Oh, no... Why to wear the face mask at all, then...
Your impressions from riding the Vado, Flora?
It's a lovely, comfortable, Thoroughbred fast, breathtakingly silent ebike. I was very impressed with how it handled the rural paved roads, the bi-polar winds, and the indecisive topography. The torque in Turbo mode was powerfully fun and bordered on the edge of addictive. At times I felt the Vado wasn't matching the speed downhill of my LaFree, but then I would look at my gps and realize I was going as fast, perhaps faster than I initially thought. It had to be the more forward position the Vado puts the rider in vs. the more upright LaFree that made me more aero. Hitting those speeds above 20mph with the assist still assisting was beyond satisfying. It was heaven.
I also found, midway through the ride as I continually got off and on to take photos, that it was far easier for me to throw a leg over than to try to step through. It felt more natural, and I was delighted that I could do so very easily and very fluidly without my hips complaining at all - which is a problem with my road bike which is one of the reasons I no longer ride it.
The chain, happily, was as silent as the LaFree's carbon belt drive .... except for when the bike was coasting, but that's to be expected of chain gearing and I knew that already so I just tuned the sound out of my mind. The gears worked flawlessly and silently, and I really appreciated the higher gears when cruising along. The difference between having 10 gears vs. 8 gears is like day and night.
All in all the Vado is one very very sweet bike!
I did, however, uncover one issue that is mine, not the bike's - the more forward stance of the handlebar put a bit more pressure on my hands than I liked, and brought back a touch of carpal tunnel. I had to sit upright several times towards the end of the ride and release all but the tips of my fingers on the grips to get the pressure backed off. Had the same issue initially with the LaFree until the handlebars were adjusted almost fully upright to where my hands simply rest, but don't press. Because the carpal tunnel doesn't appear at all when I ride the LaFree, I had forgotten about it when I first tried out the Vado a month ago. It didn't show up on the Vado until about 20 miles into the ride. Not sure what I'm going to be able to do about it since the Vado's stem which is permanently cranked forward and can't be adjusted. I'll talk to the bike shop and see what they can recommend.
In the meantime I'll just remember to take a B50 or B100 which will stop the carpel tunnel completely from reappearing for the duration of any rides on the Vado until I can do something about the forward stance.
The ride did convince me that it's about time to delimit the LaFree from Class 1 to Class 3. I've had the Badass unit sitting around for a few months waiting to be installed.
www.whsv.com
... hope it's okay!
I can't remember a dry spell like this at this time of year ever! I'm not complaining though, no need to clean my bike once again
