great bike paths. I have found it is very difficult to get this bike up to 30 mph. The problem is the 40 tooth front sprocket which I plan to replace with one that has more teeth. This one issue also means that I really only use about 2 or 3 speeds. I think changing the front sprocket will fix these minor issues. I bought a racktime pannier off ebay which snaps on perfectly to the rear rack. That's where I keep bottles of water, snacks and a frozen ice pack to keep things cold. Putting the water bottle on the frame makes getting the battery off nearly impossible. Not worth the hassle to me. The bike is incredibly comfortable and stable. Probably due to the weight. This is my first bike with disc brakes. I will never own another bike without them. I looked at Trek and other brands. I just felt those companies took a bike and retrofitted a motor and battery on it. The vado 4.0 seems to be engineered from the ground up as an ebike. It's just a rock solid bike. The computer works perfectly and is easy to set up and use. I have downloaded the mission control app and paired it with the bike. However I have never really felt the need to use it. 50 to 60 miles is the most I will ride and I always get home with battery remaining. I try to use eco mode 80 to 90% of the time to get some exercise and conserve the battery. But if I am heading home and tired I will not hesitate to use sport mode and turbo mode. Turbo mode is amazing. That's when I can blow past these Lance Armstrong wannabes with ease. But like I said I prefer eco mode just for the exercise. Everyone who has ridden my bike says they want to buy one. They had no idea these existed. One neighbor bought the same bike I did and she loves it. I live next to a huge state park (Cherry Creek State Park) that has water skiing, sailing, camping, RV camping etc. From my house around the park and back is about 20 miles. I can do this easily 3 times during the week and after 3 times I'm down to about 30% battery remaining. At that point I charge it up. So to sum it all up I couldn't be happier. I ride the heck out of this bike and should easily have 1,000 miles on it in a month or two. Best purchase I've made in many years. I hope this helps anyone considering a purchase like this. If you have questions let me know.
Don - Denver, Colorado

Great write up Milehighguy. That pretty much sums up the ebike experience.
Ebikes rock!

 

[Marci jo]

View attachment 58969

Pretty bike Papa G, including the Kinect seat post. And did it come with those pretty pink pedals?

 

[Papa G]

Thanks. The Kinekt seatpost and Selle Anatomica H2 saddle were the best additions. I added those grippy “red” Nukeproof Sam Hill pedals (although they do look pink in the photo). Spent a lot of the Vado 4.0 discount savings on the upgrades.

Nukeproof Horizon Pro Sam Hill Enduro MTB Pedals | Chain Reaction

Nukeproof Horizon Pro Sam Hill Enduro MTB Pedals - Lowest Prices and FREE shipping available from The World's largest online bike store - Chain Reaction Cycles

www.chainreactioncycles.com

 

[Sierratim]

Great choice milehighguy. I too am 66 years (for another couple of weeks) and purchased the same 2020 Turbo Vado 4.0 around the same time you did, with the same discount, and have about the same number of miles on the odometer. This was my 2nd ebike, as I already own a 2018 Trek Super Commuter +7. I wanted a class 3 and liked the Turbo Vado 4.0 (and the promo they were running). My wife has a 2018 Electra Townie Commute 8i. When I got the Vado 4.0 she mentioned that we should have another step through for friends and family to be able to ride with us. She wanted the “black” one so we ended up getting the Vado 5.0 for her. It has been nice having 4 ebikes to take friends and family out to ride with us. I was always a cyclist, riding mountain and road bikes, but it wasn’t something my wife really enjoyed, especially all of the hills around us, so most of my riding was solo or in groups. The road bike group I was a part of sort of faded away, so discovering ebikes and riding with my wife, who loves riding the ebikes, has been wonderful. We mostly ride the American River Bike Trail near Folsom, CA as the trail head is just down the street. My daughter and her family live in Denver and I have ridden my road bike on many of your bike trails from Highlands Ranch to Mile High Stadium and have ridden out to Cherry Creek Reservoir. I’ve made some upgrades to the Vados including ergon grips, Kinect suspension seat posts, and etc. I will post a photo. Enjoy your new ebike and the enhancement it will bring to your life.

We do enjoy riding the trails around Folsom! Started in Old Town last week and looped around Lake Natoma past the fish hatchery to the outlet mall then onto the Humbug and Willow Creek trails and back to Old Town. Very pretty area, with plenty of shade on a warm Summer day.

 

[Papa G]

Glad to hear more ebike riders are enjoying the American River Bike Trail. When I first started riding an ebike on the ARB Trail I got a lot of sneers and rude comments from haters, but that is lessening with time. I think if you ride at a reasonable speed, watching out for pedestrians, especially kids, dogs and slower riders the public will gradually learn to peacefully and kindly share the trail with ebikes. Only hope the 25 - 30 mph throttle jockeys don't ruin it for the rest of us. Needless to say, my wife and I love riding the ebikes and we ride way more than we did on the analog road bikes. Don't miss the spandex/lycra shorts. One comment about the Brose motors on the Vado's, they are much quieter, more powerful and respond more naturally than the Bosch Performance Line motors on our other ebikes. I also dialed in the Brose motor settings on the Mission Control app, Eco: 35-35; Tour: 45-85; and Turbo: 100-100 and find that Eco is the mode we use most. The Vado's also seem lighter, more nimble and sporty. One question, is there a Burley hitch adapter that will work on the Vado's?

 

[milehighguy]

View attachment 58969

Exact same color I got. Thank God for ebikes.

