I could smell my Vado motor about to fail

[dollarbin]

So much for final update. Less than 200 miles after the repair and upgrade, the motor makes a noise and loses assist. Since the repair is under warranty I have it pulled out and ship it back to Tennessee. Turns out instead of the belt or bearings failing, it's the planetary gear. This is not covered in the warranty but at least it's fixable for a reasonable cost.
I hope it's just that I've had worse luck than most with this bike. It's pure joy to ride, and in the absence of downtime I could easily rack up 5K miles a year. But I've finally run out of patience with the Vado and I went and picked up a Gazelle T10+ with a Bosch motor and a shiny red paint job that I like very much. Performance-wise it's pretty much a one to one replacement for the Vado. It's the previous generation of Bosch system so it doesn't have app integration but it's fast and simple and a lot of fun to ride too. We'll see if my wife will tolerate me having two bikes, I'd like to keep both so I have a backup, but I suppose that once the Gazelle has earned my trust and the Vado is fully fixed up I'll probably sell it off.

 

[AvalancheRun]

So much for final update. Less than 200 miles after the repair and upgrade, the motor makes a noise and loses assist. Since the repair is under warranty I have it pulled out and ship it back to Tennessee. Turns out instead of the belt or bearings failing, it's the planetary gear. This is not covered in the warranty but at least it's fixable for a reasonable cost.
I hope it's just that I've had worse luck than most with this bike. It's pure joy to ride, and in the absence of downtime I could easily rack up 5K miles a year. But I've finally run out of patience with the Vado and I went and picked up a Gazelle T10+ with a Bosch motor and a shiny red paint job that I like very much. Performance-wise it's pretty much a one to one replacement for the Vado. It's the previous generation of Bosch system so it doesn't have app integration but it's fast and simple and a lot of fun to ride too. We'll see if my wife will tolerate me having two bikes, I'd like to keep both so I have a backup, but I suppose that once the Gazelle has earned my trust and the Vado is fully fixed up I'll probably sell it off.
View attachment 165824

Good luck with the Gazelle! Derailleur, full step frame, and 28 mph solve most of the negative points with my C380. Nice color too!

 

[TrevorB]

So much for final update. Less than 200 miles after the repair and upgrade, the motor makes a noise and loses assist. Since the repair is under warranty I have it pulled out and ship it back to Tennessee. Turns out instead of the belt or bearings failing, it's the planetary gear. This is not covered in the warranty but at least it's fixable for a reasonable cost.
I hope it's just that I've had worse luck than most with this bike. It's pure joy to ride, and in the absence of downtime I could easily rack up 5K miles a year. But I've finally run out of patience with the Vado and I went and picked up a Gazelle T10+ with a Bosch motor and a shiny red paint job that I like very much. Performance-wise it's pretty much a one to one replacement for the Vado. It's the previous generation of Bosch system so it doesn't have app integration but it's fast and simple and a lot of fun to ride too. We'll see if my wife will tolerate me having two bikes, I'd like to keep both so I have a backup, but I suppose that once the Gazelle has earned my trust and the Vado is fully fixed up I'll probably sell it off.
View attachment 165824

Do your research on prices for 2nd Vado before repairing. Could struggle to get repair cost back. Maybe better to sell bike as is or as parts eg battery, drive train, brakes, wheels.
If doing this I'd keep wheels if compatable with Gazelle.

 

[steve mercier]

Keep them both since one will always be in the shop (- : How many miles are on the Bosch ?

 

[dollarbin]

The Bosch is brand spanking new so it only has 300 on it.

Yeah I'm starting to think that to commute as frequently as I like, having two bikes is essential. I'm not going to make back more than a small fraction of what I've spent on this bike by selling it, really my biggest concern is the space in my garage that two bikes take up. I'm also contemplating using the Vado as a loaner to convince more of my friends and coworkers to ditch their car commutes in favor of an eBike. Nothing beats the thrill of riding this bike to convince someone that they're worthwhile. The only downside of that is that it's an XL frame so the offer only extends to my taller acquaintances.