Specialized Turbo Vado SL: An Incredible E-Bike (User Club)

As suspected the derailleur had not been adjusted at all on setup.

I went to my local bike shop to do the fitting as I hate doing anything mechanical these days. Sadly, they are just not very good. I vowed to stop using them earlier this year but I could not find anyone else that could schedule in the job. I try to support local businesses but I really, really will have to stop using them now.

So I reluctantly got out the spanners this morning. The kit came with an Eagle chain gap adjustment tool and when I checked it out my pulley was a full 17mm out of whack :eek:, I adjusted this and I now get much smoother gear changes straight away - I can now micro adjust through the app and hopefully get it perfect.

As for the pod controller, I am not sure if I will ever get used to it but we will see.
 
They should have also checked the derailleur hanger to make sure it's aligned. I've been riding with dI2 for the last few years and I've been impressed with the Rival Eagle AXS once it's all adjusted.
 
Or, when you look at your tubeless tyre:
  • At night, and you have an impression the tyre tread got torn off and you see the inner rubber layer through the tread;
  • In daylight, and you think you had punctures, and the sealant fixed the holes...
1730377389127.png

But you had actually ridden into some chewing gum :)

Good day to everyone!
 
mogulman said:
Here is the photo. I looked at some stock photos and I don't see this on the internet photos. It's loose in the bracket. No way to tighten it, as far as I can tell. Maybe it's a new thing that someone decided we needed for safety?
ItsView attachment 122527
Click to expand...
My wife recently purchased a Turbo Vado SL 4.0 and it also has the front reflector mounted on top of the light. It didn't make sense to have a reflector on top of a light and went to remove it.
It appears if I remove the reflector the mount will not hold the light tight. Decided to leave it. With a hex key I did snug up the light and reflector. Both were loose.
I'm new to the site and working my way through this thread before doing a Introduction post.
1730473615487.jpeg


1730473644327.jpeg
 
Allan47.7339 said:
Some US states still require reflectors on bicycles. The Specialized support site is a good reference in particular the Turbo Vado SL and All About Turbo sections.
Click to expand...
California's one of them. And after shelling out $750 for the EQ package on the SL 5.0, I still have no rear reflector. Yes, got a small tail light out of it, but the lens doesn't reflect. Bizarre.

Will check your links.
 
Lee F said:
Thanks, I saved the site.
I'm up to page 77 now on this thread :)
Click to expand...
Are you planning to install a rear rack or fenders on your SL?

P.S. Is your CatEye bike computer ANT+ capable? Does it connect to your Vado SL? (What model is it? Does it provide GPS navigation? Asking for a friend)
 
Stefan Mikes said:
Are you planning to install a rear rack or fenders on your SL?

P.S. Is your CatEye bike computer ANT+ capable? Does it connect to your Vado SL? (What model is it? Does it provide GPS navigation? Asking for a friend)
Click to expand...
No fenders because of our bike rack.
1730512695135.jpeg


I put one of our old rear racks on. I could not find the correct size seat post clamp with rack attachment so the forward mount is just a zip tie for now.
1730512894793.jpeg


This is what I had hoped to use.
1730514795885.jpeg


Plan B is to use one of the metal straps and use the existing fender mount point
for the forward mounting point of the rack. I noticed the manual mentioned this option to mount a rack.

The Cat Eye is just a basic computer. She mainly wants to see speed and distance.
When buying the bike I did not realize the Specialized unit integrated with the bike.
This is one question I had planned to ask. Is the Specialized Wireless unit worth buying if she only wants to track basic info?
At the very least it would be nice to get rid of the sensor on the front fork and the spoke magnet.

