Vado SL 2 Alloy version released

[Jeremy McCreary]

Here in the US the SL1 5.0 and SL2 5.0 both have 320 watt batteries.

Turbo Vado SL 5.0

Meet the Vado SL. This super-light e-bike was designed to take on anything from daily commutes through urban landscapes to clocking even faster workouts...

www.specialized.com

Turbo Vado SL 2 5.0

Nothing delivers more power, speed, and range at such lightweight than Turbo Vado SL 2. It’s a high-performance machine carefully engineered to make fit...

www.specialized.com

The full specs in that official SL 2 5.0 product page you linked shows a 520 Wh battery, just like the 6.0. Where did you see 320 Wh for this bike? Typo?

 

[GAJ]

The full specs in that official SL 2 5.0 product page you linked shows a 520 Wh battery, just like the 6.0. Where did you see 320 Wh for this bike? Typo?

You are correct, in the "at a glance" section it says this, but 320 watt refers to the motor.

Calling it an ‘E-Bike’ is an Insult​

The All-New Turbo Vado SL 2​

Nothing delivers more power, speed, and range at such lightweight than Turbo Vado SL 2. It’s a high-performance machine carefully engineered to make fitness fun, and your commute electric. With an ultra-light weight alloy frame, Future Shock for an ultra-smooth ride, an ergonomic position for telepathic handling, and a super light electric motor with supernatural power, the bike you’ve been dreaming about is here.

At a Glance​

Use​

Fast Commuting, Fitness, and Exploration​

E-Bike System​

Specialized SL 1.2
320 watts
Up to 5 Hours Range​

Frameset​

Alloy Frame and Fork​

Suspension​

Future Shock 3.1​

Weight​

As Light as 20kg​

Personalization and Security​

Fitness Metrics, Apple Find My, Turbo System Lock, Lights​

 

[JustRiding]

Here in the US the SL1 5.0 and SL2 5.0 both have 320 watt batteries.

Turbo Vado SL 5.0

Meet the Vado SL. This super-light e-bike was designed to take on anything from daily commutes through urban landscapes to clocking even faster workouts...

www.specialized.com

Turbo Vado SL 2 5.0

Nothing delivers more power, speed, and range at such lightweight than Turbo Vado SL 2. It’s a high-performance machine carefully engineered to make fit...

www.specialized.com

Here in bicycle mad (for the US) Sonoma County I have yet to see another SL1 though I have seen a few Turbo Creos.

That's the engine. The batteries have 520 Wh, like the 6.0. So both engine and battery are the same on the new 6.0. 5.0 and 4.0

 

[Stefan Mikes]

engine

The English term is 'motor'

 

[Base]

The English term is 'motor'

Industrie term would be DriveUnit

 

[PedalUma]

I rode the sweetest bike today. It is a handmade compliant double butted chromoly Surly Straggler with a 90nm DM02, and a custom 520Wh battery. It has mechanical discs that are like jewelry because when you are 100 miles out loaded with bikepacking you do not want to deal with a hydro failure. It also has premo mechanical shifting for the same reason. Selecting 1 (out of the five power levels) climbs like a Vado SL in Turbo, but this bike is intended to haul a couple hundred pounds of cargo plus the rider. All cables are external for easy service and the battery is also external for easy swaps or as the tech develops for a different universal mount battery. The DM02 can even be swapped out for another universal fit motor in five or ten years. I can program everything, I mean everything, through the small color T-145 display. If you question the programable rider customization dig deep by checking out the pdf. It is in today for service. This best bike I have ever ridden.

Steel Gravel Commuter Bike | Straggler

Straggler is the “mountain biker’s road bike,” ready for vast areas of pavement while returning to its gravel bike roots from time to time.

surlybikes.com

T154 E-bike Centre Control Panel - To7motor

This is a T 154 E-bike Centre Control Panel with a TFT colorful screen for ebike drive system , transparent silicon rubber button with LED back-light

to7motor.com

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Industrie term would be DriveUnit

Only for Bosch E-Bike.

The motor is electric, the engine is anything related to the combustion

 

[Base]

Only for Bosch E-Bike.

and for Yamaha, Shimano, Bafang et al.

been working on e-bikes since the first Sparta Pharos in 1997 (which still runs, came acros the owner a few days ago). so indeed Bosch calls their DriveUnits BDU, Shimano has for example DU-EP800, Yamaha has in its system DRIVE UNIT ASSY - X1X-17061-40-00 - Yamaha

the Motor itself is part of the DriveUnit, it also contains the motor controller and a bunch of other parts.

