Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Stefan Mikes]

Oh, I have hardly used my Vado as a commuter e-bike!

It was a road mounting e-bike allowing me doing the most crazy long climbs...

I used my Vado as an off-road mountain e-bike too...

It was a gravel bike able to match competing riders...

...and it allowed me the longest (100+ mile) adventure rides!

No other e-bike I have owned was such universal as my Vado 5.0 was! The fact I could legally ride it as a moped (as opposed to a bicycle, streetwise) was a bonus for my rare urban commutes!

I also do not think the number of years ridden was important: It was the distance. Two other long-runners in this thread (foofer and Rab) had to repair their Yamaha or Bosch motors, too. It is inevitable with such a mileage. (David Berry was simply buying a new Homage).

Let me also tell you another thing: the European 2017 Vado 5.0 and Vado 6.0 (2018-present) were equipped with high end components, for example TRP Zurich brakes, automotive-grade lighting, Electrak tyres, Deore XT drivetrain etc. It was because the Euro version had to be Type Approved as a moped. Even the 1.2s motor was used (not the motors used for 2018-2021 Vado 5.0). I have never complained on the quality of my Vado. It is just the motor that got worn.

The mileage recorded here is only for my Strava rides. The actual mileage for each of these e-bikes has been actually higher, as it was not only me to ride these e-bikes.

 

[Readytoride]

Sorry for assuming. Guess my comments are only applicable to the Vados sold in the US. Nevermind then.

 

[RabH]

After Three Years and Over 14,000 Kilometres...

...the motor of my Vado 5.0 died. A broken belt drive of the Specialized 1.2s motor. The LBS promised to do the repair for approximately US$1,000 (including labour and tax). Fifty spare motors of that model are available in the warehouse.

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Before that happened. As I got my new Wahoo ELEMNT Roam v2 bike GPS computer, I sold the Bolt v2 to my friend Jerzy. He is happy! Strava app will not steal any hard pedalled kilometres from him anymore!

The motor died after some 70 km ride. I was lucky it happened in the centre of our county city! I pedalled home unassisted and called a friendly taxi driver

14000km is nothing so thats a very poor show from Specialized, imagine if it was your only bike and you only got that kind of mileage out of your motor! I thought it was bad when my Yamaha motor needed new motor bearings but that was after 14000 miles and only cost £102, my motor has now covered 22,666 miles and it goes like new! The company that repaired mine greased all the bearings and gears properly so hopefully it will last for many more years!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

A little bit noisy though, eh? (owned a Yamaha motor e-bike).

 

[RabH]

I've had it so long I don't even notice the noise!

 

[ruffruff]

Trail! We don't need no stinking trail!
FYI it snowed the next day!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I am sorry to bring up the subject of the motor longevity... Otherwise the impression Specialized e-bikes were hopeless might remain (and it is not my intention).

I am on my 3rd DU all replaced under warranty 12,000km, 2900km, 2600km

I have just looked up another thread. The quote is about a Trek Powerfly with a Bosch E-Bike Drive Unit (motor). Motors simply do break. (If someone owns a single car and the car has to be repaired in the garage, the owner cannot use it either).

Today, I was on a short ride with my Vado SL. It was cold (6 C), windy, and I was caught by raining! Nonetheless, I have only really discovered now how much athletic position I was taking on my "gravelized" Vado SL compared to the big Vado (which I could not modify any more!)

 

[Djangodog]

Mrs. Django didn’t feel like riding today, so I decided to take Wilbur out for a ride, (the only electronics were my phone and the Garmin). There was a chill in the air, but still a nice ride. Wilbur has been adjusted a little for comfort and a little gravel with 28 mm Panaracer Gravel King tires, Spank Spoon pedals, 11-32 cassette and a RedShift Kitchen Sink gravel bar. It was always been more of an endurance bike than a pure racer, so it does very well as an “all road” bike.

That’s a covered bridge, (not a barn), and a nice old Ford hay truck back there.

The bridge and truck without Wilbur photobombing.

And here’s Wilbur.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I spent the day in Banff, AB getting familiar with a few of the local trails. I started the day tackling a very difficult black diamond DH called Top Notch. It was an intense single track riddled with tight switchbacks and some challenging technical trail features (TTFs). I hope to have some video footage posted of that run in the next day or so.

