Specialized Turbo Vado 4.0 vs Diamondback Union 2

[jakimo]

After much research, I finally decided on the Specialized. I'm a week or so away from buying.. and then..

Today I walked into a shop and saw the Union 2, now I’m wondering!

The Union 2 has more torque, the Specialized seems to have more battery life

Both are $4k, very similar

Which one to choose?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

• First of all, choose the one with the better service nearby.
• With Bosch E-Bikes, there are two sides of the story: the OEM (Diamondback) and the system maker (Bosch E-Bike). In the case of Specialized, the OEM and the system maker is a single company
• The Diamondback comes with a legacy motor, battery, and the system. Vado is equipped with the latest Mastermind system.
• 500 Wh vs 710 Wh battery is the night vs the day. And the battery is the most expensive e-bike component.
• Specialized electronics is premium and all for the connectivity (Bluetooth, LEV ANT+). The legacy Bosch system is self-contained and not focused on the connectivity.
• The 70 vs 85 Nm is not a big difference. The peak power of both motors is pretty similar.

I cast the vote for Vado 4.0, even if it is only related to the battery size (42% more range).

 

[jakimo]

• First of all, choose the one with the better service nearby.
• With Bosch E-Bikes, there are two sides of the story: the OEM (Diamondback) and the system maker (Bosch E-Bike). In the case of Specialized, the OEM and the system maker is a single company
• The Diamondback comes with a legacy motor, battery, and the system. Vado is equipped with the latest Mastermind system.
• 500 Wh vs 710 Wh battery is the night vs the day. And the battery is the most expensive e-bike component.
• Specialized electronics is premium and all for the connectivity (Bluetooth, LEV ANT+). The legacy Bosch system is self-contained and not focused on the connectivity.
• The 70 vs 85 Nm is not a big difference. The peak power of both motors is pretty similar.

I cast the vote for Vado 4.0, even if it is only related to the battery size (42% more range).

Thank you, that was helpful

I’ll stick with the original plan.. I haven’t had a good bike since my old Cannondale from the 90s (it replaced my VW bus as my only transportation for years, back in another lifetime)

I like forward to riding again!

 

[Carterk]

And… um… maybe I’m wrong, but aren’t we to take torque ratings with a boulder of salt?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

And… um… maybe I’m wrong, but aren’t we to take torque ratings with a boulder of salt?

Right. The motor max torque depends on both the Peak Power (mechanical) and the corresponding motor RPM. The actual mechanical peak power for the Bosch motor is unknown.

 

[tomjasz]

The actual mechanical peak power for the Bosch motor is unknown.

Translation, “I don’t know...”

At one point Bosch did publish the maximum power. Last March (2019), if you went to the individual product pages, such as https://www.bosch-ebike.com/us/products/performance-line/, it would list the maximum power. Unfortunately, they have removed that information. The powers that they used to list are:
- Active Line: 295W
- Active Line Plus: 418W
- Performance Line: 575W (490W with hub gear)
- Performance Speed: 575W
- Performance Line CX: 600W

These are for the old motors, not the recently introduced ones. I believe the powers are output power as they would be consistent with the powers shown at https://electricbikereview.com/foru...rison-chart-bosch-yamaha-shimano-brose.14085/. Thus input power would be higher. (If the efficiency is 80%, divide by 0.8 to get the input power.)

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[Stefan Mikes]

Translation, “I don’t know...”

At one point Bosch did publish the maximum power. Last March (2019), if you went to the individual product pages, such as https://www.bosch-ebike.com/us/products/performance-line/, it would list the maximum power. Unfortunately, they have removed that information. The powers that they used to list are:
- Active Line: 295W
- Active Line Plus: 418W
- Performance Line: 575W (490W with hub gear)
- Performance Speed: 575W
- Performance Line CX: 600W

These are for the old motors, not the recently introduced ones. I believe the powers are output power as they would be consistent with the powers shown at https://electricbikereview.com/foru...rison-chart-bosch-yamaha-shimano-brose.14085/. Thus input power would be higher. (If the efficiency is 80%, divide by 0.8 to get the input power.)

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This is the electrical (input) power. You should multiply it by approximately 0.8. And the data are for old motors (as you indicated).
Here is the mechanical power of several Specialized motors I'm aware of:

• 1.2s: 520 W (90 Nm), boost factor 320%
• 1.3: 550 W (90 Nm), boost factor 360%
• 2.2: 565 W (90 Nm), boost factor 400%

What I do not know is the max power of the 2.0 motor of the Vado 4.0 2022. Some user has published the data recently but I cannot find them now.
In Specialized e-bikes, it is easy to track the current electrical power draw from the battery on a smartphone. For my 1.2s motor, the max figures are 666 W and sometimes even a little bit more. It agrees with the published specification of 520 W mechanical for that motor.