My wife and I each have Vado 3.0’s and are riding in the Solvang Half Century in a couple weeks. We were going to ride our Tandem, but couldn’t get into shape quickly enough. Solvang is hilly and I’m concerned about the battery range. On some recent training rides I’ve inflated the tires to 75psi, which is the max rating on the tire. We also plan on leaving them in ECO mode, except for the big hills. The chains will be freshly cleaned and oiled also. Any other suggestions to maximize our range?
Vado 3.0 Range Maximization
- Thread starter Extreme1
- Start date
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
You mean, 50 miles?
The only way to survive it is to set Smart Control in Mission Control app -> Let's Ride.
- Distance: set 50 miles
- Elevation: use a site such as ridewithgps.com -> Route Planner. Draw your planned route. The Planner will give you the total elevation gain. Enter the figure in Smart Control
- Set the "battery left at the end of the ride" at 5%
- Set the reaction to climbing at 0 ft.
The battery of your Vado 3.0 is a little bit small as for a 50-miler if you or your wife do not have strong legs. Mission Control will do whatever possible you complete the ride still on the battery.
P.S. Riding in Smart Control only allows activating Turbo mode for short bursts by pressing "+" on your handlebar remote.
P.S.2. Never pedal downhill. It will save a lot of the battery charge.
P.S.3. If your or your wife's phone battery discharges, you are in a jam. Take battery packs/powerbank with you!
Last edited:
Ahh yes, I’d forgotten about Smart Control. Thanks!
and yes 50 miles.
About 20 years ago I did two Century rides a few months apart on a regular road bike. Ain’t gonna happen now. I hurt for a week after those rides. At the 80 mile mark of one of the rides, there was snacks and a big bottle of Advil. I must have taken 10 pills at once because I hurt so bad and just wanted to finish. Almost threw the bike off a cliff at 80 miles also.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
I managed to do two Imperial Century rides (one each year) on my Vado 5.0/6.0. I had two 604 Wh batteries when they were relatively new; now I need as many as three degraded batteries with approximately 500 Wh of charge in each. The ride during which I was doing measurements with BLEvo was:
- 104.4 mi with 1900 ft total elevation gain (no serious hills around)
- My assistance was 40/40%
- The net battery consumption was 1061 Wh
- The net ride time was 7 h 20 min
- It was a windless and very warm Summer day.
Saratoga Dave
Well-Known Member
I’ve done plenty of 50 mile plus rides on a Giant with a 500 Wh battery, now four years old at that, without running out. You’ve got 530 or so, I think? I wouldn’t overthink this one. Granted you are in some hilly country out that way, but throw a charger in a pannier or bag, ride conservatively, and if one or both bikes is showing low, stop at a convenience store and plug it in for twenty minutes. I have never been denied a quick charge access as long as I’m buying something. Libraries are great, too. Your bikes are the same, one charger should be fine.
I have one regular loop that is about fifty five miles and there’s a town park right out near the halfway point with a pavilion that has power. I always stop there if I’m on the Creo (320Wh battery) and park myself at a picnic table for twenty minutes or so and just watch the river while the bike takes on a little juice. It’s just become part of the ride. If I want to step on the gas for the last ten miles or so, I can do it.
Obviously this whole scheme fails if you’re out in the wilderness, but it sounds like you are riding through some degree of civilization. Report back, many of us will be interested to see how it actually went.
A group of us do the 50 mile Tour de Cure every summer, and last year I was able to do it on my Creo! That was a bit of a surprise, because there’s a pretty good ridge to ride up along with some other tough hills, but a Creo on flat ground can be ridden with the motor off and I had no issue at all. Our Sag guy did have the charger in the car with him, though!
I have one regular loop that is about fifty five miles and there’s a town park right out near the halfway point with a pavilion that has power. I always stop there if I’m on the Creo (320Wh battery) and park myself at a picnic table for twenty minutes or so and just watch the river while the bike takes on a little juice. It’s just become part of the ride. If I want to step on the gas for the last ten miles or so, I can do it.
Obviously this whole scheme fails if you’re out in the wilderness, but it sounds like you are riding through some degree of civilization. Report back, many of us will be interested to see how it actually went.
A group of us do the 50 mile Tour de Cure every summer, and last year I was able to do it on my Creo! That was a bit of a surprise, because there’s a pretty good ridge to ride up along with some other tough hills, but a Creo on flat ground can be ridden with the motor off and I had no issue at all. Our Sag guy did have the charger in the car with him, though!
Brendon@OEB
Well-Known Member
As noted Mission Control has a feature that's kind of a "get me home at this distance" which is nice. There's a couple factors worth noting.
