Vado SL 2 Carbon LTD premiered today!

[Rás Cnoic]

The spec is good!

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

I still own two good Specialized e-bikes Wouldn't exclude the CF though. One needs to try something new sometimes

20kg will change it's personality, as Mschwett says.
20kg/44lbs won't ride as well with power off as the SL 1 bikes did. So finding a sweet spot of low assist to counter the weight and not use too much battery will be key. Especially in hilly areas, lot of weight to drag up. Guess that's where the 55nm motor comes in. Wonder if the original range extenders work with it? Or with 504wh if you'd even need one?

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Both versions come with future shock which is nice, & a similar spec to old versions. New cues drive train rather then Deore. Just with wider 47mm tyres seen on the carbon version. It looks a more all weather robust (heavier) type commuter bike. With braking lights & anti theft AirTag type thingy. The cues stuff is ok, bit more cheap looking plastics then Deore.

Dunno about it. If I'd been looking for my first ebike back when I got the original one, coming from analogue $ finding most ebike shockingly heavy, not sure the weight would have interested me. But maybe this is more what people want? A good solid practical bike that will take a lot of abuse and be very reliable. Plus with more grunt than before.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Tredz bikes online shop quick rundown:

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Wonder if the original range extenders work with it

They do. All you need is a software update.

20kg will change it's personality, as Mschwett says.

Nobody is prevented from buying the 18 kg CF version

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Tredz bikes online shop quick rundown:

Is it even a competent review?
The guys says: '320 W peak power, and with an integrated 520 Wh battery, you can ride up to 5 hours in Turbo mode',
If he rode at 320 W mechanical (which draws approximately 400 W from the battery), he could spend 520 Wh / 400 W = 1 h 18 minutes in Turbo mode on the e-bike...

Specialized has never written "in Turbo mode" when referring to 5 h ride.

Besides, it is "vah-doh".

 

[mfgrep]

20kg will change it's personality, as Mschwett says.
20kg/44lbs won't ride as well with power off as the SL 1 bikes did. So finding a sweet spot of low assist to counter the weight and not use too much battery will be key. Especially in hilly areas, lot of weight to drag up. Guess that's where the 55nm motor comes in. Wonder if the original range extenders work with it? Or with 504wh if you'd even need one?

I didn't see that the discussion of the new alloy version was taking place here in the Carbon thread....my bad....sorry.

Ras...I agree with you. I'm sure this new alloy version SL is a lovely bike....but its core character MUST be changed when adding 26% weight to the bike (35lbs to 44lbs).
I'm not against big/heavy bikes and in fact own a full power Vado 4.0 too.....but the "SL" should be precisely that....SUPER LIGHT. This is why I own both.....very different uses.

Not to beat the proverbial dead horse....but I ride my 'old' SL with the power completely off much of the time. If I were to add 25% weight to it....I don't think I would enjoy that so much.

The new Vado 2 alloy looks excellent as a commuter or as a city bike. It does not replace my original SL as a fitness oriented e-bike. Clearly I am in the minority as one who sought a light fitness oriented e-bike for workouts.

This isn't the first time that I have found myself as an outlier lol. I'd most definitely trade my Vado 4.0 for this new bike.....but I would NOT trade my Vado SL 4.0 for this new version.

 

[GAJ]

Odd that the SL 2 5.0 alloy version does not come with a carbon fork unlike SL 1 5.0.

 

[mfgrep]

Odd that the SL 2 5.0 alloy version does not come with a carbon fork unlike SL 1 5.0.

I only assume that with Future Shock included....Spesh felt that the (expensive) carbon fork was unnecessary. They might be correct.

 

[GAJ]

I only assume that with Future Shock included....Spesh felt that the (expensive) carbon fork was unnecessary. They might be correct.

IDK the 5.0 SL has a futureshock.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

IDK the 5.0 SL has a futureshock.

If I can remember correctly, it is FutureShock 1.5 but the new Vado SL 2 has the 3.1.

 

[GAJ]

Interestingly the Turbo Creo 2 Comp E5 which is alloy, has the new motor and new 3.1 futureshock also lacks the carbon fork but manages to stay light.

And is priced the same as the Turbo Vado SL 1 5.0 no eq.

Weight

15.12 kg (33 lb, 5.3 oz)

Turbo Creo 2 Comp E5

Road or Gravel? 5 miles or 5 hours? Climb or Descend? Suffer or Smile? More power or less weight? Creo 2 isn’t about having to choose. It’s about having...

www.specialized.com

 

[mfgrep]

Interestingly the Turbo Creo 2 Comp E5 which is alloy, has the new motor and new 3.1 futureshock also lacks the carbon fork but manages to stay light.

And is priced the same as the Turbo Vado SL 1 5.0 no eq.

Weight

15.12 kg (33 lb, 5.3 oz)

Turbo Creo 2 Comp E5

Road or Gravel? 5 miles or 5 hours? Climb or Descend? Suffer or Smile? More power or less weight? Creo 2 isn’t about having to choose. It’s about having...

www.specialized.com

Its tempting to bastardize that Credo 2 Comp E5 with a set of flat bars.

