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

[rochrunner]

What I'm using are Shimano PD-EH500 two-sided pedals with a non-cleat side that has those small screw-in studs that really make it grippy. My only criticism is that the SPD clips are what they call "light release" that is much lighter than what I'm used to on my other bikes to the point of being too easy to unclip from, although I haven't played around with the adjustment screw much so far.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

My only criticism is that the SPD clips are what they call "light release" that is much lighter than what I'm used to on my other bikes to the point of being too easy to unclip from, although I haven't played around with the adjustment screw much so far.

You should play with the adjustment screw, Roch. It is super easy and very important. As for me, I prefer the lightest unclipping force possible. I own Shimano PD-M520. My brother rides in them now and his own are attached to the crank of his Giant mech MTB.

I prefer Crankbrothers Stamp 1 and 7 Large MTB platform pedals and use them on all my e-bikes.

 

[RandallS]

Call me superstitious (there's my hockey background) ..snip...

So were you a clockwise or anti-clockwise shin guard taper? I was clockwise on left leg and anti on right. Had a buddy who wouldn't wash his gear if he kept scoring. He was a good player and it got to a point that no one would pass him the puck, especially the guys who had to sit near him in the dressing room.

 

[Brendon@OEB]

So were you a clockwise or anti-clockwise shin guard taper? I was clockwise on left leg and anti on right. Had a buddy who wouldn't wash his gear if he kept scoring. He was a good player and it got to a point that no one would pass him the puck, especially the guys who had to sit near him in the dressing room.

Never got into shin guard tape. I was always a smaller player, my mom would sew my socks to cutoff sweats, now I just use the velcro on the jock shorts, seems to work fine for beer league.

 

[RandallS]

Never got into shin guard tape. I was always a smaller player, my mom would sew my socks to cutoff sweats, now I just use the velcro on the jock shorts, seems to work fine for beer league.

Playing defence in Junior B hockey, you wanted your shin guards in the right place at all times! But then again, that was 43 years ago!

 

[rochrunner]

I finally got out for a ride on the 4.0 a couple days ago, for the first time having the time and conditions to do the type of ride I'd been dreaming of when I got the bike. The conclusion: it was great!

My ride was a 50 mile loop utilizing 4 rail-trails and some miles of unpaved rural public roads. It was mostly flat, but the dirt roads had some rollers and a few typical hills of the short-but-steep variety. There were maybe 10 miles of pavement in there and the dirt roads were comparatively smooth as they can get pretty bad depending on how recently graded, etc. Since I'm retired and no longer in a hurry, I was out as always to just enjoy the ride and mostly cruised at 12-15mph except of course for the downhills.

My setting using Mission Control had Eco at a low 15/30, which proved to be exactly what I was looking for. I was looking to get the same type of "workout" as I'm used to with my regular hybrid on these roads, but with an increased range and some help for the hills or when I start to run out of gas. I found that in many of the flat, harder-surfaced sections, it felt pretty good to put the bike in the Off mode and go with pedal power. There's also one rail-trail that follows a creek downstream and has a constant 1-2% downgrade and I was able to fly along at 16-18mph with the motor off for several miles. I finished with an overall 12% average speed and 43% battery remaining. Not bad at all!

I also concluded that I have no need to go with a suspension seat post, as the bike was not much rougher than my regular bikes (~60psi in the tires) and I'm used to getting up on the pegs if need be. I'll also leave the fenders on since they're only annoying when small stones rattle around in them. Powerwise, the SL might work better for me with its lower weight, but I'd have to try that "Future Shock" gizmo on some of this stuff before I'm convinced it's even as good as the low-end forks on the Vado.

Right now, I'm back to being very happy with my choice!

