4100 miles in 12 months on Vado 5, squeaking while peddaling

[GuruUno]

Had the motor tightened, stopped "creaking", however, there is now "squeaking" pronounced while peddling. Put new pedals, no change. New chain, new tire, new cassette, new chainring, still squeaking during pedaling. Getting louder every day. I'm of the belief that it has to be some sort of internal bearing at the shaft where the pedals attach through the motor. How does one convince the LBS that the motor may be on its way out or some other moving part that will progressively get worse? I'm riding until it dies or breaks down rather than continuously tie it up for days at a time while the LBS "figures" it out.
The only way to do that is to ride it for 20-40 miles a day like I do and experience it. ANY THOUGHTS, IDEAS, COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS?

 

[kahn]

Had the motor tightened, stopped "creaking", however, there is now "squeaking" pronounced while peddling. Put new pedals, no change. New chain, new tire, new cassette, new chainring, still squeaking during pedaling. Getting louder every day. I'm of the belief that it has to be some sort of internal bearing at the shaft where the pedals attach through the motor. How does one convince the LBS that the motor may be on its way out or some other moving part that will progressively get worse? I'm riding until it dies or breaks down rather than continuously tie it up for days at a time while the LBS "figures" it out.
The only way to do that is to ride it for 20-40 miles a day like I do and experience it. ANY THOUGHTS, IDEAS, COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS?

Maybe try recording the sounds. Sometimes while biking it can be hard to localize where the sound is actually coming from. From the description it does not happen immediately or regularly or the bike shop would be able to hear it more quickly?

 

[GuruUno]

As of late, it is more consistent.

 

[Dallant]

Had the motor tightened, stopped "creaking", however, there is now "squeaking" pronounced while peddling. Put new pedals, no change. New chain, new tire, new cassette, new chainring, still squeaking during pedaling. Getting louder every day. I'm of the belief that it has to be some sort of internal bearing at the shaft where the pedals attach through the motor. How does one convince the LBS that the motor may be on its way out or some other moving part that will progressively get worse? I'm riding until it dies or breaks down rather than continuously tie it up for days at a time while the LBS "figures" it out.
The only way to do that is to ride it for 20-40 miles a day like I do and experience it. ANY THOUGHTS, IDEAS, COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS?

Stop buying new stuff till you have a real idea what it is?

 

[ActionJackson]

As of late, it is more consistent.

How long is your warranty? Also if it’s consistent you could record it, then find out the period of the squeak which is probably directly proportional to the rotational speed of the contributing component.

 

[GuruUno]

How long is your warranty?

2 years

 

[ActionJackson]

2 years

I think it will be helpful to them if you can quantify the squeak in terms of its repetition period e.g. .5sec because that correlates to a rotational speed that you would know. .5sec = 120rpm If that matches your cadence even if you change gears then it’s nothing aft of the crank. It could also be a multiple. But if you change gears that multiple would change as well if it was originating from the rear. If it’s a fixed multiple no matter what gear you’re in it’s probably related to the motor in some way. I believe inside of your bike motor is a belt drive connected to the crank. That would also have a fixed ratio. Also does the squeak occur if you pedal backwards at the same cadence? Bottom line is simple observations with a microphone, perhaps to a smart phone, once you have recordings you can easily analyze it determine what component it seems to be related to. Or at least have measurements others could utilize.

The guts of the motor on Vado SL:

PS - sorry if it’s not such a clear explanation - I’m 1/3 into a great bottle of 18 year old Highland Park Scotch hahahaha.

 

[GuruUno]

Tough to hold a smartphone while riding, I had previously strapped a Contour Roam cam on my old Super Commuter to achieve similar results. May have to do the same. However, today listened, rode 22 miles, and out the gate no noise. After 2+ miles, as the bike is "warming up" and then noise begins and it gets louder throughout the ride. Never over a specific decibel. Tried "backpedaling" and yes the noise is there while doing that, but not as pronounced. Gotta remember each time the "freewheel" clicking intercepts all quietness, making it difficult to pinpoint.
The difficult part to try to put into words is that while riding the e-bike depending on what gear you are in with what level of assistance dictates the "after-spin" (I said it would be hard to describe) when you stop pedaling. Meaning, there seems to be a bit of inertia, like a spinning top that continues for a few seconds after you stop pedaling. The squeaking stops when that spinning stops also. It is also dependent on how much pressure is being applied as in an example of going up a hill vs. coasting with minimal pressure on the pedals.
Difficult to explain, hopefully, the future video/audio will help.

Re: "I’m 1/3 into a great bottle of 18-year-old Highland Park Scotch", I haven't started yet

 

[ActionJackson]

Tough to hold a smartphone while riding, I had previously strapped a Contour Roam cam on my old Super Commuter to achieve similar results. May have to do the same. However, today listened, rode 22 miles, and out the gate no noise. After 2+ miles, as the bike is "warming up" and then noise begins and it gets louder throughout the ride. Never over a specific decibel. Tried "backpedaling" and yes the noise is there while doing that, but not as pronounced. Gotta remember each time the "freewheel" clicking intercepts all quietness, making it difficult to pinpoint.
The difficult part to try to put into words is that while riding the e-bike depending on what gear you are in with what level of assistance dictates the "after-spin" (I said it would be hard to describe) when you stop pedaling. Meaning, there seems to be a bit of inertia, like a spinning top that continues for a few seconds after you stop pedaling. The squeaking stops when that spinning stops also. It is also dependent on how much pressure is being applied as in an example of going up a hill vs. coasting with minimal pressure on the pedals.
Difficult to explain, hopefully, the future video/audio will help.

