Specialized turbo vado SL 4.0 chainring information.

[mfgrep]

Very well put. I agree with you, I too lucked out picking this particular bike October 2020. The only comparable lightweight e bikes back then were mostly rear hub Mahle ones and word was not great for hills. After I bought it I aimed to ride my Vado SL with minimal assistance and it's had a remarkable effect on my health. In my case it was as a 'hill buster' to get me over the hills. Otherwise I wouldn't have felt any need to buy an e bike. On the downhills or flats I ride with assistance off until the bike feels sluggish, or heavy then I put on eco. But like you, recently having been mostly off the bike for a couple of months due to work I knew my fitness was poor and my motivation to get out on the bike was low. So I told myself not to worry about assist levels or how I used to ride or being miserly with assist and just concentrate on getting some rides with decent mileage. I've never been interested in using an e bike to go fast, that aspect was a real puzzler initially on reading these pages about the big heavy e bikes as It's not why I ride. A lifetime of ordinary bikes means I go fast when I go fast and slow when I have to, like on hills or with a head wind and that's always been enough. The e bike, this clever little Vado SL was bought for one purpose; to level hills. And once set up right (Lower gears & wider tyres in my case) that's exactly what it does. So getting back to it after this break I told myself get some 20-30 mile rides in and don't worry about assistance or fitness because if you lived somewhere flat you'd be aiming for that distance on an ordinary bike and all the Vado SL is doing is making it feel flat, but you are still pedalling for 2 to 3 hours and the cardio exercise, the journey, the adventure and having fun is the main thing. Without fun it's a chore and I have a bike because it's always fun whereas the gym, say, would be a boring hell for me. Like prison. I really fail to see the attraction for kids obsessing about gyms these days. Just get out and ride or climb mountains or swim in the sea or something not in a sweaty box! Anyway this plan worked, 2 rides last few days; Friday last, 24 miles with 2593 feet climbed including five big hills with at least 20% gradient and then Sunday I did 32 miles with 1986ft. Both using 45/65/100 but predominantly in Sport 65/65 when assist was being used. Felt guilty at first as that seemed far too much help. But it was great. Incidentally 35/35 is not any real help as the hills are so steep it feels too weak so I set base level as Eco 45/45. These 2 rides were fun and I feel I'm back (work permitting) where I need to be, looking up old routes like old friends and with new ideas filling my head for the coming months.

Re the new SL 1.2 motor - big draw for me is the quietness, the lanes I ride are quiet and on the hills the motor really whines, sounding so loud. In towns the traffic easily drowns it out. The 40% extra torque - don't mind that, be good to have it as there is no weight penalty and I can re adjust the settings to reduce assistance if I feel it's making me lazy or eating the battery. Plus muddy rocky bridleways I venture up would be more fun with extra grunt! But let's see what direction the next incarnation of Vado SL is first. What other changes they make. I am curious after seeing the Creo 2. I did not expect the 50mm tyre clearance. That was a big surprise.

I can relate to the sense of "guilt" that you experienced. I have experienced it too.....but I'm getting over it.
I have ridden over 1300 miles since mid June and I never never never would have done that without my Vado SL.
Most of those miles were ridden without power assist.
I too use the assist to flatten the hills.
Sometimes I use the assist to add speed and thus excitement to a route....still getting my Watts....still burning my calories.
On that occasion where I am tired, unmotivated, or otherwise simply am not excited to get on the bike.....once riding I invariably enjoy myself and get a good workout.....100% of the time (like today with 81 cardio minutes).
On rare occasions where I say "screw it all" and just put it in Sport mode to casually ride and converse with a friend....I should do so 'guilt free' and enjoy myself.....and I will.....and I still get a few watts or calories burnt.
I was not a heavy guy....but I have lost nearly 6% of my previous body weight....I look better....my clothes fit better....and I feel better.
I am still angry at the world every time I turn the news on TV.....but cycling seems to take a bit of the sting out of the s*it-show that is American politics....so my mental health is yet another benefit.

