Loose Motor on Como 2.0 UPDATE: Cracked Frame (Vados too)

willnottellyou said:
Main problem now is that they already advised me that currently warranty claims take 2-4 weeks- how will I get around without the bike for that long?
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Bear in mind Specialized UK HQ has been recently damaged by fire.
I sympathise with you. Well, I was in the situation of being without e-bike for 2-4 weeks twice. Guess what I did.
Bought N+1 e-bikes. Twice :)
 
Dzięki Stefan. It's just this unnecessary aggravation, I do understand that Vado 3.0 is relatively "cheap" ebike, but then, it still was £2800, so well, debatable. Yes I think it was worth it, but yes, I also expected better. Hopefully they will sort this out quickly. I was sitting on a fence before I bought it, really wanted hybrid Scott, but Vado was just more appealing visually. I don't regret the purchase, just annoyed it has happened, especially with the bike that is just used for commuting on solid roads.
Specialized just emailed me that bike is booked in for initial inspection.
Fingers crossed...
 
From the way mine failed, my semi-educated guess is that screws got loose, which loosened the motor, which caused the motor to torque one side of the frame mount against the other, until the frame cracked. So, each year when I take my bike in for its annual tuneup, I have my LBS check the screws and make sure they are tightened to torque. Last time he found no loose screws, thankfully, and the motor was just fine. This was at about 2800 miles.
 
I suggested metal fatigue and design fault but Specialized decided not to comment. I don't blame them for that.
With regards to predicability, i doubt it very much. I use this bike on road in and around London, I never stood on the pedals or pedaled whilst standing (no point where electric motor provides enough assistance), never crashed into anything, so perhaps there was a problem during casting the frame and odd bikes are affected. I spent some time looking for answers and the handful I found is limited to members of this forum. If this was a widespread problem, there definitely would be more to find online. But, it is also possible that some owners don't notice, it is really subtle- until one of two remaining bolts gives way and everything goes to the bike heaven...
 
McCorby said:
It looks to me that Specialized did not perform an adequate FMEA on the frame assembly and/or did not perform adequate structural modeling/testing. Just my opinion from what I’ve seen in related posts.

en.wikipedia.org

Failure mode and effects analysis - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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Who knows. But I'd be leaning towards a manufacturing defect- they have sold quite few of those around the world, not many developed this fault and my understanding is that most affected customers have been taken care of by Specialized. At this moment I'm annoyed but since they agreed to inspect the bike and investigate I can't really complain. Hope it will not take too long...
 
Uburoibob said:
From the way mine failed, my semi-educated guess is that screws got loose, which loosened the motor, which caused the motor to torque one side of the frame mount against the other, until the frame cracked. So, each year when I take my bike in for its annual tuneup, I have my LBS check the screws and make sure they are tightened to torque. Last time he found no loose screws, thankfully, and the motor was just fine. This was at about 2800 miles.
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The screws/bolts coming loose as noted in other posts as well, further points to a design or materials issue to me. If designed properly, they should not be coming loose at the rate they are.
 
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McCorby said:
The screws/bolts coming loose as noted in other posts as well, further points to a design or material issue to me. If designed properly, they should not be coming loose at the rate they are.
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Agreed. Bolts should have washers to stop them from undoing. I personally feel there should be more than just three mounting points ( that's all I saw). Three is a magic number and so on but when it comes to attaching something that produces torque, even numbers are better...
 
kcrider said:
I've had two spills on the bike, last one being about a month ago. Hopefully that isn't the cause as I don't think warranty will cover it. I'm in Kansas City, KS.

2019 Como 3.0 with 960 miles.
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They should cover it. A lifetime warranty is a lifetime warranty.
 
Hello. As promised, warranty claim update 1.
As of yesterday, my faulty Vado is with Specialized main dealer. They have given me the estimated time to resolve this as 2 to 4 weeks, apparently there is a backlog, problems with parts and so on. Considering what's been going on for the last 12 months I take that on board.
I tried to establish whether they had any more cases like this but chap at the store wouldn't tell, although he didn't say I'm the first case either.
Couldn't work out why they want to run diagnostics in this case, as problem isn't mechanical but probably it's part of their process.
Interestingly, he's said that the process involves full inspection, report, lots of photos, all of which is then submitted to Specialized HQ and they give them directions on how to proceed.
Bit convoluted but I was told that potential outcomes are either new bike, repair, or just new frame. So as far I'm concerned right now, they seem to be friendly and helpful and relatively transparent.
Fingers crossed.
Cheers
 
Sure glad I chose Trek vs Specialized! Now we know where Specialized scrimped so they could provide all this vaunted connectivity. Of course connectivity is meaningless with a cracked frame and long waits for replacements. I’m just glad there haven’t been major injuries so far.
 
Dallant said:
Sure glad I chose Trek vs Specialized! Now we know where Specialized scrimped so they could provide all this vaunted connectivity. Of course connectivity is meaningless with a cracked frame and long waits for replacements. I’m just glad there haven’t been major injuries so far.
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I hope karma won't return to you.

willnottellyou said:
Couldn't work out why they want to run diagnostics in this case
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To determine whether your Vado was derestricted.
 
Stefan Mikes said:
I hope karma won't return to you.
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Simply stating the fact that I’m glad I didn’t make that choice.
Flawed/broken frames make Specialized a brand to be very cautious of for some time.
As the president of the Specialized Club here you should you speak out, warning potential buyers about this flawed frame issue.
 
Dallant said:
As the president of the Specialized Club here you should you speak out, warning potential buyers about this flawed frame issue.
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As the creator of the said club, I can only tell you you will be able to form valid opinions only after you have ridden the same distance on your Allant+ as I have ridden on my Vado.

1616959733478.png
 
Stefan Mikes said:
I hope karma won't return to you.


To determine whether your Vado was derestricted.
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Suspected that but not sure how they could possibly establish something like that. Unless someone messed up with software or added something hardwired to the motor/ controller.
Not bothered, bike is stock configuration.
Got an email from the store few hours ago, they started the process, whatever that means.
Bit annoyed that we are going to have the warmest week of this year so far and I'm without the bike...
 
Dallant said:
Simply stating the fact that I’m glad I didn’t make that choice.
Flawed/broken frames make Specialized a brand to be very cautious of for some time.
As the president of the Specialized Club here you should you speak out, warning potential buyers about this flawed frame issue.
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Scott offers 5 years warranty for frame Vs lifetime from specialized, so kind of speaks for itself. Also, problems with frames are limited to handful of cases (AFAIK), so can't really gauge by that. Don't get me wrong, I do like Scott bikes and the only reason I went for special was because I didn't like how the bosch motor worked. And down to earth, I just like specialized design more, with all bits integrated....
 
Stefan Mikes said:
As the creator of the said club, I can only tell you you will be able to form valid opinions only after you have ridden the same distance on your Allant+ as I have ridden on my Vado.
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The real question is how far the folks with broken frames rode their bikes. And how long they will be without them.
My opinions about Specialized are exactly as valid as yours are about Trek.
 
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