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

[Jeremy McCreary]

It is technically possible although difficult. There is a whole complicated procedure to export Strava data to Excel (I will recollect how to do it only if I have to). You get the whole history of your Strava rides with the flags denoting the Activity Type or the bike you rode (if you have several bikes and consistently assign one to the related ride (as I do). The stored parameters are, i.a., your Weighted Average Power, Average Power, Maximum Power as well as several essential parameters such as Cadence, Calories, Average and Max Speed,, Distance, Elevation Gain and more. Then you can filter the spreadsheet and do your charts.

The procedure is as complicated as I went through it only once several years ago to get the list of my rides sorted by Distance to determine the number of my Centuries, Gran Fondos, Metric Centuries etc.

Many thanks for this info! As stated previously, my one and only reason to get involved with Stava is to end up with plots of various power and battery use metrics over selected time intervals — say, from SL purchase to date.

Strava appears to be able to generate such curves under Best Efforts, but only with the paid version. Not paying, period. So the above export from free Strava to Excel via CSV file seems like my only viable path forward.

So far, I've uploaded 7 pre-Strava rides for testing purposes. One by one, I exported each ride's FIT file from the Specialized app to an email attachment, then saved the attachments one by one to my Android's Downloads folder.

From the Strava website, not the app, I then uploaded the 7 FIT files in one batch. Once uploaded, I had to edit each ride header to make it private, mark ride type, etc.

What a royal pain! And with 164 pre-Strava rides to go, I'm still very far from done! I'll try the CSV export to Excel layer today. Then I'll try some plots.

If that's equally time-intensive or doesn't work, Strava's gone. I'll just tranfer data into Excel manually in dribs and drabs till the job's done.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

plots of various power and battery use metrics over selected time intervals

Cannot be done. Strava is not interested in the bike. Only the rider matters.

If you had bought a pre-Mastermind Vado SL, all the stats including the motor and battery parameters (as deep as motor and battery temperature) could be easily extracted from Paolo Dozzi's BLEvo app. Unfortunately "Specialized has killed BLEvo" by Mastermind, as Paolo sadly stated himself...

SyncMyTracks would do 164 rides in a single batch. Strava has tools to automatically make all past rides private. You are not a Strava man Jeremy so how would you know?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I cannot sustain it.

View attachment 196322
This is my sustained leg power this year...

View attachment 196323
This is the Carrot Effect

Any ill effects from that 102W effort?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

SyncMyTracks would do 164 rides in a single batch.

Dang, forgot about SyncMyTracks. If I get the plots I want out of the 7 test rides already uploaded to Strava with reasonable effort, I'll try that next.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Purchases (for Vado SL) and waiting for delivery

@Chargeride once said my Vado SL didn't look sporty in a race; he was right I understood the water bottles and the pannier made my racing life harder than it could be.

• A Camelbak M.U.L.E. 14 Pro hydration pack with a big backpack.

The hydration pack has a 3 litre canister for water/isotonic drink, and a plastic tube that is kept near to the mouth. The backpack volume is 11 litres, and there's even a pocket for an e-bike battery! Now:

1. No water bottle is necessary. I can drink easily while riding in rough terrain whenever I like. Impossible to lose the water bottle.
2. The freed water-bottle-cage will store the 2nd Range Extender
3. The essentials will go to the backpack part.

I usually need 2.25 litre for a 50 mile race, so the hydration pack does not need to be full.

• Wahoo 3 computer.

I should have got these two this morning but the shipment is stuck at DPD...
------------

• Jacek is giving me a pretty big saddle bag he does not need himself. It will make my backpack more lightweight.

------------
While in Varmia Gravel, I bought a pair of excellent waterproof trousers from the Polish company JMP. Now, I added a waterproof jacket, the same model using a promo code from VG. I should get it on Friday morning. Of course, the clothes are not Vado SL related

Any ill effects from that 102W effort?

All OK. I am simply unable to work that hard on my regular rides!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

All OK. I am simply unable to work that hard on my regular rides!

Good to hear. Have you considered adding a stick to the carrot?
;^}

 

[Watana Bob]

All OK. I am simply unable to work that hard on my regular rides!
But you've got it when you need it. I could not average 85w over that distance, if that.
You're an animal Stefan, you just don't want to admit it.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

What is the data file format...?

