The new turbo Vado 2017

[mattbytes]

Has specialized offered any trade in programs in the past?

 

[ronin2000]

ronin2000,

Let's wait and see. I am certain that regional sales folks and dealers are NOT going to have all of the information on long term availability of drive system parts (handlebar controller, batteries, and motors) for the Turbo family. All of the rest (brakes, mech, rims, spokes, tires, racks, fenders, etc.) can be sourced easily in the 3rd party market. But it is important that Specialized be clear with Turbo owners about the proprietary parts that we will need to keep these bikes going.

One of the things they could do as an alternative to a "5-year support" program would be to offer a very attractive "trade-in" program for existing Turbo owners if the cost to keep the GoSwissDrive stuff supported would be more than the cost of selling a finite number of future bikes at some discounted price. (Example - Buy a Vado 3.0 for $1,500 with the trade-in of a base Turbo, a Turbo 5.0 for $3,000 for a Turbo X or pre-2016 Turbo S).

Doug

OH I definitely agree with you Doug, I’m not running around like a chicken little with my head cut off LOL. Im just merely making a statement that I hope Specialized takes care of the early adopters (which I think a company as large as theirs should be capable of) rather than let us die on the vine with an obsolete and unsupported product. Thats a bad business model to not help existing customers. I think the trade in program to get us into new bikes is more than acceptable and will be lower cost for them to not have to maintain an inventory AND they can drive more new sales. Time will tell. In the interim I’m going to enjoy my bikes and have fun with them.

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Has specialized offered any trade in programs in the past?

Not that I know of, but they have never had to deal with the kind of potential obsolescence that is implied by the proprietary parts of an e-bike.

As long as I have been riding (since 1970), higher end bicycle manufacturers basically made frames and then used off the shelf components of varying quality. A bike manufactured 50 years ago can be kept operational, largely using parts that are still available, or that can be adapted from modern parts. I still have (and ride) my 46 year old Campagnolo equipped road bike. While I have a supply of vintage equipment to return it to 1971 standard, I mostly use the bike with modern wheels (except the rear), and get modern maintenance parts (cables, brake pads, chains, even clusters) to keep it running. Further, the evolution of technology in bicycles hasn't been so totally fast that there aren't readily available work-arounds when something gets obsolete.

Example: I found it is hard to find a front derailleur to replace a broken Shimano Sora FD-3303 on my daughters 2004 Trek 1000. The Trek has a 52-42-30 triple with 8 speed rear cassette, but most modern road triples and front derailleurs are designed for 50-39-30 triple and 9 or 10 speed cassette. The FD-3303 is no longer available. The simplest solution turned out to be to buy two new chainrings, convert her 13 year old triple to 50-39-30 and use a modern Shimano Claris derailleur. This keeps her bike functional (the old rings were worn and been bent several times anyway).

 

[Paul Marin]

Interesting for me. I contacted my local dealer to set up a test ride of the Turbo X a month ago/ I was ready to buy. It's been a month and they never called me back/ I guess I was sort of on the fence at the way they were discounting bikes and not much news on what was happening with the future of these models so I didn't follow up. I also have since read about some real discounts/ much higher than my local dealer. I'm wondering if they just really don't want to sell any older models and want to be spared the issues around obsolescence, etc. I guess I'll wait to see some reviews of the Vado models or more discounts of the old models or S line... Of course any ebike you buy will eventually be obsolete...

 

[Scott Adams]

I know that the Turbo Levo (and similar Vado) have bluetooth. Is the bluetooth function it in the battery or resident in the bike frame itself?

But I believe that this person is responsible and look forward to a reasoned response from Specialized before we get too concerned.

For the Turbo Levos, I'm quite certain the bluetooth interface is within the battery itself, which also has the battery level indicator LEDs, the on/off button and the up/down buttons to set the level of support built into it's case.

Do you know what the warranty terms are for Specialized ebikes? I believe the batteries and motor are not covered by the "lifetime" warranty for the frame.

There are laws/regulations regarding how long a manufacturer must maintain parts and service in the case of some products, like cars- but does that apply to ebikes?

 

[ronin2000]

For the Turbo Levos, I'm quite certain the bluetooth interface is within the battery itself, which also has the battery level indicator LEDs, the on/off button and the up/down buttons to set the level of support built into it's case.

Do you know what the warranty terms are for Specialized ebikes? I believe the batteries and motor are not covered by the "lifetime" warranty for the frame.

There are laws/regulations regarding how long a manufacturer must maintain parts and service in the case of some products, like cars- but does that apply to ebikes?

I believe battery is 2 years and motor is 3 years.

 

[Scott Adams]

Google pointed me to a PDF of the Specialized warranty from 2013 / 2014-

• 2 YEARS
  
  
• „ Turbo motor, battery (or at least 75% capacity after 300 charge cycles), and Turbo electronics (remote, cable connectors, User Interface).
  

1. The original owner shall pay all labor charges connected with the repair or replacement of all parts. Under no circumstances does this Limited Warranty include the cost of travel or shipment to and from an authorized Specialized dealer. Such costs, if any, shall be borne by the original owner.
   

 

[Admin]

By the way, the Vado's are finally published on the US site!!

