Specialized Vado 4 SL - installation of handlebar bag - lowering light or relocating it?

M

mountain-bluebird

New Member
Region
USA
Hi,

I want to install a handlebar bag for my commute. Something like a Toppeak or Ortlieb with mounting bracket. To do this, has anyone lowered the always-on light or relocated it. Not massively technical, so if there are any parts or obscure terminology, I would appreciate a link. Thank-you.
 
Before I decided to change the handlebars on my Vado SL I was looking at using a handlebar extender to get height for a basket or bag. Many of them on Amazon:

EC894901-B33C-4AFD-AABC-8299F84C0C2F.jpeg
 
mountain-bluebird said:
Hi,

I want to install a handlebar bag for my commute. Something like a Toppeak or Ortlieb with mounting bracket. To do this, has anyone lowered the always-on light or relocated it. Not massively technical, so if there are any parts or obscure terminology, I would appreciate a link. Thank-you.
Click to expand...
Forget about the light unless you have a buddy who could fabricate something. I've looked at Vados with the light located on the front fender area. It's just a simple wire bracket . That could easily break if you fell . Apparently Specialized doesn't want you to be able to move it from the stem bracket . Since they sell the stem for someone who might want to move it there. From what I can find they don't make the Fender bracket .
 
VoltMan99 said:
Does your bike have front fenders? That could be a possible point to mount the light…
Click to expand...
I got a brief look at a Vado 5 with the Fender Mounted light . I need someone to get me a picture of one mounted . I can then find the parts . It's so obvious what they used to mount it there . I need to know the clearance though . They use the same bolt that holds the Fender on . I even found a place online that says he could make one up fairly cheap . I just need to see what I'm dealing with It appears they use a similar mount like what you'd use to mount a light to caliper . Just bent differently. It's obviously not very stable there . I watched a Video with a Guy riding a New Vado 4 . His light kept flopping sideways
 
Cramer Long said:
I got a brief look at a Vado 5 with the Fender Mounted light . I need someone to get me a picture of one mounted . I can then find the parts . It's so obvious what they used to mount it there . I need to know the clearance though . They use the same bolt that holds the Fender on . I even found a place online that says he could make one up fairly cheap . I just need to see what I'm dealing with It appears they use a similar mount like what you'd use to mount a light to caliper . Just bent differently. It's obviously not very stable there . I watched a Video with a Guy riding a New Vado 4 . His light kept flopping sideways
Click to expand...
Vado 5 SL fender bolt is through the rear of the fork. That wouldn’t prevent you from devising a thin bracket with aluminum that ran on top of the fender beneath the fork. However if I have to mount on the fender I will just use some type of adhesive, along with perhaps a GoPro camera mount cutout if needed. The problem becomes where to route the wiring. I don’t have my bike yet because it’s still being built, and it’s too rainy to pick it up anyway, so I can’t see what is actually installed yet.

Edit: that would also flip the light 180° thus making its Stvzo beam shape illuminate skyward. So the light needs to hang from its bracket.

I am very much warming up to the idea of a handlebar mounted bag now though!
 
Last edited:
VoltMan99 said:
Vado 5 SL fender bolt is through the rear of the fork. That wouldn’t prevent you from devising a thin bracket with aluminum that ran on top of the fender beneath the fork. However if I have to mount on the fender I will just use some type of adhesive, along with perhaps a GoPro camera mount cutout if needed. The problem becomes where to route the wiring. I don’t have my bike yet because it’s still being built, and it’s too rainy to pick it up anyway, so I can’t see what is actually installed yet.

Edit: that would also flip the light 180° thus making its Stvzo beam shape illuminate skyward. So the light needs to hang from its bracket.

I am very much warming up to the idea of a handlebar mounted bag now though!
Click to expand...
My bad I was thinking regular Vado . Guess I need to pay better attention with Titles
 
The Vado SL 4.0 with it's alloy fork has hole&thread in the front of the fork for normal light installation there. We installed the light for my wife there, as she wants to use her Ortlieb handle bar bag like before...
The bad thing ist, the Lezyne front light on the Vado SL 4.0 has a special housing only for handle bar mount and you can't flip it around (the normal version of this light you can buy in the www is for fork mount). So you need a new front light (up to 7.5watts) for fork mount.
 
jodi2 said:
The Vado SL 4.0 with it's alloy fork has hole&thread in the front of the fork for normal light installation there. We installed the light for my wife there, as she wants to use her Ortlieb handle bar bag like before...
The bad thing ist, the Lezyne front light on the Vado SL 4.0 has a special housing only for handle bar mount and you can't flip it around (the normal version of this light you can buy in the www is for fork mount). So you need a new front light (up to 7.5watts) for fork mount.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Any chance you can share a photo of bag and light? Only if it is no trouble. I want to know what I am doing. And thanks for the info' on the hole&thread, I saw your previous post and assumed you were mounting on one of the forks on one side of the wheel.
 
Cramer Long said:
Forget about the light unless you have a buddy who could fabricate something. I've looked at Vados with the light located on the front fender area. It's just a simple wire bracket . That could easily break if you fell . Apparently Specialized doesn't want you to be able to move it from the stem bracket . Since they sell the stem for someone who might want to move it there. From what I can find they don't make the Fender bracket .
Click to expand...
I took a look at the light and thought if I had my brother's meccano kit from 50 years ago, I could fabricate something!
 
mountain-bluebird said:
Thanks. Trying to not add weight, but that would be a solution for someone. What did you decide to use for handlebars?
Click to expand...
I went with BMX handlebars to get a net 150mm rise with the stock Specialized stem. Here’s an example. I went with an alloy aluminum but that’s now out of stock.

boxcomponents.com

Box One Oversized Chromoly Flat Handlebar

Like the Box One™ Chromoly handlebars, Flat Chromoly bars are super stiff and custom made from the highest quality 4130 chrome-molybdenum. They feature a proprietary 13-butted taper from 22.2 Ø at the grip area to 31.8 Ø across the clamp area. The incredible stiffness of the 31.8 oversize bar...
boxcomponents.com

I didn’t do it for a bag though - purely for the rise for my back. Total cost including labor and parts for lengthening the cables etc. was about $500 US. However if you look closely there is a 1 inch crossbar I can leverage for hanging the bag etc. but I haven’t decided yet on a handlebar bag or a left side only rear pannier type.
 
mountain-bluebird said:
Thank you. Any chance you can share a photo of bag and light? Only if it is no trouble. I want to know what I am doing. And thanks for the info' on the hole&thread, I saw your previous post and assumed you were mounting on one of the forks on one side of the wheel.
Click to expand...
WhatsApp Image 2021-07-07 at 16.56.20.jpeg
 
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