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

[Stefan Mikes]

Going 32T for the Vado SL chainring: a well-thought-out decision

Most bicycle riders think of the gearing in terms of the climbing capability vs. speed. For my, the cadence is the King (or Queen). The primary decision behind going 12s for my Fearless was to be able to maintain a constant cadence for most of my riding conditions, which had failed miserably for the 36T chainring. As my electronic derailleur reports the current gear number, I realised I was riding mostly in gears 7-10; not only was the setup not utilizing gears 11 and 12 but also I experienced a cadence gap between gears 7 and 8. The point is, the five gears 8 through 12 on the 8200 cassette are equally spaced. There are bigger and bigger gaps starting from 8/7. The new Garbark 32T cassette gives me these benefits:

• Equal gear spacing for gears 8 to 12: 18-16-14-12-10
• These five smallest sprockets are serviceable (replaceable). In case of sprocket wear, I can fix the cassette at a fraction of the full cassette price. Also, I hate throwing out a big chunk of precious metal into the bin!

Someone would certainly ask: how would that Stefan affect your top speed? Oh well, I've done my calcs. In the 32-10 gearing, my speed would be 38 km/h at cadence 90. Whenever I achieve such a high speed, it is either a hurricane blowing in my back or a descent (on which I don't usually need to pedal).

In case someone asked, it is the same gearing as used on a Levo SL (Ah! That tiny ring barely went behind the spider!)

I expect I can now climb a 14% ascent if I can only maintain 7 km/h there

 

[mogulman]

@Stefan Mikes Is your chainring bracket cracked?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@Stefan Mikes Is your chainring bracket cracked?

You have a very good eye and made me scared for a while!
No. The spider has got an intentionally manufactured slit (it has a very regular shape extending into a manufactured cavity). It has been there since the beginning, and there must be a technical reason for that slit being there. However, the surface towards the bolt is delicately scratched, making an impression of a crack It is perfectly OK!

 

[2wheelsgood]

Went for a ride with my wife to a restaurant yesterday, she was on her electric Brompton.

"How do you put up with that awful noise?" she said as we were side by side.

She has a point, her motor is barely perceptible while mine is ... well you all know.

 

[BakedPringles]

The motor noise is definitely audible but it doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Me neither

 

[2wheelsgood]

It seems the bike was upset about my earlier comments and chewed off its own chain guard this morning to teach me a lesson

Not sure how it happened. Cycling along to the opticians and the gear changes suddenly became noisy and then the chain guard ripped off its fixings.
Changing gear is still poor, something is very wrong.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Who even uses the chainguard...
Is your drivetrain a Shimano or SRAM?

 

[2wheelsgood]

Anyone that bought a Vado SL and kept the Chain ring stock will have one fitted I believe.

It is the circular guard screwed into the chain ring that I am talking about. Not sure if it has another name.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Anyone that bought a Vado SL and kept the Chain ring stock will have one fitted I believe.

It is the circular guard screwed into the chain ring that I am talking about. Not sure if it has another name.

It is indeed a chainguard.

I asked about your drivetrain. Is the chainring held by 4 or 5 bolts? If you keep the original Praxis chainring (the chainwheel in some countries) then the chain might drop again and again. If you want to solve it for good, give the chainguard up and invest in a compatible Garbaruk chainring and bolts.

Mine is 104 BCD Round (4 bolts). Why does one need a chainguard?

 

[2wheelsgood]

Mine is this:
SRAM X-SYNC 44T chainring, 110 BCD

It was a bit fiddly but I managed to get the 3 remaining screws from the chainring off. It does look a bit ugly without the chainguard but I suppose I can do without. Just gave the chain a proper clean (I could detect no damage) and will attempt to realign the AXS once the new lube has had a chance to seep in.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Anyone that bought a Vado SL and kept the Chain ring stock will have one fitted I believe.

It is the circular guard screwed into the chain ring that I am talking about. Not sure if it has another name.

I replaced my SL 1's stock 44t Praxis chainring with an $80 40t Wolf Tooth narrow-wide at the time of purchase. Almost 4,000 mi later, not a single chain drop.

The guard wasn't compatible, so I never had that visual. However, I kinda like the look without — especially with nickel-plated chains.

If you figure out what happened to your guard, please let us know. Seems odd.

 

[2wheelsgood]

Something is still not right.

Spent the last hour 30mins realigning and micro adjusting and the gear change is still poor. Looks like another trip to the bike shop next week.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Something is still not right.

Spent the last hour 30mins realigning and micro adjusting and the gear change is still poor. Looks like another trip to the bike shop next week.

Bummer! One wonders if the derailleur is a little bent.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Garbaruk also makes 110 BCD 5-bolt chainrings.
Dave may be right: a bent derailleur hanger?

 

[2wheelsgood]

I did notice the derailleur hanger had a lot of scrapes to it and remember thinking how that happened.

Bike has never been dropped or crashed and I am super careful with it. We did leave it parked and locked with her Brompton outside the restaurant yesterday - I wonder

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Went for a ride with my wife to a restaurant yesterday, she was on her electric Brompton.

"How do you put up with that awful noise?" she said as we were side by side.

She has a point, her motor is barely perceptible while mine is ... well you all know.

It has been discussed The only noise is the wind whistle

 

[Allan47.7339]

I did notice the derailleur hanger had a lot of scrapes to it and remember thinking how that happened.

Bike has never been dropped or crashed and I am super careful with it. We did leave it parked and locked with her Brompton outside the restaurant yesterday - I wonder

I had the same issue where my SRAM shifting was suddenly bit off in some gears. I have a derailleur hanger tool and it took about ten minutes to remove the derailleur, realign and reinstall. Restored it to perfect shifting. It must have been bumped going in or out of the car or a coffee stop. Note: Even a new out of the box hanger should be checked.

 

[BEC111]

It has been discussed The only noise is the wind whistle

FWIW, I actually like the slight motor noise. When I’m riding fast, the assist stops when I’ve exceeded the torque sensitivity and the motor noise coming back on lets me know I’m again receiving assistance. (I know, what I’m experiencing and explaining may not be accurate, it’s what I sense while I’m riding.)

 

[2wheelsgood]

It has been discussed The only noise is the wind whistle

My wife says she can hear me coming into the street from 30 yards away.

And that is when she is inside the house.