Specialized Turbo Vado SL: An Incredible E-Bike (User Club)

[Jeremy McCreary]

A tangential question on brake squealing, please:

My SL's brakes normally don't squeal. But if I stop at a beach where the surf's only meters away and stay there for 5+ minutes, they squeal briefly on the way back to the Coast Highway.

Then silence till the next beach stop. Never anything visible on the brakes. Never happens inland.

Q. Why the squeal?

An onshore breeze, the daytime norm here, picks up microscopic seawater droplets and salt crystals as it passes over the breaking surf. Then it might pick up tiny sand grains as it crosses the beach to my brakes.

So which one's the culprit here — water, salt, sand, or some combo? The absence of inland cases stands against blown sand as the sole cause. And the quick resolution once I'm underway most favors water. But the salt could still be a player.

 

[BioWheel]

A tangential question on brake squealing, please:

My SL's brakes normally don't squeal. But if I stop at a beach where the surf's only meters away and stay there for 5+ minutes, they squeal briefly on the way back to the Coast Highway.

Then silence till the next beach stop. Never anything visible on the brakes. Never happens inland.

Q. Why the squeal?

An onshore breeze, the norm here during daytime, picks up microscopic seawater droplets and salt crystals as it passes over the breaking surf. Then it might pick up tiny sand grains as it crosses the beach to my brakes.

So which one's the culprit here— water, salt, or sand? The absence of inland cases stands against blown sand, and the quick resultion once I'm underway favors water. But the salt could still be a player.

I think it's the Dihydrogen monoxide. And what's wrong with squeaking a bit. Especially coming back from the beach.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I think it's the Dihydrogen monoxide. And what's wrong with squeaking a bit. Especially coming back from the beach.

I'm with you on the water. Not complaining, mind you, just curious.

Grateful every day that I ended up living 5 minutes from the surf by bike — especially in this mild Mediterranean climate.

 

[BioWheel]

I'm with you on the water. Not complaining, mind you, just curious.

View attachment 207417
Grateful every day that I ended up living 5 minutes from the surf by bike — especially in this mild Mediterranean climate.

That's an awesome place to park. VSL is really the perfect bike.

 

[edobici_forza]

I have no clue Jeremy, but I had 4x stream crossing on a recent ride. Therefore I had something going on with my wheels/hubs, so cleaned them out. the squeak was still there. Hoping it was not my Bottom Bracket! So, not audible in the bike stand prior after my cleaning, I heard it from the rear. It was my brakes! uneven wear caused a ridge. the SRAM Apex brakes suck from the generation I have. I filed off the ridge on the pads and the squeak is gone. So, I am not suggesting that your noise is from the same issue. but sometimes it takes a bit of troubleshooting. Good luck!