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The Porsche of Ebikes: An Honest Review of the Specialized Turbo Vado SL2 5.0 EQ

If any ebike ever tied together all its various pieces into one cohesive ebike that feels like a regular bike better than this Specialized, I haven’t met it.

By Matt Jancer | Reviewed by Ysolt Usigan

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Ebikes exist on a continuum of those wishing to be as close to an analog bike as possible and those who’ve given up entirely on the facade. These latter bikes cram in motors that feel like Space Shuttle booster rockets when they kick in and frames so bulky and heavy that the pedals are functionally decorative, because who in their right mind would want to pedal a 100-pound behemoth when the battery juice gave out?

The Specialized Turbo Vado SL2 5.0 EQ is in the former camp of ebikes. Far on the extreme edge of the former. So far that it’s the most natural-pedaling ebike I’ve ever ridden. If it weren’t for the terrain (and other cyclists) rushing by at such speed, I could forget it even has an electric motor.

In the time it takes for you to say Turbo Vado SL2 5.0 EQ, it’ll still rush you to 20 MPH with such smoothness and refinement that you may come entirely around to Specialized’s comparing it to the bicycle version of a Porsche. And, well, it’ll boost you to 28 MPH, but only if you really want those last eight miles per hour.

TL;DR – My Quick Verdict

If you want an ebike that will do all the work for you, like a wink-wink-nudge-nudge junior electric motorcycle, the Specialized Turbo Vado SL2 5.0 EQ isn’t your ride. You can get bikes that reach 28 MPH or beyond with less effort at less money. Its trump card isn’t brute power; it’s a near perfect simulation of an analog bike, such a seamlessly polished experience that the bike could trick you into thinking that you have a pro cyclist’s legs and that somehow you’re doing all the work with the pedals.

Turbo Vado SL 2 5.0 EQ (opens in a new window)

I’ve been testing ebikes for six years, and I’ve watched the ebike industry evolve from a motley spread of fairly typical, analog-looking bikes with hub motors slapped between the rear wheel spokes and battery glommed onto frames, all the way to machines that have every bit of the refinement and specialized (hah) engineering poured into them as the motorcycles I’ve also covered in my career.

Despite their greater refinement, my testing process hasn’t changed. I don’t coddle these bikes. I figure the best way to appraise them is to use them like any regular customer would. I ride them over New York City’s busted streets. I swerve toward puddles and cracks, rather than away. I load them up with cargo-carrying bags to ferry groceries and packages to and from the store. If they can survive on the streets of New York, they can survive anywhere.

Riding the Specialized Turbo Vado SL2 5.0 EQ wasn’t like riding most ebikes. Pedaling it felt natural. Most ebikes, particularly those that rely on hub motors and cadence sensors in their pedals, make it very obvious to the rider that their pedaling is secondary to the riding experience; maybe even a complete afterthought.

Those with mid-drive motors and torque sensors, like this Specialized, feel much more like you’re riding a regular analog bike, just perhaps that you woke up with the leg strength of a regular gym-goer who never misses leg day because every day is leg day. Even among this lofty crème de la crème, the Specialized best them all.

There was no abrupt jerk of power from the motor, no clunkiness when I stopped or started pedaling, no momentary hesitation before the motor responded to my grunting struggles as I tried to motivate the bike forward from a stop sign. It all worked so seamlessly that sometimes I had to check to see that I hadn’t accidentally turned the electric motor assistance down super low.

Then I’d see the big, bright display telling me that I was cruising at 20 MPH, and I’d know that of course the electric motor was working its little butt off. There’s no way I’d be going........

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