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

[Stefan Mikes]

Rincon, please listen to me.
There are two figures:

• 16400
• 21500

What in the world should be included in an e-bike to justify the 5100 difference?! I would understand another motor. Bigger battery. But a few insignificant components for 5100 (31%) more?! How much would two tubeless rims cost (including wheel rebuild) to justify such big price difference?
The money saved on the lower version is a lot of money for the upgrades you really need. Range Extender was the first on the upgrade list.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I’ve ridden them. I have a 10-50 cassette on both my Creo and my Salsa Warroad. I ride through those gears all the time. The bigger the gear, the easier it gets. A 38t chainring would just amplify the difference. I’ve tried that too: 38, 42, and 46t chainrings. Calculators don’t measure the reality of the mountain. You’re a flatlander, so I understand it isn’t a big concern for you. If you deal with hills then the lower gearing is a big deal. That Vado 5.0 45t bailout gear is pretty generous. With a motor, that may be all a climber needs.

Twenty gear inches is very low. It isn’t really necessary unless you’re going fully loaded bikepacking. I think my Warroad is around 22.8 gear inches. That’s also very low also especially for an unladen 18 lb bike. But horses for courses as they say. I ride in the mountains and when I’m in that 50t gear, I’m sure glad it’s there.

Will you agree with me that 50T granny cog is far more than the 45? I had 51T on my Trance E+. And 38T as the chainring.

 

[Rincon]

Will you agree with me that 50T granny cog is far more than the 45? I had 51T on my Trance E+. And 38T as the chainring.

51/38 is a whopper! I can’t imagine needing that on an ebike even if you’re climbing Mt. Fuji.

Yeah, 50t is a big improvement over 45t. I happily upgraded to a 10-50 cassette from a 10-42. I only get to the 50t cog when I shift through all of the other gears. It is definitely a bailout gear. I rarely need it on the ebike. The next lowest is a 42t. I think if I had a 10-45 cassette it would be just about perfect. A 45t granny gear would get more use than the 50t, on an ebike. On the Warroad the 50t gear is a necessity.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

51/38 is a whopper! I can’t imagine needing that on an ebike even if you’re climbing Mt. Fuji.

Turbo Levo Comp has it at 32-51T Actually needed in technical single-track climbing.
I used 38/51T with full power of SyncDrive Pro for several times. One was a steep rocky climb up Great Owl Mt (Poland). Another was climbing a street so steep no local was riding their bikes up the incline there (Kraków). Yet another time was climbing on a concrete structure under a Warsaw bridge (I could not believe myself I could do it!)

Of course, excessive gearing is unnecessary on most of roads.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Yes I’ll try that first of course, however curiosity will get the best of me eventually

@VoltMan99: I had a talk with a customer (and a friend), an experienced stress analyst. He sent me excerpts from a monograph by title "Vibrations". A double suspension system that you think of was actually described there. Although I cannot understand any of the formulas, one thing is clear: under unfavourable circumstances, the vibrations might amplify, even leading to dangerous resonance. Please rethink the whole thing

 

[ActionJackson]

@VoltMan99: I had a talk with a customer (and a friend), an experienced stress analyst. He sent me excerpts from a monograph by title "Vibrations". A double suspension system that you think of was actually described there. Although I cannot understand any of the formulas, one thing is clear: under unfavourable circumstances, the vibrations might amplify, even leading to dangerous resonance. Please rethink the whole thing

Stefan, thanks! No worries I’ve already been distracted from the stem suspension problem. I’m looking at the RedShift ShockStop seatpost. I’m thinking this is a good combination:

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Here you come again

 

[rochrunner]

I'm not going to have to worry about this for a while, and it probably doesn't apply to places with stricter regulations (e.g. Europe), but has anyone looked into the possibility of installing an inline switch of some sort to be able to turn the headlight off and on? The taillight isn't a concern and besides when I replace the seat post it will have to go (I have other taillight options). But I really want to turn off the headlight when I'm just riding on trails and pathways, which is 90% of my riding around here.

(Please don't reply telling me why I shouldn't do this, safety, visibility, yada, yada, yada. Just assume that, at 75 and 70 years experience, I know what I'm doing. )

 

[rochrunner]

By the way, after being told by my LBS that they wouldn't see new stock for SLs until next year, just for fun I did an inventory search for a Vado SL 5.0 (L) on the Specialized web site and they actually have one (or at least had one!) at a shop just 25 miles away. But I was exceptionally "mature" for once, and since I'd decided that this really wouldn't be a good time to get a new bike when I still have a low-mileage Vado 4.0 and other things to occupy my time, I resisted the temptation.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I don't know how to install the light switch and am not willing to experiment. The daylight lights hardly consume any battery charge. When auto-switched to low-beam, the total energy consumption is 8 W.

