Specialized’s ultra-light 120-mile range e-bike - Turbo Vado SL
- Thread starter FlatSix911
- Start date
TMH
Well-Known Member
TBC... (to be continued?)
been riding my Vado SL 4 for about a week now and i am having a lot of trouble riding it on level 1 assist or no power as i am feeling a lot of drag on the drivetrain. Since this is my first ebike so i was wondering if this was normal? It got so bad at times that i hopped off my bike a few times just to check if my brakes were catching but my freespin seems to be fine.
Over50
Well-Known Member
The early release videos claim no drag.
@Jay12345 and @BEC111 : Can you tell us what frame size you purchased and your height? I ordered a medium but started having second thoughts that perhaps I should be on a large. I just noticed the size guide that Specialized has on their website is not updated for the Vado SL and it is for the Vado. And I based my decision on that errant size guide plus a comparison to my Allant. I'm 5'9". The Vado SL in medium is a bit taller (standover) than the Allant in medium but shorter is most other aspects: wheelbase, reach, chainstay ...
Deacon Blues
Well-Known Member
One way to find out for sure is to test ride another SL 4.0 or 5.0, to see if you notice the same amount of drag.
I have been test riding the SL 5.0 non-EQ for the past couple of days. I borrowed/tested it out from the Specialized Experience Store in Boulder, CO. They are a top-notch, first-rate outfit, that's for sure.
Anyway - I've been impressed. I haven't owned an ebike before, but I will soon be changing my commute to something reasonable wrt bike commuting so I have been researching and now testing.
I tested the XL 5.0 SL. I'm 6'3" with a 34" inseam and it fits me great. I have the seat post pretty high also.
Being *somewhat* active still, I appreciate the power-add of the SL motor. On the Vado (non SL), I felt like it provided too much "oomph". The SL feels just right for me. For example, I took it out on a gravel trail around here with good hills and was able to still get my heart rate up to near maximum, even on "turbo" mode. Though tbh, I did get some pretty high Strava segment leads...which I need to make sure I don't track the ebike rides on Strava.
I tested out the commute (~ 4 miles with a good mix of gravel, hills and bike path/pavement) and when I don't push it but simply ride the bike with assist, I can do that commute without getting tired or sweaty...which is my goal.
Overall, I really liked the mix of electric assist, good looks (not TOO ostentatious or ebike-y), and light(ish) weight.
I did notice on a couple of occasions this morning where the assist felt like it "cut out" 2x in a row back to back while riding. I was pedaling the whole time and could feel the power just disappear and come back. Weird. Hadn't experienced that the other couple of days I had ridden it. After that, it didn't happen again. So - I'll keep watching. I have to return it tomorrow after one more commute and then probably I'll end up getting it (have to decide between the non-EQ and EQ...I like the color of the non-EQ but would appreciate the extras of the EQ already on the bike...). It's a big investment for me so I want to make sure I do the research and choice properly.
Anyway - I've been impressed. I haven't owned an ebike before, but I will soon be changing my commute to something reasonable wrt bike commuting so I have been researching and now testing.
I tested the XL 5.0 SL. I'm 6'3" with a 34" inseam and it fits me great. I have the seat post pretty high also.
Being *somewhat* active still, I appreciate the power-add of the SL motor. On the Vado (non SL), I felt like it provided too much "oomph". The SL feels just right for me. For example, I took it out on a gravel trail around here with good hills and was able to still get my heart rate up to near maximum, even on "turbo" mode. Though tbh, I did get some pretty high Strava segment leads...which I need to make sure I don't track the ebike rides on Strava.
I tested out the commute (~ 4 miles with a good mix of gravel, hills and bike path/pavement) and when I don't push it but simply ride the bike with assist, I can do that commute without getting tired or sweaty...which is my goal.
Overall, I really liked the mix of electric assist, good looks (not TOO ostentatious or ebike-y), and light(ish) weight.
I did notice on a couple of occasions this morning where the assist felt like it "cut out" 2x in a row back to back while riding. I was pedaling the whole time and could feel the power just disappear and come back. Weird. Hadn't experienced that the other couple of days I had ridden it. After that, it didn't happen again. So - I'll keep watching. I have to return it tomorrow after one more commute and then probably I'll end up getting it (have to decide between the non-EQ and EQ...I like the color of the non-EQ but would appreciate the extras of the EQ already on the bike...). It's a big investment for me so I want to make sure I do the research and choice properly.
i'm 5'11 and ride a medium i have shorter legs i think so i went with that instead of the large just so i have enough clearance on the top tune when standing. i'll give it another shot tomorrow and try riding around without any power.
BEC111
Well-Known Member
Mine’s a medium. Stand over height is close for me. My pants inseam is 29 or so. That should help you visualize.
