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

[Sierratim]

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

You need access to the Specialized hardware and software that is used for programming. This is only available through dealers. I've read posts that report good results with a hardware replacement for the speed sensor magnet. Try the Search function for this.

 

[Sierratim]

where are bar end grips from?

Mine are available with various models of my Ergon after market grips.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You need access to the Specialized hardware and software that is used for programming. This is only available through dealers. I've read posts that report good results with a hardware replacement for the speed sensor magnet. Try the Search function for this.

Mark has just ordered the Planet3. I've heard that works nicely.

 

[jwehman]

So I just picked up my Vado 4.0 LTD from the LBS yesterday. The yellow one with the "suspension" seatpost and 50's on the rims. Here are a couple of thoughts in no particular order:

I ordered on June 5th from Specialized and the bike was ready in Boulder, CO at the LBS on the 15th. Not bad, considering.

I will need to get at least the 44 or the 48-tooth front ring. I spend a majority of time on the 11 or 12 rear cog and find myself spinning at or above 28mph (I ride a lot acoustically, and I live in an area with a lot of hills).

The ride is comfortable. There are a *lot* of the chip&seal cracks around my neighborhood streets and on my carbon gravel bike those can be brutal. I really almost didn't even notice them on this bike. I haven't adjusted anything on the bike yet except for seat height and different pedals.

I tried the Mission Control "Smart Control" on my commute route and thought I put in the correct parameters. It seemed to do okay except for the big hill I start out on. It's about 1/2 mile long and about 11% grade. The Smart Control kept my power fairly limited so I was having to continuously switch to "Turbo" mode. Then it would switch back to "Smart" after about 10-20 seconds. So I kept that up until the top. There may be a way around that but it didn't jump out at me.

The bike seems very stable. I had it up to 38mph or so on some downhill sections without a wobble or feeling out of control at any time. The brakes seemed responsive enough, if not super tight. I got used to them pretty quick.

So far (24 hours and two rides) I'm enjoying the bike and it seems to be delivering on what I expected from it. A straight-forward commuter with the ability to get to work and back without breaking a sweat...and in my community, that's a big deal.

The color is more muted than I expected. It's more of a "flat mustard" then anything else. Which is fine. It is more "visible" than either grey or black, so that's okay.

 

[Sierratim]

So I just picked up my Vado 4.0 LTD from the LBS yesterday. The yellow one with the "suspension" seatpost and 50's on the rims. Here are a couple of thoughts in no particular order:

I ordered on June 5th from Specialized and the bike was ready in Boulder, CO at the LBS on the 15th. Not bad, considering.

I will need to get at least the 44 or the 48-tooth front ring. I spend a majority of time on the 11 or 12 rear cog and find myself spinning at or above 28mph (I ride a lot acoustically, and I live in an area with a lot of hills).

The ride is comfortable. There are a *lot* of the chip&seal cracks around my neighborhood streets and on my carbon gravel bike those can be brutal. I really almost didn't even notice them on this bike. I haven't adjusted anything on the bike yet except for seat height and different pedals.

I tried the Mission Control "Smart Control" on my commute route and thought I put in the correct parameters. It seemed to do okay except for the big hill I start out on. It's about 1/2 mile long and about 11% grade. The Smart Control kept my power fairly limited so I was having to continuously switch to "Turbo" mode. Then it would switch back to "Smart" after about 10-20 seconds. So I kept that up until the top. There may be a way around that but it didn't jump out at me.

The bike seems very stable. I had it up to 38mph or so on some downhill sections without a wobble or feeling out of control at any time. The brakes seemed responsive enough, if not super tight. I got used to them pretty quick.

So far (24 hours and two rides) I'm enjoying the bike and it seems to be delivering on what I expected from it. A straight-forward commuter with the ability to get to work and back without breaking a sweat...and in my community, that's a big deal.

The color is more muted than I expected. It's more of a "flat mustard" then anything else. Which is fine. It is more "visible" than either grey or black, so that's okay.

I do like the color...

 

[Art Deco]

I do like the color...

More visible than the color formerly known as Common Crimson ...

 

[Art Deco]

So I just picked up my Vado 4.0 LTD from the LBS yesterday. The yellow one with the "suspension" seatpost and 50's on the rims. Here are a couple of thoughts in no particular order:

I ordered on June 5th from Specialized and the bike was ready in Boulder, CO at the LBS on the 15th. Not bad, considering.

I will need to get at least the 44 or the 48-tooth front ring. I spend a majority of time on the 11 or 12 rear cog and find myself spinning at or above 28mph (I ride a lot acoustically, and I live in an area with a lot of hills).

The ride is comfortable. There are a *lot* of the chip&seal cracks around my neighborhood streets and on my carbon gravel bike those can be brutal. I really almost didn't even notice them on this bike. I haven't adjusted anything on the bike yet except for seat height and different pedals.

