Specialized (Again) - Meeting Jerzy - Decathlon Wilanów - Warsaw Bridges - Night Turbo Ride
I needed a good pretext for my next ride. The sun was shining, the mid-day temperature was 12 C, so I thought I could make a fast ride to Specialized Warsaw again to ask many questions about spare part availability, assess the actual size of different Turbo e-bikes, and learn more. A 32 km long (tail-wind assisted) ride only took me 1 h 10 min to get to the LBS with my Vado 5.0. And... We agreed to meet with
@Jerzy Bańkowski there!
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The Specialized flagship: S-Works Turbo Levo SL (the photo taken on last Saturday). The price of PLN67000 (US$17,000) seemed to be taken from the Outer Space to us. (The U.S. price is $14,500). Jerzy merrily mentioned his pension might (probably) buy a spoke set for the single wheel of that e-bike! 
Did you ever wonder who buys the US$8,000 frameset for S-Works Levo SL? Perhaps them CF frames
do break? (
@mschwett?)
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Turbo Tero 5.0 size M and Turbo Levo (2021) size S4. Both were far too tall for my leg length! (Saturday photo).
I have learned several important facts (that's why I rode to the LBS):
- The current Polish price of the 604 Wh Vado/Como battery was equivalent to US$1,300 now. (I paid US$900 early in 2020 for the same). The battery cover colour only available as Graphite. The battery/cover could be had in 1-2 weeks here.
- Despite of the market issues, I could buy an extra SL Range Extender in 1-2 weeks, too.
- Specialized Turbo Levo Hardtail (regular and Comp) have been discontinued in favour of Tero. Pity, as those were better specified than the current Teros and far less expensive!
- The Warsaw brand store has already had several Mastermind, Generation 2 Turbo e-bikes on display.
After that, we both rode to Wilanów. Wilanów is a posh area. Jerzy has a saying for very expensive or weird bikes: "Worthy to show up in Wilanów"
Believe or not but a cheap 20" fat-tyre folder so popular in North America would be "Wilanów worthy" here, as such e-bikes are very weird for our region!
(It would draw as much of attention as a Trek Madone road bike... Or an S-Works).
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Jerzy in the Wilanów shopping mall area. We entered the smallest of Warsaw Decathlon stores (French equivalent of REI) to meet one Michał A, the bike department manager there. Michał is a restless organizer of so many gravel/MTB group rides for South Warsaw. It was a big surprise to meet him helmetless but wearing a face mask! Michał demonstrated Winter cycling clothes to us. Fun fact: I was wearing an excellent Decathlon winter jacket myself, and winter bibs, too! So I bought nothing but it was nice to meet Michał at his work place.
Then Jerzy and I rode onto the right hand side Vistula bank, over the Warsaw Southern Bridge.
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"He's taking my daily bread from me!" -- Jerzy joked -- "Photographing my
islands!"
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Vistula is largely an unregulated river. With the high water level, only the overgrown unnamed island can be seen. Vistula has been low recently, to reveal more of sandy islands. We were surprised to see someone found a way to get onto these islands to ride quads there!
At some point in Nadrzecze, Jerzy has shown that view to me:
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"They say that only very few are able to spot a horse here. Share if you have spotted a horse here" -- is our favourite Internet meme So we both are trying to "spot a horse here" (wherever we both are), as "very few" -- "they say"
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Our traditional lunch at McDonald's: Black coffee for Jerzy and a solid meal for me. (Jerzy lives nearby, so a dinner was awaiting him at home!)
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A close-up of the City of Warsaw at dusk, as seen from the Siekierkowski Bridge. Vistula is not only unregulated; it is winding too, allowing for so many different landscapes of the city.
Nocna jazda do domu była dla mnie jak... magiczna. Zaczęło się od stromego podjazdu na Górny Mokotów ulicą Idzikowskiego. To miejsce to jeden wielki korek o godzinie 18:00! Włączyłem tryb Turbo i leniwie wspinałem się po skarpie na linii podziału jezdni. W bardzo krótkim czasie byłam pierwszą osobą, która przejechała przez skrzyżowanie z Puławską... I żaden kierowca nie wydawał się na mnie zły!
Potem był sprint z prędkością 40 km/h przy pełnym ruchu; z powodu korków samochody poruszały się bardzo wolno i czułem się tam bardzo naturalnie. A nocna jazda Alejami Jerozolimskimi przy pełnym natężeniu ruchu (z "przeskokiem" na długą i pustą Bodychę) była dla mnie ogromną frajdą i radością! Jaka szkoda, że nie mogłem podzielić się z wami moimi wrażeniami przez telepatię!
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Udało mi się w tym roku przejechać 9 000 km (a rok jeszcze się nie skończył!) Do każdego, kto posiada Vado Klasy 3 i myśli o jego sprzedaży: Nie rób tego. Żaden inny e-rower nie byłby tak uniwersalny i doskonały!