I've been similar issues with mine. Noticed quite a drag when off-power. Let me know if find anything out.
Over50
Well-Known Member
If it is motor drag, then that will make for some blatant false advertising on the part of Specialized. Unless you interpret the snippet below to mean it is only drag-free at speed. And in @Court review at about 26:20 he rides w no power and on the lowest assist level and doesn't notice or at least doesn't mention any drag.
Not an engineer by any stretch but, tbh -- could a mid-drive system even produce any type of drag? Unless I'm mistaken I would think that the motor is only there to assist the crank. A wonky hub-drive I could see slowing down the bike so... eh, perhaps my brakes were setup incorrectly -- will need to put some more miles on it -- only have 30 or so atm...
Thanks for the reply. Interesting. For me, it does occur when I'm rolling and I halt cadence -- the power cuts out followed by a discernible drag-like sensation. @Jay12345 is that what you're getting?
Correct. Immediately after halting cadence when power shuts off(coasting) I feel a slight drag on the bike. It's odd. Will hopefully get a chance to ride tonight depending on city curfew. Any ideas to troubleshoot it?
Thanks much @Captain Slow
Scott Adams
Active Member
Rob at emtb posted a video today showing how to remove the battery from a Levo SL. Most likely the same or similar process would apply to the Vado SL and perhaps even the Creo SL.
Many on this forum don't do their own wrenching and others wouldn't want to void the warranty, but it might interest some people who think they will be flying with their SL bike.
Many on this forum don't do their own wrenching and others wouldn't want to void the warranty, but it might interest some people who think they will be flying with their SL bike.
FlatSix911
Well-Known Member
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Based on the video... I would hope to never have to remove the battery for service!
Certainly possible that it's just my perception. Does not appear that the brake rotors are rubbing but I'll get that confirmed at some point. Thanks much for your thoughts -- appreciate it.
Deacon Blues
Well-Known Member
To find out if the brakes are dragging put the bike upside down on the ground and spin the wheels. Do they seem to turn freely? Apply the brakes a few times and see if they'll still spin freely. If they do, it's not the brakes.
5.0 Turbo Vado SL EQ First Ride Impressions. OMG, please somebody wipe this annoying smile off my face!! 1st ever e-bike purchase. 1st ever real e-bike ride as well. Sorry if this forum thread Reply is long, but this 6’ 1 3/4” 57 year old 260 pound fat guy is a cyclist again!! Just got home from a fairly hilly 1st ride on my my brand spanking new Turbo Vado SL 5.0, and I am absolutely jacked and stoked!! Yup, I gained 30 lbs. during this Covid crisis—but also obviously wasn’t exactly slim to start with. But after watching Court’s video reviews (of many bikes), researching, reading this forum and this thread and all of your posts in particular (and after repeatedly riding—trying to ride more like it—a 15 mile loop thru my South Salem, Oregon hills on my 17-year old size XL Giant Cypress with a buddy who has a newer Class 1 Trek, and after painfully huffing and puffing to keep up with him—even walking the tips of a couple of the steeps—he‘s a good friend, he walked and talked with me—I decided I really needed an e-bike if I were going to be a cyclist again. But not just any e-bike. I needed a real bike. So, I made a deal after some protracted and intense (sometimes playfully brutal) negotiations with that woman who has been the true head of my household for the past 23 years (my best friend, who am I kidding? I got the better end of that whole exchange rings deal). If I agree to deposit 5k into her checking account with no strings attached, then I can go guilt free buy me a Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0. It was a fricking no-brainer!! And oh, my God did I ever get the better end of that deal as well!! I feel like a 6th grader again who just endured a month‘s worth of strawberry picking to buy a $120.00 yellow 42 lb. Schwinn Varsity 10 speed, a real boys bike! Same smile on my face, too.
