Vado 3.0 mysterious mechanical clunking problem

[MrBritton]

My Turbo Vado 3.0 is now about 200 miles old, and has a problem which seems to be worsening. Cruising along in high gear, 20-26 mph, there will be a click or clunk that I feel in the cranks, as if a tooth gets jumped or skipped. I'm starting to think it's in the drive unit. My bike store diagnosed it as a tight chain link, and installed a new chain, but the problem persists. Since then, they haven't been able to reproduce it, but it can be infrequent. That said, I counted 20 such incidents in a span of 5 miles on my last ride. I'm thinking I should stop riding it.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
It's bad enough now that I might drop it off at the bike store tomorrow and tell them to let me know when they find the problem, and give them a time limit, after which I want a new bike.
Wish me luck!

 

[PhilRW]

I've noticed something similar when riding my wife's Vado 3.0. It only happens in the highest gear (10th) and maximum assist, and I have to be pushing quite a bit. The bike shop installed a new rear cassette and it appears to have gotten better, but I will take it out for a more extended test ride this afternoon and report back. Here's what the shop said on the maintenance report:

"Skipping is due to too large a cassette (40t) being coupled with a der that can only handle 36t."​

I would be interested to see if the Vado 2.0 owners have the same issue since they have a 9-gear, 36t cassette.

 

[MrBritton]

I've noticed something similar when riding my wife's Vado 3.0. It only happens in the highest gear (10th) and maximum assist, and I have to be pushing quite a bit. The bike shop installed a new rear cassette and it appears to have gotten better, but I will take it out for a more extended test ride this afternoon and report back. Here's what the shop said on the maintenance report:

"Skipping is due to too large a cassette (40t) being coupled with a der that can only handle 36t."​

I would be interested to see if the Vado 2.0 owners have the same issue since they have a 9-gear, 36t cassette.

Wow, that's interesting. Thanks for responding and please let me know how it goes.
I don't have to be pushing hard, just cruising in high gear, max assist, 20-26mph, which is easy on this bike.
(I do wish it had a higher gear, though - I'm thinking it was originally built for a 20mph limit on motor assist.)

 

[PhilRW]

Okay, I just went for a 9 mile ride and it didn't seem related to the chainring or the cassette. I couldn't reliably reproduce the issue under a particular set of conditions. I did notice it clunking occasionally when the motor engaged, but it didn't seem related to which gear I was in. It also happened more frequently in the first couple miles, and I couldn't reproduce it in the later parts of the trip. So I'm confounded. Perhaps it has something to do with the internals of the motor and how it engages?

 

[Charlie Rohlfing]

Just an idea ... all these ebikes (including the earlier hub drive Turbos like the one I have) use some form of torque sensor to tell how hard you are pushing the pedals. The system can then adjust how much assist to deliver, based on your input. My bike got very clunky after several months of use, clunking on each pedal stroke. It turned out to be the torque sensor. They replaced the motor under warranty and the noise went away. Just something to consider ....

 

[MrBritton]

Okay, I just went for a 9 mile ride and it didn't seem related to the chainring or the cassette. I couldn't reliably reproduce the issue under a particular set of conditions. I did notice it clunking occasionally when the motor engaged, but it didn't seem related to which gear I was in. It also happened more frequently in the first couple miles, and I couldn't reproduce it in the later parts of the trip. So I'm confounded. Perhaps it has something to do with the internals of the motor and how it engages?

Phil, what do you think about putting our bike shops in touch with one another? Mine's in Louisville, CO.

 

[PhilRW]

No way! I live in Superior! We got my wife's bike at BikeSource down on Colorado Blvd.

 

[MrBritton]

No way! I live in Superior! We got my wife's bike at BikeSource down on Colorado Blvd.

Well, we do live in a bike-crazy area...
The "Vado guy" at Louisville Cyclery is Chris. He has a Turbo of some sort and has been working with me.

 

[PhilRW]

We'll keep an eye on ours. For now it seems okay but as my wife puts more miles on it she may notice some things. I'll definitely have them get in touch.

 

[MrBritton]

Just an idea ... all these ebikes (including the earlier hub drive Turbos like the one I have) use some form of torque sensor to tell how hard you are pushing the pedals. The system can then adjust how much assist to deliver, based on your input. My bike got very clunky after several months of use, clunking on each pedal stroke. It turned out to be the torque sensor. They replaced the motor under warranty and the noise went away. Just something to consider ....

My issue really seems like a chain or internal gear skip, and probably not the motor stopping and starting, but thanks for the input.

