HELP - Messed up my Vado SL 4.0 after trying to change rear tire.

I didn't see anyone mention narrow-wide chainrings. If you have that on your bike you have to install the chain and chainring correctly for it to work at all.
 
Rook said:
Ugh ...

Thought I'd change our the stock pathfinder 38c for Smart Sams 40C. Tires look like they would have great traction. Unfortunately, I could not get them onto the rims after about 45 minutes of struggling with it and watching numerous videos on how to do so. I could get one side and 80% of the other, but it just would not go. At this point I'm likely sending them back; even if I had the LBS do it, what happens when I get a flat on the trail?

Worse, when I removed the rear wheel, I didn't set the gear to the smallest setting. Once I get it back on, when I shifted all the way to one end of the gears, one one side the front hub would not spin, and the other end of the gears the chain came off. And, the chain proceeded to come off the front hub and get stuck between the front gear and the motor housing. After wrestling that for a while I got that fixed, but I cannot get the rear gears right. Now it seems that the derailleur is in the way. I have no idea what to do other than take it to the LBS tomorrow.

I'm pretty disappointed and frustrated.
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What can I say? It´s a learning process. Screw up often enuff & you will become a master bike mechanic.:rolleyes:
 
Even Schwalbe Marathon plus will eventually meet their match.
bent nail.jpg
 
I’ve talked to people on Facebook groups that did successfully run the SL 4 rims tubeless with a conversion kit. I spoke to the LBS about it and they said it is possible, but not advised as the interior shape of the rim isn’t ideal and this more likely to produce flats.

If I was starting over again I’d get the 5.0 non EQ
 
Rook said:
If I was starting over again I’d get the 5.0 non EQ
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If I decided the SL were for me, I'd go for the 4.0 EQ :) Horses for courses.
You see Rook, the more experience I gain, the less demanding I become...
 
I hear ya. I would like the stock future shock more than I anticipated. I realize I can get a shock stem to do basically the same thing and intend to do so.

Specialize actually said you can retrofit the future shock into the 4.0 but the LBS was not aware of that. Specialized also said you can get an aftermarket fork with shocks, but my search found no one makes a shock that would fit the straight tube. I’m sure that would be a bit expensive anyway.
 
1. Baramind BAM suspension handlebars (Trek or City)
2. Lower tyre inflation pressure.

Rook, I own a fully suspended premium e-MTB. You would be surprised how little of comfort is provided by the FS. FS is for traction, not comfort.

Of course you can do whatever your heart and dreams dictate (but I am already well past that phase) :)
 
Rook said:
I’ve talked to people on Facebook groups that did successfully run the SL 4 rims tubeless with a conversion kit. I spoke to the LBS about it and they said it is possible, but not advised as the interior shape of the rim isn’t ideal and this more likely to produce flats.

If I was starting over again I’d get the 5.0 non EQ
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I would be cautious about running tubeless on non-tubeless rims. I have had a couple of rear tires blow off the rim even though it was a tubeless rim and tubless tire set up by the bike shop as part of a semi-custom traditional road bike with 650B x 42mm tires. I now run that wheel with a tube but I may try tubless again with Vittoria Air-Liner inserts. I had a new wheel built by a different favorite shop where they suggested a different rim model and spoke count. That wheel has been fine tubeless. I wanted to use tubeless for my road bike since most of my flats are either small pieces of glass or pieces of truck radial tire wire that should easily be sealed. I'm still on the stock tires on my Vado SL 5 EQ and have not decided if I will try tubeless on this bike.
 
Stefan Mikes said:
P.S. I have forgotten to add you should be careful to not to pinch the inner tube on the tyre replacement. Happened to me thrice, so ignorant I used to be!
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Good advice, as always.

I always put just a little bit of air into the fresh tube -- just enough to give it a little bit of shape -- before putting it inside the tire. That generally helps keep it from being pinched, although care is still required.
 
rochrunner said:
I always put just a little bit of air into the fresh tube -- just enough to give it a little bit of shape -- before putting it inside the tire. That generally helps keep it from being pinched, although care is still required.
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This is the norm, and how it has been always since inner tubes were invented :)

Only the uninformed attempt to install brand new flat inner tubes.
 
soyabean said:
Only the uninformed attempt to install brand new flat inner tubes.
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My point was, the explosion of inner tube (that happened to me three times) occurred with some air inside the tube when installing the tyre. I was just fast and careless.
 
Stefan Mikes said:
My point was, the explosion of inner tube (that happened to me three times) occurred with some air inside the tube when installing the tyre. I was just fast and careless.
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Yeah, I did that once on a hot, dusty day by the side of the road fixing my 2nd flat in 10 miles. It blew the tire off the rim! Luckily I was near a bike repair facility so walked in, handed the guy my wheel & tire, and just said "please fix this!" :rolleyes:
 
Messed Up My Vado (And Then Fixed It)

That's a funny story! @TS25 will laugh!

For quite long time, I have had trouble riding my Vado in granny gear: some scraping sound could be heard. I didn't much care about it and simply didn't use the lowest gear. (I must say I'm controlling the chain stretch regularly and it is still within good limits).

Blunder after blunder
  1. At the finish line of my 131 km/80 mi ride, the chain broke. OK, my brother replaced the broken link with a Quick Link I produced from my pannier (Jacek is strangely absent minded nowadays and he didn't check that master link for compatibility). Then I observed chain skipping. When I took my time, I discovered the spare master link was for 12-speed chain, not for 11s one :D I replaced the link with the proper one and could be riding again.
  2. I and Jacek were on long trips in hilly area. I discovered something strange: Once I shifted to the granny gear, the derailleur wouldn't shift up later (it was necessary to move the chain onto the higher gear by hand). My absent minded brother said: "The chain must be too short. Don't ride in the granny gear or lengthen the chain". So, I lengthened the chain with four more links.
  3. Then I went on a metric century ride and it was a disaster: chain was skipping, I had trouble to downshift or upshift, a tragedy!
And then I really took my time to observe the derailleur, chain, cassette on my work-stand. I was terrified seeing what was wrong:
  • The advice to add some links to the chain was incorrect. To maintain the proper position of derailleur cage (and proper chain tension), I had to remove said 4 chain links (returned to 126 links).
  • I had managed to route the chain the wrong way through the derailleur cage! Again! :D (Fixed).
  • And the most important (something completely overlooked by us): The shifting cable housing had jumped out from its socket at the derailleur! That was the Mother Of All Issues :D Yes, I had to loosen the screw that was holding the cable core at the derailleur, re-insert the cable housing into its socket, and then properly reattach the cable...
  • Chain still skipping! I was totally frustrated. (On the last chain fixing activity, I wrongly placed the chain on Narrow-Wide chainring...) Fixed!
  • Finally, I switched the Shadow clutch on.
Now, the drive-train of my Vado works properly and silently.
There are so many things about the drive-train one needs to be careful about. And I'm not the person to be allowed to touch the bike mechanical parts at all! (But I'm learning).
 
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Stefan Mikes said:
There are so many things about the drive-train one needs to be careful about. And I'm not the person to be allowed to touch the bike mechanical parts at all! (But I'm learning).
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You are lucky your brother is such a good mechanic AND that you live close together! This is why I work to maintain a good relationship with my local LBS!
 
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