Thanks for all the different perspectives and thoughts. But if so, why do you want to to switch apart from the bike type also the motor/drive type, from a light ebike with assist drive back to a heavy standard drive&ebike? The alternative to a Vado SL with wider tires and more suspension, so a light ebike hardtail would be something like a Focus Raven2 (or something similiar, I guess there are more hardtails with Fazua now).įazua also can be, no, has to be charged outside the bike, you always have to take out the battery (what was one of MY reasons to choose SL, as I don't want this and can charge in the garage).
But we haven't ridden your paths, if the last 10-20% are terrible, maybe one could like wider tires und more suspension. What you describe with 80-90% road&paths, many people would be fine with a vado SL. If you feel fine with 40-45mm tires and no or almost no suspension on your roads only YOU can judge. It's like asking, if I should go for the Volkswagen Golf or for the Pickup.
Rook, I do not understand why you want to choose between a Vado SL and a Powerfly 4.
My wife has a Townie Go and my kids (14 and 10) have older basic mtbs.We have some decent hills in the area but nothing major. It's for fun and riding with the family.Unlikely to do any real mountain biking trails, or at best very light trails with no real down hills or major obstacles.Interested in being able to go off road onto dirt trails like you find in scout campgrounds.Mostly will be on paved roads or on hard packed dirt/gravel biking trails - 80+ % (probably 90+%).I'm looking for a bike for the following conditions. I don't particularly like that the battery cannot be removed and it's a bit stiff, but that may be due to the fact that I have always road MTBs on the road. I also like that the motor is more quiet that most others I've tried. I like the looks and the feel when riding it and it's a fun bike. I like that I can get it moving pretty fast and get it uphill even with the motor off, in case I want more of a work out or in case the battery dies during a trip. I like how light the Vado SL is, both to pick it up and as you ride it. What about loser gravel, fire roads, plain dirt roads like you find at a Boy Scout camp or regular trails in the woods (not MTB trails)? The LBS suggested you might be able to get 45mm tires with a bit of a tread on it with no fins and that it should handle well with those tires. For those of you who have experience with the Vado SL, how capable is it off road? Meaning, what type of road conditions can it handle and how well does it handle it? I know pavement and hard packed dirt/gravel should be no problem. I'm racking my brain trying to decided between two very different e-bikes, the Vado SL 4.0 vs the Powerfly 4.