Slick, smooth and speedy suburban ride

By Warren Rossiter

Published: Tuesday, 14 May 2024 at 08:00 AM


The Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ is a fully urban-equipped ebike, designed to provide an entertaining ride while remaining versatile enough for the demands of everyday life.

If, like me, you think the term SUV is a tag for a series of dreadful cars that are neither sporty nor useful, then reimagine that term for the Vado SL.

This is a sport electric bike that’s also practical and useful. It’s fast and fun, yet forgiving and practical.


The Specialized Turbo Vado is our Urban Electric Bike of the Year for 2024

The Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 TQ is our Urban Electric Bike of the Year winner for 2024.

Head to our Road Bike of the Year announcement to find out why – and to see the rest of our winners. We’ll also be publishing 54 reviews from our test – head to the Bike of the Year 2024 hub for more.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ frame details

The Specialized Turbo Vado SL’s aluminium frame keeps the price down. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

The standard Specialized Turbo Vado is a classic town-and-trail ebike, built around a sturdy frame with a large battery, mid-drive motor, big tyres and a suspension fork.

The Vado SL, however, is very different. Specialized has taken the template of its premium lightweight Turbo Creo all-road ebike and built the frame from aluminium rather than carbon to help keep the price down.

The geometry has been tweaked to match the flat riser-bar cockpit and produce a bike that’s tough enough for the daily commute, yet at just 16.68kg, sufficiently light enough to feel rapid on the road.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ Urban eBike
The downtube hides a 320Wh battery. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

Importantly, this should mean it’s not too heavy to lift for apartment-dwelling commuters.

Instead of using a heavy suspension fork, Specialized has ported in the Future Shock 1.5 suspension system that debuted on the Roubaix road bike, and can now be found on the Turbo Creo electric road bike and Diverge gravel bike.

This offers 20mm of ride-smoothing travel via a unit in the head tube.

The frame is finished beautifully in brushed aluminium (or you can have it in a road-safety-conscious bright yellow) with reflective black details.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ Urban eBike
The frame is finished beautifully. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

The huge down tube, which houses a 320Wh battery, flows smoothly into the mid-drive motor.

Specialized also offers the Vado SL in a step-through version.

The frame features triple bottle bosses so you can add more carrying capacity, or a piggyback battery range extender without having to give up bottle space.

SMLXL
Seat tube angle (degrees)73.573.573.573.5
Head tube angle (degrees)7070.57171.5
Chainstay (mm)445445445445
Seat tube (mm)415446.5494.5535
Top tube (mm)554587610630
Head tube (mm)185217250285
Fork offset (mm)50505050
Trail (mm)71676461
Bottom bracket drop (mm)70707070
Bottom bracket height (mm)270270270270
Wheelbase (mm)1062109111101126
Standover (mm)770790815840
Stack (mm)595626660696
Reach (mm)378401415424
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Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ specifications

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ
The bike uses Specialized’s own motor which delivers 35Nm of torque. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

Specialized, unlike its rivals who opt for third-party systems, has developed its own electric bike motor.

Here, the 1.1 SL version is used, delivering up to 35Nm of torque. The motor’s three modes are Eco, Sport and Turbo.

The power band is wide, but in plain terms, I found the Eco mode more than ample for around-town riding, and Sport perfect for rolling rural roads. I only needed to use Turbo when hitting a hill with double-digit percentage gradients.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ Urban eBike
There is a display for the motor in the top tube. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

Specialized also offers a range-extending battery that fits into a bottle cage, which adds 160Wh of capacity to the main battery’s 320Wh. Specialized claims that’s good for an extra hour’s riding.

Charge time for the battery, from zero to 100 per cent, was just under four hours.

The drivetrain combines a custom Praxis crankset, designed specifically for the SL motor, with the shifter, rear derailleur and cassette coming from SRAM’s GX Eagle mountain bike range.

A single chainring is paired with a very wide-spread cassette (11-50t) at the rear.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ Urban eBike
The drivetrain uses a custom Praxis crankset with other SRAM components. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

Stopping duties are performed by Tektro’s HD-R510 hydraulic disc brakes.

The wheels are Specialized-own hubs built onto DT Swiss R500 alloy rims.

The Nimbus tyres are built tough to reduce the chances of punctures but are slender at 38mm wide.

Of course, this is big compared to a road bike, but narrower than most ebikes of this type, proving speedy on the road.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ Urban eBike
The Nimbus tyres are narrow for this type of ebike at 38mm. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

This being the EQ model (standing for ‘equipped’), the Vado SL has plenty of useful accessories as standard.

The bike features full mudguards along with a 20kg load-capacity pannier rack and a chainstay-mounted kickstand.

Front and rear StVZO-compliant lights are supplied by Lezyne and powered by the bike’s battery.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ ride impressions

Male cyclist is orange jacket riding the Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ Urban eBike
The Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ provides some speed and nimble handling. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

Most ebikes aimed at commuters prioritise comfort and stable handling above all else. So, it’s refreshing that Specialized has brought some speed and nimble handling into the mix here.

That’s not to say the SL isn’t comfortable – the Future Shock suspension up front, combined with a great-shaped bar and grips, makes it easily a match for electric bikes with suspension forks.

The back end relies more heavily on the compliance of the tyres, although it’s ample – especially if you get on with the saddle, as I did.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ Urban eBike
Our tester got along with the Vado’s saddle. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

The Vado SL is never going to be as plush and isolating as a bike equipped with a suspension seatpost (or a big bouncy saddle), but it offered enough give on the roughest of road surfaces and worked well on bumpy bike paths and light trails.

