The Saga of my Vado 5.0 IGH

Onimaru

Active Member
Region
USA
Wow. Been busy a lot this summer but have quite the story to share.

So my Vado 5.0 IGH was purchased in April of this year from Specialized (and a matching one for my wife). No issues on her bike, but on mine, I started to notice slipping sensation at high speeds after ~200 miles. By 800 miles on the bike it got worse and I’d hit 25 mpg and then no matter how fast I pedaled, I wouldn’t go faster, but the cadence would still go up on my TCU. Two other times, the pedal made a quick half rotation with an accompanying grinding sound. I’d also get occasional errors on the TCU for gear shift errors with a power pull and drip to “Gear 1”. Though these were not visible in my Mission Control app.

So after troubleshooting with Rider Care and the LBS, they decided to replace my motor, wire harness, and speed sensor. This was in early August. Shortly after, the cadence going up without the speed going up was fixed, but I still felt slipping or something like it above 25 mph or so. I got back with Rider Care and the LBS thinking they misdiagnosed the issue as motor but I thought it was hub.

The response I got was “The 2.2 motor can’t support more than 24 mph on the IGH. If you want 28 you should go chain/derailleur or convert the rear cog from 24 to 22 tooth.” So that irritated me because if that’s the case, they should have used 22 tooth from the beginning and it doesn’t address the weird errors I still was seeing occasionally. Come to find out though, Specialized can see them even though I can’t. They are stored in the bike computer and when the LBS plugged it in, they could see them in their computer logs.

Queue today. 200 miles after I got the bike back with the new motor (1000 since purchase). I was finishing a 40 mile ride with a coworker and was on the way to the bar. The bike threw an error I could finally see in Mission Control. The bike felt like I was pedaling with 0 power to the motor towing a trailer of bricks. The error said motor error check transmission for blockage and clear. There was nothing in there though. Thankfully this was 2 blocks from the LBS so I walked it there. It was even hard to push. So I’m pretty sure I got a defective Enviolo from the factory and it’s been repeatedly misdiagnosed until something inside finally broke.

So after all that I have a few thoughts. The LBS has been amazing at helping me. Without them this would be much more annoying. Rider Care is super helpful at getting claims started but is unable to expedite these things. Once it left them, the engineers or whoever reviews things at Specialized takes way too long and is not trained at troubleshooting. I had a long list of error codes they could see on the transmission but they changed my motor first anyway. They didn’t take my second “you didn’t actually fix it” claim seriously. And I could have been stranded somewhere much further away today.

The bike is amazing when it works. I’m excited to get it back. But for a bike that cost me almost $6000, I would hope the company would provide a little better service and troubleshoot something properly. Being an engineer myself it just irritates me.

So again, my wife’s hasn’t had any issues. I just got the one apparently assembled Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend when everyone wanted to leave the shop. I knew trying a new model year with new tech would be risky but holy crap did I draw the short straw. I’ll post a follow up next week (hopefully) after I get my hub swapped.
 
Bummer, I'm sorry to hear that! I can imagine how frustrating and disappointing that must be. I just got my 5.0 IGH a few weeks ago, so far it's been perfect in all ways, but I've only got a few hundred km on it so far. Fingers crossed!
 
Following. If this is a 24mph bike, I will be angry from a marketing perspective. Class 3 is false advertising.

My bike seems to get to 28mph sometimes but not others. And I can’t say it isn’t road/wind conditions. Mine is also much newer. So, maybe those issues have been addressed with QC.
 
Mine was sometimes as well. I think it was them playing games. My LBS is less than thrilled with them right now as well. Class 3 isn’t false advertising though. You read 28. It actually says UP TO 28. Should it match the chain drive but be more convenient. Yes. But not false advertising. Poor engineering maybe. The issue on mine didn’t start for 200 miles. So I wouldn’t say it was a QC issue either. And it wasn’t technically their part, it was Enviolo’s. Just bad luck on a part (I hope). I just wish they were better about warranty repairs.
 
Mine was sometimes as well. I think it was them playing games. My LBS is less than thrilled with them right now as well. Class 3 isn’t false advertising though. You read 28. It actually says UP TO 28. Should it match the chain drive but be more convenient. Yes. But not false advertising. Poor engineering maybe. The issue on mine didn’t start for 200 miles. So I wouldn’t say it was a QC issue either. And it wasn’t technically their part, it was Enviolo’s. Just bad luck on a part (I hope). I just wish they were better about warranty repairs.
This isn’t covered under warranty? Or they are just taking forever to do it?

I am at 240 and I haven’t noticed slippage. But I am not sure I would distinguish it from the gearing down and spinning back up that does happen. I suppose if that feeling is happening and the gear indicator isn’t changing, that might answer the question.
 
