Specialized Creo 2 owners

[vado5.0slcreo2]

Yes I love my bike, but I don't know what else to try, I ride in the hills, bike started to "pop" going down hill, free wheeling down a hill the bike shouldn't pop, my new old stock Vado, same set up no noise same route

 

[mschwett]

Yes I love my bike, but I don't know what else to try, I ride in the hills, bike started to "pop" going down hill, free wheeling down a hill the bike shouldn't pop, my new old stock Vado, same set up no noise same route

what do you mean “pop?”

if you’re rolling down hill and the pedals aren’t turning and it makes a loud sound, the number of places it could be coming from are very limited. does it also do it with the electronics and motor completely turned off? that would limit it even more, basically only the rear hub. possibly but very unlikely the brakes.

edit : or a spoke/nipple! good input from calcoaster. think of the things in the bike that are rotating when you're not pedaling...

 

[Calcoaster]

Yes I love my bike, but I don't know what else to try, I ride in the hills, bike started to "pop" going down hill, free wheeling down a hill the bike shouldn't pop, my new old stock Vado, same set up no noise same route

Could be a bad spoke or cracked/stripped nipple. That would be an easy fix and should be able to isolate it by flexing all the spokes. Swapping another wheel in would be a quick way to narrow it down too.

 

[Mr. Max]

I'm not a bike mechanic. I'm just a guy who likes to ride bikes. Hopefully, some of the amazing bike geniuses in the forum can help vado5.0slcreo2 solve his dilemma. A few amateur things I'd add though are. Since it sounds like a primary concern is about safety, I'd check every millimeter of the carbon frame and the wheel set for cracks. If your bike has almost 10,000 miles it's not a brand new bike any more.

I've got a 2020 Vado 4 with about 20,000 miles that's had a number of issues over the years. Those bikes were notorious for the frame cracking underneath by the motor mount in a location that you'd never see if you weren't looking for it. It never happened to me, but it's happened to other folks in the forum.

After a few years of ownership, I did have a crack in the Vado 4's rear wheel by one of the spoke nipples. Even though the bike was out of warranty, Specialized replaced the wheel at no charge (probably out of concern for liability issues.)

At some point my Vado 4 had a mysterious clicking sound in the rear wheel. The local bike shop figured out it was the plastic guard in between the cassette and the spokes. They said was a common reason for mysterious wheel noise. They removed the plastic guard and that problem was solved.

I'm guessing that your bike is out of warranty? If it's not, then someone has to fix it. If your local bike shop has tried everything and can't solve your issue, consider taking your bike to another Specialized dealer. That's inconvenient, but it's worth a shot.

Like Calcoaster said, maybe it's a simple issue that no one has figured out yet. Don't give up!

 

[mschwett]

I'm not a bike mechanic. I'm just a guy who likes to ride bikes. Hopefully, some of the amazing bike geniuses in the forum can help vado5.0slcreo2 solve his dilemma. A few amateur things I'd add though are. Since it sounds like a primary concern is about safety, I'd check every millimeter of the carbon frame and the wheel set for cracks. If your bike has almost 10,000 miles it's not a brand new bike any more.

I've got a 2020 Vado 4 with about 20,000 miles that's had a number of issues over the years. Those bikes were notorious for the frame cracking underneath by the motor mount in a location that you'd never see if you weren't looking for it. It never happened to me, but it's happened to other folks in the forum.

After a few years of ownership, I did have a crack in the Vado 4's rear wheel by one of the spoke nipples. Even though the bike was out of warranty, Specialized replaced the wheel at no charge (probably out of concern for liability issues.)

At some point my Vado 4 had a mysterious clicking sound in the rear wheel. The local bike shop figured out it was the plastic guard in between the cassette and the spokes. They said was a common reason for mysterious wheel noise. They removed the plastic guard and that problem was solved.

I'm guessing that your bike is out of warranty? If it's not, then someone has to fix it. If your local bike shop has tried everything and can't solve your issue, consider taking your bike to another Specialized dealer. That's inconvenient, but it's worth a shot.

Like Calcoaster said, maybe it's a simple issue that no one has figured out yet. Don't give up!

moving things can make funny sounds... for a little while i had a VERY annoying metronome like "click" every time the pedals went around on my acoustic bike. bottom bracket, chainring, chainring bolts, checked and rechecked and lubed and torqued. one day i took the pedals off, don't know why, and when i put them back the noise was gone. didn't sound AT ALL like it was coming from the (lef) pedal spindle. it's like the carbon frame was turned into a speaker amplifying some tiny click inside the pedal axle...

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

moving things can make funny sounds... for a little while i had a VERY annoying metronome like "click" every time the pedals went around on my acoustic bike. bottom bracket, chainring, chainring bolts, checked and rechecked and lubed and torqued. one day i took the pedals off, don't know why, and when i put them back the noise was gone. didn't sound AT ALL like it was coming from the (lef) pedal spindle. it's like the carbon frame was turned into a speaker amplifying some tiny click inside the pedal axle...

