Few traditional bicycle companies have invested in e-bikes the way Specialized has. And that investment of time, engineering and decades of experience has yielded some pretty telling results: Specialized has long been heralded as the best in the business when it comes to motor design, quality and rider experience.
This Turbo Vado 4.0 is actually the first Specialized I’ve personally reviewed. Really, it’s the first Specialized e-bike I’ve spent any meaningful amount of time on. What I’ve learned is that the hype around these e-bikes is very real. Even before we dive into the rest results or even begin to pick apart the bike I’m going to do something I rarely do and note right here at the top that this is the best electric commuter bike I’ve ever ridden, and it may even be in the running for the best e-bike I’ve ridden. It really is that good.
This most recent generation of Turbo Vado was released at the end of September 2021 alongside two other full-power Specialized e-bikes, the Turbo Como and Tero. We got our first real-life peeks at the bike at Sea Otter shortly after that and since then I’ve been itching to do a full-depth review.
Aside from the redesigned aluminum frame, which looks far slimmer and more like a traditional bicycle — which is different from the old Vado, which had an overtly e-bikey look — the Vado lineup got the new Specialized 2.0 mid-drive motor. That motor, which is manufactured by Brose but heavily tuned by Specialized, makes 250W and 70Nm of torque.
It’s also a Class 3 e-bike, with pedal assist that can go up to 28 mph. And boy did Specialized lean into this bike’s Class 3 capability. In TURBO mode — there are three PAS levels, ECO, SPORT and TURBO — this bike is an absolute ripper that has zero issue cruising between 25 mph and 28 mph. A feature that makes the Turbo Vado a bonafide super commuter that’ll cover ground quickly and keep pace with city and residential traffic.
Inside the frame, but still removable, is a 710Wh battery. The new Vado was also launched alongside the MasterMind app, which allows you to tune, track and even lock your bike from your phone. One of the coolest features of this app is the ability to push over the air updates to your bike, so as Specialized updates software you can keep your bike in step without going to a bike shop.
Connecting the mid-drive motor to the rear wheel is a SRAM NX 11-speed drivetrain that delivers crisp shifting that handles the motor load with impressive ease.
Braking is handled by a set of SRAM Level hydraulic disk brakes with 180mm rotors front and rear.
On the handlebars, there’s a redesigned display that’s arguably one of the best in the biz. It’s easy to read, tremendously useful and has a host of different screens that show everything from battery efficiency to speed and everything in between.
There’s also an SR Suntour Mobie A32 fork with 80mm travel and a suspension seatpost with 40mm of travel. The remainder of the bike is decked out with various accoutrements from Specialized, including things like the grips, handlebars and pedals.
Lastly there are integrated front and rear lights, plus a rear rack with an MIK interface and a 27kg max weight capacity.
As I said before, the Vado’s got a lot going on.
Source link