It might be nice to have a full power Vado in the garage....or similar heavy full power bicycle.....or a throttle bike....but I only have one bike and I'm glad that it is of the "light assist" variety. For me.....I want the fitness portion of cycling and the Vado SL has DEFINITELY given me a higher quantity of zone minutes than I would have obtained had I purchased a non electric bicycle.....no doubts about that. In fact....the Vado SL experience(s) may even entice me to buy an analog road bike at some point in the future. We shall see.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The e bike, this clever little Vado SL was bought for one purpose; to level hills. And once set up right (Lower gears & wider tyres in my case) that's exactly what it does. So getting back to it after this break I told myself get some 20-30 mile rides in and don't worry about assistance or fitness because if you lived somewhere flat you'd be aiming for that distance on an ordinary bike and all the Vado SL is doing is making it feel flat, but you are still pedalling for 2 to 3 hours and the cardio exercise, the journey, the adventure and having fun is the main thing. Without fun it's a chore and I have a bike because it's always fun whereas the gym, say, would be a boring hell for me. Like prison. I really fail to see the attraction for kids obsessing about gyms these days.

How true! Add indoor bike trainers to the list.

Regarding the SL 1.2 motor and Creo 2: It is not only the drop bars and carbon fibre frame that put me off. It is the extremely expensive and irreparable SRAM drivetrain that I could not afford to maintain.

It might be nice to have a full power Vado in the garage....or similar heavy full power bicycle.....or a throttle bike....but I only have one bike and I'm glad that it is of the "light assist" variety. For me.....I want the fitness portion of cycling and the Vado SL has DEFINITELY given me a higher quantity of zone minutes than I would have obtained had I purchased a non electric bicycle.....no doubts about that. In fact....the Vado SL experience(s) may even entice me to buy an analog road bike at some point in the future. We shall see.

My Vado 6.0 is fun but it is too easy to ride It is not really good for harsh terrain, and that is one of the factors making the Vado 6.0 used less and less in my case. Were I commuting, the Vado 6.0 would be the Queen! Necessary to mention, I could not use Vado SL for high mountain rides: not enough power for me!

 

[mfgrep]

I have owned a Turbo Vado SL 4.0 for 13 months now and have rode it about 1300 miles. Whilst I'm very impressed with the bike and it's capabilities i have had a problem with the drive chain jumping off the chainring and wedging itself between it and the motor cover.
Now it's not easy to retrieve the chain you have to break the quick link to get it out. After that the link has to be placed on a specific part of the chainwheel as marked on the inside or it will happen again!
This happened to me three or four times so today i took the bike back to the dealership. The first thing i found out was that i was not the first to suffer this problem.
They informed me that most Turbo Vado SL bikes had no problem but a few had issues identical to mine.
It appears that the chainrings fitted as standard are alloy and the teeth are in a wave pattern.
They stated this is not ideal for this bike and at my request he fitted a steel narrow and wide chainwheel. They also stated they had contacted Specialized to report this but no reply has been received.
Incidently i also went down to a 38 tooth as that suits me better as i do a lot of steep road hills and am not bothered about top speeds.
Having just ridden the 20 miles home i am super impressed at the gear change as it greatly improves the hill climbs.
The dealership did not charge me for the chainwheel or for changing it over.
Just for info in case anyone else has the same problem.

Well what in the world??
I was finishing up a 20 mile ride tonight and was 4 blocks from my house. I came down a long block coasting and rounded a 90 degree corner at moderate speed. I went to pedal and immediately dropped the chain.
DAMNIT! I walked the bike home...parked it...and ate dinner.

It was a weird time to drop a chain. I don't recall changing gears, hitting a dip in the street, or anything unusual. Right when I went to pedal out of a turn the chain dropped immediately. Arghhhh.

Any advice on the easiest way to fish that stuck chain from around the motor? I recall the first/last time this happened I re,moved the crank arm ......but I recall this wasn't necessary after all?
Can't I just remove the allen screws and lift the chain ring down the crank arm out of the way to retrieve the chain easily? Any reminders appreciated. The first and last time I did this I mucked up my paint down around the frame/motor housing area.

I hope this is not a recurring theme for me. It was an unpleasant way to end the ride.

 

[pete H]

Well what in the world??
I was finishing up a 20 mile ride tonight and was 4 blocks from my house. I came down a long block coasting and rounded a 90 degree corner at moderate speed. I went to pedal and immediately dropped the chain.
DAMNIT! I walked the bike home...parked it...and ate dinner.

It was a weird time to drop a chain. I don't recall changing gears, hitting a dip in the street, or anything unusual. Right when I went to pedal out of a turn the chain dropped immediately. Arghhhh.

