Do you break spokes?
- Thread starter Dave E
- Start date
I was informed by my lbs that Specialized will not cover the broken spoke. I am disappointed and feel like Specialized swindled me by putting a cheap wheel on this bike. At $35 a spoke, this could get expensive.
The bike is not overloaded. I weigh 190 pounds and there is a rear rack and U-lock that probably add another 5 pounds. The rear wheel only has to support as much weight as they designed it to. If it can't handle it, then that is a bad design and should be covered under warranty.
Waiting to hear back from rider care.
The bike is not overloaded. I weigh 190 pounds and there is a rear rack and U-lock that probably add another 5 pounds. The rear wheel only has to support as much weight as they designed it to. If it can't handle it, then that is a bad design and should be covered under warranty.
Waiting to hear back from rider care.
Highway550
Member
I recommend having the LBS replace the spoke and then have go through the process of truing a wheel. It is not uncommon for factory wheel builds to have issues with broken spokes.
If another spoke breaks, then have them rebuild the wheel. best of luck!
Hi there, same issue here in Paris. I've got a 2017 Vado 3.0 with almost 4K km on the clock and I've had this issue for the third time, and 2 spokes snapped in one week! Always at nipples. The trouble is I didn't spot it when one broke recently and the rim got a bit veiled. Took it to a local dealer's who replaced the broken spoke and managed to get the rim straight, but he highlighted the fact that the rim has a bit of a dent (that I didn't spot, BTW). And this Thursday, back from work on a flat road, absolutely spotless, and I heard this CLANG that made me think Oh oh, here we go again. I went to see this mechanic again and we agreed that we'd have to re-spoke it one of these days. I also rang the nearest Specialized dealer to find out if they knew about this issue. Since they don't sell a lot of Vados, they hadn't heard of this. We spoke about weight, tyre pressure, and though I am a bit overweight, 10 kilograms are not an issue to him. I mentioned the fact that there's a tiny angle at the junction spoke-nipple, which makes him think that there's not enough play for the nipple in the rim hole. His conclusion was we should re-spoke with different spokes and longer nipples.
Now, another issue is for me to find a rim. Most rims won't withstand weight above 242 lb/110 kg (bike + rider). So you'd have to go for a proper e-bike rim, and they're not very popular round here! The factory rim's a ETRTO 622x27 - 28 holes. Try and find one! I had found a Mavic e-Crossmax wheel on offer, but it's 30 mil wide inside, and manufacturer specs say it's good for tyres from 60 mil. Not good because the Vado stands on 47 mil tyres. Mavic rims, forget them. Either they're a bit too wide, or they can't handle the weight of an e-bike. I searched from the web and the only rim that I found's a H522 from DT Swiss. It's 25 mil wide inside, which fits these tyres according to a Shwalbe chart, and can handle up to 150 kg.
Do you guys recommend any other rim that'd fit this bike?
Many thanks in advance. Ride safely
Now, another issue is for me to find a rim. Most rims won't withstand weight above 242 lb/110 kg (bike + rider). So you'd have to go for a proper e-bike rim, and they're not very popular round here! The factory rim's a ETRTO 622x27 - 28 holes. Try and find one! I had found a Mavic e-Crossmax wheel on offer, but it's 30 mil wide inside, and manufacturer specs say it's good for tyres from 60 mil. Not good because the Vado stands on 47 mil tyres. Mavic rims, forget them. Either they're a bit too wide, or they can't handle the weight of an e-bike. I searched from the web and the only rim that I found's a H522 from DT Swiss. It's 25 mil wide inside, which fits these tyres according to a Shwalbe chart, and can handle up to 150 kg.
Do you guys recommend any other rim that'd fit this bike?
Many thanks in advance. Ride safely
Rod Jets
New Member
Same from New Zealand, a 2017 Vado 3 rider (75kg + 15kg of panniers). No problems until ~4,000km then 4 spokes break in succession over the next 800-1000km. All 4 breaks were at the nipple end, so my LBS has rebuilt the rear wheel for me. They've used Wheelsmith spokes and brass nipples. Now done 5,600km and no more broken spokes. Despite their protest I think Specialized are well aware there's a problem with the rear wheels. NZ$246 for the rebuild, not covered by warranty!! The alternative is a set of DT Swiss wheels with 32hole rims and new hubs. NZ$850.
I've just replaced the rear wheel with a DT Swiss H1900 Spline 25. Didn't want to go for the 30 mil. Too wide for the 47 mil tyre, I thought. We'll see. I haven't ridden it yet but what I noticed is how smooth the DT bearings are. Much smoother than the factory hub (Formula ?...).
I've been commuting to work all week and I can only be happy with this DT Swiss wheel. The bike's a little bit more comfy because there's more balloon effect with a narrower rim. That's very subtle, though. Another thing that did not surprise me is that , considering the much smoother bearings, the bike's a bit faster everywhere, and, more importantly, I almost never switch to 50% assistance. It's perfectly all right on 20% 99% of the time. As a result, I've also increased battery life. I'll confirm but I reckon you could do around 120 K on it now. I can only recommend replacing the rear wheel with this DT if you keep snapping spokes and you can't be bothered re-spoking it. Here in France, it's surprisingly more affordable than a Mavic.
Turbo Vado Pip
Member
My frame broke and the entire bike got replaced by a brand new factory fresh Vado 4. Less than 150 miles on the clock and one of the rear spokes has come off it too! Far from being a coincidence anymore. Thats 2 Vados in a row. Shoddy workmanship from Specialized. I really want away from this bike now.
PaD
Well-Known Member
That’s depressing. Both frame crack and spoke failure.
I had spoke worries in 2018 when I had my first Vado as I had read about several owners with broken spokes and my suspicion ( non engineer) was that 28 spokes was not enough. Didn’t have any spoke problems during the 2000 miles I rode the bike.
I have decided to feel safe now that my present Vado has 32 spokes front and rear.
I guess spokes can brake anyway and I can just hope my frame stays in one piece.
Own a 2015 Turbo-x. The original wheel, and the replacement wheel I bought when my axle cracked, broke spokes all the time, always at the nipple end. The used crappy spokes and nipples in the factory build. I had the wheels rebuilt with stronger spokes by my wheel guy. It took three times to get it right with larger spokes/better nipples and we finally resorted to tying the spokes together with solder. You wrap wire the spokes that cross with solder; the idea is to stiffen the wheel. It's been about 1000 miles since we did that and no more broken spokes. Down sides: it costs more and it's a dying art that most shops/mechanics don't know how to do or deal with.
Turbo Vado Pip
Member
Spokes were breaking off at such a rate recently that the entire rear wheel has now been replaced by a “Mavic Crossmax” wheel and Specialized paid for it! New rear wheel has been excellent. They even make a Crossmax especially for eBikes but the bike shop said the regular one would be fine. Hope they are right long term!
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