Need help choosing.

[lloose]

A beauty. BTW, no stock rack or fenders came with my Como. My LBS added them. Many (s)miles to you.

I thought that was weird with the como. Same price as the Vado but less parts. I mean they are pretty identical except for the fork and geometry.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I thought that was weird with the como. Same price as the Vado but less parts. I mean they are pretty identical except for the fork and geometry.

Como 3.0 comes non-equipped, 4.0 has mudguards and lighting, 5.0 adds a pizza rack. Como is built on totally different philosophy from Vado: Comfy vs. sporty. For instance, bigger tyres compensate for the lack of suspension fork (if we are talking the North American version). EU Como is different:

EU Como 3.0 Low-Entry (three different colours available). Spot major differences.

 

[Dallant]

I bought the 2020 3.0 in the gray color (not the blue gray, the one that is actually gray).

I wish I would have known about the 1.2 vs 1.2e motor. When I was at the bike shop, the sales guy said that they had the same motor when I was asking for the differences between the 3.0 and 4.0. If I would have known it was a slightly more powerful motor with more torque, I would have at least test drove the 4.0. I didn't realize the 4.0 also came with a faster charger (4a vs 2a). The components alone for $500 more would be nice but not a huge deal. The components + slightly better motor + fast charger would have probably been enough for me to go to the other location and test ride the 4.0. I wish Specialized was more forward with their motor specs too, I could have made a better choice if I just knew that the motors were slightly different.

I am probably overthinking this though. I wanted this bike because it felt more engaging to ride. I could shift through gears and give the bike more, allowing a longer range. Riding my Lectric XP was fun, but the opposite of what this bike feels like. The XP was more in charge of the ride than I was. If I turned off the motor, the XP was grueling to pedal. The Vado feels like a normal bike without the motor on. I love that I get rewarded for shifting through my gears on the Vado 3.0. The gears on my XP are just a novelty to be honest, I rarely ever shifted out of the highest gear because the motor was pushing all the time anyways.

I still think that my 3.0 was probably the better choice. I just need to go up a few hills to put my mind at ease. If not, I have a 30 day return policy and I don't think they would mind me returning it as an exchange for the 4.0. I really don't think its going to be an issue though.

Unfortunate that you didn’t have an Allant+7 to test. If you were impressed with the Verve+3 you’d have definitely wanted the Allant. Had there been any Specialized dealers near me, I probably would have had a harder choice.

 

[Art Deco]

Trek has more dealers near me, and has a more extensive line of models ... actually too many models for the small dealers to carry a complete line. One carries verve2s, another verve3s, one Alliants, another Domaines, etc. There is a bike for almost anyone in their line if you can find it.

 

[Art Deco]

I thought that was weird with the como. Same price as the Vado but less parts. I mean they are pretty identical except for the fork and geometry.

My LBS discounts the Como enough to cover the small addons like rack, fenders, etc. But not the Vado so much. I suspect the margins are different. Or Specialized marketing is just plain nuts.

 

[lloose]

I took it out for its first real ride today. 12 brutal miles of rolling vineyard hills. I am SO happy with the bike overall and there are some things I wish I could go back and tell myself about when I was obsessing over which bike to get. Things that I feel make this bike really special.

• "Its you, only faster". I thought this was just a catchy phrase. It's 100% true. If you don't give the bike anything, the bike wont give you anything back. If you get into it, the bike has no issues opening up. The power is extremely smooth too, the bike is not punchy in any way. The best way of describing it is every level of pedal assist you use feels like going down a slightly steeper hill. Eco mode is a minor grade and turbo being a good 10% grade.
• The bike is incredibly efficient. Again, there's one of those words you hear a lot and think its just some marketing gimmick. When you start with a heavy frame, wide fat tires, heavy components, and a heavy battery, you need a hugely powerful motor to push all that. Because the Vado is a platform bike to begin with (lighter parts on easy rolling tires), I can keep it in eco mode and get the same experience as heavier ebikes in higher pedal assist.
• 12 miles of up and down and I got home with 70% left in the battery. When I did a slightly shorter version of the same ride on my Lectric XP, I had about 5% left and had to ration power. I REALLY didn't want to have to ride my XP without power the last few blocks of my ride, I'd honestly get off and just push it.
• I'm not used to riding a bike with a real saddle. I think I'm going to be wearing my bike shorts for a bit until my underparts re-adjust to a non-comfort saddle. My tenders are going to hurt tomorrow.
• The bike is incredibly solid. Not a single flex, creak, rub, groan, nothing. It's extremely impressive how well this bike is put together. I enjoy Apple products for their fit and finish, I think this is in the same vein.
• Pedal strikes happen. I have a feeling I'm going to go through some pedals. I had 2 pedal strikes pedaling tight into turns at higher speed. I will say this though, these are the first stock bike pedals I have kept on any bike I've owned. I usually slap on Raceface Chesters on everything, but these pedals are grippy enough, flat, and wide.
• I'm not used to the position yet. Its forward. I've gotten used to the very casual position of the XP. I'm not going to lie, there are a few times where I wondered what the Como felt like, especially with that comfy saddle and upright position. In the long run, this is what I need, in the short term its going to take a little to get used to. Maybe I can graduate to road bikes after this where I am low enough to lick the front tire while going 25mph.

