Vado 5 off road

[Nxkharra]

Not sure if this is ok to do.
I rode my 2020 Vado 5 in a park path yesterday. It was mostly dirt with some small rocks, chopped wood, and dry river stuff and a dirt climb at the end. It did well. With the suspension fork and seat post it was a comfortable ride. The motor espoused well also.
not sure if all the hard push and variable torque is OK for the motor as they say this motor was tuned for city ride.
Any experience, suggestions, or advice in this area?

 

[opimax]

Sounds like a bike that in the end just got dirty., clean and repeat. Avoid putting the motor in a puddle. The motor is made to do what you did basically.

i think others will chip in ,maybe some specifics. Correct use of gears helps the bike’s life.

 

[PaD]

2020 Vado 5.0 has the same motor as the 2019 Turbo Kanevo if I remember correctly. Different tuning though.
Don’t think you’re risking your motor on a path like that. It’s more wheels and maybe frame that are not meant for offroad. There are reports of broken frames ( below motor?) and I don’t like to hear such things but I try to forget I heard about that
May ask the Specialized tech guy inspect the frame this spring when I have a free service.
I will continue riding on forrest roads and sometimrs paths but I go slowly if it’s rough.

 

[Rick53]

Not sure if this is ok to do.
I rode my 2020 Vado 5 in a park path yesterday. It was mostly dirt with some small rocks, chopped wood, and dry river stuff and a dirt climb at the end. It did well. With the suspension fork and seat post it was a comfortable ride. The motor espoused well also.
not sure if all the hard push and variable torque is OK for the motor as they say this motor was tuned for city ride.
Any experience, suggestions, or advice in this area?

The Bike is fine It's the tires that screw things up. The Vado Could handle gravel Roads Fire Roads Etc. But I have to agree with opimax. U just Got it dirty LOL Take your Fenders off and put on Some Wider tires and you'll be fine : Just no Jumps :

 

[Rick53]

HERE THIS WORKS (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[Rick53]

2020 Vado 5.0 has the same motor as the 2019 Turbo Kanevo if I remember correctly. Different tuning though.
Don’t think you’re risking your motor on a path like that. It’s more wheels and maybe frame that are not meant for offroad. There are reports of broken frames ( below motor?) and I don’t like to hear such things but I try to forget I heard about that
May ask the Specialized tech guy inspect the frame this spring when I have a free service.
I will continue riding on forrest roads and sometimrs paths but I go slowly if it’s rough.

A Full Suspension Bike is Better on Pavement then a Vado is on Dirt : Just to Squirrel

 

[Nxkharra]

thanks to all. I must say it was a blast. The old knees might think differently.

 

[Sierratim]

We've been experimenting with our Vado 5's on back roads. After several local Forest Service gravel roads, we took the bikes down to Carmel and rode the 10+ mile (21 mile out and back) Old Coast Road. The first couple of miles on each end were smooth and well maintained gravel (see pic). The road got more narrow, steeper and rougher in the middle. The bikes had no problems with the climbs. The brakes were fine for the downhills. The 50mm travel on the forks did bottom out in several places making handling tougher, but that was only for a few miles.

There wasn't any water on the route so we brought extra in fork-mounted cages by Two Fish. They had worked great on our Forest Service roads, but moved around with the vibration on the roughest sections of this route. I've since added a worm drive clamp to each cage that fixes this.

We would never have been able to ride this route without the Vados. The views alone were worth the trip. I wouldn't hesitate to take these bikes on gravel routes just about anywhere.

After wiping down the chains, the bikes were good to go our ride the next day on Carmel's 17 Mile Drive, another route we'd never ride without ebikes.

 

[bazzapage]

It's not that much different than a Levo hardtail. Front forks don't have as much travel, and tyres don't have as much grip. FWIW a skinny-tyred road bike can go off road too, so why not a Vado? In the Spesh range, the Creo does double duty as an on-road and gravel bike. Same bike, different tyres.

