Experiences Riding Vado SL on Gravel Group Rides
Here's a bunch...
Forgetting to go from "Discharge The Range Extender First"...
I ride using only Range Extender during the weekdays. Since I own as many as three Range Extenders, I rotate them with the objective to equalize the Number of Recharge Cycles with the main battery one day. When setting off for a gravel group ride, I need to make a commute to the starting line (the total commute distance might be half of the main ride); therefore I use one of the Range Extenders solely for the commute. Before the start of the main group ride, I fetch a fresh RE and instruct my Vado SL to discharge both the main battery and the RE equally. Fine. What if I have forgotten to
restart the e-bike to make the option work? Around 20 km into the ride I need to stop and replace the RE again as the main battery was not used at all!
A stop during a group ride typically means I have lost the group!
Forgetting to derestrict the e-bike...
My Vado SL is restricted to 25 km/h. My mates typically ride faster than that. Fancy the feeling when the group slowly disappears at a distance and you have no idea why just to realize you have forgotten to push the derestriction button! Or, fancy a sprint in Turbo mode but the e-bike will not ride faster than 27 km/h and you realize you have ridden on the leg power only!
The chain dropped inside...
That should have never happened on a modern, well adjusted e-bike. I was negotiating a difficult cross-country forest segment and was doing everything to maintain the momentum. I was dowshifting dramatically towards the lowest gear (still pedalling) to hear a rattle. My ride finished. The chain dropped between the cassette and the rear wheel and between the chainring and the frame. While it was fairly easy for my mates to remove the chain from the rear wheel, the chain got badly stuck at the bottom bracket (destroying some paintwork, too). I produced my tools...
"Stefan, remove the crank! It looks like a self-extracting one!" -- I almost did it to realize the crank was not connected to the chainring on the mid-drive motor!
"Make the chainring loose but don't remove it" -- and I made the chainring loose not to avail much...
Eventually, an experienced mate pulled the chain out from the slit the proper way, and I could continue the ride.
It has turned out my derailleur got totally out of indexing! If it is not a bent derailleur hanger, I will need to work with the H and L limit screws properly.
View attachment 143800
Repairing my Vado SL off-road, one hour to the sunset, 22 km to go.
General
Vado SL is an excellent e-bike for gravel rides because of its low weight and maneuverability. However, its low motor power forces me to ride in the "slow group" even if I use multiple Range Extenders!