 

[VadoSL]

I'm interested in seeing a table comparing weight and ranges for SL 4.0 EQ, SL2 4.0 EQ (alloy), SL2 6.0 EQ Carbon and the Trek FX+7.
Has anyone seen anything or have any links ?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Sorry, know of no such compliations and wouldn't trust them anyway.

Easy enough to start from the claimed weights on official product pages, knowing that these are often understated. Then you'd have to compensate somehow for differing frame sizes and accessory packages — racks, fenders, kickstands, etc. Where would the data needed for that come from?

The range figures won't mean much unless measured with a standardized protocol, including the rider. To my knowledge, no such protocol exists, and it would be naive to assume compliance even if it did.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I'm interested in seeing a table comparing weight and ranges for SL 4.0 EQ, SL2 4.0 EQ (alloy), SL2 6.0 EQ Carbon and the Trek FX+7.
Has anyone seen anything or have any links ?

Weight (declared), size M:

• Vado SL 4.0 EQ: 17 kg (as specified on the frame label)
• Vado SL 2 4.0 EQ (alloy): 20.28 kg (Spec website)
• Vado SL 2 6.0 Carbon EQ: 17.99 kg (Spec website)
• Trek FX+ 7: 19.3 kg (size L, Trek website)

No one can tell you the range as it depends on too many parameters. I have determined the range of my new Vado SL 4.0 EQ with 480 Wh on board (main battery + Range Extender), good weather, mild elevation gain as 116 km. The assistance was equivalent to 1x Assist (100 W motor power per 100 W of rider's leg power) with the motor limited to 132 W mechanical power. (Only valid for a specific rider on a specific route).

Had I owned a Vado SL 2 4.0 EQ: the weight increase for a 100 kg rider is less than 1%. Vado SL 2 has a 62.5% bigger battery than SL 1. Or, if you take the 320 Wh SL 1 battery and a 160 Wh range extender, the SL 2 battery is 520 Wh, only a tad bigger. Setting the Vado SL 2 assistance to 55/40% shall ensure the same 116 km range.

 

[VadoSL]

Weight (declared), size M:

• Vado SL 4.0 EQ: 17 kg (as specified on the frame label)
• Vado SL 2 4.0 EQ (alloy): 20.28 kg (Spec website)
• Vado SL 2 6.0 Carbon EQ: 17.99 kg (Spec website)
• Trek FX+ 7: 19.3 kg (size L, Trek website)

No one can tell you the range as it depends on too many parameters. I have determined the range of my new Vado SL 4.0 EQ with 480 Wh on board, good weather, mild elevation gain as 116 km. The assistance was equivalent to 1x Assist (100 W motor power per 100 W of rider's leg power) with the motor limited to 132 W mechanical power. (Only valid for a specific rider on a specific route).

Thanks - thats a really good start.

 

[SbSteve]

You’re wondering if the $1000 difference between the SL2 5.0 and the Trek is worth it to you. What about the SL2 4.0? The difference with that one would be $500. I don’t suppose your LBS has any 4.0’s in stock to compare do they?

I have not seen or ridden the 4.0. I think the components on the 4.0 are more closely matched to the Trek FX+ 7. On paper the differences between the 4.0 and the 5.0 seem minor and hard for me to see how those differences add up to $500. It's possible that the U600 components on the 4.0 are less robust and don't shift as well compared to the U800 on the 5.0. If I get the 4.0 (or the Trek) I might not notice those differences unless I ride hard and put a lot of miles on the bike. And then, if the chain wears out early or I don't like how it shifts, I could upgrade to the U800. I'll ask at my LBS if they have any insight. Or perhaps someone here with more experience can chime in.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The better parts in Vado SL 2 5.0 are:

• Better drivetrain (cassette, derailleur, shifter, chain)
• Better brakes
• Better headlight

If you had to remove the existing parts (not being able to sell them), and buy all new components then the price difference would be around $500, especially including the labour.
Were I to buy the alloy version, I'd like to have all these parts already on my e-bike, especially in the Satin Deep Lake Metallic

My experience is upgrading a good e-bike eventually ends up in a higher cost than just buying the more expensive version.
--------
A general remark: Very few people have noticed the proper display on the SL 2. Bye bye to a Wahoo or Garmin if you don't need the GPS bike computer as just a display (Jeremy has spotted it!)