On paper, I really let "250w 50nm torque" get to me. I saw that E on the end of the 1.2 motor and instantly felt like I needed to go back to my bike shop and trade it in. I started looking at specs on it, the 4.0, and my Lectric XP thinking I had just made a huge mistake. This 12 mile ride resolved all of that. I'm actually going to write up soon comparing the XP to the Vado with things I wish I understood before I bought the Vado. I know there are a lot of people in my shoes who bought the XP (or something similar), fell in love, and want to move on to something "nicer".

 

[Art Deco]

Some folks on here call the XP the "gateway drug of eBikes". I believe that is a complement. And now that you have a Vado to ride, you can provide others with a quick eBike grin by letting them ride along on your XP for a short ride. A win.
BTW I bookmarked this thread for others that ask about upgrading to a bit better bike. Keep posting.

 

[lloose]

Some folks on here call the XP the "gateway drug of eBikes"

This is very true. Its a one-two punch of not only being a cheap way to get into ebiking, but it's an excellent bike. I just watched Jeremiah Mcintosh (one of the original reviewers of the XP on youtube) put together a beefy middrive Rambo brand ebike today. He looked absolutely crushed at the end of his video when I realized that he liked his XP more, even though for all intents and purposes the Rambo should have been an upgrade. I don't like my Lectric more or less since I can't really compare the two toe to toe. They are both incredible for what they are.

 

[lloose]

Well................. I bought the 4.0

I test rode a friend's 2019 3.0 and loved the extra torque and power. The difference was more than I thought. I emailed the bike shop and they said it would be fine to bring the 3.0 in for the 4.0. There's a couple little scratches on the new bike, but the entire experience was good with the shop and I'm happy. With how hilly my area is, I think it was the right choice. I was very impressed with the 3.0 but the 4.0 is probably a better fit for me being a bigger guy (260 pounds) and the hills in my daily commute.

 

[Dallant]

• 12 miles of up and down and I got home with 70% left in the battery. When I did a slightly shorter version of the same ride on my Lectric XP, I had about 5% left and had to ration power. I REALLY didn't want to have to ride my XP without power the last few blocks of my ride, I'd honestly get off and just push it.
• I'm not used to riding a bike with a real saddle. I think I'm going to be wearing my bike shorts for a bit until my underparts re-adjust to a non-comfort saddle. My tenders are going to hurt tomorrow.
• The bike is incredibly solid. Not a single flex, creak, rub, groan, nothing. It's extremely impressive how well this bike is put together. I enjoy Apple products for their fit and finish, I think this is in the same vein.
• Pedal strikes happen. I have a feeling I'm going to go through some pedals. I had 2 pedal strikes pedaling tight into turns at higher speed. I will say this though, these are the first stock bike pedals I have kept on any bike I've owned. I usually slap on Raceface Chesters on everything, but these pedals are grippy enough, flat, and wide.

Congrats on your new ebike and I’m sure you’ll love it!
I gotta say I know nothing about an XP but from what you’ve said here, I fail to see how an XP would be a gateway to anything. The idea that a <12 mile ride would leave you pushing your ebike home at all is a joke. I did 20 very hilly miles today (with 20-30 mph winds!) and had about 70% battery left. Not used to riding with a real saddle? Why not? Most of the bikes you were looking at would have probably seemed very solid to you. Pedal strikes are more about proper turning than the pedals themselves.

 

[lloose]

I fail to see how an XP would be a gateway to anything. The idea that a <12 mile ride would leave you pushing your ebike home at all is a joke.

It’s a gateway bike because of the price and it’s intended audience. I could have bought 5 Lectric XP’s for the price I paid for the Vado 4.0. For most people who use the bike, 12 miles is fine. Most people who ride the bike will likely get 2-3 times that, easily. That 12 miles would have doubled for me if it was a regular route too. I took it up the worst bunch of hills in my general area. The XP doesn’t have great range to begin with but again, their target customer is very unlikely to ride 30+ miles at a time.

