Specialized Turbo Vado SL E-Bike Weighing in at just 33 pounds, this may be the lightest electric bicycle option you'll find anywhere.

We love electric bicycles – they get you where you’re going using motorized propulsion while giving you the option to push hard on the pedals when you need the exercise. If there’s anything we don’t like, it’s the weight, making them just that much more cumbersome to take up and down the stairs. Suffice to say, it’s not the kind of thing you appreciate when you live in the fourth floor of an apartment building. The Specialized Turbo Vado SL looks to change that by coming in much lighter than most electric bicycles in the market.

Weighing around 40 percent lighter than your average e-bike, the vehicle comes in at a more manageable weight of just 33 pounds, so any adult should be able to handle it without having to hit the weight room regularly at their local gym.  Whether you want to carry it to your third floor apartment, mount it to a rack on the garage ceiling, or put it on the roof rack on top of your SUV, the lighter weight should make doing that a lot more convenient compared to your standard 50-pound motorized bicycle.

The Specialized Turbo Vado SL is an electric bicycle that can provide electric assistance to speeds of up to 28 mph at distances of up to 80 miles. We know, you’ve seen e-bikes that offered more speed at greater range, but that’s the whole reason why it’s managed to keep itself on the much lighter end of the weight spectrum. That means, you get a very manageable weight for the bike at the expense of higher speeds and longer mileage. Still, hitting the road at 28 mph on the way to work every morning doesn’t seem so bad (it’s at least two times faster than going it on leg power alone), while that 80-mile range should be enough to get most people to the office and back with extra juice to spare.

The 320Wh battery and 240W custom motor are all integrated discreetly into the bicycle, so the whole thing looks nothing more than a regular road bike you can use for commuting. Seriously, if you’re not a fan of electric bikes with ugly compartments in the frame to accommodate the battery and electronics, you’ll probably appreciate what they’ve done here.

The Specialized Turbo Vado SL has an integrated display for viewing ride and battery data at a glance, ensuring you can see vital information, such as your current speed and the real-time battery level. The rest of the bike is, pretty much, standard for the outfit’s road bikes, with built-in shocks (Future Shock 1.5) reducing impact from rough roads, hydraulic disc brakes providing the necessary stopping power, front and rear lighting, a 12-speed Shimano SLX shifter, and a rear rack with integrated fenders.

Got a long commute? Not a problem, as the outfit also offers a range extender, which adds a removable external battery to the frame. Granted, you’ll look like you have a mobile speaker mounted on your bicycle. For the less-than-flattering aesthetics, though, you get an extra 160Wh battery module, extending the effective range to 120 miles.

The Specialized Turbo Vado SL is available now, priced starting at $4,500.

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