Typical rail-trail:

Michigan dirt/gravel road:

Less-improved rail-trail:

Break for lunch at a trailhead:

 

[Katysax]

Como settings question

My partner just got a new Como and the software is a little different from my bike. We are trying to change the units from metric to imperial. The mission control app is connected to the bike computer. We changed the app from metric to imperial but it won’t change on the bike. We tried changing it on the computer itself but all the instructions we have found seem to be for an different version of the firmware.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Como settings question

My partner just got a new Como and the software is a little different from my bike. We are trying to change the units from metric to imperial. The mission control app is connected to the bike computer. We changed the app from metric to imperial but it won’t change on the bike. We tried changing it on the computer itself but all the instructions we have found seem to be for an different version of the firmware.

Try pressing the left button in the bottom part of the TCD-W display for 5 seconds. System Setup should appear. First screens are for changing the time format, time and date. Press both buttons simultaneously to go to the next page. Finally, you'll be in the Units screen. Press either button to change to Imperial. Confirm by pressing both buttons at the same time. Continue pressing both buttons until you leave the System Setup.

 

[Katysax]

Thanks. I finally figured it out. I don’t get why it didn’t just change when I changed it on mission control. That’s how it worked on my bike.

Also the instructions in the manual differ a little from how it works on the bike. The new bike has different fenders, squarer with taillight on the fender. The new computer has a “power” screen that mine doesnt have.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I don’t get why it didn’t just change when I changed it on mission control.

Because it's Ye Ole Goode Specialized...

 

[PaD]

Because it's Ye Ole Goode Specialized...

My Vado 5.0 has been using more watts or amps or whatever since it was in for service. Maybe 10-15% more than before.Firmware was updated at service and as they help me ” correct” wheel circumference after all other things were done I cheched that Mission Control was connecting and I saw that Eco mode was set at 35/35.
The motor support has felt stronger and less natural and I’ve lowered Eco to 20/20 and then back to 30/30. Still feeling like it was in Sport mode sort of.
Tonight I restarted the bike and M/C after a ride and M/C asked me to enter bike name. I checked the letters and numbers and confrmed. Now Eco mode was 30/80! Probably has been since last update but communication with M/C seems to have not worked as it should.
The 80% Peak power is likely what I have experienced. I’ve always used 35/35 or 30/30 setting.
Too late for test ride now. Tomorrow will be interesting.

 

[rochrunner]

My Vado 5.0 has been using more watts or amps or whatever since it was in for service. Maybe 10-15% more than before.Firmware was updated at service and as they help me ” correct” wheel circumference after all other things were done I cheched that Mission Control was connecting and I saw that Eco mode was set at 35/35.
The motor support has felt stronger and less natural and I’ve lowered Eco to 20/20 and then back to 30/30. Still feeling like it was in Sport mode sort of.
Tonight I restarted the bike and M/C after a ride and M/C asked me to enter bike name. I checked the letters and numbers and confrmed. Now Eco mode was 30/80! Probably has been since last update but communication with M/C seems to have not worked as it should.
The 80% Peak power is likely what I have experienced. I’ve always used 35/35 or 30/30 setting.
Too late for test ride now. Tomorrow will be interesting.

Any particular reason why you always set the assistance and max power the same (20/20, 30/30, etc.)? Just wondering. I like to have minimal assistance but still some good power when I pedal hard.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Let me tell you something. Since I started using Smart Control in the Mission Control App, my rides have become fantastic. (There is a separate thread in the Specialized Forum on that).

The primary function of the Vado is the fast commute. We had a 95-km touring ride with my brother yesterday; he could maintain 32 km/h (20 mph) speed on my Lovelec e-bike. I equalised our leg power by setting the Smart Control to 60 km planned ride distance, 300 m of elevation gain and 20% of the battery left at the end of the ride. My Vado was still more agile and faster than Jacek's e-bike, or I could pedal easier even upwind while keeping at his speed. The use of my both batteries was astoundingly economical. I swapped the batteries at 55th km and the first battery still had 25% charge.