Not used to riding with a real saddle? Why not?

Because I’ve been daily riding my XP for about a year. It’s more of a comfort focused bike. My other bikes are mountain bikes where I’m not in the saddle for hours and I wear padded mountain bike shorts when I do

Pedal strikes are more about proper turning than the pedals themselves.

Yep. Nothing wrong with the pedals. I’m pretty rough on all my pedals to be honest. It’s all on me though, nothing wrong with the bike.

 

[lloose]

Well damn. I made it all the way home (3 hours away) and take it for a ride. The motor cuts off at 20mph. Not an ounce of assistance the moment the speed hits 20mph. Ive spent the last hour looking up why and I can't find anything because 99% of 20mph topics on the vado are Europeans or Canadians talking about the speed limit.

Im a little worried now because I looked up the serial number C91143 and everything im seeing about it shows that its a 20mph limited motor. Did I get the Canadian version?

 

[GenXrider]

It sounds like you got a class 1. You never went over 20 mph on your 12 mile test ride?

 

[lloose]

It sounds like you got a class 1. You never went over 20 mph on your 12 mile test ride?

I didnt get a chance to. It was just the parking lot and it was raining. I took it for a spin and it felt like how I’d expect it to. I just didn’t try to get it to 28mph at that time due to the circumstances. Since it worked, I had no reason to think it wouldn’t hit 28, especially since it was pretty effortless to get the lower spec’ed 3.0.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I didnt get a chance to. It was just the parking lot and it was raining. I took it for a spin and it felt like how I’d expect it to. I just didn’t try to get it to 28mph at that time due to the circumstances. Since it worked, I had no reason to think it wouldn’t hit 28, especially since it was pretty effortless to get the lower spec’ed 3.0.

As I wrote under a separate post, your Specialized LBS will set your Vado to U.S. Class 3.

 

[GenXrider]

Im a little worried now because I looked up the serial number C91143 and everything im seeing about it shows that its a 20mph limited motor. Did I get the Canadian version?

I found a reference to the same thing:

I read back some posts and see your 12 mile ride was actually on the 3.0. So that makes sense why you didn't go over 20 mph on the 4.0 since that was in the parking lot. I would definitely follow up with the LBS to see what they can do for you.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I found a reference to the same thing:

View attachment 82387
I read back some posts and see your 12 mile ride was actually on the 3.0. So that makes sense why you didn't go over 20 mph on the 4.0 since that was in the parking lot. I would definitely follow up with the LBS to see what they can do for you.

It doesn't mean a thing. All U.S. Class 3 Vado 4.0 are equipped with Specialized 1.2 motor (Brose T) and sport the 28 mph speed limit.

 

[lloose]

One last update, I was able to call Specialized customer support, they confirmed with my serial number that its a class 3 and then checked the installed software. They said that it just had the wrong software update on it. I ran it over to my local bike shop and they fixed me right up in about 5 minutes. I wish I could have just bought it from them, but they literally don't have a single bike left in stock (ebike or otherwise).

I had a 3 mile ride back to work and it was amazing. The Vado lineup is so fluid. Something that I'm not used to is that I can go 28mph in eco mode and it supports me the entire way. I'm having to reprogram my mind a little from my Lectric XP where its extremely difficult (nearly impossible for a regular person) to get the bike to 28mph in anything but pedal assist 5 where you can literally watch the battery drain on the display while you go. Not to mention that after about 22mph on the XP, the bike runs out of gears and you are basically just ghost pedaling for the cadence sensor at 28mph. With the Vado, I can easily be in eco mode with it tuned down to 35/35% and still get to 28mph and sustain close to it. Its nothing short of awesome.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

One last update, I was able to call Specialized customer support, they confirmed with my serial number that its a class 3 and then checked the installed software. They said that it just had the wrong software update on it. I ran it over to my local bike shop and they fixed me right up in about 5 minutes.

I told you not to worry, aye?

I can easily be in eco mode with it tuned down to 35/35% and still get to 28mph and sustain close to it. Its nothing short of awesome.

You must be a fit person. Note that you are using only 35% Max Motor Power and get to 28 mph while I cannot get at the same 45 km/h unless am helped with some tailwind or ride on a slight decline

 

[GenXrider]

With the Vado, I can easily be in eco mode with it tuned down to 35/35% and still get to 28mph and sustain close to it. Its nothing short of awesome.

Are you able to turn down the max power assistance any further? Or what exactly is the range? From what you describe, it sounds like the bike is giving more assistance that I would prefer. I have my lowest assist level set to 5% (which shows 30 to 35 watts on the power meter) on my e-bike but increase it on hills.