I'm not a long term bicycle rider but fell in love with ebikes first time I tried one in MX on vacation. The Vado is actually my 5th ebike in one year. I currently also own a Trek Rail 9.7 full suspension emtb and a Priority Current which I shouldn't have bought but fell in love with the belt drive it has. So here's my experience with the Vado 5.0 igh. Test rode one and was so impressed with that auto shifting and belt drive combo. Couldn't find one my size locally and finally found a shop in CA willing to ship a large to Colorado but only to a Specialized dealer. Bike was assembled at the factory with a magnetic ring in the hub put in backwards and had to have a part replaced at my LBS. 2nd ride I get a flat rear tire.-not a great start but I am pretty sure there is a lot of potential here. I also notice as many others have mentioned that I run out of gearing at higher speeds with the igh. So here are the changes I have made.
.
(1) Replaced light weight balloon tires with Schwaulbe emtb plus touring tires: $175.00
(2) New ergon grips: $40.00
(3) Replace stock suspension post with Thudbuster ST-LT: $180/each
(4) Replace rear 24t cog with 22 t: $185
If you only count one of the Thudbusters as Canecreek would not take back the ST once it was installed that's $580 additional to a $5500 bike. One could argue it should have come with better tires and a higher gearing but all I know is these upgrades have really made this into a great bike. I am still checking out the Thudbuster LT and didn't care for the ST and am peaved at them as a company for their cheezy return policy so can't really recommend that product yet. I can't say enough about the Schwaulbe tires though which I can't seem to find an exact match for online as they were acquired by a local shop for me. I have used them offroad with great result, and they even do well in light snow but most importantly also roll quietly on pavement. I can now pretty much go wherever I want around the city and not worry about traction or flats anymore.
Now about that gearing. I believe Specialized should have shipped this bike with a 22 t rear cog instead of the 24t as it totally runs out of gearing at higher speeds in stock form even in the slowest cadence setting. With the 22t it rides like it should imo. Before changing the cog riding in the slowest cadence I was doing 71rpm at 20mph, 92rpm at 25mph, and about 100rpm at 28mph. I notice I don't care to regularly pedal at more than about 80 rpm. Now after the change I am at 64rpm at 20mph, 79rpm at 25mph, and about 90rpm at 28mph. I find that 25 mph is generally fast enough for me and meets my 80rpm preference and 64rpm for 20mph is very sweet and relaxing. The 90rpm is still awfully high but I don't need to go that fast for long periods of time. The cadence numbers might vary plus or minus an rpm or so but the change was totally worth it. The $185 my shop charged me included $50 to rerun the software so that the speedometer would read correctly. Some of the other cadence settings might now become more useful as before they were only used on very steep terrain or on trail riding.
One last thing is I would not buy any of the lower models if you like a full power ebike as the 5.0 is the only one with the highest torque numbers. There is a pretty steep gravel hill of about 200 yards near me and both my 54 lb Trek emtb which is made for climbing, as well as the 51 lb Priority Current can climb that hill at 18.5 mph while my new 61 lb Vado will only do it at about 17.5. Still it has plenty of power and is smoother than both of the others as well with no surging.
To sum up the Vado 5.0 igh cruising at full speed is not really different than any other class 3 ebike that could be acquired for quite a bit less money. It really comes into its own though when you are starting from a stop or any time you are changing speed like is so common in the city and that silky smooth shifting starts happening automatically. For comparison I recently rode a Trek Allant 8.0 with a 10 speed and it just felt so outdated. It certainly could get to 28 mph but I was clunking through that 10 speed 3 gears at a time and after the Vado experience it felt really quite annoying. My advice is make the change to your favorite heavier duty tires and change out the rear cog to the 22t and you will have something very special. Not sure I can ever go back to a derailer again.
.
(1) Replaced light weight balloon tires with Schwaulbe emtb plus touring tires: $175.00
(2) New ergon grips: $40.00
(3) Replace stock suspension post with Thudbuster ST-LT: $180/each
(4) Replace rear 24t cog with 22 t: $185
If you only count one of the Thudbusters as Canecreek would not take back the ST once it was installed that's $580 additional to a $5500 bike. One could argue it should have come with better tires and a higher gearing but all I know is these upgrades have really made this into a great bike. I am still checking out the Thudbuster LT and didn't care for the ST and am peaved at them as a company for their cheezy return policy so can't really recommend that product yet. I can't say enough about the Schwaulbe tires though which I can't seem to find an exact match for online as they were acquired by a local shop for me. I have used them offroad with great result, and they even do well in light snow but most importantly also roll quietly on pavement. I can now pretty much go wherever I want around the city and not worry about traction or flats anymore.
Now about that gearing. I believe Specialized should have shipped this bike with a 22 t rear cog instead of the 24t as it totally runs out of gearing at higher speeds in stock form even in the slowest cadence setting. With the 22t it rides like it should imo. Before changing the cog riding in the slowest cadence I was doing 71rpm at 20mph, 92rpm at 25mph, and about 100rpm at 28mph. I notice I don't care to regularly pedal at more than about 80 rpm. Now after the change I am at 64rpm at 20mph, 79rpm at 25mph, and about 90rpm at 28mph. I find that 25 mph is generally fast enough for me and meets my 80rpm preference and 64rpm for 20mph is very sweet and relaxing. The 90rpm is still awfully high but I don't need to go that fast for long periods of time. The cadence numbers might vary plus or minus an rpm or so but the change was totally worth it. The $185 my shop charged me included $50 to rerun the software so that the speedometer would read correctly. Some of the other cadence settings might now become more useful as before they were only used on very steep terrain or on trail riding.
One last thing is I would not buy any of the lower models if you like a full power ebike as the 5.0 is the only one with the highest torque numbers. There is a pretty steep gravel hill of about 200 yards near me and both my 54 lb Trek emtb which is made for climbing, as well as the 51 lb Priority Current can climb that hill at 18.5 mph while my new 61 lb Vado will only do it at about 17.5. Still it has plenty of power and is smoother than both of the others as well with no surging.
To sum up the Vado 5.0 igh cruising at full speed is not really different than any other class 3 ebike that could be acquired for quite a bit less money. It really comes into its own though when you are starting from a stop or any time you are changing speed like is so common in the city and that silky smooth shifting starts happening automatically. For comparison I recently rode a Trek Allant 8.0 with a 10 speed and it just felt so outdated. It certainly could get to 28 mph but I was clunking through that 10 speed 3 gears at a time and after the Vado experience it felt really quite annoying. My advice is make the change to your favorite heavier duty tires and change out the rear cog to the 22t and you will have something very special. Not sure I can ever go back to a derailer again.