Where the Specialized excels, though, is in just how well it rides. The motor is unobtrusive when providing assistance, but generous when you need it.

The steering is quick and makes the bike feel agile without becoming twitchy or nervous. Navigating through slow traffic is easy, as is riding through fast corners on small roads.

Get out of the city and into rural lanes and hills, and the Vado SL is brilliant. On climbs, the relative lack of weight means your efforts are rewarded more fully than on heavier ebikes.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ Urban eBike
The hydraulic brakes provide plenty of stopping power. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

It’s also positive that the Vado SL rides almost like a non-assisted bike when you aren’t relying on the motor.

Descending is certainly fun – the combination of a commanding ride position, great road-buzz reduction and predictable yet quick steering all contribute to ride confidence.

The Tektro hydraulic brakes offer ample stopping power, but the action is a little odd – there’s quite a bit of lever travel before the braking kicks in. This can be adjusted and your local bike shop’s mechanic will likely be able to help you set it up how you like.

Once the pads are in contact with the rotors, you get a decent, if not outstanding, amount of modulation and control.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ Urban eBike
You control the motor with a remote on the handlebar. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

The motor is controlled by a neat remote mounted on the left-hand side of the bar, with a full-colour display screen built into the top tube. This provides plenty of information on your ride over multiple screens.

The bike can also work in conjunction with Specialized’s app, and if you’re the sort of rider who likes to log your rides, it will auto-upload to Strava.

Specialized claims a range of up to 115km when riding in the motor’s Eco mode, and while that’s probably achievable in the right conditions, my real-world figures were much lower.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ Urban eBike
The ebike has StVZO lights. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

My riding terrain is much hillier than most urban areas, and my testing was done in low single-figure centigrade temperatures, which will have affected battery efficiency.

Multiple rides provided similar figures, ranging between 52.37km / 32.54 miles with 727m / 2,385.17ft ascent and 68.4km / 42.5 miles with 606.2m / 1,988.8ft of ascent.

This is a respectable range from a 320Wh battery when most of the Vado SL’s hybrid electric bike rivals are using a 500Wh (or larger) capacity.

Urban Ebike of the Year 2024 | How we tested

For our 2024 Bike of the Year urban ebike category, we aimed to find a bike that was easy to ride, easy to live with on a day-to-day basis, and versatile enough to be a competent replacement for a car.

Each ebike was used for my commute to the BikeRadar office (on average, 27 miles / 43km each way), as well as for my weekly chores – which allowed me to cover a range of urban and suburban riding, plus test for achievable range and recharge time.

Every ebike was ridden from 100 per cent battery to empty to get a proper comparison of the expected range. I also used them for supermarket trips, daily errands, garden centre trips and pet food runs often returning fully laden (with the addition of panniers and a backpack, where needed).

Importantly, I wore everyday clothing for each test, rather than (for example) padded shorts, and used flat pedals as provided by the brand.

I racked up over 1,000 miles / 1,600km in total.

Our contenders

  • Cannondale Compact Neo
  • Ridgeback Arcus 3
  • Merida eSpresso CC 675 EQ 2024
  • Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5
  • Tern NBD S5i

Thanks to…

Our sponsor MET helmets, for its help in making Bike of the Year 2024 happen.

Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ bottom line

Male cyclist is orange jacket riding the Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ Urban eBike
The Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ almost perfectly marries practicality and speed. – Scott Windsor / Our Media

Specialized has done something very different with the Vado SL – instead of making a heavy cruiser, it has resurrected the template of the fast flat-barred road bike and infused it with an ebike motor.

This balances ample power and a good range for the battery size, yet doesn’t spoil the ride when the motor’s turned off.

It’s priced keenly and comes fully equipped for year-round riding. I wouldn’t change any of the bike’s fundamentals, even if the brakes aren’t the best examples of their kind.

The Vado SL almost perfectly marries practicality and speed. For that, it deserves plenty of accolades.

Product

Brandspecialized
Price4300.00 EUR,3400.00 GBP,4499.00 USD
Weight16.6900, KILOGRAM (L) –

Features

ForkFuture shock 1.5w/Smooth Boot, Rigid carbon fork, Boost™ 12x110mm thru-axle, flat mount disc
br_stemSpecialized Stealth Stem, alloy
br_chainSRAM NX Eagle, 12-speed
br_frameE5 Aluminium
br_motorSpecialized SL 1.1, custom lightweight motor / Battery: Specialized SL1-320, fully integrated, 320Wh
TyresNimbus II Sport Reflect, 700x38mm
br_brakesTektro HD-R510, hydraulic disc, 160mm rotors
br_cranksPraxis, Forged alloy M30, custom offset / SRAM X-SYNC 44t, 110BCD chainrings
br_saddleBridge Sport
br_wheelsDT Swiss R500 disc, 22mm internal width, 23mm internal depth on Specialized Alloy disc hubs
br_shifterSRAM GX, trigger, 12-speed
br_cassetteSRAM NX Eagle, 12-speed, 11-50t
br_seatpostSpecialized, alloy
br_gripsTapeSpecialized Body Geometry Contour, lock-on
br_handlebarStout Mini Rise, alloy
br_availableSizesS, M, L, XL
br_rearDerailleurSRAM GX Eagle, 12-speed
FeaturesPedals: Specialized Commuter w/ grip tape & reflectors
Headlight: Lezyne Ebike Power STVZO E115
Tail light: Lezyne Ebike Rear Fender STVZO
Rack: Turbo SL Rack, Closed Platform
Fenders: Specialized DryTech, aluminum