Here's Debbie last week on her first ride on the High Trestle Bridge Trail near Madrid Iowa.
She's not a strong rider so the first ride I thought we would do 26 miles on a Rails to Trails path.
The 13 miles headed back to the car we had a 20 to 25 mph headwind. She switched to Turbo for the last 13 miles and I was working hard to keep up on my hybrid which sits me up in the wind.
1730514310974.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Debbie has a very lite weight carbon fiber Trek Road bike she does not ride because she does not like the riding position.
She likes her Trek hybrid but she is not a strong rider. Last year we started to think about a E Bike for her but she wanted something that was possible to ride at times without assist and I wanted something that was easy to carry up stairs because most of the time our bicycles are kept in the basement.
The Turbo Vado SL 4.0 is only 4 or 5 pounds heavier than her Trek hybrid and for me it does not feel any harder to ride compared to her Trek.
 
This may work for the seat post clamp with rack attachment. This is the Specialized seatpost clamp that works on the Creo 2 E5 with aluminum frame: S184700001 STC MY18 DIVERGE SEAT CLAMP WITH RACK MOUNT 30.6. Measure the outer diameter of the seat tube to double check. It does not work on the Vado SL models with the internal clamp.
 
Last edited:
Allan47.7339 said:
This may work for the seat post clamp with rack attachment. This is the Specialized seatpost clamp that works on the Creo 2 E5 with aluminum frame: S184700001 STC MY18 DIVERGE SEAT CLAMP WITH RACK MOUNT 30.6. Measure the outer diameter of the seat tube to double check. It does not work on the Vado SL models with the internal clamp.
Click to expand...
I saw that last week when I was searching online. I guess this does not replace the seat post clamp but slides below the OEM clamp?
When I measured the seat post collar it was appox 31 mm. The OEM existing clamp is labeled as 30.8.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/s...yD4IwoIArK3nJyOKVCH7C0XKmC14zomxoCZHcQAvD_BwE
 
Lee F said:
The Cat Eye is just a basic computer. She mainly wants to see speed and distance.
When buying the bike I did not realize the Specialized unit integrated with the bike.
This is one question I had planned to ask. Is the Specialized Wireless unit worth buying if she only wants to track basic info?
At the very least it would be nice to get rid of the sensor on the front fork and the spoke magnet.
Click to expand...
The proper simple unit is the Specialized TCD (wireless):

1730528508463.png


www.specialized.com

Specialized Turbo Connect Display (TCD)

The Turbo Connect Display (TCD) puts all of your key ride and bike data in one convenient location on the handlebars. Some of these metrics include: Spe...
www.specialized.com www.specialized.com

You install the Turbo Connect Display in a Garmin handlebar (or stem) mount. It is a button battery operated device. You get the Speed, Distance Ridden, Odometer, Rider's Power, Cadence, Battery %, assistance mode and other parameters directly from the e-bike (no external sensors are necessary).

GPS bike computers such as Garmin Edge or Wahoo ELEMNT also connect to Specialized e-bikes, and ensure e-bike display, GPS navigation and ride recording but are a way more expensive.

(Specialized Wireless is an outdated device for non e-bikes).
 
Last edited:
Not sure- don't think so. As the Vado SL comes with the inbuilt wedge I only used it as a rack mount. If I remember at the time I ordered this one because it wasn't a seat mount rather than both. The problem was most mounts I could see were combination seat clamp and rack mount & I only needed the rack mount. This Salsa one at the time (2020) was the only one I could find.
 
Saw this video in post # 1,576 for a Specialized seat post clamp with rack attachment. It's 30.6 mm instead of the OEM 30.8 size for the Turbo Vado SL 4.0 step through.

 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Douglas Ruby
Vado SL and Vado SL 2 assist levels
2
Replies
20
Views
2K
Jeremy McCreary
Jeremy McCreary
JoeDirt
New specialized Vado 6.0 EQ e-bike
Replies
5
Views
797
Stefan Mikes
Stefan Mikes
kenem
Should I buy an end of line Vado SL 4.0?
Replies
16
Views
961
kenem
kenem
hardsell
Turbo Vado SL 4.0 EQ cafe lock
Replies
1
Views
513
Xyeet
Xyeet
Jeremy McCreary
Visualizing and exploring the power-sensing PAS in Specialized mid-drives — an interactive graphical model
Replies
15
Views
1K
Te. S
Te. S
Back