Any advice on the easiest way to fish that stuck chain from around the motor? I recall the first/last time this happened I re,moved the crank arm ......but I recall this wasn't necessary after all?
Can't I just remove the allen screws and lift the chain ring down the crank arm out of the way to retrieve the chain easily? Any reminders appreciated. The first and last time I did this I mucked up my paint down around the frame/motor housing area.

I hope this is not a recurring theme for me. It was an unpleasant way to end the ride.

I have done this roadside 5 times in the last year. Each time I've firstly split the chain using the quick link. Then i eased the chain out by pulling the chainwheel outwards whilst tugging on the chain.
Good luck

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Sometimes chain drops from the chainring when the chain is dirty and two links got stuck on a roller. Is your chain connected by a pin or by a quick-link @mfgrep?

 

[mfgrep]

Sometimes chain drops from the chainring when the chain is dirty and two links got stuck on a roller. Is your chain connected by a pin or by a quick-link @mfgrep?

Quick link

 

[mfgrep]

I have done this roadside 5 times in the last year. Each time I've firstly split the chain using the quick link. Then i eased the chain out by pulling the chainwheel outwards whilst tugging on the chain.
Good luck

I'll try this first. I suppose it depends on where the quick link ended up when the chain dropped. If it is around the crank or on a jockey wheel, another method will be required

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Quick link

A small test:
Open the kickstand and lean the e-bike onto the non-drive side to raise the rear wheel. Pedal the bike with your hand and watch the chain. Downshift and upshift through the whole cassette range. These wrong things might happen:

1. Chain jumping up & down on the sprockets: stuck chain links
2. Excessive noise on the cassette: badly adjusted derailleur (a quarter-turn of the barrel adjuster at the shifter would cure the issue)
3. The chain jumping between two subsequent cassette sprockets: badly adjusted derailleur indexing
4. The chain trying to jump towards the frame in the largest cassette sprocket engaged: dramatically badly adjusted derailleur indexing and the L limit screw out of the adjustment
5. The chain trying to jump outside on the smallest sprocket: as above but the H limit screw out of adjustment.

I also hope you are riding with the derailleur clutch on.

Otherwise, no idea why the chain dropped in your case.

 

[mfgrep]

A small test:
Open the kickstand and lean the e-bike onto the non-drive side to raise the rear wheel. Pedal the bike with your hand and watch the chain. Downshift and upshift through the whole cassette range. These wrong things might happen:

1. Chain jumping up & down on the sprockets: stuck chain links
2. Excessive noise on the cassette: badly adjusted derailleur (a quarter-turn of the barrel adjuster at the shifter would cure the issue)
3. The chain jumping between two subsequent cassette sprockets: badly adjusted derailleur indexing
4. The chain trying to jump towards the frame in the largest cassette sprocket engaged: dramatically badly adjusted derailleur indexing and the L limit screw out of the adjustment
5. The chain trying to jump outside on the smallest sprocket: as above but the H limit screw out of adjustment.

I also hope you are riding with the derailleur clutch on.

Otherwise, no idea why the chain dropped in your case.

At the beginning of this thread I had described that when this happened previously......I had finished a ride and my bike fell on the driver's side before I tucked the bike away for the night. The next morning my chain dropped first thing and I was unable to fully adjust to prevent it from happening repeatedly. I went to LBS and they fixed a bent derailleur. Everything has been smooth sailing since and I did not have any drops or accidents since. My derailleur has been a touch noisier than usual perhaps?....but nothing far out of the ordinary. I am meticulous about chain maintenance/cleaning and lubricate frequently. My chain is shiny silver and far cleaner than most. My cassette is also cleaned at least monthly.

I don't think that I have a badly adjusted derailleur and my hi/lo limits seemed to have been perfectly adjusted.....things have been quite smooth.
That bit of chain noise may have been a symptom of the need for a 1/4 adjustment at the barrel adjuster.....I need to look at that adjustment more closely.

I'm going to dig into it this morning.