CSV.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I live in Poole, Dorset, England so have access to the Beach, routes round the harbour bay and the hilly Purbecks as well. Weather can be variable as well especially with head winds.

What a coincidence! Just saw a lot of footage of Poole in an episode of Saving Lives at Sea, a docuseries about the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution).

Beautiful coast there! Must be a great place to ride. Please post ride photos!

My mindset when I ride is to not be lazy so I will always ride with the lowest possible assist level but due to fitness levels that changes multiple times throughout a ride.

I also look at average rider power but if traffic is heavy, riding with friends or I'm having a chilled ride home after work then this figure will not be representative but the average motor power should in theory also be correspondingly lower.

Yes, average rider power metrics come with many pitfalls. My Average Rider Power figures in the Specialized app are clearly gross underestimates due to frequent stops. And my Adjusted Rider Power (aka normalized power) figures seem too high.

Maybe I should watch the average of these averages?

If we are talking math then its the correlation between rider power and motor power on rides over time i'm interested in...

If you're interested in the math of the rider vs. motor power relationship in Specialized mid-drives, look at the Desmos-based interactive graphical model I posted:

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

Read the text to see how to model the Vado SL 1. The underlying math comes from official Specialized documentation. The graph makes the rider-motor power relationship a lot more intuitive.

NB: The model covers quasi-steady riding only. Power delivery around starting out, strong accelations, and max assisted speed is surely more complicated. Results are at least ballpark in covered situations.

 

[Herbs]

What a coincidence! Just saw a lot of footage of Poole in an episode of Saving Lives at Sea, a docuseries about the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution).

Beautiful coast there! Must be a great place to ride. Please post ride photos!


Yes, average rider power metrics come with many pitfalls. My Average Rider Power figures in the Specialized app are clearly gross underestimates due to frequent stops. And my Adjusted Rider Power (aka normalized power) figures seem too high.

Maybe I should watch the average of these averages?


If you're interested in the math of the rider vs. motor power relationship in Specialized mid-drives, look at the Desmos-based interactive graphical model I posted:

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

Read the text to see how to model the Vado SL 1. The underlying math comes from official Specialized documentation. The graph makes the rider-motor power relationship a lot more intuitive.

NB: The model covers quasi-steady riding only. Power delivery around starting out, strong accelations, and max assisted speed is surely more complicated. Results are at least ballpark in covered situations.

Oh wow - I actually work a 30 second walk from RNLI here and live a 5 minute ride away so right on my door step. Poole harbour is the second largest natural harbour in the world and gives lots of opportunities to explore.

The red dots are where I work and where the RNLI is. The blue route is one of my favourite evening rides as 90% of it is either on dedicated cycle lanes next to the bay or through the country park. I don't tend to stop much when riding but I've found a couple of pictures.

This one is about 35 miles and takes you over the purbecks which is stunning and contains Corfe Castle (fascinating history and well worth a read if you like that sort of thing - basically it was impenetrable and was betrayed from inside, then subsequently blown up in the 1640's).

 

[Chargeride]

A history of Specialized, some obscure bike company that Stefan has some interest in.

 

[stompandgo]

Herbs, beautiful pictures and a great looking bike. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@Chargeride once complained my Fearless didn't look sporty enough as for a race...

The new rule is: whatever belongs to the bike is on the bike I especially like the idea of carrying a spare Range Extender in a water-bottle-cage

The tools and spare inner tubes go to the saddle bag Jacek gave me last Sunday.

My trusty Topeak Mountain Twin Turbo Gauge pump is carried on the bike, too.

My Fearless has been together with me in several gravel races so far.

Specialized Rhombus Pro tyres are not afraid of shallow sand.

The last piece, which is Ass Savers Win Wing Gravel 2 rear mudguard is in the shipment. This is to protect my rear in case of mud or puddles on dry weather. In case of heavy raining, I can quickly install my SKS mudguards.

Anything necessary for the rider goes to Camelbak M.U.L.E. 14 Pro hydration backpack

What do you say, Chris?

 

[GAJ]

Where does an actual water bottle go?

Camelback?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Where does an actual water bottle go?

Camelback?

Camelbak itself holds up to three litres of a beverage and is equipped with a tube with a mouthpiece so you can drink as you ride. Why would you need a water bottle?