Recently had an abnormal clatter that sounded for all the world like it was coming from my SL's mid-drive motor. Rhythm also pointed to the motor.

Well, it was actually at the rear hub — in the freewheel body to be exact. Next time I tell a bike mechanic where a funny sound is coming from, it will be with utmost humility.

 

[vado5.0slcreo2]

had the motor and battery replaced in July, it didn't even make it to the end of August about 2,000 miles, the bike went into limp mode only delivering 75% power, with over 200 error messages, bike has been in the shop since August 13th, and specialized are behind on warranty claims, so what i was told
the new app doesn't tell you that you have errors or in limp mode, I had no idea that it was at 75% power, the bike would just turn on and off and lose all the data, only metric that it kept was motor miles, still has frame nose coming from the rear, I took the wheels to an old school independent bike shop, he didn't charge me, nothing was wrong with the wheels, I guess I am out $7000 since its not an s-works bike specialized doesn't care

 

[Twowheelxtc]

Nowhere near as frustrating as your issues Vado5 but I thought i was heading for a new motor on my Creo 1 recently and was bracing myself for a big bill for replacement as it’s well out of warranty. Every time i stood up on the pedals the bike would quite loudly creak….and as we all know the origin of creaks can be really hard to diagnose on occasions. The creak happened when either pedal was pushed hard (standing) so I was beginning to think the motor bearings may be at fault but then happened to notice that the chainring teeth were somewhat hooked. Replaced the chainring but the creak was still there. Checked pedals, saddle, seatpost, handlebars but the creak was still there . Out of desperation and no other ideas I changed the cassette…..that was it!! beautiful smooth silence and no £1000 bill at the Specialized shop. In all my 60 years of cycling I’ve never come across a worn cassette creaking…..you live and learn.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

In all my 60 years of cycling I’ve never come across a worn cassette creaking…..you live and learn.

What if you had an annoying squeak on an SL to find out it was just a worn crankarm? Or, terrible squeaking to realise it was dry suspension seat-post that needed some grease?

 

[Twowheelxtc]

What if you had an annoying squeak on an SL to find out it was just a worn crankarm? Or, terrible squeaking to realise it was dry suspension seat-post that needed some grease?

At our ages it’s also very likely to be our knees!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Nowhere near as frustrating as your issues Vado5 but I thought i was heading for a new motor on my Creo 1 recently and was bracing myself for a big bill for replacement as it’s well out of warranty. Every time i stood up on the pedals the bike would quite loudly creak….and as we all know the origin of creaks can be really hard to diagnose on occasions. The creak happened when either pedal was pushed hard (standing) so I was beginning to think the motor bearings may be at fault but then happened to notice that the chainring teeth were somewhat hooked. Replaced the chainring but the creak was still there. Checked pedals, saddle, seatpost, handlebars but the creak was still there . Out of desperation and no other ideas I changed the cassette…..that was it!! beautiful smooth silence and no £1000 bill at the Specialized shop. In all my 60 years of cycling I’ve never come across a worn cassette creaking…..you live and learn.

Had a very similar experience with my Vado SL 1. Thought for sure my motor was a goner. Suddenly sounded like a bucket of bolts at high pedal force, weakly synced to power strokes, and it sure sounded like it was coming from the motor.

Left the SL at the shop, dreading the diagnosis. Next day, the mechanic called.
"Your bike's ready."
"Huh?? How could you possibly have replaced the motor in that time?"
"Wasn't the motor. The freebody was poorly lubed at assembly. Lubed it, noise gone. No damage, works perfectly."

And he was right!

Lesson: Next time I dare tell a bike mechanic where I think an abnormal sound is coming from, I'll be a lot more humble about it.

 

[Allan47.7339]

"had the motor and battery replaced in July, it didn't even make it to the end of August about 2,000 miles, the bike went into limp mode only delivering 75% power, with over 200 error messages, bike has been in the shop since August 13th, and specialized are behind on warranty claims, so what i was told"

It's frustrating when you use your bicycle for commuting and the shop mindset is in recreation mode. If they thought you had a big race or grand fondo you were signed up for, they could understand. I used my first Specialized ebike for an 18 mile commute but unfortunately the Turbo S was much less reliable and would occasionally be in the shop waiting for warranty parts. Your commuting goals are just as important as training mileage is to a racer.

