Specialized Turbo Vado/Como/Tero/Tero X User Club

[Marcela]

Interesting data from the Tour Divide Race.

 

[shelglass]

Next project I think will be installing a RockShox Reba air fork to get away from the SunTour Mobile A32- someone’s cruel joke to simulate ‘suspension’.
My feelings exactly I am still waiting on my RockShox Judy to come in at the LBS for my Tero.

 

[CodyDog]

Interesting data from the Tour Divide Race.

Great video. Thanks for posting!

 

[kahn]

Interesting data from the Tour Divide Race.

Fascinating. What a ride. Most use clip-in pedals

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Interesting data from the Tour Divide Race.

Very interesting video indeed! (It makes me convinced I could take part in a reasonably long gravel race on my Vado SL. I cannot break myself to buy and install aerobars though...)

Next project I think will be installing a RockShox Reba air fork to get away from the SunTour Mobile A32- someone’s cruel joke to simulate ‘suspension’.
My feelings exactly I am still waiting on my RockShox Judy to come in at the LBS for my Tero.

I had similar feelings when I was demo riding a Tero 3.0. Are both suspension forks you mention compatible with the bikes?

 

[Marcela]

Very interesting video indeed! (It makes me convinced I could take part in a reasonably long gravel race on my Vado SL. I cannot break myself to buy and install aerobars though...)


I had similar feelings when I was demo riding a Tero 3.0. Are both suspension forks you mention compatible with the bikes?

I was surprised there was no mention of electric in the equipment list Imagine how fast they would finish! That would be a good test of electric equipment.

 

[kahn]

I was surprised there was no mention of electric in the equipment list Imagine how fast they would finish! That would be a good test of electric equipment.

You'd need one hell of a long extension cord.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I was surprised there was no mention of electric in the equipment list Imagine how fast they would finish! That would be a good test of electric equipment.

The real problem is that if you are expected to only sleep for 4 hours a day, it is not possible to charge batteries for a 280-km daily ride I even do not want to think how many batteries would be needed per day! Unless you have a SAG car with you to hand fresh batteries to you whenever you want them...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

A photo from a short overnight stay, a 553 km gravel ultramarathon in Poland. A couple of riders were allowed to occupy a shed by River Vistula. They slept for two hours, 4 to 6 a.m, then they continued riding...

The guy by a Specialized Diverge is my friend Staszek.

 

[Marcela]

I used to work a swing swift. Pretty much experience sleep deprivation for 20 yrs. Two evenings, quick turnaround to two days, then a mid shift. At the end of the week your sleep would be messed up and it would take the days off to get back to normal then you'd start all over again. The quick turn around with 8 hrs between shifts would start the sleep deprivation or mess your sleep habits up, the fourth day would be an early shift, like 6am to 2pm, then go back in 8 hours later to work the mid. Try to get a few hours before the mid and maybe get some on the mid. If you got some sleep on the mid you could stay up the next day but end up going to sleep early evening.

There was a time I'd get off the 4th day, not get any sleep, go in on the mid, maybe get 2-3 hrs sleep, then stay up the next day til normal time to go to bed. So that's like staying up 36-40 hrs with 3 hrs sleep. The mind doesn't function too well after about mid day but physically not too bad. The next day your biorhythm would be messed up so the body/mind would shut down about middle of the day. The day after that would be close to normal. Then you'd start all over again.

So I'd say the 36-40 hours with 2-3 hrs sleep could be a limit. The scary part was when you woke up after staying up such a long period, you lose complete sense of time when you do wake up and it takes a few minutes to get your bearings. For me anyway.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I used to work a swing swift.

For 20 years? That was really cruel! I was working in a sugar-plant for only 112 days on a swing shift, and a given shift was kept for 10 days. No Sundays or holidays of course. Well, only 112 days for a young bachelor was not that dramatic.

 

[kahn]

For 20 years? That was really cruel! I was working in a sugar-plant for only 112 days on a swing shift, and a given shift was kept for 10 days. No Sundays or holidays of course. Well, only 112 days for a young bachelor was not that dramatic.

At one time our computer team needed computer hours not generally available where I worked. So we got assigned a computer available between midnight and 8am. It was an awful three months.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

At one time our computer team needed computer hours not generally available where I worked. So we got assigned a computer available between midnight and 8am. It was an awful three months.

And when I worked in an R&D Institute, our room was located in the historical Building 1, which had been owned (together with a huge piece of land) by our pre-war President Ignacy Mościcki "The Father of the Chemical Industry of Poland". He started an R&D Institute in Lwów (now: Lvov, Ukraine) in 1922 but the Warsaw Institute was opened in 1928.

At some year, the building was about to be renovated. Our huge window was boarded up... for one year! I was working for a year in artificial lighting! What was even worse, my young collegue was a Guns'N'Roses fan and he tortured me with the music I hated for the same year... (Fortunately, he left).

 

[Marcela]

For 20 years? That was really cruel! I was working in a sugar-plant for only 112 days on a swing shift, and a given shift was kept for 10 days. No Sundays or holidays of course. Well, only 112 days for a young bachelor was not that dramatic.

