Specialized Turbo Vado/Como/Tero/Tero X User Club

[Stefan Mikes]

It's just excellent Marcela!

 

[Marcela]

I was wondering how my chain gauge tool was working, I have the park tool go/no go gauge and ordered their cc-2 gauge which has a pin that slides on a gauged reading. The go/no go gauge shows a chain still good at less than .5, the cc-2 gauge shows the chain wear at .5 which recommends replacement for 10-12 spd chains.

Might have contributed to my cassette and chainring dilemma above.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I was wondering how my chain gauge tool was working, I have the park tool go/no go gauge and ordered their cc-2 gauge which has a pin that slides on a gauged reading. The go/no go gauge shows a chain still good at less than .5, the cc-2 gauge shows the chain wear at .5 which recommends replacement for 10-12 spd chains.

Might have contributed to my cassette and chainring dilemma above.

Marcela, a digital caliper is something that is hard to beat

 

[Marcela]

Marcela, a digital caliper is something that is hard to beat

Yeah I have one of those. That’s just measuring pin distance correct? I think a good way would be to measure the forward face of the rollers with the chain under tension. Measuring distance between rollers would be my option at the moment.

I’m hoping the 36t chainring will let me use a116 link chain without any splicing.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Yeah I have one of those. That’s just measuring pin distance correct? I think a good way would be to measure the forward face of the rollers with the chain under tension. Measuring distance between rollers would be my option at the moment.

I have found this method the most accurate.

I’m hoping the 36t chainring will let me use a116 link chain without any splicing.

Who knows? 122 chain links would do on my 38/46 T gearing. Yours would be 36/34 meaning 14 links less...

 

[Marcela]

I’ll start measuring pin distance and see what the correlation is.

 

[Marcela]

Got my new chain ring in. Ordered the Praxis 36t which is the same as used on the Tero, so I'm making a slow transition and start calling my bike the Varo. The oem unit was aluminum 48t, this praxis is steel and threaded so I didn't need any extra fasteners. I can also use a 116 link chain which can be purchased as a 116 link chain, no additions or subtractions. Praxis is affordable at $30 usd direct from them. Also this fixed my chain noises. Appears along with the chain and rear cogs wearing out, the front aluminum chain ring went south along with them. So now I'm all steel.

And it feels like it has more power.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Congratulations Marcela! Varo, heheheh

 

[Marcela]

The 36t works great for unassist which I do a lot. Under power I think the 40t might be a better choice. With 35% power I’m down into the small cogs pretty well. I ride the sidewalks and city streets quite a bit so the 36t will probably be fine though with stop and go and dodging cars.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The 36t works great for unassist which I do a lot. Under power I think the 40t might be a better choice. With 35% power I’m down into the small cogs pretty well. I ride the sidewalks and city streets quite a bit so the 36t will probably be fine though with stop and go and dodging cars.

That's why I do not want to resign from my 36T on the Vado. Small cogs are worn pretty fast though.

 

[Marcela]

Took the Como 5 out today with the new 36t chainring. I was on the level with about 20+ lbs of cargo and did a speed run. I was at the top of my cadence doing 27-28 mph which surprised me. I'm thinking a 40t would easily fulfill the requirements of a class 3 bike, if you don't have the legs you shouldn't be up there. Could be one reason the motors are being trashed is using the 48t chainring, and being aluminum doesn't help.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

There is some information @Marcela that might be of interest to you.

As long as I was riding my 38T chainring Vado in the mountains, I was using all the gears (including the 46T granny gear). After my return to the plains, I seem to be riding in high gears mostly. Guess what. After just 2000 km ridden since the cassette replacement, a brand new chain started skipping on the 11t cog! My brother did a precise measurement: the cog teeth got worn by 0.5 mm. If you do some math, it is the amount of wear equivalent to the necessity of replacing the chain.

As I hate the thought of returning to the 48T chainring, I guess using a 42T one might shift me to using more of middle gears. Thoughts?

My brother had disassambled the cassette and gave it thorough cleaning...

Assembled it step by step...

To finally giving me the Vado back with the new 11t cog and in perfect shape.

(I have been fortunate to be able to buy some spare 11 and 13t, 11-speed cogs for my stock).

 

[Marcela]

Appears you are lacking lubrication. Whatever you are using needs to flow. After the tooth leaves the chain the lubricant has to be replaced, or flow back onto the surface where it was wiped off. I'd suggest motor oil. Or stay off the smaller cogs. Or go slower. Or stay home and watch the world go by. Probably motor oil.

 

[DCeB]

Appears you are lacking lubrication. Whatever you are using needs to flow. After the tooth leaves the chain the lubricant has to be replaced, or flow back onto the surface where it was wiped off. I'd suggest motor oil. Or stay off the smaller cogs. Or go slower. Or stay home and watch the world go by. Probably motor oil.

Motor oil is a bad choice for bicycle chains. It is too thick and it is not designed to be used in the environment that bicycle chains operate in.

 

[Marcela]

Motor oil is a bad choice for bicycle chains. It is too thick and it is not designed to be used in the environment that bicycle chains operate in.

BS

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You mean, lubricate the cassette? To attract dirt? I though it was the chain that should be lubricated?

 

[DCeB]

BS

There are many downsides to motor oil as a bicycle lubricant.

Motor oil is designed to be applied at pressure and at high temperature within a sealed environment where it is filtered and kept away from moisture, mud, and dust.

It is too thick to really penetrate the rollers and pins on a chain.

It isn't designed to stick to the surface of the chain or shed contaminants like a bicycle chain lubricant. Sure, it will take some contaminants with it as it, very quickly, leaves the chain and gets all over your derailleur, chainstay, pants, etc.

It contains detergents to clean carbon and other deposits away from internal surfaces which isn't good.

If you are so confident, please explain how motor oil is equivalent to lubricants specifically designed for bicycle components. At end end of the day, it is your bicycle. I'd personally prefer not to spend $200 or more a year replacing drivetrain components because I used 10W30 instead of a proper lubricant.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I also need to mention wearing the smallest cogs is a well-known phenomenon, especially with the mid-drive motor. Big stress acts on very few teeth (it is shared over more teeth on larger cogs), and the mid-motor adds its massive torque to the equation. That's why two smaller cogs are available separately: to replace them instead of the whole expensive cassette.

The problem is especially pertaining to 1x drivetrains as you would like to have a climber at one time and a speed machine at another. Going with a small chainring has its positive sides but wearing the small cogs is the fact.

 

[teskow]

Regarding motor oil on a bike chain.
In my opinion a full synthetic 0-10 or 0- 20 motor oil with some fine teflon powder mixed in is as good an as economical a chain lube as you can get. Synthetic oil does not get sticky like detergent motor oil as it does not evaporate like mineral. 0-20 viscosity is light enough to get in the tight clearances. One drop with an eye-dropper on each chain pin, let it soak in over night and wipe off well. This chain lube will last a long time before needing oil again. This works well for hard clean surface riding but if operating in heavy dust and dirt a dry lube would be better. I don't believe dry lubes are are much for lubricating qualities but the dust and dirt doesn't stick as much.
Auto detergent mineral oil does evaporate and eventually gets very sticky like glue, not good.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

What you people are discussing now is lubing the chain rollers. I'm talking natural wear of the cassette cogs.