barakthecat
Member
In 2019 I bought a 2018 Turbo Vado 3, and while it was great when it worked, it was so fragile I was afraid to look at it. It was constantly in the shop for shifting issues, I had the chain literally snap while riding uphill, and then at 2800 miles it developed an odd wobble in the crankshaft with a feeling like the motor was continuing to turn for a half revolution after I stopped pedaling. The wobble got worse and at 2998 miles became unridable. Research here told me it was a cracked frame in the motor housing. LBS said they’d never seen that, and a few days later confirmed that this was the case. Specialized offer to replace with a new Turbo Vado 3, however the 2018 Vado 3 was a class 3 bike while the 2020 was not. They agree to replace with a 2020 Turbo Vado 4.
What a world of difference! Shifting was smooth and accurate and routine maintenance became just routine. But about 12 months later, at around 2950 miles the motor started making a grinding sound and failed just before I hit 3000 miles. Thinking I was doomed to replace the bike every 3000 miles I brought it back to the LBS who says Specialized doesn’t let them work on the motors, they just replace the motor outright. Warranty claim filed and thanks to pandemic supply chain issues, 3 long weeks later I have a 2020 Vado with a brand new motor. Life is good again. My riding is severely curtailed after developing Covid and struggling with arthritis, pneumonitis, and myocarditis, but eventually things get better and I start riding again. I get some anxiety as I hit 2800 miles, then 2900 miles, and whoa, I broke on through to the other side and made it past 3000 miles.
I cruise into 4000 miles with all this behind me, but at around 4500 miles, 6 weeks ago, I was riding to work when I felt a clunk and then lost all power without any error messages. The back wheel was turning against resistance, more than just having no power and wouldn’t turn backwards. While waiting for a diagnosis from my LBS I did my own research on it while hoping Specialized would stand behind their product. Symptoms sounded most consistent with a failure in the planetary gears, but hopefully just a belt failure. Specialized came back saying the motor was out of warranty and would be $1000 to replace. LBS talks them down to $750 and suggests I let them do a belt replacement. I agree with that, and for a variety of reasons, the work doesn’t start until a few days ago. They crack open the motor only to find it is in fact a failure in the planetary gears, completely unfixable. LBS calls Specialized back and talks them down to $500 for the motor. They say it’ll be done this week, which I know means next week if I’m lucky, which clearly I am not.
So in the last 5 years, I’ve ridden about 10k miles, requiring 2 bikes and going on my 3rd motor.
What a world of difference! Shifting was smooth and accurate and routine maintenance became just routine. But about 12 months later, at around 2950 miles the motor started making a grinding sound and failed just before I hit 3000 miles. Thinking I was doomed to replace the bike every 3000 miles I brought it back to the LBS who says Specialized doesn’t let them work on the motors, they just replace the motor outright. Warranty claim filed and thanks to pandemic supply chain issues, 3 long weeks later I have a 2020 Vado with a brand new motor. Life is good again. My riding is severely curtailed after developing Covid and struggling with arthritis, pneumonitis, and myocarditis, but eventually things get better and I start riding again. I get some anxiety as I hit 2800 miles, then 2900 miles, and whoa, I broke on through to the other side and made it past 3000 miles.
I cruise into 4000 miles with all this behind me, but at around 4500 miles, 6 weeks ago, I was riding to work when I felt a clunk and then lost all power without any error messages. The back wheel was turning against resistance, more than just having no power and wouldn’t turn backwards. While waiting for a diagnosis from my LBS I did my own research on it while hoping Specialized would stand behind their product. Symptoms sounded most consistent with a failure in the planetary gears, but hopefully just a belt failure. Specialized came back saying the motor was out of warranty and would be $1000 to replace. LBS talks them down to $750 and suggests I let them do a belt replacement. I agree with that, and for a variety of reasons, the work doesn’t start until a few days ago. They crack open the motor only to find it is in fact a failure in the planetary gears, completely unfixable. LBS calls Specialized back and talks them down to $500 for the motor. They say it’ll be done this week, which I know means next week if I’m lucky, which clearly I am not.
So in the last 5 years, I’ve ridden about 10k miles, requiring 2 bikes and going on my 3rd motor.