 

[MrBritton]

Okay, I took the bike back in a 3rd time, and they took me more seriously, dug into the problem, consulted with Specialized, and have determined that it is not: the chain, the cassette, or the derailleur. So... it must the motor. Specialized is shipping them a new motor, hopefully to arrive in a week. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

 

[MrBritton]

The problem is fixed. During the debug process, I got a new chain, a new motor(!), and... a new small sprocket. That's right, it was the sprocket. The bike store didn't realize that earlier because, while debugging, they had swapped in a wheel from another Vado 3.0, onto my bike, and that also exhibited the problem. After replacing the motor, it still had the problem, so they replaced the small sprocket with one from Shimano, and that solved the issue. So, it appears that Specialized/Sunrace have a problem with the cassette on the Vado 3.0. It sounds like PhilRW's bike shop also realizes there's an issue with the cassette.

 

[DarthVado]

I have the same problem, constantly skipping during pedaling, mostly in the 11t position on the cassette, which I suppose you what mention as 'clunking"'. I have also had the motor spin the chain out of control, sort of like revving the engine in a car while in neutral. Is anybody having a similar problem to the second issue. Note ,I have now had the bike in for service 3 times. 700 miles on the bike.

 

[MarktheC]

This happened, from new, with my Turbo Vado 3.0: an occasional hard clunk or bang when using the 11T (smallest) sprocket (only on that sprocket), more frequently when pushing hard, and also with the motor assist turned off.
One on occasion, 3 bangs quickly in succession.

The dealer noted the derailleur was a little bent (he said this can happen during shipping), but straightening that didn't fix it (I didn't ride it at that point, the dealer did).

He replaced the cassette with a Shimano CS-HG-50-10 11-36T, and the problem completely went away.

 

[pm4gis]

My Turbo Vado 3.0 is now about 200 miles old, and has a problem which seems to be worsening. Cruising along in high gear, 20-26 mph, there will be a click or clunk that I feel in the cranks, as if a tooth gets jumped or skipped. I'm starting to think it's in the drive unit. My bike store diagnosed it as a tight chain link, and installed a new chain, but the problem persists. Since then, they haven't been able to reproduce it, but it can be infrequent. That said, I counted 20 such incidents in a span of 5 miles on my last ride. I'm thinking I should stop riding it.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
It's bad enough now that I might drop it off at the bike store tomorrow and tell them to let me know when they find the problem, and give them a time limit, after which I want a new bike.
Wish me luck!

Hi Guys - CHAIN CLUNK SOLUTION - From a Vado 3 - Its the gear cog that is damaged, worn. Replace the Cog with a new one off ebay

 

[DarthVado]

I posted this reply earlier. I had the shop change the cassette to a Praxis Works 10spd MTB 11-40t. Everything works fine now, no clunking or revving ('neutral') problems. Seems like the cassette was the main problem for me. Specialized had to authorize the change to have it covered under the warranty. Update - I now have about 200 miles with the new cassette, no problems. pmtgis - I would get your cassette changed out under warranty

 

[MrBritton]

The problem has returned!
After some miles on the new small sprocket, now the two smallest sprockets exhibit the problem. So, it sure looks like a component mismatch or design flaw, given how many others are reporting the same issue.
I've contacted my bike shop and asked them to contact Specialized to see what they want to do about it.
I wouldn't mind ending up with a faster top gear, though I don't know what's possible in that regard.

 

[Scooterboy]

I had this problem on a Turbo Levo Fat HT comp (fat bike). I agree that the "skip" was jarring and loud. Replaced entire drive train, cassette, rear mech, chain AND MOTOR. It was a long process to figure out what was happening. LBS had "never seen anything like that before." 10sp drive train. Now I just don't pedal hard in high the small cog and all is good. When it was happening it felt like the drive train was going to fall apart! Sent videos to Spec showing the problem. Do watch your chain. Mine wears out really quickly and creates all kinds of issues with shifting.

UPDATE - the clunk/chunk is back! For the past few months been going slow on ice and snow but now, on the road in top gear, the harsh mechanical "skip" is back. Guess I will be buying a new cassette. SRAM I'm thinking as the RD is SRAM. So sad.

 

[Toast]

I had to have my cassette replaced. The guy at the LBS said all the Vados they ordered around the same time had the issue and replaced all of their cassettes.

 

[Luc W]

I had to have my cassette replaced. The guy at the LBS said all the Vados they ordered around the same time had the issue and replaced all of their cassettes.

I’m riding a vado 6.0. After riding 200 km (maximum speed) on the smallest sprocket (11T), I noticed a click as if the tooth get jumped or skipped. The 11T sprocket was worn out. My Specialized dealer immediatly recognized the problem, informing me that all Vados suffer from the same problem. The smallest sprocket had to be replaced. I got the advice to avoid using the 11T sprocket and to increase the cadence, resulting in a beter motor response. I am following this advice and it works. Nevertheless it’s a design flaw. Besides this problem - until now - Specialized didn’t release the Vado smartphone app they announced in August 2017. Nevertheless I really like riding the Vado.