BUYING EXPERIENCE: Local Specialized shop in Salem, Oregon has no bikes (same local shop where I bought my Giant 17+ years ago—they sold Specialized then, too, but that new dad of 2 infant sons simply couldn’t afford a Specialized bike and a used Burley trailer to haul those 2 sons up those hills back then, so he bought a Giant). This weekend, I found The e-bike Store (www.ebikestore.com) in Portland, Oregon, and they had both an XL and Large 5.0 in stock. Can’t say enough good things about those guys—definitely worth the trip to North Portland. Brian, Jeff, and the owner Wade. Met them all, they are a Class Act from start to finish. Being a tweener at 6’ 1+”, over the phone Brian thought I’d best fit in a Large, so they assembled one for my Covid-19 appointment later Monday, and I sent them the coin sight unseen (they would have taken a deposit, but I wasn’t taking any chances). They also let me know they had an already assembled XL with about 7 miles on it, and if it was still there when I got there, that would also be an option. I rode the Large around north Portland. It was stupendous. And I would have been very happy with it for another 17 years until I bought my next bike at age 74. The Large did feel a bit upright, even a bit cramped, but it was still a dream to ride. I then tried the XL just for sheets and giggles before closing the deal. OMG, Specialized custom made that that XL for my body and how I like to ride—a little forward but not road bike forward. Bam! Little longer wheelbase, little longer top tube, plus the steering tube is extended a few centimeters which permits me a bit more forward posture—not quite drop tube’ish, but more so than the Large. I still quivered awhile and sought advice and input from Brian and Jeff. My hesitancy? The top tube is high. I have a 32” inseam, long thighs, long arms. Standing over the top tube on the XL at the lowest point, I can lift the wheel only a couple of inches—some concern. More groin clearance with the Large. But the rest of that XL just felt batting glove right.
RIDE: OMG! This is still a bike. It is solid and stable. My hilly curvy loop which took me 2+ hours the other day on my Giant Cypress (with some embarrassing walking) took me less than an hour this evening. And I was riding, not fighting. I actually went a bit further, because I wanted to see how the bike (and my compression carbon forks) handled on steep downhill curvy rutted gravel. And the forks get an A+! The bike itself and tires get a gravel score of B from me, because it got a bit squirrelly over 15 mph, and I had to ride the brakes to keep my speed down. But it was new spring gravel over steep lateral ruts, and my bike was bouncing pretty severely, but I felt no discomfort, zero harshness, and never felt like I was losing steering, even if the bike itself wasn’t ripping thru that gravel. It felt like skiing a steep spring mogul run—always just on the verge of losing control in bad snow, having to brake. My Giant and Urban RockShox would have ripped it. Nicely dampened. That’s the word I would use to describe my 5.0 carbon forks in rutted gravel. Definitely worth the price of the upgrade from the 4.0. I did get thru the gravel, and the rest of the ride, OMG! The downhills were a grin. I kept it on level 1 ECO instead of off, and the downhill curves wouldn‘t let me comfortably get much above 36 mph, but the bike was solid. While I had to take my eyes off the ride computer after hitting 36 (to avoid free falling off a ravine and into an old growth Douglas Fir—would have scratched my new paint), I was in 11th gear, peddling, and I still had power left in 11th gear. The bike was balanced and solid. I would have been braking on my Giant Cypress to control my speed. Not on this bike. I never once felt I was close to the edge on paved curves at speed (unlike the downhill gravel experience—but in all fairness, that gravel chute is challenging even on my analog Giant, a bike I intimately know after 17 years). I got down to the Willamette River bottom and rode probably 3 miles on rolling flats in level 1. Peddled pretty workout hard, but not straining, and comfortably kept a speed in 7th-9th gear of 18.2-19.5 mph. As others have said, this motor likes cadence. You can feel it. This bike gives feedback. That may sound cheesy, but it really does. The other thing is that the 5.0 derailleur is a dream. I was constantly shifting up and down to maintain constant speed and cadence. I’ve never been able to do that before. Shifting was smooth and instant. I‘ve never experienced a quality derailleur before. And I like it.
WHAT ABOUT TURBO AND 2 TIMES YOU? Yup! That‘s the answer. I was biking. I went up those same steeps I had to walk up the other day after losing momentum in 1st gear, but on the Vado, I stayed in 2nd-3rd gear and comfortably maintained 6-8 mph with some effort, but zero strain. The bike didn’t get me up those hills. I got me and my bike up those hills. But there was most definitely no huffing, puffing, pain, or cramping. They were hills. And I climbed them. On my bike. God, I love this bike, and I’ve only ridden it once. As soon as I crested each of those hills in Turbo, I went back to ECO level 1.
WHAT ABOUT THAT SMALL BATTERY? Fearful of being on the wrong side of a hill with no juice, I purchased the auxiliary battery. Glad I did. But I’m also taking it off for any 1-2 hour hard ride. Don’t need it. After about an hour-long fairly hard ride using Turbo on several fairly long hills, I clicked below 8 of 10 bars of power about 1/2 mile from my house.
GENERAL OVERALL IMPRESSION: Holy Crap!!
