My perfect Vado 5.0 IGH

TonyB6255

TonyB6255

Active Member
Region
USA
I've had my bike for 2 weeks tomorrow and I cannot say enough good things about it. I have put 89 miles on it so far and would be much more but I was gone for 6 days on a mini vacation. The automatic shifting does take a little getting used to but it has worked flawlessly for me. The battery life at first was not as good as I expected but now that I have switched to using micro tune the battery usage is cut in half or better.

The changes so far are the Respiro Athletic seat along with the Ergon GP1 grips to really make this a very comfortable ride even in a pair of gym or cargo shorts. I also added a Basil trunk, that carries more than I will ever need, a rear view mirror and one bottle cage. I may end up changing the seat post to a Cirrus Kinekt to replace the stock suspension seatpost. I had never used one before this bike but it I don't notice any "suspension" from the stock one. Maybe someone can chime in on the Kinekt.

I got this bike with the intention of going far away from my road bikes as far as comfort, rideability and overall fun. Now, I need to start looking at some cold weather riding gear. I live in the PNW so we usually don't have extreme cold and to be honest, I probably won't ride in the rain so just some medium weight cold weather gear and gloves.

Pic is from today's 12 mile ride that has become my quick fitness ride. That is Mount Rainier in the background.

Vado ride.jpg
 
Good to hear about your positive experiences!
What I have noticed is the e-bikes that allow motor assistance tuning actually have their "sweet point" below which the battery consumption gets greatly reduced. I am jealous of the MicroTune capability of your Vado! (Thinking of using an older solution for pre-Mastermind Specialized e-bikes).

My saddles are Respiro Moderate, and I could not be more happy. However, as most of my rides involve padded shorts or bibs, I intend to give the stock Specialized saddle yet another chance on my Vado SL, which I ride in a sporty forward position :)
 
TonyB6255 said:
I've had my bike for 2 weeks tomorrow and I cannot say enough good things about it. I have put 89 miles on it so far and would be much more but I was gone for 6 days on a mini vacation. The automatic shifting does take a little getting used to but it has worked flawlessly for me. The battery life at first was not as good as I expected but now that I have switched to using micro tune the battery usage is cut in half or better.

The changes so far are the Respiro Athletic seat along with the Ergon GP1 grips to really make this a very comfortable ride even in a pair of gym or cargo shorts. I also added a Basil trunk, that carries more than I will ever need, a rear view mirror and one bottle cage. I may end up changing the seat post to a Cirrus Kinekt to replace the stock suspension seatpost. I had never used one before this bike but it I don't notice any "suspension" from the stock one. Maybe someone can chime in on the Kinekt.

I got this bike with the intention of going far away from my road bikes as far as comfort, rideability and overall fun. Now, I need to start looking at some cold weather riding gear. I live in the PNW so we usually don't have extreme cold and to be honest, I probably won't ride in the rain so just some medium weight cold weather gear and gloves.

Pic is from today's 12 mile ride that has become my quick fitness ride. That is Mount Rainier in the background.

View attachment 134648
Click to expand...
Welcome to the club Tony! I have just purchased the Como 5 IGH during the last few months with similar specs. Enjoy all those settings!!
 
Great to hear Tony. I'm working on selling my Vado 4.0....and get me a 5.0 IGH.
I have some questions plz. What is micro tune...is it a feature of the bike itself?
Also, I can't find the actual weight of the bike anywhere. Do you perhaps know how much it weighs?
 
Fredman said:
Great to hear Tony. I'm working on selling my Vado 4.0....and get me a 5.0 IGH.
I have some questions plz. What is micro tune...is it a feature of the bike itself?
Also, I can't find the actual weight of the bike anywhere. Do you perhaps know how much it weighs?
Click to expand...
The default tune for Pedal assist is Eco Sport and Turbo. Micro Tune allows you to tune in pedal assist at 10% increments. It is controlled by the + - buttons like normal pedal assist. The bike weighs 57 lbs in stock form
 
Another seat going back to REI. I am returning the Repsiro Athletic not becasue I don't like it but the Selle Anantomica H2 off my road bike is much better. I love it on my road bike but would not have thought it would be good for the Vado but it is. I rode 20 miles today with just a pair of adidas soccer pants and after making a couple stops to raise the seat and adjust the nose, it's perfect. I also adjusted the tension on my seat post so it actually worked and I can't beleive the difference it made. If the Kinect post is better than that, it will be the next purchase.
 
TonyB6255 said:
Another seat going back to REI. I am returning the Repsiro Athletic not becasue I don't like it but the Selle Anantomica H2 off my road bike is much better. I love it on my road bike but would not have thought it would be good for the Vado but it is. I rode 20 miles today with just a pair of adidas soccer pants and after making a couple stops to raise the seat and adjust the nose, it's perfect. I also adjusted the tension on my seat post so it actually worked and I can't beleive the difference it made. If the Kinect post is better than that, it will be the next purchase.
Click to expand...
Tony: I might have already written on that but will repeat myself. After I swapped my trusty Respiro Moderate for the stock Specialized Bridge Sport on my Vado SL, I eventually decided that the Bridge Sport was ideal for me provided I rode the e-bike in chamois. Today, I rode my Vado 5.0 in bibs on another Respiro Moderate and started hating the thing! :) The saddle is such an individual choice...

Kinect 2.1? One of two best suspension seat-posts I've ever used! The other is Redshift ShockStop but the latter is only available for 27.2 mm. I use Kinect on my big Vado and Redshift is for my Vado SL. The ride impression is basically identical: total softening of your rides (unless your rear wheel meets a deep hole on the road).
 
You have to remove the seat post to adjust tension so I measured 40mm for my large bike so you will need the 420 for a lg or Xl frame. Selle Anatomica has a Summer20 sale now, 20% off purchases over $150
 
If you are vertically challenged like me the redshift post only adds 3” to the seat height, do you still have your priority current? I’m getting a 30.9 shim from redshift( $9.99) then I can use it on my Vado, the Current also requires a different shim
 
I have tried Kinetic and Thudbuster, I found Thud slightly more comfy but a bigger hassle to deal with and not lasting as long before a rebuild is needed. And the elastomers need replacing more often then springs between rebuilds

As always your butt may be different !

It appears to me that the picture broken unit needs the elastomers replaced even if not broken. I am not aware of history of broken Thudbusters as pictured but I am not really on their email list either. :)
 
I have 1 of the ergo seats from somebody with foam on the bottom side on top of my Kinetic, cost a couple hundred or more. I would rate it better but it would be hard to put how much money better it is. It is slightly better but if you are on a budget might not be worth it to you. As before your butt might be different
 
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