My Turbo Vado SL 5.0 (non eq ) finally arrived...

[GrayFox]

No pictures, but it looks exactly like the (non equipped) pictures on the Specialized Web Site.

It took sightly more than two months to arrive.

My main surprise was that the TDU unit on the handlebars was NOT wired.

My second surprise was that when I removed the TDU that my garmin edge 810 fit in the holder and picked up everything but the battery strength and assist level. It even sees the power ( watts ) that I am using).

I went on a short 5+ mile ride this morning ( it is blazing hot here in Pensacola ). I was impressed with how much easier hills were able to be scaled.

I bought the bike without a test ride, in fact this was only the second time I had ridden an e-bike. The last 11 years I have been riding a Specialized Sequoia Comp bike, so getting used to the flat bars is going to take awhile.

I am 82 years old and I feel that the ebike has pulled back at least 5 years for me

Some things that I feel will have to be done to improve my ride....

1) Grips that allow for more hand positions ( any suggestions...)
2) Better flat pedals ( any suggestions...)
3) Maybe a saddle suspension system.

Thanks for any insights...

 

[SoCalDave]

You might want to consider bar ends from companies like Ergon. For saddle suspension, I use a Canecreek thud buster ST on my Cannondale Quick Neo. There are several other saddle suspension systems that others have posted about.

 

[Nxkharra]

No pictures, but it looks exactly like the (non equipped) pictures on the Specialized Web Site.

It took sightly more than two months to arrive.

My main surprise was that the TDU unit on the handlebars was NOT wired.

My second surprise was that when I removed the TDU that my garmin edge 810 fit in the holder and picked up everything but the battery strength and assist level. It even sees the power ( watts ) that I am using).

I went on a short 5+ mile ride this morning ( it is blazing hot here in Pensacola ). I was impressed with how much easier hills were able to be scaled.

I bought the bike without a test ride, in fact this was only the second time I had ridden an e-bike. The last 11 years I have been riding a Specialized Sequoia Comp bike, so getting used to the flat bars is going to take awhile.

I am 82 years old and I feel that the ebike has pulled back at least 5 years for me

Some things that I feel will have to be done to improve my ride....

1) Grips that allow for more hand positions ( any suggestions...)
2) Better flat pedals ( any suggestions...)
3) Maybe a saddle suspension system.

Thanks for any insights...

I use:
Ergon GP5 grips
Race Face Chester pedals
Kinekt 2.1 suspension seat post.
Also Ergon ST Core Prime sadle (might not be ideal for your bike)
Happy with all as I had searched and for me they work.
good luck with your great purchase and enjoy
btw I have Turbo Vado 5

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I use:
Ergon GP5 grips
Race Face Chester pedals
Kinekt 2.1 suspension seat post.
Also Ergon ST Core Prime sadle (might not be ideal for your bike)
Happy with all as I had searched and for me they work.
good luck with your great purchase and enjoy
btw I have Turbo Vado 5

I concur.

When you are shopping for the Kinekt 2.1 suspension seat-post, pay attention to the post diameter as I think the SL has it different from "full" Vado. I personally prefer Ergon GP3 for grips but it is personal choice. Regarding pedals, consider if you are on blood-thinner. If yes, rather choose Bontrager Satellite City (Race Face Chester and like are "spiked" and it is not good for some people).

The wireless TCU approach in the SL is very nice, as you can use the TCD display or Garmin or whatever is Bluetooth compatible. "Heavy" Vados have their displays wired for historical (and still valid) reasons I don't want to discuss in greater detail.

 

[GrayFox]

Whoops, I believe that I erred in asserting that choosing 'power' for one of the fields for my garmin edge 810 that I would be getting my power usage...

Today I noticed that the power reading apparently tracks the remaining battery strength. This morning I noticed that the power reading was getting lower and lower even though I was pressing harder going up hills. I grew alarmed with the power field dropped from about 50 to 19 and then I noticed that I had two bars left on the on board TDU ( the little led light strip) I recalled when I started my morning ride that I had about 5 leds lit...

Sigh....

Anyone else here that uses the garmin edge 810?

 

[Nubnub]

Anyone else here that uses the garmin edge 810?

I'm using the Garmin 130 but I also ran into the issue you are seeing. When I had the fake channel enabled it used the power field to display remaining battery power. Disabling the fake channel I was able to select from the different power display options.

 

[GrayFox]

I'm using the Garmin 130 but I also ran into the issue you are seeing. When I had the fake channel enabled it used the power field to display remaining battery power. Disabling the fake channel I was able to select from the different power display options.

Thanks Nubnub, turning off the fake channel did the trick

 

[Winglovespea]

I concur.

When you are shopping for the Kinekt 2.1 suspension seat-post, pay attention to the post diameter as I think the SL has it different from "full" Vado. I personally prefer Ergon GP3 for grips but it is personal choice. Regarding pedals, consider if you are on blood-thinner. If yes, rather choose Bontrager Satellite City (Race Face Chester and like are "spiked" and it is not good for some people).

The wireless TCU approach in the SL is very nice, as you can use the TCD display or Garmin or whatever is Bluetooth compatible. "Heavy" Vados have their displays wired for historical (and still valid) reasons I don't want to discuss in greater detail.

Race Face “ride” pedals are almost identical, but have molded nubs instead of metal spikes.

 

[brianbrenton]

I use:
Ergon GP5 grips
Race Face Chester pedals
Kinekt 2.1 suspension seat post.
Also Ergon ST Core Prime sadle (might not be ideal for your bike)
Happy with all as I had searched and for me they work.
good luck with your great purchase and enjoy
btw I have Turbo Vado 5

i am waiting for my vado 5.0 sl... but the ergon gp5 and kinekt 3.1 are already waiting hahahaha.

 

[Nxkharra]

i am waiting for my vado 5.0 sl... but the ergon gp5 and kinekt 3.1 are already waiting hahahaha.

Wow. I was at my LBS dropping off my Vado 5. Saw a Vado 5SL. What a beauty. You will love it. I have a very bad knee and not sure if it has enough power to take me uphill in my hilly neighborhood. I love the lower weight compared to turbo Vado.
soon you will enjoy.
did you get extra range extender?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Race Face “ride” pedals are almost identical, but have molded nubs instead of metal spikes.

I use them on my Vado. They can still hurt your shin or calf but are indeed more safe than the ones with metal spikes.

 

[rochrunner]

Thanks Nubnub, turning off the fake channel did the trick

If you go to the Garmin setting page that lets you search for sensors (with the bike on, of course), you will find that the bike does support a power meter ANT+ output, which also provides cadence, and you can then add both fields to one of your screens. A speed sensor output is also supported, but I found it to be a bit flaky and removed the connection. (This applies to my Vado 4.0, but I image the SL is quite similar).