This isn’t covered under warranty? Or they are just taking forever to do it?

I am at 240 and I haven’t noticed slippage. But I am not sure I would distinguish it from the gearing down and spinning back up that does happen. I suppose if that feeling is happening and the gear indicator isn’t changing, that might answer the question.
It was unevenness in pedal cadence I could feel. Very noticeable not the same resistance on each pedal stroke. It’s covered, but I think since they already “fixed” something they’ve been thinking I’m being difficult as opposed to you didn’t fix the right thing. It’s definitely covered. They’re just taking their sweet ass time and being difficult.
 
It was unevenness in pedal cadence I could feel. Very noticeable not the same resistance on each pedal stroke. It’s covered, but I think since they already “fixed” something they’ve been thinking I’m being difficult as opposed to you didn’t fix the right thing. It’s definitely covered. They’re just taking their sweet ass time and being difficult.
Interesting. I have not felt anything like that. Thankfully.

As always, specialized claim of “rider focused” is mostly marketing.

At least they have a good reputation for actually fixing problems. My LBS has been happy-ish with them. Unfortunately they also complain about specialized training requirements (no remote options and flying to California is fairly prohibitive for small bike shops).
 
My LBS is closed on Sunday, and they only do builds/maintenance Mon/Tues (closed to the public) so I called Rider Care back today to check on my warranty claim. My new rear wheel assembly (tire/wheel/hub) is coming as a drop in replacement on Friday (already shipped). So hopefully soon will have an answer on how it works without defective parts. Hoping the new ones last more than 200 miles.
 
Holy cow, Specialized has been a dumpster fire. After the shop put my hub in and set it was ready, we checked it on pickup but the hub computer and main computer wouldn't communicate. The hub didn't report speed or shift (although it was mechanically sound finally). So they made the shop get a new shifter for the hub from Enviolo. The new one didn't communicate either. None of the shop mechanics could get it to work, so they kept escalating with Specialized directly trying to get an engineer or tech who could diagnose it. But they had no clue what was up either. So the shop has had enough and has them sending me an entirely new bike so they can take mine back and figure it out in house. Kind of troubling they don't even know how to service their own bike. Multiple new hub shifters didn't work, so I suspect they didn't have success programing the existing bike computer to work with the new hub. Maybe a software issue where it won't forget the first one it was set up with when you set up a new hub? Either way, they have no idea what's going on. They also don't have my frame size/color in stock for a few more weeks, so I've missed 1 month of riding season for mechanical issues on the bike and will get the replacement when it's getting too cold for me to care to ride it. Very disappointing with how Specialized has dealt with this. The wouldn't even overnight the new hub after all the issues the bike has had. I anticipated some growing panes with the new tech to some degree, but multiple mechanical and software failures from a company of this size should be unacceptable.
 
Holy cow, Specialized has been a dumpster fire. After the shop put my hub in and set it was ready, we checked it on pickup but the hub computer and main computer wouldn't communicate. The hub didn't report speed or shift (although it was mechanically sound finally). So they made the shop get a new shifter for the hub from Enviolo. The new one didn't communicate either. None of the shop mechanics could get it to work, so they kept escalating with Specialized directly trying to get an engineer or tech who could diagnose it. But they had no clue what was up either. So the shop has had enough and has them sending me an entirely new bike so they can take mine back and figure it out in house. Kind of troubling they don't even know how to service their own bike. Multiple new hub shifters didn't work, so I suspect they didn't have success programing the existing bike computer to work with the new hub. Maybe a software issue where it won't forget the first one it was set up with when you set up a new hub? Either way, they have no idea what's going on. They also don't have my frame size/color in stock for a few more weeks, so I've missed 1 month of riding season for mechanical issues on the bike and will get the replacement when it's getting too cold for me to care to ride it. Very disappointing with how Specialized has dealt with this. The wouldn't even overnight the new hub after all the issues the bike has had. I anticipated some growing panes with the new tech to some degree, but multiple mechanical and software failures from a company of this size should be unacceptable.
I am sorry you have to deal with this. I hope it doesn’t keep happening. I will give Specialized credit that a full on bike replacement is the right thing to do. Though given they don’t have stock, a refund should be offered as well.
 
I am sorry you have to deal with this. I hope it doesn’t keep happening. I will give Specialized credit that a full on bike replacement is the right thing to do. Though given they don’t have stock, a refund should be offered as well.
Agreed, I think I'd prefer the refund at this point swap to another bike. If the new one breaks next year, I'm pushing that way first thing. They said they could get me another color now, but I told them I want my bike as configured or a refund. Again, my wife's hasn't had any issues, so I think I pulled the lemon.
 