Cadence: Higher you spin up to around 100rpm really helps the motor keep momentum thus using less juice. At lower RPM the motor has to work much harder. Think about starting from a standstill versus keeping the bike rolling, the latter being much easier on the motor in terms of consumption.
Aerodynamics: an often forgotten element to range considerations. Depending on your ride position, the more aerodynamic you can by the more you help range especially at speed or descending. Also turn the bike into "off" mode, but keep the system on and always pedal on every descent!! This makes a huge difference and maintains your momentum thus easing the burden on consumption.
It's too bad the Brose motor isn't as efficient as the Bosch due to the quieter belt drive, but with the tips provided you should be fine. FWIW I've gotten 55 miles of gravel riding and almost 6k ft of elevation and had 25% battery left using what I've just outlined.
+1 on the aerodynamics and running motor off, when possible. makes a really big difference. I hypermile all the time, and along with the above, I also use low rolling resistance tires at higher pressure. (I don’t have a Vado, but same rules apply)
only change for me though, I’d turn motor off going downhill, spin at as high a cadence as I can to get up to speed, and then stop pedaling (to conserve my energy, on a long ride) and get into an aerodynamic tuck.
and if doing a metric or imperial century, I’d also ride motor off on flats or minor uphills.
but will of course be dependent on your health, age and fitness level.
p.s. - the other thing I’ve found that makes a difference, is going to lower rolling resistance tires (especially if you’re on the road, instead of trails). makes it feel like I added an extra turbo mode, where I expend less energy due to less watts required to generate motion
not sure what tires you are using, but these strike a balance between low RR and puncture resistance, for wider tires
Schwalbe Marathon Efficiency Rolling Resistance Review
Rolling resistance and puncture resistance review of a Schwalbe Marathon Efficiency touring bike tire. Also includes detailed weight and size measurements
www.bicyclerollingresistance.com
Okay we’re back and had a blast. We rented a house for the weekend in Solvang with two other couples, so we stayed the night before the ride and the night after.
We had all agreed to ride the 52 mile, Half Century. After check in and seeing that route, someone said that road is really rough and we should ride the 62 mile, Metric Century. I mentioned my concern about my wife and I running out of battery power. It fell on deaf ears lol, so we started the Metric Century with our fingers crossed. We left the Vado 3.0’s in Eco and turned the assist off whenever we could by pressing the - on the left handlebar. The flat roads were not bad with the assist off when we got up to speed. On the downhills we tucked and coasted as far as we could before putting the assist on again. We never put it above Eco.
Now the best part. The ride organizers apparently made the Metric Century to a distance of 71.2 miles. At one of the last SAG stops, we were made aware of that by another rider. We were in the middle of nowhere and really didn’t have a choice but to keep going. There were some huge long hills after the 50 mile mark, then “the wall” which was a 10 degree uphill. Most of the regular bike riders got off and walked their bikes. We were able to leave it in Eco, keep it in 1st gear and pedal up it. My wife rode passed me and said “Someone is gonna get hit.” She meant punched lol. We were both pretty agro by the end, but we finished with 16% battery left.
My buddies wife has a Como 4.0, I think. It’s the belt drive one. She ran out of battery at the 50ish mile mark, but was able to just pedal and finish the ride. She’s in great shape and at the gym 4 days a week.
Again, we all had a blast and can’t wait for the Cool Breeze ride on August 19.
We had all agreed to ride the 52 mile, Half Century. After check in and seeing that route, someone said that road is really rough and we should ride the 62 mile, Metric Century. I mentioned my concern about my wife and I running out of battery power. It fell on deaf ears lol, so we started the Metric Century with our fingers crossed. We left the Vado 3.0’s in Eco and turned the assist off whenever we could by pressing the - on the left handlebar. The flat roads were not bad with the assist off when we got up to speed. On the downhills we tucked and coasted as far as we could before putting the assist on again. We never put it above Eco.
Now the best part. The ride organizers apparently made the Metric Century to a distance of 71.2 miles. At one of the last SAG stops, we were made aware of that by another rider. We were in the middle of nowhere and really didn’t have a choice but to keep going. There were some huge long hills after the 50 mile mark, then “the wall” which was a 10 degree uphill. Most of the regular bike riders got off and walked their bikes. We were able to leave it in Eco, keep it in 1st gear and pedal up it. My wife rode passed me and said “Someone is gonna get hit.” She meant punched lol. We were both pretty agro by the end, but we finished with 16% battery left.
My buddies wife has a Como 4.0, I think. It’s the belt drive one. She ran out of battery at the 50ish mile mark, but was able to just pedal and finish the ride. She’s in great shape and at the gym 4 days a week.
Again, we all had a blast and can’t wait for the Cool Breeze ride on August 19.
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