Turbo Vado 2 4.0 or 5.0 or 6.0?

rochrunner said:
Great looking bike! Almost gives me buyer's remorse for the route I took. :)
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Hi rochrunner, I see you are in Rochester Hills MI. My wife and I are OU grads and I lived basically at the intersection of 26 mile road and Canada for 50 years. Small world.

I followed your posts about loving your SL 5.0 but wanting the lower step over height. I'm in the same boat regarding hip flexibility. I can swing my leg over the seat (barely) but I know that's an accident waiting to happen when I don't clear the seat. I would have liked to get the Carbon frame 6.0 but that's not available as a step through. A short test ride with a dropper seat post showed that to be an improvement but I decided to go with the step through as the safest choice plus we ain't getting any younger.

I seriously considered following your lead and getting one of the NOS 4.0 bikes but in the end decided the future shock plus the more powerful motor were worth the extra weight. I've been riding a Como 3.0 with the same power and battery size as the SL 2 so knew that would be plenty of power and range for me. Also I was used to a 62# bike so this 44# one feels a lot lighter.
 
mcdenny said:
Weird, when I ordered my bike on Jan 20, Spec showed 10+ in stock and the bike arrived the LBS said it would be at their store in 5-7 days and it was.
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specialized has a certain number of bikes that only go to the stores, another number for consumers to buy direct on the website, and some other number which could end up elsewhere or both or so on. so if you go in and ask, what they see definitely doesn’t match the website. i bought a bike once that the shop said they couldn’t get for 6 months, online it was available in a month or two and of course i could have it assembled at the shop and picked up just as if they’d had it…
 
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mschwett said:
i wonder what the pattern or logic is, there have been big sales on previous years’ models, and then they’re full price, and then back and forth again! you’d think they either have a lot of them or not….
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Hard to figure. Surely they're not discovering stock they'd lost track of.

According to my dealer, mine was "discovered" languishing in its unopened shipping box in a Texas warehouse. But hard to imagine that happening in numbers big enough to trigger NOS sales.
 
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mschwett said:
specialized has a certain number of bikes that only go to the stores, another number for consumers to buy direct on the website, and some other number which could end up elsewhere or both or so on. so if you go in and ask, what they see definitely doesn’t match the website. i bought a bike once that the shop said they couldn’t get for 6 months, online it was available in a month or two and of course i could have it assembled at the shop and picked up just as if they’d had it…
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As all this is true, I think the picture is a way more complicated. You all can remember the "pandemic bubble" that brought so many brands to their collapse. Specialized was not any different and it took the brand several years to sell the stock. For instance, a friend of mine could buy one of the last Vado SL 1 5.0 at a very big discount. Now, Specialized seems to do everything possible to balance the worldwide, regional, and national stock to the local demand.

Specialized e-bikes are made in Taiwan. Specialized seems to order batches of specific e-bikes for specific regions. As the situation is fluent, the availability wildly varies.

Examples of online availability:

Germany
  • Vado SL 2 4.0 marketed as "NEW!" available
  • Vado SL 2 5.0 available
  • Vado SL 2 6.0 available

Poland
  • Vado SL 2 4.0 marketed as "NEW!" available
  • Vado SL 2 6.0 available
United States
  • Only Vado SL 2 6.0 listed in the offer
Canada
  • Only Vado SL 2 6.0 listed in the offer
This is the situation for Sunday February 8th 2026 at 8:20 AM (CET)

Perhaps we are in a transition period between the orders and the batches made/delivered to a region. It also tells me the 6.0 doesn't sell very well and it is the old stock.
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It looks @mcdenny was very lucky with his purchase. The 5.0 and in the beautiful frame colour!
 
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@mcdenny:

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The geometry of your Vado SL 2 is just ideal. You've just got used to the upright riding position with your Como but Como is a totally different bike type!

I can understand you feel you must ride more upright (and the stem riser setup has been already agreed) but trust me, your butt and especially groins won't thank you :) You say the saddle is hard for you. Would you believe I used to ride for 130-140 km on the same saddle model without any pain? OK, I know I can't convince you! :)
 
Stefan Mikes said:
I can understand you feel you must ride more upright (and the stem riser setup has been already agreed) but trust me, your butt and especially groins won't thank you :) You say the saddle is hard for you. Would you believe I used to ride for 130-140 km on the same saddle model without any pain? OK, I know I can't convince you! :)
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Stefan, I think you're disregarding differences in peoples' anatomy. I have never found a comfortable bike seat regardless of riding position, and I've tried a bunch over the years. Even when I was motorcycling I was always looking for a saddle "solution". A few years ago I had to have surgery for a pilonidal cyst. It was done by a colorectal surgeon (who has seen many a butt :) ) and he told me that cyclists and long-distance truckers were the most common people he sees for this. When I later asked him if I could resume cycling after it was healed, he said to make sure that I always wear well-padded shorts because I have no "natural padding" in that area. That explains a lot about my experiences and is one reason why I always buy high-end shorts and bibs! However, they can only do so much and I still get plenty sore after an hour or so.
 
rochrunner said:
Stefan, I think you're disregarding differences in peoples' anatomy. I have never found a comfortable bike seat regardless of riding position, and I've tried a bunch over the years. Even when I was motorcycling I was always looking for a saddle "solution". A few years ago I had to have surgery for a pilonidal cyst. It was done by a colorectal surgeon (who has seen many a butt :) ) and he told me that cyclists and long-distance truckers were the most common people he sees for this. When I later asked him if I could resume cycling after it was healed, he said to make sure that I always wear well-padded shorts because I have no "natural padding" in that area. That explains a lot about my experiences and is one reason why I always buy high-end shorts and bibs! However, they can only do so much and I still get plenty sore after an hour or so.
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Agreed with the differences in people's anatomy. Everyone is different. After all cyclists who go on long tours often have an upright position, not stretched out and cycle hundreds of miles very comfortably. Stretched out can be bad for your lower back and especially your neck. The key with a more upright position is a suitably wide saddle as more of your sit bones is rotated down and there is more weight on it. With a stretched out or racing position a narrow saddle is better as the bones rotate forward and more weight is on your hands and wrists. Key is bike fit, either upright or stretched out and every position in between.
 