I tried the Mission Control "Smart Control" on my commute route and thought I put in the correct parameters. It seemed to do okay except for the big hill I start out on. It's about 1/2 mile long and about 11% grade. The Smart Control kept my power fairly limited so I was having to continuously switch to "Turbo" mode. Then it would switch back to "Smart" after about 10-20 seconds. So I kept that up until the top. There may be a way around that but it didn't jump out at me.

The bike seems very stable. I had it up to 38mph or so on some downhill sections without a wobble or feeling out of control at any time. The brakes seemed responsive enough, if not super tight. I got used to them pretty quick.

So far (24 hours and two rides) I'm enjoying the bike and it seems to be delivering on what I expected from it. A straight-forward commuter with the ability to get to work and back without breaking a sweat...and in my community, that's a big deal.

The color is more muted than I expected. It's more of a "flat mustard" then anything else. Which is fine. It is more "visible" than either grey or black, so that's okay.

Ride it a few more days and decide on the front chainring...I have a 48t on my Como that I want to switch to a 40t or 44t for hills. A swap maybe? Going 38 mph on a bike! I grab for brakes at 20 to 25 mph...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The color is more muted than I expected. It's more of a "flat mustard" then anything else.

It's "mango"
Congratulations!

 

[Sierratim]

It's "mango"
Congratulations!

...and Crimson Red has been upgraded to Rocket Red, YES!...

 

[RandallS]

So I just picked up my Vado 4.0 LTD from the LBS yesterday. The yellow one with the "suspension" seatpost and 50's on the rims. Here are a couple of thoughts in no particular order:

I ordered on June 5th from Specialized and the bike was ready in Boulder, CO at the LBS on the 15th. Not bad, considering.

I will need to get at least the 44 or the 48-tooth front ring. I spend a majority of time on the 11 or 12 rear cog and find myself spinning at or above 28mph (I ride a lot acoustically, and I live in an area with a lot of hills).

The ride is comfortable. There are a *lot* of the chip&seal cracks around my neighborhood streets and on my carbon gravel bike those can be brutal. I really almost didn't even notice them on this bike. I haven't adjusted anything on the bike yet except for seat height and different pedals.

I tried the Mission Control "Smart Control" on my commute route and thought I put in the correct parameters. It seemed to do okay except for the big hill I start out on. It's about 1/2 mile long and about 11% grade. The Smart Control kept my power fairly limited so I was having to continuously switch to "Turbo" mode. Then it would switch back to "Smart" after about 10-20 seconds. So I kept that up until the top. There may be a way around that but it didn't jump out at me.

The bike seems very stable. I had it up to 38mph or so on some downhill sections without a wobble or feeling out of control at any time. The brakes seemed responsive enough, if not super tight. I got used to them pretty quick.

So far (24 hours and two rides) I'm enjoying the bike and it seems to be delivering on what I expected from it. A straight-forward commuter with the ability to get to work and back without breaking a sweat...and in my community, that's a big deal.

The color is more muted than I expected. It's more of a "flat mustard" then anything else. Which is fine. It is more "visible" than either grey or black, so that's okay.

If you don't mind me asking, what had you select the LTD over the base 4? I love the colour but it's quite a bit more money. It appears to have a different seat post and different tires, plus the colour of course.

 

[Brendon@OEB]

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.

15x100 on the front, 12x148 out back. Thread pitch is particular to the fork so it's more of a Suntour issue than Specialized. That said, DT Swiss has the lever so you can remove the axle more easily (granted a multitool does the same job which you should carry on your bike anyways). I believe the axle is a DT Swiss unit and it is important to get the correct thru axle because there's a concave portion that goes into the fork. What's the specific issue?

Edit, just realized you have a different fork. I can check the Specialzied dealer site to see about the euro fork.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I can check the Specialzied dealer site to see about the euro fork.

It's the 2017 Vado 5.0

 

[rochrunner]

@Stefan Mikes I know your objections about the PNY Coast suspension dropper post that you had, but I was wondering about the cable connection on that setup. I'm sure you went with the external cable option, so what did you do about routing it up to the bars? I'm considering trying one so I can get dual functionality out of it, and I don't need that much shock action, but am probably trying to think of a solution for the cable that doesn't exist . Obviously I could just tie-wrap it underneath the top tube, but it seems an ugly "hacked" solution. I recall in some previous thread that someone had a photo of their bike with the dropper cable installed, but I couldn't come up with any search terms to locate it.

So how did you do it? Any others can chip in as well.

 

[jwehman]

If you don't mind me asking, what had you select the LTD over the base 4? I love the colour but it's quite a bit more money. It appears to have a different seat post and different tires, plus the colour of course.

