Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
You need 50/50% to match the Tero X
Specialized Turbo Vado SL: An Incredible E-Bike (User Club)
- Thread starter Stefan Mikes
- Start date
Ebikelife72
Active Member
- Region
- USA
Probably but I don’t want to match the Tero, just the SirrusYou need 50/50% to match the Tero X
I have been using a Lanolin based lubricant on the chain and other rust susceptible areas, works well
I have peddled hard against headwinds in 35 deg c and in pouring rain, in a hurry to get home, problem is, the motor cuts out at a speed that I can comfortably maintain with just my legs, going up steep hills requires several gear changes to maintain comfortable forward progress, motor assist not required.
I used granny gear the other day going up a steep grass covered hill, made it to the top with minimum wheel slip, and no motor assist.
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I thought, at the time of purchase, that motor assist would potentially be useful, if not immediately, then most likely in the future.
I have found that on flat, or flattish undulating terrain, I can usually easily maintain forward progress at speeds above 25 KPH, the motor cut off, so presently, pointless using the motor.
My preferred terrain, narrow, winding single track Forest trails, mud, sand and gravel paths, don't often see speeds above 25 KPH.
Stefan, as usual you are correct, yes summer here can be very hot, summer here can also be quite cold, sometimes summer is hot and wet, and cold and wet.I thought you had a hot summer in Australia?
How did you solve the tail light dilemma after removing the rear mudguard?
Sometimes a single summer day here may experience a combination of dry, wet, cold and hot
. Did I forget to mention wind?Tail light.
I cut the loom for the rear light with sufficient length to attach the tail light to my Topeak saddle bag. the Topeak bag has a receptacle for a tail light. I need to visit the local hardware store to purchase some suitable aluminium profile and fabricate a bracket to attach the tail light to the saddle bag.
The tail light wires are gaffer taped to the underside of the seat, waiting to be re-connected.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Is it Tasmania?Sometimes a single summer day here may experience a combination of dry, wet, cold and hot
I did consider the Sirrus 6 and the Diverge STR, but Specialized reduced the price of the SL and the rest as they say is history!
For me, riding the SL is something that I look forward to, it's an enjoyable experience.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
@RRCV:
Sorry for asking, My Dad lived in Tasmania, then Adelaide between 1950 and 1957. He was first working as a carpenter on a dam construction in Tasmania, so it must have been raining there He never mentioned summer raining for his Adelaide years. When he was working on our homestead in Poland in 1970s, he installed something very Australian: it was a water tank on a scaffolding that was heated by the radiation of the Sun, so we had hot water for washing in the Summer
Also, we had David Berry of Brisbane for several years in the EBR Forums with his daily reports.
All that made me believe Australia was hot and dry in the Summer Now, I'm learning something new from you!
Sorry for asking, My Dad lived in Tasmania, then Adelaide between 1950 and 1957. He was first working as a carpenter on a dam construction in Tasmania, so it must have been raining there
He never mentioned summer raining for his Adelaide years. When he was working on our homestead in Poland in 1970s, he installed something very Australian: it was a water tank on a scaffolding that was heated by the radiation of the Sun, so we had hot water for washing in the Summer Also, we had David Berry of Brisbane for several years in the EBR Forums with his daily reports.
All that made me believe Australia was hot and dry in the Summer
Now, I'm learning something new from you! Ebikelife72
Active Member
- Region
- USA
Some more observations… I rode the bike today and determined my 30/30 Eco setting is pretty useless. It still feels like it introduces drag as opposed to support. The stock setting of 35/35 is better but still doesn’t quite give me the same performance of my much lighter Sirrus. I rode up a pretty good hill that I’ve ridden many times on my Sirrus and used the stock Sport mode and that seemed to give me the closest in performance to the Sirrus. I’m in good biking shape which makes sense that I have to put the relatively low powered motor in Sport to equal my own power on a light weight non e-bike. I’m not sure what this ultimately means. Maybe I don’t need a low powered e-bike, or maybe I need the SL2. I owned the Vado 3 IGH with the 50nm motor and it seemed fine, though it has a different motor than the SL2.
I don’t really want to ride the SL in Sport mode all the time and bump to Turbo for the hills as it would deplete the battery to fast. Right now the SL is only easier to ride than the Sirrus when on Turbo mode and pretty much the same on Sport. I really like the bike but in my current condition and for the foreseeable future provided my health stays the same, I might not need it. I have 28 days left to decide.
I don’t really want to ride the SL in Sport mode all the time and bump to Turbo for the hills as it would deplete the battery to fast. Right now the SL is only easier to ride than the Sirrus when on Turbo mode and pretty much the same on Sport. I really like the bike but in my current condition and for the foreseeable future provided my health stays the same, I might not need it. I have 28 days left to decide.
Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Are you sure the bike's still returnable for a full refund?
