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

[Phyz]

There are entire threads decided just to tires! With the thorn strips, I find the OEM Trigger an easy-riding tire good for pavement and packed gravel. Not so much for loose gravel. I'll be upgrading to Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires for a C19 delayed but still upcoming tour we've planned. I'll keep the thorn strips.

Flats are a fact of life. There are also threads dedicated to this. It's good to be prepared with the right kit and practiced skills. I predict with near 100% certainty that you will have a rear-wheel flat so be ready! I work with local youth groups interested in cycling. They all need to be able to fix their own rear-wheel flat before we do our 2nd ride together, 'cause their mama isn't on the ride with them!

My flat kit includes steel core tire levers, spare tube (powdered with talc in a zip lock), patch kit (1" patches, sandpaper, glue), CO2 inflator & 3-16g cartridges (~$1ea in quantity, it takes 1-1/2 cartridges to fill up a Vado tire), mini pump, and a 'tire boot' (a temp fix for a tire slash, $1 bills work fine folded over). My general practice is to repair a flat by putting in the spare tube and inflating with CO2 so I'm back on the trail as soon as possible. I'll fix the flatted tube at home. But, life happens. My record is 3 flats in one day hence the patch kit and hand pump. BTW - my wife carries the same kit when we ride together. She even fixes her own flats, most of the time. Park Tool has excellent free videos on this and just about any other bike maintenance topic.

I don't consider it a part of my flat kit, but I also carry a bike-specific mutli-tool on every ride. This is important for flat repairs on the Vado and Como as their though axles require a hex wrench to remove. No tool, no flat repair! I've carried a Topeak Alien II bike tool for years, but there are lots of choices.

I don't put Slime in my tubes, though others report good results with this. My main reason is the possible mess. I had a blow out a week or two ago that would have gotten goo all over everything. I followed by normal practice and rode on none the worse, not counting the 17 minutes it took to pull the rear wheel and reinstall with the spare tube. This tube was trashed with a 16" long split along a seam. Got a new tube from 'stock' and put it in the kit for the next ride as soon as I got home.

I did get a bike multitool when jumping back into bicycling with the Vado. I’ll need to doublecheck that one of its hex wrench openings fits the thru-axle.

I wasn’t keen to slime the tubes I have in there now, but was considering the preslimed inner tubes.

I looked at the Marathons (out of curiosity); they looked pretty slick. Did I miss seeing a knobbier version?

I suppose a first step is to grab some spare inner tubes at the LBS.

I assumed there were threads aplenty on this topic. My experience with Internet forums is that the true wisdom is scattered, diffused, and contradicted in the 200+ responses. Too often, you end up dumber for having read the entire thread. So I wanted to ask in the relatively shallow waters of this corner of the forum, among riders I’m more likely to trust.

 

[Sierratim]

I did get a bike multitool when jumping back into bicycling with the Vado. I’ll need to doublecheck that one of its hex wrench openings fits the thru-axle.

I wasn’t keen to slime the tubes I have in there now, but was considering the preslimed inner tubes.

I looked at the Marathons (out of curiosity); they looked pretty slick. Did I miss seeing a knobbier version?

I suppose a first step is to grab some spare inner tubes at the LBS.

I assumed there were threads aplenty on this topic. My experience with Internet forums is that the true wisdom is scattered, diffused, and contradicted in the 200+ responses. Too often, you end up dumber for having read the entire thread. So I wanted to ask in the relatively shallow waters of this corner of the forum, among riders I’m more likely to trust.

Knobbier tires are an issue for the Vado with its tight-fitting metal fenders. A really good gravel tire, even though the same size rating, runs a real risk of rubbing the fender. Your LBS might be able to recommend one that will fit.

Spare tubes are a great idea. Slime or not is your personal preference.

Happy to get on my 'soapbox' re flats and being ready to deal with them. The young people I've worked with have all heard it several times...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Knobbier tires are an issue for the Vado with its tight-fitting metal fenders.

That is why the Electrak 2.0 tyres (51-622) are totally slick, so they fit the Vado fenders. These, however. are made with the "Gripton compound" that makes them soft and grippy even in the wintertime. Good Schwalbe tyres are made with the Addix compound that plays a similar role.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Tim, are your wheel rims in the Vado tubeless ready? It is a question, not a suggestion. I'm not sure about mine.

 

[Sierratim]

Tim, are your wheel rims in the Vado tubeless ready? It is a question, not a suggestion. I'm not sure about mine.

Not sure. I'll need to look up their specs. Are you thinking of converting to tubeless?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It's tempting.

 

[Phyz]

Knobbier tires are an issue for the Vado with its tight-fitting metal fenders. A really good gravel tire, even though the same size rating, runs a real risk of rubbing the fender. Your LBS might be able to recommend one that will fit.

Spare tubes are a great idea. Slime or not is your personal preference.

Happy to get on my 'soapbox' re flats and being ready to deal with them. The young people I've worked with have all heard it several times...

Preach away, mon ami; I’m sure I need to hear it. Maybe I should get some thorn strips, forcing me to fiddle with the tires and tubes more than I have needed to so far.

At some point, I’d like to ride the Grey Dove through the dusty byways of Bodie, which is a great place to have a bike. But I don’t want to have flat tire anxiety in a ghost town!