No problem asking at all. The difference was *only* $250US, and it was available, as opposed to the XL Vado 4.0 (back-ordered). In addition, I had ridden the Vado 4.0 and felt some of the bumps and cracks on roads around the lbs, and knowing my neighborhood was replete with large cracks, the suspension seat-post was a factor. I do ride on gravel on my daily commute (or will, when my job starts up at the office) so the 50's were of some added benefit. Lastly, the color was a factor as well, given that it does sort of stand out, visibility-wise. It sort of looks like Bumblebee from the Transformers

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@Stefan Mikes I know your objections about the PNY Coast suspension dropper post that you had, but I was wondering about the cable connection on that setup. I'm sure you went with the external cable option, so what did you do about routing it up to the bars? I'm considering trying one so I can get dual functionality out of it, and I don't need that much shock action, but am probably trying to think of a solution for the cable that doesn't exist . Obviously I could just tie-wrap it underneath the top tube, but it seems an ugly "hacked" solution. I recall in some previous thread that someone had a photo of their bike with the dropper cable installed, but I couldn't come up with any search terms to locate it.

So how did you do it? Any others can chip in as well.

Roch, the PNW Coast Suspension Dropper Seat Post ended up in my brother Piotrek's traditional MTB. My brother is happy with it because he just needed a dropper seat-post. The suspension option is not working very well there. My brothers have found the seat tube angle was critical. While Vado's seat tube angle was 17 degrees and the suspension worked (better or worse), the 19 degree angle in Scott bike and the fact my brother likes to have his saddle offset backwards makes the suspension unusable. I cannot recommend the PNW anymore.

Regarding the cable routing, my brothers are telling me there are special cable guides that you can attach to the top tube of the frame and route the cable beneath the tube. An example:

Accent - Gripper III Cable guides

Accent Gripper III allows you to fix brake or derailleur cable to frame or fork using self adhesive tape.

26bikes.com

I would recommend the 30.9 mm diameter, "short" Kinekt 2.1 seat-post to anyone riding the Vado instead.

No problem asking at all. The difference was *only* $250US, and it was available, as opposed to the XL Vado 4.0 (back-ordered). In addition, I had ridden the Vado 4.0 and felt some of the bumps and cracks on roads around the lbs, and knowing my neighborhood was replete with large cracks, the suspension seat-post was a factor. I do ride on gravel on my daily commute (or will, when my job starts up at the office) so the 50's were of some added benefit. Lastly, the color was a factor as well, given that it does sort of stand out, visibility-wise. It sort of looks like Bumblebee from the Transformers

The 2"/50 mm tyres are indeed very good. The large volume of air acts as a quick-vibration damper, especially when the tyres are inflated at about 3 bar (or 45 psi).

 

[Sierratim]

No problem asking at all. The difference was *only* $250US, and it was available, as opposed to the XL Vado 4.0 (back-ordered). In addition, I had ridden the Vado 4.0 and felt some of the bumps and cracks on roads around the lbs, and knowing my neighborhood was replete with large cracks, the suspension seat-post was a factor. I do ride on gravel on my daily commute (or will, when my job starts up at the office) so the 50's were of some added benefit. Lastly, the color was a factor as well, given that it does sort of stand out, visibility-wise. It sort of looks like Bumblebee from the Transformers

Gotta love that color!

 

[JonnyC]

Hi all - thought I'd introduce myself. Just picked up a 2020 Vado 4.0 last week and so far....wow! I've got a 7 mile commute (each way) with a couple of gnarly hills in between work & home. As I've gotten a little older my stamina and body aren't what they used to be, and I hadn't been getting on my bikes as much as I would have liked. In one week with the Vado I've rediscovered the joy of riding and have even hopped on my road bike a couple of times. So glad I pulled the trigger and am hoping this new love affair continues well into the future.

 

[rochrunner]

Hi all - thought I'd introduce myself. Just picked up a 2020 Vado 4.0 last week and so far....wow! I've got a 7 mile commute (each way) with a couple of gnarly hills in between work & home. As I've gotten a little older my stamina and body aren't what they used to be, and I hadn't been getting on my bikes as much as I would have liked. In one week with the Vado I've rediscovered the joy of riding and have even hopped on my road bike a couple of times. So glad I pulled the trigger and am hoping this new love affair continues well into the future.

Welcome to the "club", Jonny! My Vado 4.0 is also new. I'm retired and strictly a pleasure rider and there aren't many hills around here, but I'll be interested in hearing your experiences. Enjoy!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The story of the front axle (2017 Vado 5.0) continued...

The Robert Axle Project 12x100mm - M12x1,0 117/123mm axle might not fit my Vado. Not sure what "117/123 mm" means but the original axle is 120 mm long:

My brother has managed to fix the axle. You can see a bigger bolt locked in the original axle with Loctite Red.

It works!

 

[RandallS]

No problem asking at all. The difference was *only* $250US, (snip)...

Just checked current currency conversions. $250 USD is basically $340 CDN, yet the price uplift to the LTD is $700 CDN. I am not naive about things like tariffs etc, but I think I recognize gouging when I see it.