 

[GAJ]

Its tempting to bastardize that Credo 2 Comp E5 with a set of flat bars.

Agreed.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Interestingly the Turbo Creo 2 Comp E5 which is alloy, has the new motor and new 3.1 futureshock also lacks the carbon fork but manages to stay light.

And is priced the same as the Turbo Vado SL 1 5.0 no eq.

Weight

15.12 kg (33 lb, 5.3 oz)

Turbo Creo 2 Comp E5

Road or Gravel? 5 miles or 5 hours? Climb or Descend? Suffer or Smile? More power or less weight? Creo 2 isn’t about having to choose. It’s about having...

www.specialized.com

It is a bigger battery, a sturdier frame, and the equipment to make the Vado SL 2 heavier. Also, Creo 2 Alloy does not come with 47 mm tyres

 

[GAJ]

It is a bigger battery, a sturdier frame, and the equipment to make the Vado SL 2 heavier. Also, Creo 2 Alloy does not come with 47 mm tyres

I have no desire to upgrade but one of the things I love is the low weight so if my 5.0 SL 1 were stolen tomorrow I'd get that Turbo Creo 2 Comp E5, no question.

I could live with the lower bars and skinnier tires.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I have no desire to upgrade but one of the things I love is the low weight so if my 5.0 SL 1 were stolen tomorrow I'd get that Turbo Creo 2 Comp E5, no question.

I could live with the lower bars and skinnier tires.

It is so good we -- while being different -- still have options.
I love my Vado 1 SL 4.0. What I dislike about it then?

• A tad too weak motor. I always wanted something like 120% assistance for my gravel group rides... at times. The primary assistance for such rides is 80/80%. When the guys jump onto asphalt, 100% is not enough for me (a derestricted e-bike)
• Too small a battery. It is no wonder I own as many as 4 REs.

The rest is splendid after several mods I did to my SL. Now, the major thing on the trail for me is to be able to lift the e-bike and carry it over an obstacle. I could live with 20 kg but the 26.4 kg of my big Vado is a way too much.

 

[mfgrep]

It is so good we -- while being different -- still have options.
I love my Vado 1 SL 4.0. What I dislike about it then?

• A tad too weak motor. I always wanted something like 120% assistance for my gravel group rides... at times. The primary assistance for such rides is 80/80%. When the guys jump onto asphalt, 100% is not enough for me (a derestricted e-bike)
• Too small a battery. It is no wonder I own as many as 4 REs.

The rest is splendid after several mods I did to my SL. Now, the major thing on the trail for me is to be able to lift the e-bike and carry it over an obstacle. I could live with 20 kg but the 26.4 kg of my big Vado is a way too much.

I only have one minor gripe about the SL 1. The motor noise annoys me a bit.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Is it even a competent review?
The guys says: '320 W peak power, and with an integrated 520 Wh battery, you can ride up to 5 hours in Turbo mode',
If he rode at 320 W mechanical (which draws approximately 400 W from the battery), he could spend 520 Wh / 400 W = 1 h 18 minutes in Turbo mode on the e-bike...

Specialized has never written "in Turbo mode" when referring to 5 h ride.

Besides, it is "vah-doh".

Yeah it's not a review, Tredz are a huge online bike shop, like Chainreaction/wiggle used to be, so they guy clearly doesn't know a lot. Just nice to see the bike in action.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

It is so good we -- while being different -- still have options.
I love my Vado 1 SL 4.0. What I dislike about it then?

• A tad too weak motor. I always wanted something like 120% assistance for my gravel group rides... at times. The primary assistance for such rides is 80/80%. When the guys jump onto asphalt, 100% is not enough for me (a derestricted e-bike)
• Too small a battery. It is no wonder I own as many as 4 REs.

The rest is splendid after several mods I did to my SL. Now, the major thing on the trail for me is to be able to lift the e-bike and carry it over an obstacle. I could live with 20 kg but the 26.4 kg of my big Vado is a way too much.

But you see that was/is the beauty of the old Vado SL version. I really doubt Spesh thought people would be using it much on grave.l back when they came up with the idea. But it's proved a great multipurpose tool for many riders in different places urban and rural flat and hilly, wet or dry. With the RE you also can go for short rides or long ones up to 480wh. With the new one with that weight and built in 500wh battery you can't ever go lighter weight.

But on here we might be outliers, using the Vado SL on gravel etc and Spesh would say they already have the Creo, Levo, Tero and Keno for off-road use.

 

[JustRiding]

I have to admit that I have considered buying the carbon version the last few days and still do a bit. But on the other hand it's quite some money and my SL 4.0 EQ is still doing a good job and is even slightly lighter. Also wondering on how long they will keep these prices up like this. Whole bike industry is having issues with over capacities and lessening demand after Covid era