Agreed, I think I'd prefer the refund at this point swap to another bike. If the new one breaks next year, I'm pushing that way first thing. They said they could get me another color now, but I told them I want my bike as configured or a refund. Again, my wife's hasn't had any issues, so I think I pulled the lemon.
My bike is going back to the LBS for the same exact thing today with 35 days of ownership and 199.8 miles. I am less than pleased to say the least and if I have ongoing issues, I won't hesitate to demand a refund or possibly a Vado 5.0 non IGH.
 
Agreed, I think I'd prefer the refund at this point swap to another bike. If the new one breaks next year, I'm pushing that way first thing. They said they could get me another color now, but I told them I want my bike as configured or a refund. Again, my wife's hasn't had any issues, so I think I pulled the lemon.
Maybe they sold you my return? :(
 
Just to pile on, my bike was just returned for slippage. They were going to put in a new enviolo hub. In my case, it wasn't all the time, but on high power climbs, the down stroke would lack resistance for a bit, then pick back up. It would do this on every rotation. But then, sometimes it wouldn't do it at all. I actually think another sensor went bad (cadence or torque), whatever feeds the automatic and the automatic may be shifting down and then backup. The only problem I have with that theory is it is very short lived. And the resistance is a fairly large change.

Anyway, my bike had it too. I just didn't have the patience to deal with it.
 
Literally just picked my replacement up from the local shop. Rides so much smoother and quieter than my first one. Hopefully it stays this way. Unfortunately it’s coming up on winter so she’s going to be stored for a while.

The bigger annoyance now is Specialized is stopping their work with small local stores unless specifically Specialized owned. I went with this bike to also have local support. Now if I need work done on the eBike it’s a 2 hour drive each way. I’m not thrilled.
 
"This isn’t covered under warranty? Or they are just taking forever to do it?"
ALL independent/individual components carry the warranty from THAT manufacturer, NOT Specialized, hence....they only warranty the bike/frame and maybe someone else can chime in on that discussion....
At least now I feel better knowing it wasn't me, being an early adopter, getting 2 of the very first IGH's....man, what a story....
 
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Oh boy. I just got mine - Vado 5.0 IGH. Seems like I better get up and over 200 miles very soon. Ugh.
 
Oh boy. I just got mine - Vado 5.0 IGH. Seems like I better get up and over 200 miles very soon. Ugh.
The more I learn, the more it seems to be a lack of service knowledge than a product problem. That annoys me in other ways. But it is what it is.
 
Go back to these forums and read....
I have had nothing but headaches and heartaches with Specialized regarding the Vado IGH (all posting will get you up to speed)
As stated previously, Specialized (in my belief) has released the IGH model well before its perfection of testing prior. That means I was the experiment, they got pissed off at me for my real-world conveyance of experiences, and even though I am a firm believer in the Brose motor and the overall performance and build quality of the Vado and Como, I still have to remind those considering IGH Specialized bikes that it just ain't ready for prime time.
I had to initiate a credit card dispute and then fight, and then get a massive attitude from "Rider-I-Don't-Care" -non-support.
I was elated and excited to get my IGH in the beginning, but the disappointment set in rather quickly (within 30 days).
Additionally, if the LBS had minimal or non-existent training on the overall everything of the IGH model, who in the hell is going to support the new product?
Remember, you cannot sue them you have to agree to arbitration. And if you don't know, you don't win. It's a stacked deck for them......
And remember, you can't complain about 3rd part parts (brakes, forks, other accessories, etc., ) as they clearly state that your warranty for those items is with the manufacturer of those products, not them. Just more food for you to consume before you agree to the purchase.
Summary: Good product, horrible support, and if the LBS relationship is a good one, they'll fight for you to help resolve any issues, but buyer beware.
Final say:
Think about the "other" brands, who you have to deal with, where you have to go to get acknowledgment, how easy or hard it is to get resolved, and how long it takes to resolve issues.
Ultimately, in the end, Specialized may come around to be key players if they improve their attitude.
Again, these are my opinions based on my reality of facts.
 
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I've been using a 2020 Vado SL (gone now) and a 2021 Creo for about 5500 miles of no issues other than normal maintenance between them. I started my e-bike journey with a 2014/2015 Specialized Turbo S that I used for commuting. While it was not early in the overall e-bike development, it was early in the big brand e-bike journey. At the time, the mechanics at the local mini-chain store where I bought it did not particularly like e-bikes and tried get me to go to one of the local e-bike specialty shops instead. They did have however an assigned person in the back office to work all Specialized warranty issues. Sometimes they were a little slower than I liked since I was using it as a daily commute vehicle but they fixed the issues I had including a motor and battery. I'm pretty sure the battery was at least partially my fault and there is a reason the motor manufacturer is out of business. As a counterpoint, I have had excellent results with Specialized warranty.
 
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