 

[mfgrep]

A small test:
Open the kickstand and lean the e-bike onto the non-drive side to raise the rear wheel. Pedal the bike with your hand and watch the chain. Downshift and upshift through the whole cassette range. These wrong things might happen:

1. Chain jumping up & down on the sprockets: stuck chain links
2. Excessive noise on the cassette: badly adjusted derailleur (a quarter-turn of the barrel adjuster at the shifter would cure the issue)
3. The chain jumping between two subsequent cassette sprockets: badly adjusted derailleur indexing
4. The chain trying to jump towards the frame in the largest cassette sprocket engaged: dramatically badly adjusted derailleur indexing and the L limit screw out of the adjustment
5. The chain trying to jump outside on the smallest sprocket: as above but the H limit screw out of adjustment.

I also hope you are riding with the derailleur clutch on.

Otherwise, no idea why the chain dropped in your case.

P.S. My Vado SL is a year or two newer than yours I believe and Spesh was using SRAM NX at the time of my manufacture. SRAM doesn't use a switch style clutch like your Shimano......SRAM has a button that releases derailleur tension and locks it in place. I couldn't run with that engaged without knowing it immediately.....it just wouldn't function....it would be more obvious when compared to the Shimano system.

 

[pete H]

I could not see the quick link immediately but gentle movement of the chain using the back wheel sorted that. It did take patience (about half an hour) it goes without saying that trying to force it through will end in tears

 

[mfgrep]

I could not see the quick link immediately but gentle movement of the chain using the back wheel sorted that. It did take patience (about half an hour) it goes without saying that trying to force it through will end in tears

Ya....my quick link was atop my cassette in this case. Once I removed chain tension I was able to get ahold of that link and disconnect rather easily.

Last time this happened I didn't think it through very well and I removed the crank to get the chain free.
This morning I disconnected the QuickLink on the chain and was able to more simply fish the chain out of its jam between the crank and the motor casing. Then reset the chain and QuickLink and done. Much easier.

I can see zero problems with my derailleur. My upper/lower limits remain set correctly and indexing is quite good. The whole system is running smoothly and without unnecessary noises. In other words....I have no idea why I dropped the chain yesterday. Like I said....nothing particularly unusual was occurring when the chain dropped....no shifting....no potholes....nothing. I hope this doesn't happen while I am 15 miles from my house.

 

[pete H]

Great news! Thats why i changed chainwheel to a narrow/wide. I feel more confident now. I'm also going to fit a gold coloured quick link too as it will be easier to locate when I'm riding without my reading glasses!

 

[mfgrep]

Great news! Thats why i changed chainwheel to a narrow/wide. I feel more confident now. I'm also going to fit a gold coloured quick link too as it will be easier to locate when I'm riding without my reading glasses!

Ah yes! We have that in common too!! My wife found me in the garage this morning working on the chain with my reading glasses affixed low on my nose and she said, "whatcha doin' old man?". lol.

This is the first time that I dropped the chain in this fashion and without good reason. I am going to 'let it ride' as it is for now.....but I will come back to this thread for your chain ring advice should my problem continue.

Good thread here!...thank you!

 

[pete H]

P.S. My Vado SL is a year or two newer than yours I believe and Spesh was using SRAM NX at the time of my manufacture. SRAM doesn't use a switch style clutch like your Shimano......SRAM has a button that releases derailleur tension and locks it in place. I couldn't run with that engaged without knowing it immediately.....it just wouldn't function....it would be more obvious when compared to the Shimano system.

So i have done a little research as my Vado also has the SRAM NX. (AKA the Eagle)This has a type 3 roller clutch bearing which is non-adjustable. This is due to a patent issue with Shimano.

 

[mfgrep]

The SRAM NX n my Vado SL is not the 'eagle'. Eagle is a modified version that I seem to see most frequently on mountain bikes

 

[mfgrep]

Great news! Thats why i changed chainwheel to a narrow/wide. I feel more confident now. I'm also going to fit a gold coloured quick link too as it will be easier to locate when I'm riding without my reading glasses!

This afternoon I tested my re-affixed chain by means of a 12 mile ride in which I attempted to really torque the chain. Lots of standing out of the saddle powering up hills etc.
It felt and acted normally with no slippage whatsoever. I s'pose my chain drop could have been a fluke. Fingers crossed.

 

[pete H]

The SRAM NX n my Vado SL is not the 'eagle'. Eagle is a modified version that I seem to see most frequently on mountain bikes

Yep i thought all the NX were called Eagle but not so. I have the same as you

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I s'pose my chain drop could have been a fluke

What is the current chain stretch?

 

[mfgrep]

What is the current chain stretch?

I do not have a chain gauge but only have 1300 miles on the chain