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

[Twowheelxtc]

If Sofiane Sehili is Gen Z then maybe.

I asked my community:

• The Hunt wheels are known as a British brand
• Some friends ride them, very happy
• We get Hunt wheels from the UK by a reseller in Germany.

Stefan I’ve just looked up that Sofiane Sehili guy. Impressively tough and able but He obviously knows nothing about bikes or how to select a good set of wheels.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Stefan I’ve just looked up that Sofiane Sehili guy. Impressively tough and able but He obviously knows nothing about bikes or how to select a good set of wheels.

He's certainly not a roadie like Stomp

 

[BioWheel]

Have you checked the rear hub carefully for signs of fatigue / failure / cracks?

I once had an MTB hub - Shimano Deore DX if memory serves - where I kept blowing through spokes in the rear wheel near the hub. I'm a lightweight, so it wasn't excess weight, hucking the bike, jumping off curbs or anything like that. I think it was on the third or fourth replacement that I decided to take a really close look at the hub.

Sure enough, there's a hairline crack right at the spoke hole that was stressing every spoke threaded through that hole, new or used, and eventually causing complete failure. I dismantled that wheel, threw away the hub (wasn't gonna help anyone now), and told myself to check all components very carefully when going through unusual wear patterns.

Thanks for the tip Zbike. I will definitely do a closer inspection before putting the wheel back in use.

 

[BioWheel]

A Kaputt Range Extender?

I experienced the most strange phenomenon on our group ride yesterday. I was riding on the main batter and one of my REs labelled "ENG" (by me). At some ride point, the main battery dropped to 7% but the RE got stuck at 49%: both were reported on Wahoo, so the RE was connected to the Vado SL. As the RE was not delivering any current, the motor got derated. Lucky me I spotted the issue! As soon as I disconnected the RE and turned the e-bike on, the TCU displayed a red LED for the main battery (correct). More. Even if the RE was seen by Wahoo, its green LEDs were gone from the TCU!

The RE might have got broken and protected by BMS against discharging, or it was just a one-time incident. The battery charges normally; a faulty battery would not, and there would be error LEDs on the RE flashing.

As we say in Poland: "Ride. Observe." I will definitely keep my eye on the ENG!
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Just for fun: My three range extenders are labelled:

• CHEMICAL
• ENG(ineer)
• HERO

The fourth RE is unlabelled.
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A Mirrycle on my Fearless broke because of a manufacturing defect. Not buying Mirrycles anymore! (I'm now on my last one).

My nameless RE is about as old as my SL—both 2021 vintage. Early on, the RE and main battery discharged at nearly identical rates and stayed closely matched in percentage throughout a ride. A few months in, the Specy app flagged a potential issue that could make the RE unusable or even stop the bike from working while it was connected.

Despite that warning, it’s kept working over the years—but the discharge behavior has changed. At times during a ride, the TCU shows the main battery draining much faster than the RE. Then later in the ride, they sometimes come back into balance.





It’s still nice to have the extra energy, but the inconsistent discharge pattern—and its effect on the main battery—has always been a concern.