Ordered my 2020 Vado 4.0

[Knolan]

After a long wait I’ve finally ordered it!

I changed job last year and my commute changed from a 7km suburban commute to an 18km cross city commute. Then we bought a house and, well because they’re bloody expensive we had to move further outside the city, so my commute increased to 24km, which is a bit too much to do twice a day five days a week and still have something left in the tank for work and my young family.

So after nearly a year of talking about it I’ve finally ordered the 4.0. It’ll be ready Monday week and I’m really excited. With the ebike I can take a more scenic route with some fairly steep hills through one of Europe’s largest urban parks and avoid the stress of dealing with traffic on a significant proportion of my route.
I’ve been lurking here from some time now and I’ve learned a lot, so thank you and I’m looking forward to more discussion.

 

[ROJA]

Sounds like a great move to keep your health and sanity (plus save some time). What are your current commute options and how long do they take? Where in Europe are you?

I've got around 5000 miles (8000 km) on my Turbo (prior gen with the hub drive) and it has really been amazing for my commute!

 

[Knolan]

I’m in Dublin in Ireland.

There’s a bus that terminates where I work starting about 10 minute walk from our new home. Takes about 75 minutes but this may get worse when the schools start back and traffic really backs up. It’s a 24km cycle or a 30km drive down the motorway. Owning a car is extremely expensive here in Ireland, particularly insurance has gotten completely out of control. A rush hour commute by car can take about an hour.

From our old rented place I had to get two buses and the commute could take anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours. The cycle commute was 18km and I could do it in about 50mins. Driving would also take an hour.

So it’s clear the ebike is the clear winner as I wouldn’t be able to sustain that commute on a regular bike. 18 was doable but the new route has some draining hills.

 

[Turbo Vado Pip]

I’ve been running a Vado 4.0 since February last year. There has been highs and lows but overall it has been a fantastic experience. If you are getting a 2020 Vado 4.0 it should have a few tweaks over my 2019 model. Just make sure it has the computer that works with the smartphone App. I had to fight for nearly a year to get that fitted. Enjoy!

 

[Knolan]

Thanks, I followed developments regarding the new computer closely here and made sure it has the new model.

I’m very happy with it. The 25km/h limit is mostly fine except on longer country road sections where a slightly higher limit would be nice.

Here’s a fun hyperlapse of most of my commute.

 

[Quadracer]

Thanks, I followed developments regarding the new computer closely here and made sure it has the new model.

I’m very happy with it. The 25km/h limit is mostly fine except on longer country road sections where a slightly higher limit would be nice.

Here’s a fun hyperlapse of most of my commute.

Hi Knolan. Is there a speed restriction in Ireland? Here in NZ we have a 300w restriction. Both my Vado3 and my wifes new 2020 Vado4 are restricted to 45km.

 

[Knolan]

Yes, it’s just 25km/h here. It’s not really an issue in the city with traffic and other cyclists but is a little annoying out on a long country stretch.

 

[rochrunner]

Hi Knolan. Is there a speed restriction in Ireland? Here in NZ we have a 300w restriction. Both my Vado3 and my wifes new 2020 Vado4 are restricted to 45km.

That explains why they chose 28mph for the "Class 3" designation in the U.S. -- it's straight conversion from the metric so they don't have to make too many special variants for different countries. The 4.0 here is a Class 3/28mph bike. A Class 1 has a 20mph limit, or 32km. 25km seems a bit slow.

 

[Ebiker01]

Yes, it’s just 25km/h here. It’s not really an issue in the city with traffic and other cyclists but is a little annoying out on a long country stretch.

You guys should write or call the big people, demand from the ebike companies to change this absurd limits.

Why a car is not limited from factory to 30kmh in city and 70kmh outside ???
And an ebike only a bloody slowly 25kmh ??

Seriously, your money is power . Get toghter with other people and raise the limit !!

If you were to do 45km or 50-52kmh that is perfectly achievable on a class 3, you’d be really happy.
Only a 20min. Commute.

Can buy the delimitor small box online and use it outside city.
I doubt they will scan your speed. Just say you had a big omlet and felt really strong that day to pedal hard.

 

[Knolan]

The 25km/h limit is perfectly fine around the city. As you can see from my video there’s are a lot of other bicycle commuters and limited space. The 4.0 has plenty of torque so I can get up to speed quickly and get ahead and hold a steady 30km/h. Certainly a bit more would be nice along the country road section.

This limit is a Europe wide thing and Europe tends to have a lot of urban cycling in old compact cities, it’s not going to be palatable to many to increase speed limits.

 

[PaD]

The 25km/h limit is perfectly fine around the city. As you can see from my video there’s are a lot of other bicycle commuters and limited space. The 4.0 has plenty of torque so I can get up to speed quickly and get ahead and hold a steady 30km/h. Certainly a bit more would be nice along the country road section.

This limit is a Europe wide thing and Europe tends to have a lot of urban cycling in old compact cities, it’s not going to be palatable to many to increase speed limits.

I also have a EU Vado and think the 25km/h is generally ok for city riding and mostly for my out of town riding on smaller roads and paths. Bike lanes in Stockholm city are narrow and often crowded.
30-32 km/h would be nice sometimes in the city in larger intersections as you get up to the 25km/h cut off so quickly and I would prefer having support all the way over the intersection.
I now have had the wheel circumference adjusted down to 2000mm so my Vado cuts out at 28-29km/h. It is a noticeable difference.
Drawback is of course that the speedo and odo/trip meters are no longer correct. As for speed I just mentally add 10% to what the display shows.
Could be nice with 30-32km/h on open roads or larger bike lanes outside city center.