Re: "I’m 1/3 into a great bottle of 18-year-old Highland Park Scotch", I haven't started yet

I’d use a lapel microphone or even the wired earphone/mic combo that comes with the phone.

It might be easier to just to slip off the chain once it’s warmed up to isolate between cassette or crank side. At least since you have a year remaining on the warranty you have time remaining to get properly fixed.

In my opinion 4100 miles is very impressive and not surprised to hear it has a squeaky something. If it’s persistent I’m sure you’ll find it. I told my wife I figure ROI is 5000km and even she was happy with that as it likely means a good weight reduction.

My friend has a brand new Tesla S that intermittently chirps very loudly on the expressway. He’s so pi$$ed off.

 

[Allan47.7339]

Stop buying new stuff till you have a real idea what it is?

Generally true but most of those parts are consumables. I would expect a couple of chains and maybe a cassette by 4100 miles. If there is a lot of riding in the rain with all of the grit, it could be more parts. Probably necessary to move the warranty issues forward.

 

[GuruUno]

Well, today I took off the rear wheel, cleaned the cassette which had only about 1500 miles on it, re-waxed the chain, and the noise is gone.
How would a rear wheel with a single through-bolt get a squeak? The oddity is that the squeak started after I changed the flat I got last week, so help educate me.....

 

[Gionnirocket]

Sounds like a loose nut behind the handlebars

 

[Cramer Long]

Had the motor tightened, stopped "creaking", however, there is now "squeaking" pronounced while peddling. Put new pedals, no change. New chain, new tire, new cassette, new chainring, still squeaking during pedaling. Getting louder every day. I'm of the belief that it has to be some sort of internal bearing at the shaft where the pedals attach through the motor. How does one convince the LBS that the motor may be on its way out or some other moving part that will progressively get worse? I'm riding until it dies or breaks down rather than continuously tie it up for days at a time while the LBS "figures" it out.
The only way to do that is to ride it for 20-40 miles a day like I do and experience it. ANY THOUGHTS, IDEAS, COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS?

It's rubber or plastic Squeaking from washing the Bike . Which I assume with 5K you have . The finish on rubber and plastic rubs and squeaks because it's dried out . Just spray some oil or silicon on all the rubber you can find. It also could be your rear derailleur wheels need cleaned out or replaced . Simple fix /Common issue . Especially with 5K miles What type of wear is on your cassette . You may need to replace 1 or all the sprockets . It could be the bike needs a really anal cleaning to get all that dirt and muck you don't see at a glance . Those D-Wheels are squeaky little buggers when they wear out

My brother in law had a squeak . He ended up replacing everything . It's not your motor . Motors going out grind not squeak . Does it stop when you coast . My Brother in law replaced all the components and still had that annoying squeak. he sprayed silicon on all his rubber and plastic . It stopped for a week . So he tried oil and it's gone . The cleaners we use cause this

 

[Brendon@OEB]

It can also come from the headset bearings/races too, possible coming from either front or rear hub bearings. There's WAY more moving parts than the motor and as pointed out, the motor doesn't fail in that fashion.

 

[Joeybuck]

I had the same problem GuruUno had On my Creo. Drove me nuts. His fix is the proper one. Remove rear wheel, clean everything and most importantly, tighten the rear wheel on the ground. Not in a bike stand or flipped over. I try to put a bit of weight on it while I tightened it. Then finally get out the torque wrench if you have one

 

[GuruUno]

EXACTLY what I did + other stuff (minimal).....thanks to all for their opinions and offerings of help.....today is 1 year to the day, 4,150 miles, a tad shy of my anticipated 5k miles, but at 70 years old, what the heck

 

[steve mercier]

Well, today I took off the rear wheel, cleaned the cassette which had only about 1500 miles on it, re-waxed the chain, and the noise is gone.
How would a rear wheel with a single through-bolt get a squeak? The oddity is that the squeak started after I changed the flat I got last week, so help educate me.....

Guru I always wonder why my front brake squeeks and I still have no clue. I can ride 100 km , the first 70 without a peep ,then on km 71 it may squeal like a pig. Then it disappears for the remainder of the journey. Baffling and annoying indeed!

 

[ActionJackson]

today is 1 year to the day, 4,150 miles, a tad shy of my anticipated 5k miles, but at 70 years old, what the heck

That’s simply an amazing accomplishment!

 

[Dallant]

Guru I always wonder why my front brake squeeks and I still have no clue. I can ride 100 km , the first 70 without a peep ,then on km 71 it may squeal like a pig. Then it disappears for the remainder of the journey. Baffling and annoying indeed!

Just like my Rail 5. Annoying and unpredictable as hell when it happens!