New here and looking to get into cycling!

[jbfortune]

Hiya,

I'm 40 from the sunny England. I've ridden bikes plenty, had a Specialized Sirrus for a lot of years and then a Trek which I can't remember the model. I absolutely loved my Sirrus so looking into e-bikes, the Vado SL was an obvious choice.

I haven't bought it yet, I'm going to test ride the 4.0 tomorrow.

I'm looking for a bike primary for commuting on roads and local cycle tracks which are a mixture of Roads, gravel and hard dirt tracks. Ideally I want to lose weight as well, I'm a bigger guy 230lbs so the limited assistance the bike seems to offer will be better for me.

Couple of questions - Being currently bigger, would the bigger motor in the 5.0 be needed? The terrain I'm going to cycle on will be relativity smooth but just how hard are the shocks felt? I'd prefer the 5.0 but i'm just not sure its worth the extra £700 or so.

I look forward to looking around here and hopefully offering some input when I get a bike.

Thanks,

 

[indianajo]

There are hills in England. If you ever want to climb any, 230 lb is pretty big for men in the bicycle hobby. The more watts, the faster you climb the hill. I like 1000 w and 8 mph myself, and our hills only go up to 15% grade. You are allowed bicycles on most trains in UK without a box. I would take advantage of that if I lived there to see some scenery.
You don't have to use all the assistance all the time, I ride unpowered 2/3 of the time. At least the specialized brose motors can be ridden unpowered without dragging the motor with your feet. I bought electricity because high winds can drag me down to 4.5 mph. My distance is fixed, and when I'm out of food at my summer property or have an appointment in town, I don't have the option of not riding. High winds in my face are a lot more common now with the globe warmed up. Used to be May-September winds were 10 mph or less. Not any more.
L700 is a lot cheaper than buying another bicycle. Used ebikes don't draw a lot of money, since the ones with flaky electrical problems go on the used market.
No opinion on the shocks, I can't have any on a cargo bike. 2.1" tires at 50 psi are comfortable enough. I run 55 psi on the back where the groceries ride. Still will bounce a bit back there if I hit a shelf on the pavement.

 

[jbfortune]

There are hills in England. If you ever want to climb any, 230 lb is pretty big for the bicycle hobby. The more watts, the faster you climb the hill. I like 1000 w and 8 mph myself, and our hills only go up to 15%. I ride unpowered 2/3 of the time. L700 is a lot cheaper than buying another bicycle. Used ebikes don't draw a lot of money, since the ones with flaky electrical problems go on the used market.

I understand some of those things you said. I won't be 230lb for long, already lost 30lb and pretty serious about losing weight! We do have hills, you're right, but the routes I'll be taking aren't bad. I want something fairly light as well due to some of the bike paths having gates you need to lift it over strangely!

Whats L700?

 

[indianajo]

Whats L700?

I don't know how to do the pound symbol. Some long escape sequence on a US keyboard.
I lost from 213 lb to 160 on my bike. Much of it after electrification. I'm glad I don't have any such gates here. I ride my bike with 3 spare tubes, tire, panniers, tools, water, rain gear, no groceries, 94 lb. I go off the cell phone network & need to fix problems myself.
If I needed to save weight, I'd drop the suspension, not the bigger motor. No fat tires (3" up) those things are heavy.
Edit I looked up court's review of turbo vado 4. The US version has a mahle 240 w hub motor. No drag, comes only in one size. I don't know what 3 comes with, court hasn't reviewed one. Someone yesterday had bought a tero with brose mid drive motor.
Happy riding.

 

[PedalUma]

Welcome.

 

[Dewey]

I'd prefer the 5.0 but i'm just not sure its worth the extra £700 or so.

As far as I can tell there is no difference in motor between the Vado SL 4.0 and 5.0 It sounds like you are interested in a lightweight e-bike, you might want to compare the Vado SL against a Ribble Gravel AL e. Consider adding a suspension stem and seatpost for comfort.

 

[dodgeman]

There are times I wish I had a more powerful motor. Today I did 36 miles which is long for me. Of course a bigger motor means you probably need a bigger battery. I have a Trek Verve +3 if you want to compare specs to what your looking at.

 

[jbfortune]

As far as I can tell there is no difference in motor between the Vado SL 4.0 and 5.0 It sounds like you are interested in a lightweight e-bike, you might want to compare the Vado SL against a Ribble Gravel AL e. Consider adding a suspension stem and seatpost for comfort.

Yes you're correct, I was looking at another bike which had a different motor, looked at so many they just blend in! I've had a look at the Ribble and it looks nice, I think the Specialized is a just a bit more premium but i'll have to keep investigating.