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

[rochrunner]

As I plan my long rides meticuously, I always take the wind speed and direction as critical factors into account. If I'm riding solo, I choose the outbound leg of my ride to be upwind, and I try to return with the tailwind.

I thought that a big benefit of an e-bike is that I no longer have to consider wind direction when deciding what direction to ride in like I do on my analog bikes...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I thought that a big benefit of an e-bike is that I no longer have to consider wind direction when deciding what direction to ride in like I do on my analog bikes...

Doug, you'd be very surprised with the SL. It is so true-to-life bike you will feel the wind effect
Toldya
P.S. Regarding the battery range, any e-bike is affected. You cannot cheat the laws of physics.

 

[kahn]

A couple of Mastermind TCU questions ...

• I've not got an option to lock the bike using Mission Control. This doesn't of course 'lock' the bike, but it does stop the motor being used. It's a feature on the Vado (though not clear whether this includes the Vado SL) with the Mastermind TCD bikes, so might not apply to mine.
• has anyone worked out what happens to the data if you turn the bike off, but leave Mission Control running - for example, if I stop for a very long lunch, or go to the beach for a few hours. Is the ride recorded in its entirety, or as two separate rides? If no-one knows I'll investigate next time out.

After a few rides on the undulating roads we have around here - with 500 m of climbing in 40 km for example - I'm using a fraction more than 1% of battery per kilometre. Does that sound about right? Does battery drain remain linear assuming the usage remains broadly the same? I want to plan some longer trips and don't want to find myself 15 km from home on 'vapour' (or whatever the equivalent is for a battery).

I know that the bike turned off automatically on both ferry legs and possibly before since it was not moving while waiting for the boats. Mission Control recorded the entire trip including the crossings.

 

[ronaan]

A couple of Mastermind TCU questions ...

• I've not got an option to lock the bike using Mission Control. This doesn't of course 'lock' the bike, but it does stop the motor being used. It's a feature on the Vado (though not clear whether this includes the Vado SL) with the Mastermind TCD bikes, so might not apply to mine.

Anyone care to elaborate on the part I quoted? This would be a nice addition but it seems the SL variants don't have the "lock" option?

Still don't have mine, my employer is taking really long to get the leasing thing going -.-

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Anyone care to elaborate on the part I quoted?

You visited the Forum latest on Dec 11th. Can't remember. What part?

This would be a nice addition but it seems the SL variants don't have the "lock" option?

The 2022 Vado SL comes with Mastermind TCU, a colour display/controller mounted on the top tube. The Mastermind TCD-w, the display mounted on the stem of other Specialized e-bikes allows locking the e-bike motor. Should work for Mastermind TCU but I don't own one so I don't know.

 

[ronaan]

You visited the Forum latest on Dec 11th. Can't remember. What part?


The 2022 Vado SL comes with Mastermind TCU, a colour display/controller mounted on the top tube. The Mastermind TCD-w, the display mounted on the stem of other Specialized e-bikes allows locking the e-bike motor. Should work for Mastermind TCU but I don't own one so I don't know.

I visited the forum almost every day in the past weeks? Well anyway, I quoted fatshark and he has the 2022 Vado SL from what I gather, he asked about the lock function. Is the quote not visible?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I visited the forum almost every day in the past weeks? Well anyway, I quoted fatshark and he has the 2022 Vado SL from what I gather, he asked about the lock function. Is the quote not visible?

A misunderstanding, sorry!
(And I meant your last visit in this thread).
It is fatshark to tell us whether he found the "lock" in Mission Control of course.

 

[BioWheel]

I thought that a big benefit of an e-bike is that I no longer have to consider wind direction when deciding what direction to ride in like I do on my analog bikes...

I don't consider the wind when I go out on my SL, at least not like when riding my bikes. Unless you're going out with a lesser amount of charge like under 50% or so. Then you might want bring it in to your distance calc. Everyone is different.