Re trunk bag + panniers, I’m getting the sense that I’ll use that Racktime trunk bag when traveling light and two mismatched panniers (and no trunk bag) when I’m traveling heavy. I’d like one that can function as pack as well. TwoWheel Gear has an interesting model.

 

[Phyz]

Discovery Park, 90+°F (30+°C). It’s only hot when you stop. But I’m grateful for the shade.

 

[Sierratim]

Discovery Park, 90+°F (30+°C). It’s only hot when you stop. But I’m grateful for the shade.
View attachment 57349

We'll be riding our mechs in that area tomorrow. Should be a bit cooler...I hope!

 

[Phyz]

We'll be riding our mechs in that area tomorrow. Should be a bit cooler...I hope!

In our low-humidity environment, sweat does its job well. I say that as someone who grew up in high-humidity Michigan.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I experienced the same as you Phyz on our Sunday metric century ride.

 

[Brendon@OEB]

Here's my brother Jacek's latest performance on my Vado. 100.9 km and still 1/3 of the 604 Wh battery left! The maximum range would be 150 km (93 mi), while the practical range is 144 km (90 miles). Jacek had the motor set to 20/20 assistance for all the modes to not to be tempted for more pedal-assistance We rode both (I rode my Lovelec) and we had average speed of 25.12 km/h (15.6 mph). Note: Jacek could maintain over 35 km/h (21.7 mph) for 7 km (4.3 mi) at that assistance level. We actually caught up with a road-cyclist over that distance

View attachment 57174

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to save an assistance level below 20% in Mission Control? Jacek could not do it with his iPhone.

My brother has returned the Vado to me after a month's use. He delivered the bike in the condition better than at the beginning of the lease. He has even made a new mudflap for the front fender, and it looks like the original!

I'm with Tim, on my Android I can adjust as much or little I want. Granted it's on TURBO the whole time...love that speed, 46-47kph, oh yeah!

 

[Brendon@OEB]

Vado veterans: my rides have been pretty tame so far. But I do have a bit of anxiety regarding flats. What should I have in my trunk bag for quick fixes? I hope I don’t need to remove the rear wheel, especially on the trail.

Still on my OEM Triggers. I think @Sierratim mentioned thorn strips? I see there are slime inner tubes... Some people have gone to different tires?

Please advise.

(BTW, I did get an A2 air inflator from Cycplus and just got a Topeak D2 smart gauge.)

Again, I'll echo Tim (nice job Tim!) Flats are a fact of life and why you'll love mid drive bikes, flats are just as easy to deal with as an analog bike. Slime tubes have never been worth the money and an absolute nightmare from mess as well as fuss letting air out of the tube. Plus they're heavy and can give a poor ride.

Tire liners/tube protectors are OKAY, but make for more fuss on the side of the road. I'm running a leftover Continental tire we had laying around the shop since I'm on the road 100% of the time, even if I did gravel it'll do fine. Schwalbe Marathon is a known quantity, size is your friend. Larger tires are more resilient to flats and the increased rolling resistance doesn't matter as much on an e bike.

I just ordered in the tire equipped on older Vado's, the Electrak but haven't installed yet as I've only got 820km's on the bike thus far.

 

[Sierratim]

We'll be riding our mechs in that area tomorrow. Should be a bit cooler...I hope!

It wasn't cooler, hit 100°F on our ride on Sacramento's River parkway Trail. We normally carry 2 water bottles each and refill at public fountains. With the virus we avoided this but were completley out when we got back to the car. More water bottles next ride...

 

[Sierratim]

Tim, are your wheel rims in the Vado tubeless ready? It is a question, not a suggestion. I'm not sure about mine.

Stefan, I haven't been able to identify the make and model of my Vado rims. They have a repeating graphic on them, but no make or model I can find.

This reflective graphic is repeated 3 times on each side of the rim, but no make or model.

I don't believe the rims are tubeless rated as Specialized doesn't advertise this. My sons tell me that these rims can be converted to tubeless. They'd recommend changing the tires to tubeless rated models, not that I plan on doing this...

 

[Art Deco]

It wasn't cooler, hit 100°F on our ride on Sacramento's River parkway Trail. We normally carry 2 water bottles each and refill at public fountains. With the virus we avoided this but were completley out when we got back to the car. More water bottles next ride...

Also rocket red is always the hotterest color, right?

 

[Phyz]

It wasn't cooler, hit 100°F on our ride on Sacramento's River parkway Trail. We normally carry 2 water bottles each and refill at public fountains. With the virus we avoided this but were completley out when we got back to the car. More water bottles next ride...

Was it the Jedediah Smith Trail you were on? There’s some nice shade in the American River Parkway.

The Ψ symbol on the rim is pretty funny. Probably more appropriate for tires or tubes. Psi, indeed! Actually, it looks like a psi and a bar. These guys, I’m telling ya...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

This reflective graphic is repeated 3 times on each side of the rim, but no make or model.

Ye Goode Olde Specialized...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The Ψ symbol on the rim is pretty funny. Probably more appropriate for tires or tubes. Psi, indeed! Actually, it looks like a psi and a bar. These guys, I’m telling ya...

Actually, it is the "Turbo" logo, that is, the on/off switch symbol.

 

[Phyz]

Actually, it is the "Turbo" logo, that is, the on/off switch symbol.

I was giving them more credit than they deserved. Oh well.