 

[Rick53]

The only Thing I don't like about The Vado is that Rear Rack setup. One thing I prefer with Their Como is the ability to add a Regular rack.

It's not that much different than a Levo hardtail. Front forks don't have as much travel, and tyres don't have as much grip. FWIW a skinny-tyred road bike can go off road too, so why not a Vado? In the Spesh range, the Creo does double duty as an on-road and gravel bike. Same bike, different tyres.

It Could With different Tires : But if you really are serious about Off road. Fenders have to GO : They could actually cause you a hazard

 

[PaD]

The only Thing I don't like about The Vado is that Rear Rack setup. One thing I prefer with Their Como is the ability to add a Regular rack.
It Could With different Tires : But if you really are serious about Off road. Fenders have to GO : They could actually cause you a hazard

Agree on the rear rack. It may be strong enough for my needs most of the time but it looks like it could use more support.
Would really like to have round tubing too.

 

[Jimbo08]

As long as your careful with potholes and other obstacles, and keep your speed in check you should be ok. I have the same bike. I am in the process of building a set of 27.5 wheels with 2.4 SuperMoto tires to help with offroad bump absorption on our adventures. The fork on the Levo HT is a more off-road suitable one compared to the one supplied on the Vado 5.0.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@Nxkharra don't worry and just keep riding! Vado inherits many of its features from e-MTBs. I have ridden off-road many times here even if I hate that. Couple of days ago I was misled by my GPS navigation app and went offroad completely. Liquid mud, deep puddles. My motor was sliding in the puddles and the whole bottom part of the bike, wheels, inside of fenders were full of mud. Nothing wrong happened. I was only afraid to fall in my SPD pedals. Add to it my Vado has a rigid fork.

I'm riding muddy roads, gravel roads, fire-roads, no adverse effects. Of course, the Vado loves a good blacktop no doubt but it is not worried of off-road.

If you plan to ride off-road more frequently, you might want to replace your tires to 622-50 (2" 29-er). These will perfectly fit the Vado, I know as my Vado has such tires. the 2" tires feel like a cushion and these absorb a lot of vibration. Now, if you're riding mostly good roads, let the tires be possibly slick. Specialized Elektrak 2.0 Armadillo with Gripton component are very nice. Fast on the road, good traction off-road. You might also look at the Schwalbe Marathon Plus which are highly acclaimed.

 

[Oberst]

The 50m travel on my Vado 3 has approximately 50m more travel than my first mountain bike so I have ridden it on some trails but, by todays standards, it is no mountain bike but by the same standards, it is more than capable on basic trails.

When I started mountain biking we had friction thumbshifters and a 2” tire was pretty fat and we all crashed a lot and had a great time!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Another e-bike, another road but that's the kind of off-road we're experiencing on warm winters here. I actually rode my Vado through something like that, only worse. Otherwise I should return to make a long detour. I didn't want to experience the same with my Lovelec, especially as the hub drive is not as responsive as the mid-drive motor of the Vado is.

 

[Rick53]

It's all about Commitment : Some level of Speed is required off-road : When we were Kids we took jumps and berms as fast as we could : Suspension ??? What's that ?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I spent the best years of my childhood/youth riding a heavy steel folder bike @Rick53... As you just said.
Mine was navy blue with a white logo. It survived from my 10th birthday until well into my University years and it was later stolen.

 

[Nxkharra]

I spent the best years of my childhood/youth riding a heavy steel folder bike @Rick53... As you just said.
Mine was navy blue with a white logo. It survived from my 10th birthday until well into my University years and it was later stolen.

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Ok guys you have created a monster here specially you @Stefan Mikes.
went off road again today. What a fun ride. Might switch to Levo one of these days.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I gave up some uncouth muddy off-road the last day @Nxkharra Too much of cleaning the bike afterwards!

 

[Oberst]

Next time one of us worry if our e bikes with high end components can cut, look back to our roots! Was at Mt Tam once in the early 90’s, way after these guys became brand names!