 

[kahn]

I don't consider the wind when I go out on my SL, at least not like when riding my bikes. Unless you're going out with a lesser amount of charge like under 50% or so. Then you might want bring it in to your distance calc. Everyone is different.

Well I agree everyone is different but if we had planned a long ride on Sunday going north or west we would have certainly had to consider the wind. It was pretty damn constant and strong. Since we were only doing about 16-17 miles, it was not a problem for the battery.

 

[mschwett]

Every direction I cycle appears to have a headwind around here . I can do a 40 km "there and back" route - which is more or less linear - and have a 20 km headwind in both directions. Weird ... and not in a good way.

believe it or not …. this is possible although not quite as much for an out and back

i have a couple loop routes here which go around hills / mountains / through valleys in which wind moves in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction rather than linearly. this means you can absolutely be “often” riding into the wind.

 

[fatshark]

Anyone care to elaborate on the part I quoted? This would be a nice addition but it seems the SL variants don't have the "lock" option?

Still don't have mine, my employer is taking really long to get the leasing thing going -.-

Hi @ronaan ... there are videos online of the Turbo models that have the handlebar-mounted TCD which offers a lock function. For example, this one from Specialized

.

However, it doesn't appear to be a function included in the Turbo SL Mastermind TCU . I've registered my bike and sent proof of purchase - which is a pre-requisite apparently for this function to work. I suppose it's possible they're still processing my proof of purchase, and it will magically appear sometime in the future. But I suspect not.

On a more positive note. The Mastermind TCU, despite the seemingly less-convenient "between your knees" location, is actually very easy to read and customise. The colour display is used to indicate ECO-TRAIL-TURBO modes without any need to actually use a segment of the display to show the mode. You can only customise the display when the bike is switched on and Mission Control is active.

The bike is worth the wait ... have patience.

 

[fatshark]

I know that the bike turned off automatically on both ferry legs and possibly before since it was not moving while waiting for the boats. Mission Control recorded the entire trip including the crossings.

View attachment 116410

Many thanks ... nice part of the world to ride in

 

[Atlgaga]

Doug, you'd be very surprised with the SL. It is so true-to-life bike you will feel the wind effect
Toldya
P.S. Regarding the battery range, any e-bike is affected. You cannot cheat the laws of physics.

Absolutely, Stefan!!! I took my Vado SL with me to Florida. At first it seemed to be overkill taking an ebike where it was so flat (group ride of 30 miles - total elevation: 40 feet!!). But while the roads are flat, they are straight. And the wind is steady. And with an upright position and wide bars, you absolutely do feel the wind. And appreciate the assist at anything over 12 mph. (20kmh?). Maybe I'm getting old. (or maybe there is no "maybe" about it). But even in Atlanta on a windy day, I find myself downshifting on occasion for the wind - even on a down hill. Jay

 

[rochrunner]

I might have to replace the stem on my 5.0 in order to raise the bars a bit. Looking at what's available in the 75mm length, I could go from the OEM 14° to either 24° or 35°. At 24° it would raise the bars 11mm and decrease the reach by 8mm; 35° would raise them 20mm with a reach decrease of 19mm. I'll know more about which way to go once I start riding, but I can't ride with the bars as low as I used to.

 

[Richard Stallard]

Hello All. I have just registered on the forum, although I have been a reader since purchasing a Vado SL 4.0 EQ about 5 months ago. I mainly use my Vado SL for leisurely recreational rides and local errands and I have taken it, by car, to Busselton and Margaret River in the south-west of Western Australia for short cycling holidays with my wife.

The only major change I have done to the bike is fitting slightly knobbly tires (Trek LT3 700C x 38) to better suit unpaved rail trails which often have a “pea gravel” surface.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Pleased to meet you Richard!