The next ride segment was downwind. I set Smart Control for even longer ride to decrease the pedal assistance. After 40 km covered, there was 50% left on the second battery, and I was still faster than my brother on the ride. That is so different from the manual assistance levels! Now I know using both batteries and Smart Control would allow me far longer rides than I have ever expected.

Try it yourself: If you feel you are a fit rider, set 100 km or 60 mile distance, your planned elevation gain and perhaps 20% battery left in Smart Control. Vado feeling sluggish? Decrease the planned distance on the spot. Too strong? Increase the distance or the amount of the battery left.

(You can thank me later)

 

[PaD]

Any particular reason why you always set the assistance and max power the same (20/20, 30/30, etc.)? Just wondering. I like to have minimal assistance but still some good power when I pedal hard.

No reason really. The original Eco setting was 35/35 on my bike.
I have to experiment more with different settings now that I think I realized how peak power affects the feel. Thanks for bringing it up.

 

[PaD]

Let me tell you something. Since I started using Smart Control in the Mission Control App, my rides have become fantastic. (There is a separate thread in the Specialized Forum on that).
...
Try it yourself: If you feel you are a fit rider, set 100 km or 60 mile distance, your planned elevation gain and perhaps 20% battery left in Smart Control. Vado feeling sluggish? Decrease the planned distance on the spot. Too strong? Increase the distance or the amount of the battery left.

(You can thank me later)

I’ll try it. Just need to check if I’m back to normal now that I can get my original settings.
For planned elevation I guess I enter all ascents and forget about the descents?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

For planned elevation I guess I enter all ascents and forget about the descents?

Precisely. To gain the elevation, you need to gain potential energy ((total mass of the bike+rider+baggage) * elevation gain * gravity) at the cost of the rider's and the battery energy. For example, a total vehicle mass 100 kg with the elevation gain of 1000 metres requires a least 100 * 1000 * 9.81 = 981000 J or 272.5 Wh. However, the motor efficiency is perhaps 80%, and the human efficiency is about 25% meaning a lot of input to ride up all the ascents. On the descents, you typically don't pedal, conserving the energy. The sum of ascents is critical in a hilly area or in mountain biking.

I lent my Vado to my brother now. I used the values of Eco 35/35, Sport 50/50, and Turbo 100/100 for him and asked him not to use the Mission Control. His first commute of 17.5 km took him 29 minutes 21 seconds at the average speed of 35.6 km/h. He rode in the Sport mode, startling drivers with his momentarily speed of 45 km/h His ride was as fast as or faster than with his own car!

P.S. His steady leg power is 150-175 W, while his peak power is 275 W. He weighs 69 kg.

 

[Mark Stubbs]

Yes, I have. It is required in many European countries as most of EU countries treat speed e-bikes as mopeds. In the UK, you are also forced to wear a motorcycle helmet (a cycling helmet elsewhere).

For that reasons speed e-bikes sold in Europe have a lit support for the number plate you cannot remove without removing the tail-light.

Actually it isn't true that we have to wear cycle helmets in the UK. However, speeds are limited to 15mph on e-bikes.

 

[Mark Stubbs]

Anyone got any information on how to de-restrict my Vado 5.0 in the UK please?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Actually it isn't true that we have to wear cycle helmets in the UK. However, speeds are limited to 15mph on e-bikes.

You have to wear a motorcycle helmet if you ride Vado 6.0, which is a 28 mph Euro S-Pedelec L1e-B class.

Anyone got any information on how to de-restrict my Vado 5.0 in the UK please?

Search Planet3 keyword in these Forums. The maker is in Croatia and I hear it is a proven solution.
Oh, OK:

PLANET3 - mechanical e-bike derestriction device. https://planet3.bike/

Has anyone seen or tried this device?

electricbikereview.com

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Need Urgent Information

I need to replace the front thru-axle in my Vado. Questions to @TS25, @Sierratim, @Brendon@TBSM or anyone competent:

• Is this axle the 12x100 mm with 1 mm thread one? Please confirm.
• Do you know what make/model is available in the market?

I need urgent answers.