BUYING EXPERIENCE: Local Specialized shop in Salem, Oregon has no bikes (same local shop where I bought my Giant 17+ years ago—they sold Specialized then, too, but that new dad of 2 infant sons simply couldn’t afford a Specialized bike and a used Burley trailer to haul those 2 sons up those hills back then, so he bought a Giant). This weekend, I found The e-bike Store (www.ebikestore.com) in Portland, Oregon, and they had both an XL and Large 5.0 in stock. Can’t say enough good things about those guys—definitely worth the trip to North Portland. Brian, Jeff, and the owner Wade. Met them all, they are a Class Act from start to finish. Being a tweener at 6’ 1+”, over the phone Brian thought I’d best fit in a Large, so they assembled one for my Covid-19 appointment later Monday, and I sent them the coin sight unseen (they would have taken a deposit, but I wasn’t taking any chances). They also let me know they had an already assembled XL with about 7 miles on it, and if it was still there when I got there, that would also be an option. I rode the Large around north Portland. It was stupendous. And I would have been very happy with it for another 17 years until I bought my next bike at age 74. The Large did feel a bit upright, even a bit cramped, but it was still a dream to ride. I then tried the XL just for sheets and giggles before closing the deal. OMG, Specialized custom made that that XL for my body and how I like to ride—a little forward but not road bike forward. Bam! Little longer wheelbase, little longer top tube, plus the steering tube is extended a few centimeters which permits me a bit more forward posture—not quite drop tube’ish, but more so than the Large. I still quivered awhile and sought advice and input from Brian and Jeff. My hesitancy? The top tube is high. I have a 32” inseam, long thighs, long arms. Standing over the top tube on the XL at the lowest point, I can lift the wheel only a couple of inches—some concern. More groin clearance with the Large. But the rest of that XL just felt batting glove right.
RIDE: OMG! This is still a bike. It is solid and stable. My hilly curvy loop which took me 2+ hours the other day on my Giant Cypress (with some embarrassing walking) took me less than an hour this evening. And I was riding, not fighting. I actually went a bit further, because I wanted to see how the bike (and my compression carbon forks) handled on steep downhill curvy rutted gravel. And the forks get an A+! The bike itself and tires get a gravel score of B from me, because it got a bit squirrelly over 15 mph, and I had to ride the brakes to keep my speed down. But it was new spring gravel over steep lateral ruts, and my bike was bouncing pretty severely, but I felt no discomfort, zero harshness, and never felt like I was losing steering, even if the bike itself wasn’t ripping thru that gravel. It felt like skiing a steep spring mogul run—always just on the verge of losing control in bad snow, having to brake. My Giant and Urban RockShox would have ripped it. Nicely dampened. That’s the word I would use to describe my 5.0 carbon forks in rutted gravel. Definitely worth the price of the upgrade from the 4.0. I did get thru the gravel, and the rest of the ride, OMG! The downhills were a grin. I kept it on level 1 ECO instead of off, and the downhill curves wouldn‘t let me comfortably get much above 36 mph, but the bike was solid. While I had to take my eyes off the ride computer after hitting 36 (to avoid free falling off a ravine and into an old growth Douglas Fir—would have scratched my new paint), I was in 11th gear, peddling, and I still had power left in 11th gear. The bike was balanced and solid. I would have been braking on my Giant Cypress to control my speed. Not on this bike. I never once felt I was close to the edge on paved curves at speed (unlike the downhill gravel experience—but in all fairness, that gravel chute is challenging even on my analog Giant, a bike I intimately know after 17 years). I got down to the Willamette River bottom and rode probably 3 miles on rolling flats in level 1. Peddled pretty workout hard, but not straining, and comfortably kept a speed in 7th-9th gear of 18.2-19.5 mph. As others have said, this motor likes cadence. You can feel it. This bike gives feedback. That may sound cheesy, but it really does. The other thing is that the 5.0 derailleur is a dream. I was constantly shifting up and down to maintain constant speed and cadence. I’ve never been able to do that before. Shifting was smooth and instant. I‘ve never experienced a quality derailleur before. And I like it.
WHAT ABOUT TURBO AND 2 TIMES YOU? Yup! That‘s the answer. I was biking. I went up those same steeps I had to walk up the other day after losing momentum in 1st gear, but on the Vado, I stayed in 2nd-3rd gear and comfortably maintained 6-8 mph with some effort, but zero strain. The bike didn’t get me up those hills. I got me and my bike up those hills. But there was most definitely no huffing, puffing, pain, or cramping. They were hills. And I climbed them. On my bike. God, I love this bike, and I’ve only ridden it once. As soon as I crested each of those hills in Turbo, I went back to ECO level 1.
WHAT ABOUT THAT SMALL BATTERY? Fearful of being on the wrong side of a hill with no juice, I purchased the auxiliary battery. Glad I did. But I’m also taking it off for any 1-2 hour hard ride. Don’t need it. After about an hour-long fairly hard ride using Turbo on several fairly long hills, I clicked below 8 of 10 bars of power about 1/2 mile from my house.
GENERAL OVERALL IMPRESSION: Holy Crap!!
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