The swing shift was not a choice but the staying up for extended periods was living the life. That part was a choice. I don't think I'd want to do it now but the younger years was doable. That was just a picture of how long a person might stay awake. The day after the mid my biorhythm would be so messed up, the middle of the day my body and mind would shut down and that was the signal for time to take a nap. I could stay awake through this but better to lay down for a couple hours.

So these people doing extended staying awake periods can do it, but sooner or later they have to make up for lost sleep.

At one time our computer team needed computer hours not generally available where I worked. So we got assigned a computer available between midnight and 8am. It was an awful three months.

I worked at a softball complex in my teen years during the graveyard shift after everybody was gone for about 3 months. Never got used to that.

 

[Onimaru]

I worked a 28 day swing shift for 6 months once. It was odd. 4 nights on 3 days off 3 days on 1 day off 3 nights on 3 days off 4 days on 7 days off.

So you worked 14 out of every 28 days and had a stretch of a week off every cycle. They were 12 hour shifts. The week off was nice, but it was all over the place so you used the first day or so to right your body. It was nice for taking long vacations though.

Learned a lot on that assignment, but no idea how people worked a career like that.

 

[WIVado]

I think with one spare battery, a person just might be able to pull off a Tour Divide run. NOT in a racing capacity.
For example, on my Trek Powerfly 5 I can get very close to 60 miles on the battery if I’m using Eco Mode. (I just use my Trek as an example because it’s a hard tail mountain bike.)
If you had a 120-mile range, (spare battery) you could conceivably get to the next town/motel for recharging.
Granted, you would have a fortune in motel bills, etc. and there may be areas where you’d be pedaing unassisted if the distance between civilizations was too great.
I think it would be neat idea for a manufacturer of electric bike models to attempt.
Of course you’d have all the ‘it’s-not-a-real-bike’ mumbo jumbo.
Probably want a charger for each battery, too, come night-time, now that I think of it.
Lots of interesting journals on crazyguyonabike from people who’ve done the GDMBR in ‘tour mode’ on non-electrics.

PS- Some of you folk’s work schedules sound like hell on earth!!!!!

 

[WIVado]

Very interesting video indeed! (It makes me convinced I could take part in a reasonably long gravel race on my Vado SL. I cannot break myself to buy and install aerobars though...)


I had similar feelings when I was demo riding a Tero 3.0. Are both suspension forks you mention compatible with the bikes?

Stefan-
From my research- and I don’t claim to be an expert….
The wonderful SunRace I have on my Vado 4 is shown to be Mobie 32 model, with 80mm travel and a 476 axle-to-crown length.

While I prefer Fox components (from my MTB experience) the RockShox Reba is about the best combination of price/fork travel/geometry requirements I could come up with.

The RockShox Reba in a 27.5 model, 120mm travel has a 507 axle-to-crown measurement.

By changing the air shaft to a 100mm, that drops the axle-to-crown measurement to 487, which is pretty close to the 476mm on the ‘two-pipes-welded-together’ SunTour, and should have. minimal effect on head tube and seat tube angles.

Now, other considerations are, what about lugs on the fork for fender mounts, and front headlight?

I have some VersaMounts, I believe they’re called, by Topeak, that will substitute as mounting locations for the front fender stays…unsure about headlight mounting yet.

That is my plan…

And other note- it is true that the Reba is not an e-rated fork, so if that is a concern for anyone, there’s that to consider.

Now, I see Fox has a fork out called the AWL (Adventure Without Limits) but from what I can gather it is not available aftermarket- at least yet. Couldn’t find a lot of information on it, but I was attracted to it because of the 34mm stanchions Fox states it has.

I don’t mean to rag on SunRace- I use many of their cassettes. When you’re accustomed to mid-upper level air shocks, the shortcomings of a budget spring fork-of any manufacturer-are just much more readily apparent.

Sorry for the lengthy recitation.
edited SunTour to SunRace

 

[Stefan Mikes]

SunTour- I use many of their cassettes.

It's Sunrace

All that matter of forks feels so complicated to me... I hope the front wheel hub and axle are compatible with your selections?

 

[WIVado]

WOOPS-

Yes, axle spacing will be good.
May not get this project done ‘til this fall/winter.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Yes, axle spacing will be good.

And the thread in the fork matching your thru-axle?

You see, my specific MY2017 Vado has a rigid fork. The front wheel hub/thru-axle are indeed specialized as it is an uncommon 12x100 mm size with 1 mm thread in the fork. If I wanted to swap the fork for something suspended, I would have to probably replace the wheel (or use another hub and rebuild the wheel) and use a new thru-axle. Then, I would need to consider whether the new fork would fit the head-tube/steerer. And wonder if the new fork would disrupt my Vado's geometry. No, I would not do that.

I use suspension handlebars, 2" Specialized Electrak low-pressure tyres, am extremely happy I do not need to struggle with the Suntour fork, and my Vado is generally more lightweight at 24 kg (in the factory setup).

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