Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Friends,
Turbo Vado As A Climber
It seems a lot of posts missed me here. I need to tell you several observations I made on our 85 km / 1500 m elevation gain (53 mi / 4900 ft) ride on last Saturday.
I rode the 2017 Vado 5.0 (a 2020 Vado 6.0 equivalent). The gearing ratio there is 46/48 = 0.958. The 1.2s motor has 90 Nm @ 520 W. Therefore, the torque at wheel is 90 * 0.958 = 86 Nm.
Now, I have measured the grade at the worst uphill ride segment: It was 12% sharp. The Vado, ridden at the granny gear and under full Turbo (and my weak legs) hardly overcame that incline but it did. While a traditional roadie almost fell with his bike, and needed to walk the bike up there! (The guy told us later he had inadequate gearing and I believed him).
At the same time, my Giant Trance E+2 Pro delivers as much as 120 Nm at the rear wheel in POWER mode in granny gear! My strong brother just switched the assistance to weakened PAS 2 "BASIC" there... (That tuned mode was just 1.25x leg torque amplification that translates to 35% Assist in 2020 Vado 5.0). That's how strong my brother was and how the Trance gearing (1.42x in granny gear) helped, too.
The choice between Vado 4 and 5 is how Sierratim said: Both are equal climbers. Expect 12% grade incline to be maximum achievable on Vado unless you are a strong person.
Another observation: On fast uphill ride in Turbo mode with average grade of 6%, I was easily overtaking a young competing roadie with my Vado
He was just faster downhill.
The High Speed Riding on Vado
We are talking U.S. Class 3 or Euro L1e-B Vado. I and brother were riding our e-bikes on a slight downhill slope (almost flat) trying to get max from the bikes. I confirm the Vado 5.0 motor cuts off precisely at 45 km/h (28 mph), and taking into account the subtle descent, I could pedal at 46-47 km/h with slight "wall effect" when the motor stops assisting you. Unlike Bosch high-speed motors that cut off much earlier (see a separate thread in the Bosch forum).
The Vado Brakes
I'm lucky to own the Vado with 180/180 mm TRP Zurich hydraulic brakes. We were riding through very steep and very long descent over hairpin bends. I didn't want to ride faster than 45 km/h there and had to reduce speed at turns. The brakes were performing fantastically. Quiet, effective, capable to be modulated. I hope the 4-piston 180/160 Shimano brakes on the current Vados are equally good.
We also descended on a very steep but almost straight long road. There, I allowed the speed to be well over 50 km/h (30 mph) and noticed slight instability issues, probably related to the fact my Vado is equipped with a rigid fork. Or, it were the 2" Electrak slick tyres. Not sure.
General Impressions
My Vado 5.0 proved to be a very capable mountain road e-bike, only next to a FS e-MTB.
Vado and Como on gravel roads
That subject was discussed in another thread but I will add my 2 Grosze here The major issue when riding gravel roads is the "washboard". That can only be controlled by pretty fat, low-pressure tyres. The type of the fork is irrelevant as even a FS e-MTB makes you suffer on "washboard" if the tyres are inflated too much. Como has 2.3" tyres and that's a lot. Riding it close to the minimum allowed inflation pressure will dampen the rapid vibration. I can only tell you the Vado is capable of using 2" slick tyres (knobby tyres wouldn't fit the DryTech fenders), and these tyres inflated to 3.9 bar (57 psi) dampen the vibrations perfectly. With 2.3" tyres, Como will be even better on gravel roads. Period.
The Color
I will differ from Sierratim. The fasterestest Vado color is Satin Gray, and the climberestest color is Blue-Magenta Cameleon !
Our proven mountain road bikes Vado & Trance E+
Turbo Vado As A Climber
It seems a lot of posts missed me here. I need to tell you several observations I made on our 85 km / 1500 m elevation gain (53 mi / 4900 ft) ride on last Saturday.
I rode the 2017 Vado 5.0 (a 2020 Vado 6.0 equivalent). The gearing ratio there is 46/48 = 0.958. The 1.2s motor has 90 Nm @ 520 W. Therefore, the torque at wheel is 90 * 0.958 = 86 Nm.
Now, I have measured the grade at the worst uphill ride segment: It was 12% sharp. The Vado, ridden at the granny gear and under full Turbo (and my weak legs) hardly overcame that incline but it did. While a traditional roadie almost fell with his bike, and needed to walk the bike up there! (The guy told us later he had inadequate gearing and I believed him).
At the same time, my Giant Trance E+2 Pro delivers as much as 120 Nm at the rear wheel in POWER mode in granny gear! My strong brother just switched the assistance to weakened PAS 2 "BASIC" there... (That tuned mode was just 1.25x leg torque amplification that translates to 35% Assist in 2020 Vado 5.0). That's how strong my brother was and how the Trance gearing (1.42x in granny gear) helped, too.
The choice between Vado 4 and 5 is how Sierratim said: Both are equal climbers. Expect 12% grade incline to be maximum achievable on Vado unless you are a strong person.
Another observation: On fast uphill ride in Turbo mode with average grade of 6%, I was easily overtaking a young competing roadie with my Vado
He was just faster downhill.The High Speed Riding on Vado
We are talking U.S. Class 3 or Euro L1e-B Vado. I and brother were riding our e-bikes on a slight downhill slope (almost flat) trying to get max from the bikes. I confirm the Vado 5.0 motor cuts off precisely at 45 km/h (28 mph), and taking into account the subtle descent, I could pedal at 46-47 km/h with slight "wall effect" when the motor stops assisting you. Unlike Bosch high-speed motors that cut off much earlier (see a separate thread in the Bosch forum).
The Vado Brakes
I'm lucky to own the Vado with 180/180 mm TRP Zurich hydraulic brakes. We were riding through very steep and very long descent over hairpin bends. I didn't want to ride faster than 45 km/h there and had to reduce speed at turns. The brakes were performing fantastically. Quiet, effective, capable to be modulated. I hope the 4-piston 180/160 Shimano brakes on the current Vados are equally good.
We also descended on a very steep but almost straight long road. There, I allowed the speed to be well over 50 km/h (30 mph) and noticed slight instability issues, probably related to the fact my Vado is equipped with a rigid fork. Or, it were the 2" Electrak slick tyres. Not sure.
General Impressions
My Vado 5.0 proved to be a very capable mountain road e-bike, only next to a FS e-MTB.
Vado and Como on gravel roads
That subject was discussed in another thread but I will add my 2 Grosze here
The major issue when riding gravel roads is the "washboard". That can only be controlled by pretty fat, low-pressure tyres. The type of the fork is irrelevant as even a FS e-MTB makes you suffer on "washboard" if the tyres are inflated too much. Como has 2.3" tyres and that's a lot. Riding it close to the minimum allowed inflation pressure will dampen the rapid vibration. I can only tell you the Vado is capable of using 2" slick tyres (knobby tyres wouldn't fit the DryTech fenders), and these tyres inflated to 3.9 bar (57 psi) dampen the vibrations perfectly. With 2.3" tyres, Como will be even better on gravel roads. Period.The Color
I will differ from Sierratim. The fasterestest Vado color is Satin Gray, and the climberestest color is Blue-Magenta Cameleon !
Our proven mountain road bikes
Vado & Trance E+
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