The Creo system is much simpler with only seven basic components, Motor, Battery, Mastermind TCU, Main wiring harness, Road remotes, Road speed sensor wiring and Centerlock magnet in order of cost. If they've replaced the motor and battery the remaining TCU and wiring harnesses are less than half the cost of the battery. My guess will be either the road remote wiring or main harness having an intermittent break. I have an intermittent issue on my Creo 1 that is mostly dormant by very carefully putting the wires into the top tube. Occasionally at start, the TCU will start, flash and turn off, but a second push of the button it starts up. I do have a main wiring harness in the drawer to try if it gets worse. (The reason I think it's the wiring is I had a similar issue when I had the TCU, battery and motor from my Creo 2 temporarily installed.)

 

[Mr. Max]

had the motor and battery replaced in July, it didn't even make it to the end of August about 2,000 miles, the bike went into limp mode only delivering 75% power, with over 200 error messages, bike has been in the shop since August 13th, and specialized are behind on warranty claims, so what i was told
the new app doesn't tell you that you have errors or in limp mode, I had no idea that it was at 75% power, the bike would just turn on and off and lose all the data, only metric that it kept was motor miles, still has frame nose coming from the rear, I took the wheels to an old school independent bike shop, he didn't charge me, nothing was wrong with the wheels, I guess I am out $7000 since its not an s-works bike specialized doesn't care

I documented my numerous issues with the alloy Creo 2 earlier in this thread. All of my issues got resolved positively. While it would have been great if my new bike never had issues I thought Specialized and my LBS did a great job of resolving the problems. I shared your story with my LBS to get their feedback. Their first question was is this bike still under warranty? I might have missed that info, but I don't think I see it.

How many miles does this bike have? If you're putting in a 1000 miles a month you could easily have over 10,000 miles on the bike. While it definitely sucks, folks on this forum say that e-bike motors last 10-15,000 miles.

The other thing my LBS said about your story is that Specialized warranty repairs gets backed up at the end of every summer. That also might be happening here.

I'm so sorry this is happening to you!! Personally, if you're riding 1000 miles a month over hilly terrain, I think that rather than jerking you around, Specialized should hire you as a product tester. You're a bike riding machine! Don't give up! It's all going to work out, it just might take longer than you'd like.

 

[Ebikelife72]

I recently bought a Creo 2 E5 in the new pistachio color. This bike is my favorite e-bike I’ve owned. It’s absolutely fantastic. I discovered something the other day that other owners of the 2026 E5 might need to know. The Creo 2 is supposed to come with the 3.1 Future Shock. In most of the different literatures it clearly states that all Creo 2’s have the 3.0 FS with the alloy E5 having the 3.1, the comp Carbon having the 3.2, and the upper models having the 3.3. In the technical specs of the 2026 E5 on the website it states that it comes with the 1.5 FS which is strange as the technical specs for the prior E5 lists the 3.1. In the ad pics of the new E5 you can clearly see a dial adjustment knob, mine came with the adjustment knob. The issue is that the only FS models that have an adjustment knob are the 2.0 and the 3.3.

According to Specialized the differences between the 3.1, 3.2, and the 3.3 are:
3.1 no damping, spring only with washers to adjust preload(no adjustment knob)
3.2 has hydraulic damping, spring with adjustable preload via washers, no damping adjustment (no knob)
3.3 has hydraulic damping, spring with adjustable preload via washers, and adjustment knob for variable damping
All versions come with 3 different springs and 5 preload washers.

My bike and those featured in the pics from the website have an adjustment knob. I asked Specialized which FS my bike has. I provided the serial number and they advised that it has the 3.1. I asked the springs are replaceable fr the different tension, ie the blue, black, and yellow springs. They said yes. I was confused since mine had an adjustment knob. I’m familiar with the FS 2.0, I have one on my Diverge and have no trouble with it. It does not have replaceable springs but works well. The one on my E5 felt soft which I assumed was from the extra weight of the battery so I went to change springs and discovered that my E5 had the 2.0 FS which was my suspicion. I contacted Specialized Rider Care again. This person initially said that my bike was supposedly to have the 1.5 and that the other rep was wrong when they told me it was the 3.1. I replied that if that was true, which it wasn’t, then my bike is still wrong because doesn’t have the 1.5, it has the 2.0. I have a Sirrus X5 with the 1.5 so I’m familiar. I sent pics of my FS. After awhile the rep confirmed that I was supposed to have the 3.1 and that my bike did in fact have the 2.0. He told me to go to a dealer to start a warranty and they would switch it out.

My dealer contacted me and said Specialized didn’t have any 3.1’s available but were sending the 3.2. I tried to weasel my way into the 3.3 but no luck. I’ve been on several rides now with the 3.2 and can say with certainty that it is much better than the 2.0. The hydraulic damping combined with the spring is so much smoother it feels like a different bike. The 3.3 would’ve been nice but not likely a noticeable improvement. I do feel the hydraulic damping in the 3.2 is likely a big improvement over the non damped 3.1 so I feel very fortunate with how things worked out.