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

Thanks! I used my knowledge of the other Brose models, prior Specialized models, their webpage and the manual to produce this preview/review, feel free to chime in with corrections, updates or general thoughts: https://electricbikereview.com/specialized/turbo-vado-3-0/ working on the 5.0 next

Just published the 5.0 so you can compare specs side-by-side using the compare tool. Got both loaded with this link for you: https://electricbikereview.com/compare/items/92795,92798

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Thanks! I used my knowledge of the other Brose models, prior Specialized models, their webpage and the manual to produce this preview/review, feel free to chime in with corrections, updates or general thoughts: https://electricbikereview.com/specialized/turbo-vado-3-0/ working on the 5.0 next

Just published the 5.0 so you can compare specs side-by-side using the compare tool. Got both loaded with this link for you: https://electricbikereview.com/compare/items/92795,92798

Court some mistakes on your Vado 5.0 comparison. The 5.0 has a top speed of 28 mph. Also the front fork is not an SR Suntour but is a solid fork.

 

[Admin]

Excellent, thank you so much @Douglas Ruby! I often clone posts and work on the differences to save time vs. starting from scratch. I just made the corrections and am in the process of uploading a video preview / comparison of the two models. It's fun to geek out with specs like this but I don't always have time or such a clear and trustworthy source. Very excited for the Vado later this year!

Update! Just finished the video and it's live below and in the staged reviews. Please let me know if you guys like this sort of thing or feel it's distracting or just wrong. I spent time to do this because I saw a lot of activity here and received emails asking what I thought about the new model but I'm trying to be authentic and this is not really a review like normal

 

[Michael Bach]

Vado 5.0 or Trek Super Commuter 8. What do you guys think? They are competing at the exact same price point. I think the Trek is better looking. Thoughts?

 

[E-Wheels]

Vado 5.0 or Trek Super Commuter 8. What do you guys think? They are competing at the exact same price point. I think the Trek is better looking. Thoughts?

Trek Super Commuter 8 for me. Nicer looking IMO and I like the way they have integrated the Bosch battery into the downtube. With the Bosch system at least you know you will have more options to get replacement batteries going forward instead of the propriety Brose-Specialized setup which will eventually become redundant when Specialized drop the Vado range for something else as they have with the Turbo

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Completely agree.

 

[Drew224]

Buy a Stromer ST whichever. It's pretty obvious where Specialized got their idea from...except for the center drive motor. And to quote e-wheels...you know you'll have the same battery for years to come. I think this is Stromers 6th year..same battery!!!

 

[ronin2000]

Buy a Stromer ST whichever. It's pretty obvious where Specialized got their idea from...except for the center drive motor. And to quote e-wheels...you know you'll have the same battery for years to come. I think this is Stromers 6th year..same battery!!!

Is that what you ended up getting?

 

[Drew224]

Is that what you ended up getting?

No..not as of yet. Waiting too see if we get any news from Dougs email to corporate at specialized. Not gonna wait too long though...so if no good news...than I'll probably go with the Stromer ST2. I stumbled across another bike though...which I kinda like....the Italjet Ascot. It doesn't have much range or top speed...but damn that bike looks cool!!!!

 

[ronin2000]

No..not as of yet. Waiting too see if we get any news from Dougs email to corporate at specialized. Not gonna wait too long though...so if no good news...than I'll probably go with the Stromer ST2. I stumbled across another bike though...which I kinda like....the Italjet Ascot. It doesn't have much range or top speed...but damn that bike looks cool!!!!

IM on the fence about picking up an extra battery (if it can be had...) to extend the life of the bike, but at the same time I don’t want to dump more money into an unsupported system... If Specialized could throw us a bone for a credit/trade in program 2-3 years down the line Id be fairly happy. I LOVE THE LOOK of the streamlined TURBO vs the VADO. The Vados look like a pregnant bike...

 

[Drew224]

IM on the fence about picking up an extra battery (if it can be had...) to extend the life of the bike, but at the same time I don’t want to dump more money into an unsupported system... If Specialized could throw us a bone for a credit/trade in program 2-3 years down the line Id be fairly happy. I LOVE THE LOOK of the streamlined TURBO vs the VADO. The Vados look like a pregnant bike...

I know right....yeah I didn't like them from the get go. It's like their eliminating everything they started with and starting over with this line. Turbo's aggressive as hell....Vado....a gender neutral version.
Don't know why they can't have both??? Girls Vado and men's are basically identical...why?!?!

 

[ronin2000]

I know right....yeah I didn't like them from the get go. It's like their eliminating everything they started with and starting over with this line. Turbo's aggressive as hell....Vado....a gender neutral version.
Don't know why they can't have both??? Girls Vado and men's are basically identical...why?!?!

If we can get these batteries repacked, I’m on board, I figure absolute worst case scenario, if the motor and batteries die, ill gut the battery on this bike, remove the rear hub, and convert it to another hub/mid drive from another brand, and use the battery pack space with repacked batteries. No sense letting a sexy bike go to waste right?

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Today I followed up my phone conversation with a formal email to the Turbo Product Manager. Key things I asked for were 5 year availability for out-of-warranty spares through the dealers and/or accessory catalog for:

• Battery - At least the option to purchase a 691 Wh battery which can be used to replace any earlier Turbo battery. Or an approved battery refurb program where one gets a new battery and returns a core.
• Handlebar Controllers - Spares availability for both the Shimano brake version (new Turbo X/S) and the older Formula Version (base Turbo, older Turbo X, Turbo S). Due to frequency of backlight failures and joystick failures.
• Motors - At least the 250W motor for all base Turbo and older Turbo S/X. 500W version for new Turbo S. They can end-of-life the 200W, since the 250W could be a direct replacement.

I also suggested very strongly that Specialized read through this entire thread. I doubt they have ever end-of-life'd a bike before that has this much proprietary content and high average sales price. The issue is not just warranty support, but customer loyalty as they transition to the new model.

Doug

P.S. Go on line and read the Vado user manual. The feature set is really pretty good.