When I ordered my SL, I was told by the employee who helped me — the service manager, no less — that I could try it for 30 days risk-free. Confirmed several times before ordering, as I wasn't at all sure at the time that the SL was powerful enough for my legs on local hills.
Then I dealt with the store manager at pickup time. He was reluctant to let me ride it even 5 mi to the top of the nearest suitable test hill. With any more of a test, said he could no longer sell the SL as new and therefore couldn't offer a full refund, only a credit.
The SL passed the test well enough that I took the chance, and soooo glad I did!
Not sure who was lying in this transaction, but I haven't gone back that LBS since. Luckily, have another authorized Specialized dealer I trust nearby.
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GAJ
Active Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Santa Rosa, CA
I'd return it because when you need a lightweight e'bike they will be lighter and have more range.
Ebikelife72
Active Member
- Region
- USA
Yes, I ordered directly from Specialized and they have the 30 day return policy on their site, I've actually had to use it once before. It was shipped to my local dealer who does not have a return policy. They actually suggested that I order it from Specialized for the return policy.
Rás Cnoic
Hillrider
- Region
- United Kingdom
- City
- Dartmoor
So my observation in comparing my Vado SL and my analog bike is that the Vado SL can be sluggish unassisted in comparison to my analogue bike. I mean in one sense it's obvious - weight & gravity. My SL on the road is probably around 38lbs, my analogue is 27lbs. I find if the road is smooth, level or downhill and without a headwind the SL rides easily and the weight isn't noticeable. But once the road creeps up, straight away it's sluggish and not much fun to ride. In comparison my ordinary bike is easy to go up short hills and still feels 'fun'. Of course if the gradient gets steep that fun disappears & there is no magic button to kick in a motor.
A second factor is that the SL frame is alloy & with a huge tube encasing the battery. This makes for a very stiff and pretty 'dead' ride. Again in comparison my ordinary bike and its steel tubing has a spring to it that is very noticeable. And although at 27lbs it's a fairly heavy analogue bike compared to the compliant carbon fibre 17lbs road bikes of today. They must just fly up the hills.
The third area is of course tyre pressure and rolling resistance. There are whole libraries dedicated to this with current opinions being wider and with lower pressure than even ten years ago. But play around with this and it might surprise you the difference a change in PSI makes.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Set the ECO to 35/100% to see the difference. The second number rewards for good pedalling at the cadence around 80 rpm.
Ebikelife72
Active Member
- Region
- USA
I definitely need to try this as I don't completely understand these settings no matter how much I've read about it. How do you think the battery consumption would be at the 35/100 settings?
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
The same as at the 55/55% but the e-bike will react dynamically to your pedalling effort. If you decide it is too much, change the second number to 80%, and then you can play freely with it.
Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Interesting. No one ever mentioned that online advantage to me — even though I'd voiced my serious concern about adequate power repeatedly. They could see my 70-something age and bird legs and knew the topography. If they thought I was silly to worry, they didn't say so.
Granted, I'd already let my strong preference for yellow be known, and there were no size 56 yellow 5.0 EQs available online at the time. (They dug up mine in a Texas warehouse.)
But there were some brushed aluminum SLs online then as I recall. If those differed significantly in returnabilty, they should've told me so.
Ebikelife72
Active Member
- Region
- USA
On line vs in store returnability is an odd, store dependent thing. I'm not really sure how it works but the guys at my local shop insinuated that if I ordered on line and had it shipped to them they'd still make some profit for the sale. All E-bikes must be shipped to and picked up at a store whereas the non E-bikes can be shipped directly to your home. The return is very simple whether the bike is shipped to your home or to a dealer, you just take the bike to a dealer of your choice and they'll handle the return after you first contact Specialized and set up the return. I hate to return anything and hope to not have to with this bike. The weather is going to suck the next couple days but I plan to mess with the settings more on Thursday and see if this bike makes sense for me. Again, it's a great bike but I might not need it and will stick with the Sirrus for any rides that I'd use the SL for and use the Tero for everything else. For a bike fit person the low powered SL type bikes may not make sense. I'm 52, I'm sure an SL will make more sense in 20 years where light weight for portability purposes will be what I need. Of course they'll likely all be light weight and full power by then.
Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Not for everyone, but if you don't mind some math and interactive graphs, this might help you get a better feel for the big picture:
Visualizing and exploring the power-sensing PAS in Specialized mid-drives — an interactive graphical model
For our more math-minded Specialized mid-drive riders, here's an interactive graphical model of your bike's tunable power-sensing pedal assist system -- hereafter, just "PAS". The model doesn't cover complex PAS responses to transient events like starting out or approaching PAS cut-off speed...
forums.electricbikereview.com
You can use the interactive graph to preview assist mode tunings under consideration.Pay particular attention to the quantity I called "saturation rider power" (Prs).
Since you're clearly a strong rider, that 100 setting could have a significant adverse effect on battery range. To understand why, see the post linked above.
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