The backpack part will only keep:

• Wallet
• Passport
• Keys
• Moisturized tissue for hygienic purposes
• A first aid kit
• Snacks (only energy gels will be eaten on a race, the jersey back pocket; a smartphone will be kept in the jersey pocket as well. The third pocket will hold a race GPS tracker).

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

@Chargeride once complained my Fearless didn't look sporty enough as for a race...

View attachment 196535
The new rule is: whatever belongs to the bike is on the bike I especially like the idea of carrying a spare Range Extender in a water-bottle-cage

View attachment 196536
The tools and spare inner tubes go to the saddle bag Jacek gave me last Sunday.

View attachment 196537
My trusty Topeak Mountain Twin Turbo Gauge pump is carried on the bike, too.

View attachment 196538
My Fearless has been together with me in several gravel races so far.

View attachment 196539
Specialized Rhombus Pro tyres are not afraid of shallow sand.

View attachment 196540
The last piece, which is Ass Savers Win Wing Gravel 2 rear mudguard is in the shipment. This is to protect my rear in case of mud or puddles on dry weather. In case of heavy raining, I can quickly install my SKS mudguards.

Anything necessary for the rider goes to Camelbak M.U.L.E. 14 Pro hydration backpack

What do you say, Chris?

Fearless is looking great — ready for some serious business! With the Camelback, an efficient storage system, too.

When I get an RE, my folding lock will have to move to the down tube bosses. A Specialized Z-cage and triangular bottle have worked OK on the top tube bosses so far, but (a) that bottle's gonna leak someday, and (b) they block the best hand grip for lifting/carrying the bike.

Your Camelback Mule solves those problems while adding a little much-needed extra storage to the small top tube and saddle bags already on the bike.

That's the most I want on the bike for now. Keeping the rack empty except for 2 emergency straps on purpose.

Q. Could a tightly rolled thin wind shell fit in the Camelback's backpack part?

 

[Base]

That would also work on your bike.

I've been carrying a variety of jackets in my deuter bladder holder, most leight jackets should fit i think. My current mammyt drylite hard shell weighs 190 grams and fits almost anywhere, same for my endura windbraker ay 115 grams

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Q. Could a tightly rolled thin wind shell fit in the Camelback's backpack part?

Easily, easily, Jeremy! I've just packed a rolled rainproof jacket and trousers into the main compartment of Camelbak Now, I wonder how I could live without it!

That would also work on your bike.

Show it mounted on a Vado SL hydroformed top tube with a TCU, please.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Necessary to mention, there also is a big outer pocket where one can store things that were unexpected: for instance, the third RE or a bottle of Aloe drink I need for a train trip. Or, just whatever!
There are more pockets. A zipped one on the left. The reviewer promises a smartphone could be stored there: Not. Too tight. The thing has also small pockets hidden in unexpected places like in the waist strap: it is too overwhelming for me!

 

[Cycologist]

Did a 50 mile ride (80.4 km) the other day up the same path I took in my previous post (all offroad, limestone and dirt, through the woods), but this time I rode to the very end of the trail.

I had a full charge on both the main battery and the range extender when I started. Had the bike configured to drain both batteries at the same time.
It looks like I used about 50% Eco and 50% Sport mode (or whatever the middle setting is called). I have my Eco parameters set to 40/40 and the Sport is at the default 60/60.

I had 22% charge remaining after the ride was completed and probably could have made another 10 to 15 miles or more with that.

I used more assist at the start of my ride, since I hadn't planned on going that far and just wanted to ride fast. But it was such a nice day (sunny, cool, no wind), I figured what the heck, I'm gonna do it. At the end of the ride, I used more power since my legs were getting tired and it's a gradual uphill climb of over 100 ft (30 m).

Overall, it was a great ride and the bike performed well.
The temps were below 80F (26C) degrees with low humidity, which makes a huge difference.
I did a 40 mile ride a couple days before where the temps were 92F degrees (33 C) and I was wiped out at the end.
On this 50 mile ride, with the cooler weather, I probably could have done it all over again the same day, if I could swap in some new legs ;-)
I didn't feel all that fatigued, except for my legs.
When I do this ride again, I'll need to bring energy gel, since I'm sure it would have been beneficial.