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

[rochrunner]

My 5.0 is now outfitted (except for the range extender) and is ready to ride as shown here. Updates include the rear rack, pedals, bottle cages, Redshift seatpost with OEM saddle, BUP saddle mount for Varia, Garmin Edge bar mount, side stand, and bar-end mirror. The as-delivered weight was 35.5 lbs and the completed weight is 38lbs for a gain of about 2.5lbs. The seat post was the biggest single contributor, as it weighs a bunch more than the OEM post. Can't wait to get this out on the trails!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I might have to look into that Ass Saver

SKS makes similar temporary "blade" fenders front/rear. Worth to examine, too.

 

[BioWheel]

Snagged a quick pic in a short home-office break; it's pretty much stock so far with the range extender cage and a lock installed.
I do have a racktime Odin to snap on, bought a Garmin Edge Explore from a friend, and from there we will see. Thinking about nicer pedals, the stock ones are pretty boring for a beauty like this.


View attachment 117655

Beautiful. Sweet color and love the paint fade. Well done Spec. Treat her like an angel.

 

[TYJ]

Hey Stefan - How do you like those Pathfinder tyres? Those are on my list!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Hey Stefan - How do you like those Pathfinder tyres? Those are on my list!

I only made a very short ride around the LBS (pavement and some grass) so far. I think I like the tyres but will report after this weekend (two gravel/dirt rides involved).

 

[rochrunner]

I only made a very short ride around the LBS (pavement and some grass) so far. I think I like the tyres but will report after this weekend (two gravel/dirt rides involved).

Are you running those tubeless?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Are you running those tubeless?

My rims are not tubeless ready!
(The tyres are).

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I was on a ride today!

By chance, a 3 km segment of the road the most local to me has been on reconstruction! So I was riding potted gravel, freshly rolled dirt, new coarse gravel, cracked asphalt, quality tarmac and... many kilometres of very poor quality/damaged bike paths made of paving blocks. The best test for Pathfinders!

Verdict: Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss are worth every cent! They are rolling very fast (my average speed improved significantly) and they were delightfully supple and compliant on rough surfaces!

P.S. A friend, gravel cyclist told me Pathfinder Pro were reportedly the fastest rolling gravel tyres in the market.

 

[Art Deco]

I was on a ride today!

By chance, a 3 km segment of the road the most local to me has been on reconstruction! So I was riding potted gravel, rfreshly rolled dirt, new coarse gravel, cracked asphalt, quality tarmac and... many kilometres of very poor quality/damaged bike paths made of paving blocks. The best test for Pathfinders!

Verdict: Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss are worth every cent! They are rolling very fast (my average speed improved significantly) and they were delightfully supple and compliant on rough surfaces!

Rolling faster than the OEM tires and better grip on the rough stuff both? Impressive .

 

[mschwett]

I like the fade colors

me too! very nice.

 

[fatshark]

Battery fade or slow updating?

I noticed today that the battery percentage remaining when I finished my ride is more than the percentage remaining 10-20 minutes later. I was looking out for it today having thought I'd noticed this last time. In both cases it was a 5-7% downward adjustment, today dropping from 63% to 57%.

I suspect this might be due to the last half kilometre being the 20% hill that leads to my house, but wondered if anyone else had seen the same thing.

Thoroughly enjoying the bike and looking forward to testing the limit of the range as soon as we get some nice midweek weather (fewer cars on the road).

Gratuitous photo of the yellow SL 5.0 EQ (and some very distant Scottish islands) as I think it's the nicest colour they do

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Battery fade or slow updating?

I noticed today that the battery percentage remaining when I finished my ride is more than the percentage remaining 10-20 minutes later. I was looking out for it today having thought I'd noticed this last time. In both cases it was a 5-7% downward adjustment, today dropping from 63% to 57%.

I'd say it is a slow update. I most often ride with a Range Extender, and my Wahoo reports the state of charge for each battery independently. I often observe a 2-3% charge drop post ride. Not worried.

 

[fatshark]

I think you're right ... I rode today and stopped for lunch after a long, relatively flat section with a following wind . The battery didn't change between stopping and checking 10 minutes later. However, after riding back home (and going up the 20% grade to the house) it again dropped a few percent.

I did 63 km with about 1100 metres of climbing and used 77% of the battery. I now need to explore changing the power settings to better suit my riding. I also need to look into the distance/altitude discrepancies between Mission Control, Strava and a good old fashioned map.

Today's ride

Mission control	63.4 km	966 m ascent	2 h 30 m (which then automagically uploads to Strava)
Strava	63.4 km	1112 m ascent	2 h 55 m
Map	63.2 km	1081 m ascent	2 h 51 m moving time (this was Strava exported GPX data in gpx.studio)

I don't really care which is correct, but I'd like one of them to be. I don't understand why Mission Control and Strava aren't identical, as I just upload from the former to the latter, and then wonder where the 4 minutes moving time were lost when exporting Strava to gpx.studio

Puzzling

I stopped for lunch when I ran out of land ... this is the foghorn for the lighthouse on the most westerly point of mainland UK.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Regarding the reported elevation height, I would not trust Mission Control. It tries determining the elevation by a barometric pressure sensor in the phone but ambient pressure can also vary. Interestingly, Wahoo ELEMNT Roam uses a similar technique as its maps have got no elevation information! (That's why I regret I didn't buy the newer Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt v2, maps of which include elevation data). I would trust the elevation gain of Strava pretty much. And I typically correct elevation gain data with Strava.

The MC reported ride time is worrying indeed. I have never trusted Mission Control: it often gives different ride data than, say, the TCD wireless display. I can't remember @fatshark: Is your SL equipped with the older TCU, or with a Mastermind TCU?