 

[Allan47.7339]

I recently bought a Creo 2 E5 in the new pistachio color. This bike is my favorite e-bike I’ve owned. It’s absolutely fantastic. I discovered something the other day that other owners of the 2026 E5 might need to know. The Creo 2 is supposed to come with the 3.1 Future Shock. In most of the different literatures it clearly states that all Creo 2’s have the 3.0 FS with the alloy E5 having the 3.1, the comp Carbon having the 3.2, and the upper models having the 3.3. In the technical specs of the 2026 E5 on the website it states that it comes with the 1.5 FS which is strange as the technical specs for the prior E5 lists the 3.1. In the ad pics of the new E5 you can clearly see a dial adjustment knob, mine came with the adjustment knob. The issue is that the only FS models that have an adjustment knob are the 2.0 and the 3.3.

It looks like a marketing prototype photo error. I'm a little surprised they are willing to accommodate you at the price point of an E5 but you should recognize they are going above and beyond to take care of you. My 2024 Creo 2 E5 came with a Future Shock 3.1 as it was specified. This is the non-adjustable version. The 3.1 is basically the same as a 1.5. The support site quotes the following:


Creo 2 - Future Shock 3.0
The Creo 2 features the Future Shock 3.0. Frames and complete bikes are originally equipped as follows:

Model	3.3	3.2	3.1
S-Works	X
Pro	X
Expert	X
Comp		X
Comp E5 (alloy frame)			X

There are three different versions of the Future Shock 3.0:

• 3.3 cartridge (hydraulic damping that is adjustable)
• 3.2 cartridge (hydraulic damping, but not adjustable)
• 3.1 cartridge (spring actuated)

 

[Ebikelife72]

It looks like a marketing prototype photo error. I'm a little surprised they are willing to accommodate you at the price point of an E5 but you should recognize they are going above and beyond to take care of you. My 2024 Creo 2 E5 came with a Future Shock 3.1 as it was specified. This is the non-adjustable version. The 3.1 is basically the same as a 1.5. The support site quotes the following:


Creo 2 - Future Shock 3.0
The Creo 2 features the Future Shock 3.0. Frames and complete bikes are originally equipped as follows:

Model	3.3	3.2	3.1
S-Works	X
Pro	X
Expert	X
Comp		X
Comp E5 (alloy frame)			X

There are three different versions of the Future Shock 3.0:

• 3.3 cartridge (hydraulic damping that is adjustable)
• 3.2 cartridge (hydraulic damping, but not adjustable)
• 3.1 cartridge (spring actuated)

Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly what I put in my post above Their photos are definitely wrong, but so was the bike they sent me. As I said, I feel very fortunate in how things worked out. They certainly didn’t have to send me the 3.2 and could’ve waited until the 3.1 was available. It likely cost them hardly anything more. I agree that the 3.1 is very similar to the 1.5. The 3.2 is significantly better than the 2.0 on my Diverge and the 1.5 on my Sirrus.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

As a bicycle owner, it's my obligation to find ways to spend more money on it. One way: Replace the FS 1.5 on my Vado SL 1 with a 3.3. Last price I saw was around $300. I think it's compatible.

Honestly, FOMO is the only real motivation. Have almost 3,000 mi on my FS 1.5 — always at its softest (no helper spring) — and rarely even notice it in action. Even on some pretty bumpy local gravel. Bottomed out maybe once.

Which may just mean that it's doing what I need so far. Happy with the compliance I already have with the FS 1.5 and tubeless 38 mm gravel tires at 35-40 psi.

So what would I really gain with the 3.3? My wife requests that you talk me out of this.
;^}

 

[Ebikelife72]

As a bicycle owner, it's my obligation to find ways to spend more money on it. One way: Replace the FS 1.5 on my Vado SL 1 with a 3.3. Last price I saw was around $300. I think it's compatible.

Honestly, FOMO is the only real motivation. Have almost 3,000 mi on my FS 1.5 — always at its softest (no helper spring) — and rarely even notice it in action. Even on some pretty bumpy local gravel. Bottomed out maybe once.

Which may just mean that it's doing what I need so far. Happy with the compliance I already have with the FS 1.5 and tubeless 38 mm gravel tires at 35-40 psi.

So what would I really gain with the 3.3? My wife requests that you talk me out of this.
;^}

I think the 3.3 might be over $400 now so that may be the decider. I think it should be mentioned the difference in riding position will likely affect the perceived effectiveness of the FS. While the Vado position is sportier than others it's still more upright than the Creo with drop bars. I'm sure I have more weight on the front than you do. I've never had a problem with the 1.5 on my Sirrus. It works very well and I use the yellow spring. I have no plans to upgrade it. I've considered upgrading the 2.0 on my Diverge but I'll likely not do that and may just upgrade the bike in a year or so to the new Gen Diverge.