Specialized Women's Turbo Vado 3.0 2018

A contender for best looking women's electric bike, the sleek, futuristic Turbo Vado is Specialized's first city e-bike with a centre (crank) drive motor.

Such an integrated design, with its motor and battery concealed inside the bike frame, most people you effortlessly overtake on climbs won't even realise you're enjoying profound power assistance when you pass them on a Turbo Vado.

Brose Motor Unit

• The motor unit is manufactured in Berlin by Brose - a company whose track record includes making motors for Audi
• This is the same industry-leading 90Nm maximum-torque motor, Specialized spec on their Levo e-mountain bikes, but with different firmware optimised for city riding
• This makes the Specialized Turbo Vado's motor noticeably smoother than most other e-bikes' at the 'transition stages' - that is when the power-assist kicks in when you start pedalling and cuts out once you exceed 25KPH
• In compliance with EU and UK law, this e-bike is a pedal bike with up to 250W power assist, which cuts out once you reach 25KPH (15.5 MPH)
• This limiter doesn't prevent you going faster 'the old way' - by pedalling harder
• The motor is an integrated part of the bottom bracket
• The battery is concealed - locked inside the frame down tube for security - but it's easily removable when you need to recharge it
• Alternatively, you can recharge the battery in situ
• The bar mounted 5cm LCD digital display computer offers instant control
• The computer makes it easy to select the power mode that suits you best
• It incorporates a 'fuel gauge' for keeping an eye on the battery's charge level
• It offers standard cycle computer functions such as speedometer and odometer
• The computer is easy to detach so you can slip it into your pocket when you park the bike
• Even in lowest power 20%-assist eco mode, the Turbo Vado fulfills the e-bike promise - it feels like you're always riding with a tailwind
• If you want to make climbing or riding into headwinds easier still, you can switch instantly to 50% or 100% power assist mode
• If these 'out of the box' 20, 50 and 100% levels don't suit, you can change and customise the settings to your needs
• Run times vary according to conditions with every electric bike, but on a typical ride in light breezy conditions with a few inclines, you should get around 43km in Turbo mode and as much as 150km in eco mode from the Vado's 460Wh Li-ion battery

Centre drive motor

• The drive unit is mounted at bottom bracket level (the strongest part of any bike) to power the crank (in contrast with most e-bikes which are front or rear wheel hub drive)
• Most riders find Centre Drive power assist feels more natural than a hub-drive system
• With the motor low down at bottom bracket level at the bike's mid point, the bike feels better balanced than an e-bike with the motor on the front or rear hub.
• With its lower centre of gravity a Centre Drive e-bike feels more stable.
• Wheel fitting/removal is much easier when the motor is central rather than wheel driven

The bicycle itself

Electronic wizardry aside, being made by Specialized, the Vado is a very high quality bicycle with the following features...

• The smooth-welded aluminium frame with its clean internal cable routing makes for one sharp-looking bicycle - something you can't say for every e-bike
• The 50mm-travel SunTour suspension fork makes for smoother riding on unsmooth paths and cycle paths
• Proper Shimano hydraulic disc brakes deliver assured, low maintenance performance - why hydraulic disc brakes are great
• The gearing is equally confidence inspiring - Shimano Deore 1x10-speed gear shifting with super-wide 10-40t cassette - why 1x10 is great
• The wheels' wider 15mm front and 12x148mm rear thru-axle hubs reinforce the crucial wheel-to-frame interface and contribute to the bike's safety and its secure, solid feel
• The cartridge sealed bearing rear hub makes for smooth spinning longevity
• Reliable double wall wheel rims
• Specialized Trigger Sport 700x47 tyres roll fast on tarmac, and offer cushioning and grip on broken or dirt roads
• Just to show Specialized think of everything, the frame decals are reflective

'Specialized Turbo Vado 3.0
If you can characterize your life as on-the-go, busy, or not having enough time, we made a bike for you—the Turbo Vado 3.0. It's made to accommodate busy lives that are always in movement, which is why we took our proven Turbo pedal-assist technology and accelerated it into the future.

It features a custom 250-watt motor and 460Wh battery that are fully integrated with the bike and specifically tuned for city riding, and in the case of the battery, it doesn't require any tools for removal, so it's super easy to remove from the bike for charging.

You might have noticed that this motor has the same output as the Vado 4.0, which is true, but where the internals of these two diverge is at the battery and custom motor tune. This 3.0 iteration of the Vado's battery has a little less "umph" to it, so you could say that it's better suited to urban environments and shorter trips. The tune, meanwhile, is meant to be as efficient as possible for quick, spontaneous efforts that are demanded when riding in the city. We also made sure that it's totally compatible with Bluetooth®, so you can toggle between battery modes to increase your range in real time via the Mission Control App. There are three battery modes to work with in order to maximize the battery life, and with the app, you can even plot your course and the battery will adjust while you're riding to make sure that you get through your ride on one charge.

The Vado's motor is fully integrated with the frame and features a 250-watt output. It's also been custom-tuned for city riding, and it intuitively reacts to the force of your pedaling. So the harder you pedal, the more power it delivers. And with an internal belt drive design, it does this without added vibration for the smoothest and most silent ride possible.

A custom 2.2-inch / 5cm LCD digital display enables you to monitor all of your ride data in real time.

It also connects the Mission Control App via Bluetooth®, so you have full control over the tune, modes, range, and much more.

We made the custom 460Wh battery to be fully integrated with the frame, removable for easy charging, and lockable for added security. It can communicate with the display and has multiple modes to maximize the overall efficiency and range.'
Specialized.

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