 

[mschwett]

…. I also need to look into the distance/altitude discrepancies between Mission Control, Strava and a good old fashioned map.

Today's ride

Mission control	63.4 km	966 m ascent	2 h 30 m (which then automagically uploads to Strava)
Strava	63.4 km	1112 m ascent	2 h 55 m
Map	63.2 km	1081 m ascent	2 h 51 m moving time (this was Strava exported GPX data in gpx.studio)

I don't really care which is correct, but I'd like one of them to be. I don't understand why Mission Control and Strava aren't identical, as I just upload from the former to the latter, and then wonder where the 4 minutes moving time were lost when exporting Strava to gpx.studio

Puzzling

many of us have puzzled over these puzzles !

mission control’s elevation records come from your phone, not the bike or any maps, and different phones have different altimeters. the latest iphones have barometric altimeters which are cross referenced to GPS for “leveling” purposes, and they’re not bad. GPS only altitude is useless. cross referencing recorded altitude from the altimeter to known elevational from GPS map positions is the best way, which is i believe what strava and rwGPS do. i tend to trust strava’s elevation numbers most.

as for moving time, if you hit pause and start a bunch in mission control, you’ll find more and more discrepancy with the strava moving time, which is calculated by strava from the position data and seems VERY uppity about considering when you’re stopped. even slight movement in the position track, as you see with GPS when rapidly stopping, does not show as stopped for a while in strava. take a close look at the strava ride analysis and see if it thinks you were moving for 21-25 minutes more than you think you were.

otherwise, those three results are actually quite similar. some have found much bigger errors due to incorrect wheel size setting, bad GPS reception, etc.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

many of us have puzzled over these puzzles !

I'm more and more confused with all these systems, Mark!
Take my latest long ride:

• Wahoo and BLEvo both have reported about the same distance ridden (good)
• The elevation gain data for both systems didn't match Strava
• Wahoo gave the net ride time 10 minutes shorter than BLEvo. I compared the average ride speed to other group ride members and Wahoo was correct
• Wahoo typically reports weird Max Speed because of some glitch.

How to live?

 

[fatshark]

many of us have puzzled over these puzzles !

mission control’s elevation records come from your phone, not the bike or any maps, and different phones have different altimeters. the latest iphones have barometric altimeters which are cross referenced to GPS for “leveling” purposes, and they’re not bad. GPS only altitude is useless. cross referencing recorded altitude from the altimeter to known elevational from GPS map positions is the best way, which is i believe what strava and rwGPS do. i tend to trust strava’s elevation numbers most.

as for moving time, if you hit pause and start a bunch in mission control, you’ll find more and more discrepancy with the strava moving time, which is calculated by strava from the position data and seems VERY uppity about considering when you’re stopped. even slight movement in the position track, as you see with GPS when rapidly stopping, does not show as stopped for a while in strava. take a close look at the strava ride analysis and see if it thinks you were moving for 21-25 minutes more than you think you were.

otherwise, those three results are actually quite similar. some have found much bigger errors due to incorrect wheel size setting, bad GPS reception, etc.

Thanks Mark ... I wonder if Mission Control's moving time is related to the bike moving time, whereas Strava takes its info from the movement of the GPS sensor? That way, if I parked up and walked around (without manually pausing Mission Control) the GPS would still record movement if the phone was in my pocket, but MC wouldn't 'count' it as the bike was stationary.

I'll give this a test ...

 

[RonnyW]

Hi All,

After testing the Vado 4 and the Vado S L4, I purchased the SL non-eq last weekend.

As I have a spare wheelset from my normal racing road bike, I was wondering if I could install it on the Vado SL.

The wheels are DT Swiss E1800 spline with 28mm tyres (real width on rim is 30mm).

E 1800 SPLINE - Robust Endurance Road Wheels | DT Swiss

Robust and reliable, these road wheels are perfect for commuting or everday use cruising the city.

www.dtswiss.com

Specialized specs I found:
Front Hub: 12x110mm, 24 Hole, Rear Hub: 12x148mm, 28 Hole

DT Swiss specs:
12x110mm and 12x142mm

So looks like the back hub is too narrow to fit.. I don't suppose you can compensate for that?

 

[ronaan]

So I did my first ride on Sunday and had a nice 40 km tour with my best friend. He has a full power bike, Kalkhoff Entice 5B+ I think. We're both heavy boys, and I haven't been on a bike for serious riding in something like seven years.

In the end I had to get off and push the bike for two short (100m) instances, where my legs just couldn't keep going on 20%+ uphill situations. I also "pushed" on a 200m downhill section (almost trail like) where I just didn't trust myself and the bike enough.

Other than that, it was amazing. The battery would have lasted the whole way, but I put the range extender on at 13% remaining in the main battery.

Considered changing the chainblade to something smaller but I might also just try to regain some leg power and deal with the 44/45 setup.

Took the bike to work this morning and managed 19 km in 55 minutes. Good portion of downward road though, max speed 61.3 km/h

The way home will take a bit longer.

 

[mschwett]

Thanks Mark ... I wonder if Mission Control's moving time is related to the bike moving time, whereas Strava takes its info from the movement of the GPS sensor? That way, if I parked up and walked around (without manually pausing Mission Control) the GPS would still record movement if the phone was in my pocket, but MC wouldn't 'count' it as the bike was stationary.

I'll give this a test ...

definitely. strava seems to determine moving time from the GPS track, not the wheel sensor data. you can also see a variant of this when you use strava’s “correct distance” function which changes time, not just distance, lol!

for my rides, where i often pause mission control at every small stop (for a stop light) i’ll often see a difference of up to 5 minutes over a couple hours.