Topp Notch Trail at Banff

Topp Notch begins with a squirrel catcher [mandatory feature] meant to weed out the less experienced. If you cannot ride this feature, head back down to Star Wars. Once past...

www.trailforks.com

The trail conditions were ideal and I'll spend another day riding before heading back home. Just in time as snow is forecast to hit the area by the weekend.

Some splendid views from the Coastline Trail.

An exhilarating section of single track along The Toe. I ran into a few hikers along the way so there wasn't much room to manoeuvre.

There were also plenty of decent climbs and varied terrain along the way.

Later in the day, I popped into Kananaskis Country to see if any WW kayakers were practising in the rapids at the Widowmaker. No such luck.

Barrier Lake in K-Country

 

[Chargeride]

I remember falling asleep in the back seat of my canada trip to the image of dense trees running past the window.
I woke up 40 mins later to the exact same scene.
I said.
Theres too many goddam trees in canada!
Gorgeous scenery.

 

[Djangodog]

I spent the day in Banff, AB getting familiar with a few of the local trails. I started the day tackling a very difficult black diamond DH called Top Notch. It was an intense single track riddled with tight switchbacks and some challenging technical trail features (TTFs). I hope to have some video footage posted of that run in the next day or so.

Topp Notch Trail at Banff

Topp Notch begins with a squirrel catcher [mandatory feature] meant to weed out the less experienced. If you cannot ride this feature, head back down to Star Wars. Once past...

www.trailforks.com

The trail conditions were ideal and I'll spend another day riding before heading back home. Just in time as snow is forecast to hit the area by the weekend.

Some splendid views from the Coastline Trail.

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An exhilarating section of single track along The Toe. I ran into a few hikers along the way so there wasn't much room to manoeuvre.

View attachment 138339
There were also plenty of decent climbs and varied terrain along the way.

View attachment 138340
View attachment 138341
Later in the day, I popped into Kananaskis Country to see if any WW kayakers were practising in the rapids at the Widowmaker. No such luck.

View attachment 138342
Barrier Lake in K-Country

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You have a great eye, (and a great backdrop to work with). It’s nice to see such unspoiled beauty.

 

[dodgeman]

I did 27 miles today which is a little longer than I intended, there was a bridge out and I had to backtrack some. I also found another barn, which in this case I think was a corn crib at one time.

 

[DaveMatthews]

A little bit noisy though, eh? (owned a Yamaha motor e-bike).

Gotta say, mine is quiet as a mouse!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Gotta say, mine is quiet as a mouse!

Now, it has turned out Jacek's Giant Trance E+ 2 Pro is dead. Jacek has eliminated any possible causes and now he thinks the motor is dead after his 14,000 km. In my opinion, he should have taken his e-bike to the LBS as soon as the Trance stopped working... Not to try to fix it himself!

 

[fooferdoggie]

air is too bad for my wife to ride. been that way most of the week.

 

[pmcdonald]

Well I can't fill David's shoes when it comes to geniality, gentle grace and exquisite composition but at least I can offer up Magpie attacks and a dose of Australiana...

I'm not long back from a family holiday down to the Alpine Shire region of Victoria, Australia. It's an area renowned for scenic valleys, beautiful autumn colours, winter skiing, great produce and, most importantly for our trip, rail trails. I hadn't been to this region of Australia before so it was all fresh exploring for me. There's few things better in life than undriven roads and unridden trails.

The plan was to ride a few segments of the regions trails, with me zipping back to the car to ferry the family on to the next destination. I was hoping to duck off and ride one or two of the regions superb mtb parks as well, but came down with a horrible bug before the trip which sapped my energy. I left the emtb at home and stuck with the trusty Giant Explore.

It was an 800km drive to the region from home. I used my new Rockymounts Splitrail LS carrier with 2 add on mounts to transport the bikes. Loading and uploading was a breeze - the unit done good.