 

[kahn]

Hello All. I have just registered on the forum, although I have been a reader since purchasing a Vado SL 4.0 EQ about 5 months ago. I mainly use my Vado SL for leisurely recreational rides and local errands and I have taken it, by car, to Busselton and Margaret River in the south-west of Western Australia for short cycling holidays with my wife.

The only major change I have done to the bike is fitting slightly knobbly tires (Trek LT3 700C x 38) to better suit unpaved rail trails which often have a “pea gravel” surface.

View attachment 116559

Welcome aboard.

 

[Richard Stallard]

I finally took delivery of my '22 Vado SL 5.0 EQ today in the ever-so-subtle yellow finish.

View attachment 115723

These are few and far between in the UK, but one appeared in XL. I've only used it to ride down and back up the 25% unmetalled track to our house which it coped with admirably (and wasn't something I could do without rupturing something when on my non-eBike Cannondale), so first impressions are very positive. Longer trip planned for the end of the week.

Does anyone have experience of bags (not panniers) for the rack? Something big enough for a camera, jacket, lunch etc.

Spec appears as currently listed on the Specialized website as far as I can tell. It's got the top bar-mounted display for mode/settings/distance/altitude which I have yet to find mention of in the manual. The current iteration of the software appears to list ECO-TRAIL-TURBO modes rather than SPORT.

With thanks for helpful comments back in November when I was asking about sizing and 'fenders' and the like.

You can fit Topeak bags on the rear rack with a slide adaptor. See https://www.topeak.com/global/en/products/248-Accessories/1323-OMNI-QUICKTRACK-ADAPTER My wife has the same bike as yours on order, except in silver, and the bike shop will fit the adaptor to suit her existing Topeak bag.

PS It is probably useful that the red charger plus stands out as it is a reminder to unplug before moving the bike to avoid any damage to the plug from the crank (if moving backwards).

 

[rochrunner]

Hello All. I have just registered on the forum, although I have been a reader since purchasing a Vado SL 4.0 EQ about 5 months ago. I mainly use my Vado SL for leisurely recreational rides and local errands and I have taken it, by car, to Busselton and Margaret River in the south-west of Western Australia for short cycling holidays with my wife.

The only major change I have done to the bike is fitting slightly knobbly tires (Trek LT3 700C x 38) to better suit unpaved rail trails which often have a “pea gravel” surface.

View attachment 116559

Welcome to "active" forum membership, Richard! I assume that you live in Western Australia since it's not a place that one would drive to for a "short holiday". That area was featured in the series "The Circuit" that we watched and enjoyed on Acorn TV here in the States. Very different from the usual Syndney-Melbourne based shows.

Tires were one of the several reason for my getting a non-EQ SL; the non-EQ comes with Specialized Pathfinder tires, which look like they will work well for my mix of paved and unpaved routes. I've also had good luck over the years with the Trigger and Trigger Pro series for mixed surfaces in the 700x38 size.

 

[Richard Stallard]

Welcome to "active" forum membership, Richard! I assume that you live in Western Australia since it's not a place that one would drive to for a "short holiday". That area was featured in the series "The Circuit" that we watched and enjoyed on Acorn TV here in the States. Very different from the usual Syndney-Melbourne based shows.

Tires were one of the several reason for my getting a non-EQ SL; the non-EQ comes with Specialized Pathfinder tires, which look like they will work well for my mix of paved and unpaved routes. I've also had good luck over the years with the Trigger and Trigger Pro series for mixed surfaces in the 700x38 size.

Thanks. Only the EQ model is available in Australia, so I was unaware of the different tires. I did enquire at the Specialised dealer but they didn’t have any “gravel” tires at the time, so I tried my local bike shop which had morphed into a Trek store. The Trek LT3’s are good but no longer available in Australia. I managed to get 2 more which have been set aside awaiting arrival of my wife‘s 2020 Vado SL 5.0.

”The Circuit” TV series was based around Broome, about 2000 km north of my home in Perth. I have been to Broome a few times and ridden a fat-tired bike on the famous Cable Beach.