 

[PaD]

You guys should write or call the big people, demand from the ebike companies to change this absurd limits.

Why a car is not limited from factory to 30kmh in city and 70kmh outside ???
And an ebike only a bloody slowly 25kmh ??

Seriously, your money is power . Get toghter with other people and raise the limit !!

If you were to do 45km or 50-52kmh that is perfectly achievable on a class 3, you’d be really happy.
Only a 20min. Commute.

Can buy the delimitor small box online and use it outside city.
I doubt they will scan your speed. Just say you had a big omlet and felt really strong that day to pedal hard.

It’s unfortunately not an ebike company or money thing. It’s the EU regulations.
You can buy a 45km/h e-bikes in EU but the rules and regulation for speed pedelecs don’t appeal to a majority apparently.
For a speed pedelec you need registration and insurance and you’re not allowed on bike lanes. Same rules as for the 45 km/h EU-mopeds.
Before e-bikes appeared on the streets EU wanted uniform regulations for mopeds. There were a number of different regulations as different countries had their own speed or power limits for mopeds.
So we ended up with 2 classes. Class 1, 45km/h and drivers license etc. and class 2, 25km/h.
E-bikes were put into those 2 existing classes ( don’t know if you really need a drivers licens for the speed pedelec)

 

[Ebiker01]

It’s unfortunately not an ebike company or money thing. It’s the EU regulations.
You can buy a 45km/h e-bikes in EU but the rules and regulation for speed pedelecs don’t appeal to a majority apparently.
For a speed pedelec you need registration and insurance and you’re not allowed on bike lanes. Same rules as for the 45 km/h EU-mopeds.
Before e-bikes appeared on the streets EU wanted uniform regulations for mopeds. There were a number of different regulation as different had their own speed or power limits for mopeds.
So we ended up with 2 classes. Class 1, 45km/h and drivers license etc. and class 2, 25km/h.
E-bikes were put into those 2 existing classes ( don’t know if you really need a drivers licens for the speed pedelec)

ok, but will know yours is a speed pedelec unless they take apart the motor/controller ?

Is it like another rider if he or she sees the Speed pedelec zooming by at 40km/h they will call someone and complain ?
Are there officers watching at intersection how fast an ebike takes off and goes ?
Can they even tell which one is an ebike ?

With the current advances, there’s very minor looks that can tell Which is which From distance.

Is it okay to pedal a bike , like a road bike at 45kmh on a open road but not okay to use some assist for pedalling unless you pay the big bucks for reg. /insurance ? That is really stupid on behalf of the politicians and whoever made the regulations.
Is the same mind pedalling or using both bikes.

It is actually safer to ride fast in traffic or on open roads then below 25kmh.
I would sue the regulators for potentially causing cycling casualties to people by having them pedal or ride slow In fast and aggressive city traffic or on the open roads.

The reg. And insurance aspect is just theft b/c you still need to pedal. The motor only acts as a helper .
Is not like the Speed pedelec is pulling from a stop at 50kmh.

Basically they want people to be upset b/c they can’t go any faster thus making them buy a speed pedelec and giving to the system registration, insurance funds !!

That will never happen in the Us. I would throw the ebike in the Atlantic Ocean if they limit it to 18mph.

 

[PaD]

@Knolan
I’d love to take may Vado over to Ireland and ride. Haven’t been to Ireland since mid 80’s.
Probably not going to happen but dreaming isn’t forbidden
Enjoy your Vado. It’s a fun and nice handling e-bike, isn’t it?

 

[Knolan]

@Knolan
I’d love to take may Vado over to Ireland and ride. Haven’t been to Ireland since mid 80’s.
Probably not going to happen but dreaming isn’t forbidden
Enjoy your Vado. It’s a fun and nice handling e-bike, isn’t it?

Check out The Wild Atlantic Way. It’s an excellent way to explore the west of Ireland by bike.

 

[Solom01]

Well in that spirit I do have a question for any Australians on the forum. I got to spend 3 great weeks there last year, loved it, but unless you're in one of the big cities like Sydney or Melbourne the countryside is fairly empty and distances are vast. It would seem to make sense to allow bikes there to go faster unlike much of the EU which has tons of traffic. Any reason why bike speed is so restricted there? Hopefully I'll get to go back if I can put up with the 23 hours of airtime between the Eastern US and Australia again.

 

[PaD]

Check out The Wild Atlantic Way. It’s an excellent way to explore the west of Ireland by bike.

Today my morning paper, largest newspaper in Sweden, presented 4 full pages with information about The Wild Atlantic Way.
How’s that for a coincident?!

 

[Rick53]

Do posts they don't like get removed ?

 

[Knolan]

Today my morning paper, largest newspaper in Sweden, presented 4 full pages with information about The Wild Atlantic Way.
How’s that for a coincident?!

We get a weekly memo from the Tourism department with talking points. Isn’t that how socialism works?

I’m still being very cautious in and around traffic because of the cost of the bike and the extra weight but I’m really liking the bike, it’s super fun and stable to ride.

I think I mentioned my better half wants to get a cargo ebike for the kids. That will turn the Vado from a commuter only tool to a fun weekend toy.

 

[StmbtDave]

Do posts they don't like get removed ?

I believe so as one of mine disappeared with no explanation.