 

[PedalUma]

interested in seeing a table

I see this all the time. People will go left brained about a right brained topic like art, music, wine, or bikes. Experience the art, music, wine, or bikes. With bikes it is the total together, not the sum of parts. A chopped up toddler or pet is different then experiencing the living whole. A great 250W motor system is better than a dud 2,000W motor's system. The internet is part of this problem.

 

[spindoc]

I see this all the time. People will go left brained about a right brained topic like art, music, wine, or bikes. Experience the art, music, wine, or bikes. With bikes it is the total together, not the sum of parts.

Haha you're right - but unfortunately I don't have a local shop with these bikes in stock for me to experience "the sum of the parts"! So I appreciate the input from folks on here who are more familiar with this stuff.

I'm trying to decide if the differences between the SL2 4.0 and SL2 5.0 are "worth" $500 to me. The bike will be ridden 3 or 4 times a week 10-30 miles for recreation/transportation, mostly locally where it's pretty flat, and also on rail trails and other trips. So for that kind of use, I'm wondering what would be the extent of the benefit of:

• the Shimano U8000 11-speed over the U6000 10-speed, and
• the Tektro HD-R510 brakes over the HD-R285 (both 160 mm)

Thanks in advance to anyone who can sound off here with their opinions on this!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

As to the drivetrain question: an 11-speed drivetrain is important to these cyclists who can make use of cadence. There is a crank rpm that is good for both the cyclist health, efficiency, and also good for the motor, which is at least 70 (the best range is 80-90). If the cyclist has got used to a good cadence, it is the best to ride at a constant cadence. More gears = more equal cadence. With the 10-speed drivetrain, there is usually a gap between the most used gears: you need to spin in one gear but grind in the next. The 11-speed drivetrain has a way more equal jumps between the gears. It might not be essential for a casual rider but it is very important to me. That's why I eventually had enough of the 10-speed drivetrain and upgraded to a 11-speed one on my Vado SL 4.0, which obviously involved cost and labour.
It might mean nothing to you. Now, the drivetrain is Shimano CUES in both cases; Shimano promises long live for these drivetrains.

It is difficult to answer the brake question. Both HD-R290 and HD-R510 brakes must be made OEM by Tektro for Specialized (these are not in the brand catalogue). Both brakes use the same brake pads or their compatible replacements. Is the 510 better than the 290? If yes, it is probably a marginal gain.

More important is the stronger headlight on the 5.0. The one used on the 4.0 is adequate with street lighting and at a rather low speed. If you expect riding at night often, the 5.0 headlight is just stronger.

I would treat the $500 extra as the premium price for a nicer frame colour

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This reel shows me pedalling at a decent cadence. Still not very high cadence!

 

[Mike Tod]

I have dug into the new planned e-bike subsidy scheme for Poland. The money would be granted to individuals based on the proof of purchase for a new (manufactured within 24 months) e-bike meeting Euro specifications. One of the conditions is that the battery must be 10 Ah or more. Vado SL 1 does not meet this criterion but Vado SL 2 does. Unfortunately, the e-bike must be manufactured in the EU, thus eliminating Specialized. Interestingly, no conditions how the e-bike should be used are set. A regular e-bike purchase would be compensated with the equivalent of some EUR600, while that would be around EUR1,080 for a cargo e-bike.

Jeremy, currently, I'd prefer an unequipped e-bike as the rack and temporary fenders can be found even for a CF frame. However, the Alloy being equipped certainly adds to its commuter e-bike value.

I would definitely pay the premium on the 5.0. Better brakes, drivetrain, Future Shock...

Can you recommend temporary fenders for the Vado please. Ive been looking but so far only found some by Polisport...

 

[Base]

How easy do you want them to be detachable? A set of SKS raceblades or speedrockers come to mind.

 

[Mike Tod]

How easy do you want them to be detachable? A set of SKS raceblades or speedrockers come to mind.

Thanks I'd not seen these, but seems that on removal no fixings are left behind which is what I'm looking for.