A more forward riding position shifts a big deal of the body weight not only on the wrists but also on the feet. Currently, 248 guys ride a 1,400 km long race in Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Ask them how they can sit on the saddle for such a long time.

A softer and wider saddle is not only chafing your bottom but also... Has anyone of you tried pedalling while sitting on a sofa? Very inefficient.
 
mcdenny said:
Hi rochrunner, I see you are in Rochester Hills MI. My wife and I are OU grads and I lived basically at the intersection of 26 mile road and Canada for 50 years. Small world.
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Aha! Marine City. My wife and I go there about once a season for a meal and general outing. And I rode through there on my SL last June in the Blue Water Ramble (an event that was a lot more fun before the border crossings tightened up and then the ferry stopped running). We also came back from Canada (via the ferry) a couple times when we just didn't want to deal with the traffic and hassles at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron.
 
Stefan Mikes said:
A more forward riding position shifts a big deal of the body weight not only on the wrists but also on the feet. Currently, 248 guys ride a 1,400 km long race in Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Ask them how they can sit on the saddle for such a long time.

A softer and wider saddle is not only chafing your bottom but also... Has anyone of you tried pedalling while sitting on a sofa? Very inefficient
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I didn't say softer! The width of saddle is determined by your sit bones rotation - more upright position, the rotation on the bone 'saddle' is wider so the saddle should be wider to support it (and extra weight). If you're on drops, or any more forward position, additional weight is not on your feet. Your feet are spinning, it's balanced between saddle and bars more 50%/50%.

Look at Brooks saddle sizing; they go from B15 (narrow) to B19 (wide) It's the same saddle, just wider and each version designed for different rider positions. They've been making saddles since 1866 so pretty much since the start of cycling and are still going strong. Think they understand saddles and seat positions pretty well.

Re the Atlas Mountain Race - so these 'guys' (and girls!) are athletes, their saddles are obviously going to be different to non athletes. But check out the actual bikes and the upright positions they use with the very upright aero bars to relieve their arms on the long difficult terrain. Not stretched out low and slammed.

bikepacking.com

Rigs of the 2026 Atlas Mountain Race (Part 1)

We're kicking off our 2026 "Rigs Of" series with the 2026 Atlas Mountain Race. Find the first 50 rigs of the 2026 Atlas Mountain Race here...
bikepacking.com bikepacking.com

The most popular off the shelf bike on races like this and the Tour Divide is the Salsa Cutthroat (designed for the Tour divide) which features very short reach & high stack for a drop bar bike, for the comfort needed on endurance off road racing like this..

For Mcdenny if the saddle continues to be uncomfortable of course you should change it, but before you do I'd suggest you get a bike fit, or play around with your own other saddles before you spend more money. It does take time to break in a new saddle/new bike & riding position.
 
Regarding saddles: I swapped the Spec OEM seat for a Serfas RX I've been using on my Trek FX3. The Serfas is the same length but 1" wider and noticeably softer. Haven't ridden the new bike with it yet but I know it's been comfortable on my acoustic Trek. I don't ride the Trek for as long as I do my E bike though. We will see.

Spec OEM 10.5" long, 5.75" wide, 265 grams ___________________Serfas RX 10.25" long, 6.75" wide, 551 grams
IMG_2033.jpeg
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This is the dorky looking Selle Royal I've been using on my Como (quite upright posture).
I have found it comfortable for 3-4 hours riding. No chafing ever.
10" long, 8.5" wide, very soft.
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Next two days are supposed to be in the 60s so I hope to get some time in on the new bike with the Serfas saddle

My new 2" higher handle bars should be here in 2-3 weeks. I'm going to take it back to the LBS and get some bike fit advice after the higher bars are installed. I did fuss around yesterday adjusting the seat height to the straight leg, heel on peddle rule. It ended up about 3 cm lower than it is in the new bike picture against the brick wall above.

As I've been swapping the saddles I noticed the two halves of the Serfas seat can move independently viewed from the rear (like a bird's wings flapping). Neither the Spec OEM seat or the Selle Royal have this flexibility. I don't know if this is a "thing" but it seems like it is a good feature. ??
 
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Jeremy McCreary said:
Ah, like my SL 1 then — purchased in September, 2024, frame sticker dated October, 2022. No discount, though.
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Just now Spec website shows SL (not 2) 5.0 EQ in silver available from warehouse in XL and in stock at a few stores in M and L. $5249.00!
$150 more than the new SL 2 5.0 EQ.

Also curious, my LBS has another SL 2 4.0 size M in stock. Certainly other stores throughout the US have SL 2 4.0 and 5.0 bikes in stock. The Spec website implies they aren't available at all. Sure sounds like a computer glitch.
 
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