What I intend to do though is to remove the front fender and replace it with a MTB one in a form of a sheet. The stock fender makes it impossible to ride in the forest as the front wheel is being constantly blocked by small twigs.

 

[PennyFarthing]

but has anyone looked into the possibility of installing an inline switch of some sort to be able to turn the headlight off and on?

I just removed mine completely (connectors are accessible in top tube via tcu on TV SL5). Why did I do this... Well I don't ride at night and I need an attention grabbing flashing front light for self preservation. This is perfect for what I need and fits on the handlebar.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

flashing

????

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Not flashing and not attention grabbing.
"See and be seen".

 

[PennyFarthing]

Not flashing and not attention grabbing.
"See and be seen".

View attachment 93355

But not many drivers around failing to spot you in that idyllic setting. it looks like it's a downhill too!

 

[rochrunner]

I don't know how to install the light switch and am not willing to experiment. The daylight lights hardly consume any battery charge. When auto-switched to low-beam, the total energy consumption is 8 W.

The power draw is not the issue.

What I intend to do though is to remove the front fender and replace it with a MTB one in a form of a sheet. The stock fender makes it impossible to ride in the forest as the front wheel is being constantly blocked by small twigs.

I also get annoyed by small stones rattling in the fenders.

Here is what I use on my Crosstrail hybrid: https://ridepdw.com/collections/fenders/products/origami-front-fender. It's worked well for me and easily snaps on and off if you don't need it all the time. I even have a road bike version of it for that bike. The SL has a pretty fat downtube so I'm not sure if the mounting straps will work, but I do plan on one for my SL. It certainly kept my legs and water bottles clean enough on a muddy day on the Great Allegheny Passage rail-trail.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

We won't quarrel about the lights, Doug

Here is what I use on my Crosstrail hybrid: https://ridepdw.com/collections/fenders/products/origami-front-fender. It's worked well for me and easily snaps on and off if you don't need it all the time. I even have a road bike version of it for that bike. The SL has a pretty fat downtube so I'm not sure if the mounting straps will work, but I do plan on one for my SL. It certainly kept my legs and water bottles clean enough on a muddy day on the Great Allegheny Passage rail-trail.

Swell idea!

 

[Calcoaster]

I'm not going to have to worry about this for a while, and it probably doesn't apply to places with stricter regulations (e.g. Europe), but has anyone looked into the possibility of installing an inline switch of some sort to be able to turn the headlight off and on? The taillight isn't a concern and besides when I replace the seat post it will have to go (I have other taillight options). But I really want to turn off the headlight when I'm just riding on trails and pathways, which is 90% of my riding around here.

(Please don't reply telling me why I shouldn't do this, safety, visibility, yada, yada, yada. Just assume that, at 75 and 70 years experience, I know what I'm doing. )

Why does replacing the seatpost remove your taillight? I assume there is a wire pair that comes up the seatpost and connects to the saddle light. Isn’t it an easy job to reconnect the wires to the light? I haven’t looked at the setup so I’d like to know if there is a problem and if there is a workaround. Thanks!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

But not many drivers around failing to spot you in that idyllic setting. it looks like it's a downhill too!

I ride a lot, very often with traffic. We've been on a road trip with my brother. He wore the yellow reflective vest and same colour helmet as you can see in the picture above. He rode into the shadow of a forest. If not his blinking tail-light, I could not see him at all. Now fancy it is a driver going from the opposite, fully in the sunshine and he has the option to take another car over. What would that driver see if not the daylight lighting?

It's easy to get killed.

 

[rochrunner]

Why does replacing the seatpost remove your taillight? I assume there is a wire pair that comes up the seatpost and connects to the saddle light. Isn’t it an easy job to reconnect the wires to the light? I haven’t looked at the setup so I’d like to know if there is a problem and if there is a workaround. Thanks!

The Redshift Shockstop has no way to route wires through it. The replacement seat might also be a problem with mounting the OEM taillight.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The Redshift Shockstop has no way to route wires through it. The replacement seat might also be a problem with mounting the OEM taillight.

That's why I went with the EQ. Now I cannot remove the rear fender