 

[milehighguy]

Glad to hear more ebike riders are enjoying the American River Bike Trail. When I first started riding an ebike on the ARB Trail I got a lot of sneers and rude comments from haters, but that is lessening with time. I think if you ride at a reasonable speed, watching out for pedestrians, especially kids, dogs and slower riders the public will gradually learn to peacefully and kindly share the trail with ebikes. Only hope the 25 - 30 mph throttle jockeys don't ruin it for the rest of us. Needless to say, my wife and I love riding the ebikes and we ride way more than we did on the analog road bikes. Don't miss the spandex/lycra shorts. One comment about the Brose motors on the Vado's, they are much quieter, more powerful and respond more naturally than the Bosch Performance Line motors on our other ebikes. I also dialed in the Brose motor settings on the Mission Control app, Eco: 35-35; Tour: 45-85; and Turbo: 100-100 and find that Eco is the mode we use most. The Vado's also seem lighter, more nimble and sporty. One question, is there a Burley hitch adapter that will work on the Vado's?

Ebikes remind me of the early days of snow boarders here in Colorado. Only a few resorts even allowed them and people sneered at them. Now every resort here market big time to snow boarders and brag about their halfpipe and other amenities. I've not gotten any crap here in Denver.

 

[milehighguy]

View attachment 58969

Here's a photo of mine from yesterday at Cherry Creek State Park. Mine is not as clean as yours because I like to take the off path trails at times. Handles great on trails.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

My experiences with my Vado 5.0 are similar to @Papa G's except my legs are bad and I use far more electricity on my rides.

Regarding the chainring replacement, it is not an easy cake. There is a large thread about it:

Chain ring tooth selection

I am slowly changing various components on my Vado 4 to suit my personal situation - having changed the tyres, the grips and the seatpost so far. I have noticed that I am only using the smallest 3 cogs on the cassette, and I would rather be operating a couple of cogs up from that - the...

electricbikereview.com

In general, getting at 28 mph and maintaining the speed is not easy because of the air drag. So it is not only the small chainring.

 

[Papa G]

Here's a photo of mine from yesterday at Cherry Creek State Park. Mine is not as clean as yours because I like to take the off path trails at times. Handles great on trails.

Hi milehighguy, Great looking ebike and what a great place to ride! Nice to ride on bike trails vs. on the street with cars. Always looking forward to the next ride............

 

[Brendon@OEB]

View attachment 58969

Love that crimson color! Kind of wish I could have that on my 5.0!!! Some gloss red Velocity rims would really pop with those pedals too!

 

[Papa G]

Love that crimson color! Kind of wish I could have that on my 5.0!!! Some gloss red Velocity rims would really pop with those pedals too!

Hey Brendon. My wife has the 2020 5.0 midstep, that deep gloss black looks fantastic too.

 

[Papa G]

Hey Brendon. My wife has the 2020 5.0 midstep, that deep gloss black looks fantastic too.

Not to mention 600 watts, 90 nm’s, XT brakes and derailleur is a big step up on the 5.0. Glad she has 90 nm for the 12 pitch hill we have returning home from the bike trail

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@Papa G: Regarding the water bottle, I got me water-bottle-cages that release the bottle to the side (one of them is a plastic Bontrager and the other is a metal Topeak). When I am about to remove the battery, I remove the water bottle first and it works. Bottle-cages with "up" release direction are useless. (Note: My Vado is step-through, so the matter should be even more difficult but it isn't).

 

[Papa G]

@Papa G: Regarding the water bottle, I got me water-bottle-cages that release the bottle to the side (one of them is a plastic Bontrager and the other is a metal Topeak). When I am about to remove the battery, I remove the water bottle first and it works. Bottle-cages with "up" release direction are useless. (Note: My Vado is step-through, so the matter should be even more difficult but it isn't).

Hi Stephan. I actually have the high step Vado and do use a Specialized side access bottle cage. We have the same side access bottle cage on my wife’s mid step Vado and although it is a bit more cumbersome, it still works well.

 

[Sierratim]

Glad to hear more ebike riders are enjoying the American River Bike Trail. When I first started riding an ebike on the ARB Trail I got a lot of sneers and rude comments from haters, but that is lessening with time. I think if you ride at a reasonable speed, watching out for pedestrians, especially kids, dogs and slower riders the public will gradually learn to peacefully and kindly share the trail with ebikes. Only hope the 25 - 30 mph throttle jockeys don't ruin it for the rest of us. Needless to say, my wife and I love riding the ebikes and we ride way more than we did on the analog road bikes. Don't miss the spandex/lycra shorts. One comment about the Brose motors on the Vado's, they are much quieter, more powerful and respond more naturally than the Bosch Performance Line motors on our other ebikes. I also dialed in the Brose motor settings on the Mission Control app, Eco: 35-35; Tour: 45-85; and Turbo: 100-100 and find that Eco is the mode we use most. The Vado's also seem lighter, more nimble and sporty. One question, is there a Burley hitch adapter that will work on the Vado's?

Looks like Burley offers replacement Burley Thru Axles that will work on the Vado. The Vado uses a 12x148mm rear axle with 1.0 threads. This page also offers a sizing template to be sure you order the correct length and thread type.

The Robert Axle Project also offers thru axles with trailer adapters for a number of brands. If Burley isn't in their pull down menu, email them. I've found their customer service to be very responsive. @Stefan Mikes reported similar helpfulness when he needed a replacement axle.

BTW - love your bike color. Rocket red is the fasterest color!