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

I had no single electrical failure over 3 ½ years and I ride my Vado SL all year long and in any weather. It happened to me to ride through a creek with the motor fully immersed in water. No issues.

I hope no one will be as brave as to claim the Polish weather is more lenient than the one in Britain, innit 😃
 
I had no single electrical failure over 3 ½ years and I ride my Vado SL all year long and in any weather. It happened to me to ride through a creek with the motor fully immersed in water. No issues.

I hope no one will be as brave as to claim the Polish weather is more lenient than the one in Britain, innit 😃
Haha well I don't know the exact cause of the fault yet, but I would say the UK is generally a wetter country than Poland. You certainly experience more extremes in weather but overall the UK has more rainfall. The past year has been particularly good - and not really representative of the average year. Drizzle, light rain and misty conditions are not uncommon in the UK, even throughout a typical summer. Certainly in the last month or so we've experienced quite a bit of rainfall.

Crowded House - Four seasons in one day... "smiling as the s*it comes down". 😄

 
I had no single electrical failure over 3 ½ years and I ride my Vado SL all year long and in any weather. It happened to me to ride through a creek with the motor fully immersed in water. No issues.

I hope no one will be as brave as to claim the Polish weather is more lenient than the one in Britain, innit 😃
It's not about that. We just get a LOT more feckin'rain! Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn... about 1,220mm average per year. Poland only around 600mm (thanks wiki). Not cold, currently it's around 5c and dry-ish, Last weekend it was 15c and wet, on the bike I had far too many clothes on. Ireland and UK get so much rain from Atlantic storms with the prevailing wind coming across from the Gulf of Mexico gathering water as they come. Eastern parts from say Kent to Norfolk and on up the East coast get more continental, dry and much colder (in winter) weather. Kent is like France I always tell my sister who lives there! In the summer they could be at 28 to 34c in sunshine and we'll only be around 17-20c and probably raining again.
 
It doesn't change the fact my Vado SL has never electrically broken despite being ridden in any weather including frosty winter, torrential rains, creeks crossed on several gravel races, deep puddles etc.

The SL system is water resistant. The trouble Marts is experiencing could result from many reason, the weather being last. It is a Specialized, not (cough, cough...) a Giant 😄
 
Glad to hear this Rás, I've just ordered the Speedrockers yesterday!... and a few days ago I ordered some Continental Terra Speed (40C) gravel tyres for extra grip on the muddy/gravel paths... Gives me some confidence that they might fit! :)

It must be me but I really dislike the way SKS Speedrockers look on the bike from the photos.

I bought the SKS X-Blade and I think it suits the aesthetics of the bike perfectly. Takes 20 secs to fit and unfit as well.
 
It must be me but I really dislike the way SKS Speedrockers look on the bike from the photos.

I bought the SKS X-Blade and I think it suits the aesthetics of the bike perfectly. Takes 20 secs to fit and unfit as well.
But that doesn't give you a lot of coverage. The speedrockers give around 80% front & rear i think. Mind you I'm fitting a front mudflap tomorrow. I'll pop up some pics when done - roads here are like streams with all the water flowing off the moors and even with the speed rockers theres a lot of water kicking up. Doing a lot of riding at the moment and am aware all this water is hitting my feet (have waterproof boots but still) and the motor area. So got this German 'FAHRER LATZ' mudflap off amazon, arrived today. Lets see if it fits the speed rockers.

Agree with you that they are clunky looking. That front fork velcro binding might be practical but it is bloody awkward looking!
 
According to Specialized support, SL e-bikes are IP 56 while full power Turbos are IP 67 water resistant.
Screenshot_20241203_233259_Chrome.jpg
 
I've been googling and can find others with symptoms exactly the same or very similar to mine, some have had their LBS suggest water/moisture is the problem. (Cabling!)

All I know is, my battery was charged to 80%, and was showing as much yesterday morning.... Today it reports Maximum Capacity as 0%. The Charge Cycles never updates, just spinning circle of doom, and the advanced diagnostics never completes. :(

I have a funeral to go to today but tomorrow I'm dropping it off at the bike shop. I've only had it about 5 weeks, so I'm confident whatever the issue is they'll sort it out. 👍

1733306988658.jpeg
 
Could be just a bad contact at the main battery.

Martin, I am not sure how they do that in your country but here a new user has to do a mandatory 1st service after several hundred km ridden, with an entry in the Warranty Card. Use it as an opportunity to uphold your warranty!
 
Could be just a bad contact at the main battery.

Martin, I am not sure how they do that in your country but here a new user has to do a mandatory 1st service after several hundred km ridden, with an entry in the Warranty Card. Use it as an opportunity to uphold your warranty!
Yeah it could be as simple as a loose connection. With the RE connected it all works fine. In other circumstances I'd be opening it up and having a look but given its age and under warranty I'm going to leave it for the shop to sort out. I don't want to do anything to void that warranty, especially as Specialized sound proactive at fixing/replacing things.

The bike shop does offer a free 6-week 1st service, so I'll get them to do that at the same time. :)
 
Interesting (and hopeful I think) that the system diagnostics haven't come up with a warning. Could well be just a loose cable rattled loose on your various adventures. Here's a screen grab from when my TCU failed. It's pretty cryptic and at that point I didn't know if it was motor, battery or TCU - assumed it was battery. I did unscrew the TCU and checked inside but it was bone dry so the water ingress must have been at the motor and possibly shorted the TCU or something. The bike shop just told me the TCU failed but gave no reason and replaced it promptly. I'd had the bike around 4 months at that point, but had been riding all winter from Oct to Feb 21.

Re Warranty card? Not sure what this is, I've never come across this. You just ring the bike shop & they said pop by and drop off the bike. They knew I'd bought the bike there so no fuss whatsoever.

IMG_7286.jpeg
 
I just went with a cargo bag had to buy the attachment for it but it works great carries all my tools,Jacket, and anything else that I need depending on what type of ride I am going on.
 

Attachments

  • 20231105_095243.jpg
    20231105_095243.jpg
    835.7 KB · Views: 27
Quick follow-up question: how do I tell what model year I have? The bike store sticker says 2023, but seems there is a more definite way to tell? I'm happy either way, just curious. Thanks!
Sorry if this has already been answered but if you login to your Specialized account - assuming you registered you bike online.

Goto: Account -> Registered Bikes

It will show a picture of your bike, model and serial number and purchase date.
At the bottom there is a link "View Model Details"
This takes you to the technical spec page of you bike.
In my case it is the archive page for the 2022 model year.

1733350632166.jpeg
 
Thought you guys might like to know: On a recent group ride with many fancy road bikes, I found myself out-rolling many of them when we were all coasting downhill — even at rough parity in gross (rider+bike+cargo) weight, and despite my more upright posture (with my flat bars to their drops).

This was on 38 mm tubeless Pathfinder Pros at 37 psi with the SL weighing in at 38 lb.

As you know, gross weight is the only weight that counts WRT to both tire resistance and the component of gravitational force pushing you down a hill. So no more or less push than I got for a 20-pound heavier rider on a 20-pound lighter bike.

Leaving, in theory, only differences in coefficient of (tire) rolling resistance and bearing resistance to blame. But maybe I'm missing something. Thoughts?
I have also noticed on a couple of rides, coasting with other analog road bikes that I have been closing on them. I was very happy about this but could not rationalise it in my head. maybe my significant weight on the downhill is out-powering wind resistance of lighter riders on lighter bikes.
 
Back