The first ride of the trip was a solo explore, motor on, up the valley from a hamlet called Freeburgh to another tiny halmet called Harrietville and back. It wasn't a huge ride but at 32km the longest of the trip. The path was a brand new section called the Great Valley Trail. @RabH mentions the joy of riding on fresh tarmac and I wholeheartedly agree. This path was *fresh*, and sublimely smooth to ride on. It crossed the Ovens River a couple of time. The river was high and fast after a wet winter but would properly flood a few weeks later. I passed a trout farm, lots of magpies which I kept a wary eye on, and a couple of riders heading back to Bright. After all the rain the surrounding fields were an almost fluorescent green. The distant view up the valley towards Mt Feathertop wasn't half bad either.

The next ride was a section from Taylors Pass to the lovely little town of Myrtleford. I dropped everyone off in the car, ran the car back to the accommodation then hightailed it out to meet them. I had one half-hearted magpie swoop on the ride out, which fortunately found better things to do when the family and I passed back through. The section of track was very well picked by my partner, with a long, gradual 12km decline from near the start point. It passed farms (dairy, cattle, orchard and hobby) and a large winery. Which was closed that day . Total ride for me was in the area of 28km. Excellent woodfired pizzas were enjoyed by all that evening.

The third ride kicked off from the historic goldmining town of Beechworth. It sits atop a plateau of sorts, so we followed the trail all the way down into the valley below. Aside from a hill at the start we barely needed to pedal down. On my return trip back up to get the car I had my most vigorous magpie encounter. I could see it arcing from my right lining up for a swoop so I got upright on the bike and held my hand it - hands above heads deter them. It did indeed interrupt its mission from chasing me on out of its territory, but the dumb lapse in concentration almost sent me off the track and into an electric fence (I can laugh about it now). It was a stupid response from me - I'm wearing a helmet, what's the worst that could happen? I noted to just ignore the swoops in future, as disconcerting as they may be. I stopped shortly after to get that photo of the bike and the path. And calm my heartrate!

Our fourth ride of the trip involved a relocation and a different rail trail network, the High Country Rail Trail. It navigates the shore of Lake Hume, a sizeable manmade lake fed by redirected snow melt from our 'alps'. The water generates a significant portion of the countries renewable energy and goes on to irrigate vast tracts of land around the Murray food bowl. The trail stretches about 80km but we only rode a 10km section to one of the highlights, a pedestrian bridge over the lake. A group who had come from the other direction warned of an aggressive magpie down the path so we snacked at the bridge and turned around. Magpies and young riders aren't the best combo for nurturing confidence on a bike. Back at the accommodation we watched storms roll over the lake.

Our final little ride was in Canberra on the trip home. Canberra is the nations capital, and a divisive city for Australian's. Some like it, many think it's a bit boring. I actually really like the place: cycling and mtbing infrastructure is first-rate, it's a very well thoughout and multicultural city, and there's an insane amount of attractions for the family to see. We weaved our way around the foreshore to stretch the legs before running smack bang into the masses attending Floriade, one of the two big festivals Canberra is renowned for. It's a celebration of flowering bulbs. The other festival celebrate revheads. Go figure.

I give the rail trails in the Bright region a wholehearted thumbs up (magpies notwithstanding). The trails were excellently maintained and signposted, the scenery varies, grades manageable (with some careful selection of direction), and the towns dotted through the region quite charming.

Oh, shout out to @PDoz for the excellent pre-trip singletrack advice. I didn't get to sample any of the suggestions, but more to explore next trip down!

 

[DaveMatthews]

Now, it has turned out Jacek's Giant Trance E+ 2 Pro is dead. Jacek has eliminated any possible causes and now he thinks the motor is dead after his 14,000 km. In my opinion, he should have taken his e-bike to the LBS as soon as the Trance stopped working... Not to try to fix it himself!

Well that sucks! Could it be a bad battery/BMS?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Well that sucks! Could it be a bad battery/BMS?

He owns two batteries so the answer is no.

 

[DaveMatthews]

He owns two batteries so the answer is no.

Off to LBS then!

 

[Prairie Dog]

I remember falling asleep in the back seat of my canada trip to the image of dense trees running past the window.
I woke up 40 mins later to the exact same scene.
I said.
Theres too many goddam trees in canada!
Gorgeous scenery.

We have the reputation of the third most forested country in the world by area so yeah, that’s a log of trees.

You have a great eye, (and a great backdrop to work with). It’s nice to see such unspoiled beauty.

Thanks. Feel blessed that we have so many phenomenal places to ride but so do many others here including yourself.