Vado 5 IGH - Squeaking Noise

[mattie_b]

Good morning all!!

Hoping someone can help me out. For the past week or so, my Vado 5 IGH is making a squeaking noise. It appears to be coming from the drive train, but I could be wrong about this. The noise is present, but pretty mild, when I first start riding. But after 30 minutes or so, the noise gets much louder. It is only present when I peddle and goes away when I am coasting. The sound gets louder when I pedal harder. The noise occasionally goes away temporarily (for 30 seconds or so), but haven't figured out what causes it to be temporary quiet.

I have tried a couple repairs. I replaced the pedals. Removed the crank arms and spider, cleaned all the dirt and debris behind the spider (this was very dirty with all sorts of dirt and grime), and greased everything up. This temporary got rid of the noise, but it returned after roughly 5 miles of riding.

I have had my Vado for 26 months, so it is a couple months out of warranty. Have 2800 miles on it. Everything else appears to be working well.

Here is a video. Please excuse the poor quality as I don't have the skill or equipment to make decent videos. This is when riding from cold, so the noise is pretty minor. if I rode longer, the same noise will be made but even louder.

I have not gone to my LBS yet. Have not had the best experience with them for basic issues, so do not have much faith in getting this issue resolved. There is a different LBS I can go to, but hoping to figure this out myself.

Any suggestions on how I can fix this?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

Noises like that would drive me bonkers as well.

I have a 2013 Trek Soho DLX with the Gates Carbon Drive. Back when I was riding that bike, I began to hear a slight squeaking noise coming from either front sprocket or belt. It only got louder as the miles built up. I found the teeth on the belt had a build up of dirt or road gunk imprinted on the teeth. A short bit of time with a microfiber cloth and Simple Green and the teeth were free of that dirt. No squeaking. But after a period of time and miles built up on the clean belt, the dirt returned on the teeth and it was a matter of cleaning the teeth on the belt again.

Thinking about it, I probably should have wiped the front and rear belt rings with the Simple Green.

It's worth a shot of time and bit of cleaner to see if this is your problem, as well.

 

[mattie_b]

Thanks for the suggestion! I will take it apart this weekend and clean the belt along with the belt rings. The front ring received a good cleaning when I removed it to clean behind it, but it won't hurt to clean it again. The rear ring will be a difficult, but will figure something out.....thanks agin!!

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

Thanks for the suggestion! I will take it apart this weekend and clean the belt along with the belt rings. The front ring received a good cleaning when I removed it to clean behind it, but it won't hurt to clean it again. The rear ring will be a difficult, but will figure something out.....thanks agin!!

Mattie, from my own experience, there is no need to take anything apart. Everything can be cleaned, in place. Regards to the front and rear ring, clean and inspect the exposed gear teeth, then rotate to expose more dirty teeth.

Maybe a good time to check the belt tension, as well, with an approved Gates tension checker tool!

 

[Bill G]

I am having a similar problem on an R&M Nevo 3 with Enviolo hub (manual). Noise only present when pedaling, and it's not quite synchronized with the pedal rpm. I checked the belt tension (I used both a Gates tension meter and their app) and found it above the recommended level. I have readjusted belt tension and the noise still returns. I'm going to remove the rear wheel and see if something is loose in the freewheel assembly. I found this video,

describing a very similar noise, but on a hub drive. He eliminated the noise by tightening his freewheel. I'll post if this works for me. This is driving me nuts; the bike works well but is embarrassingly noisy/annoying.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Please read that single post and Bob is your uncle

Spraying with water to remove fine dust

 

[mattie_b]

Mattie, from my own experience, there is no need to take anything apart. Everything can be cleaned, in place. Regards to the front and rear ring, clean and inspect the exposed gear teeth, then rotate to expose more dirty teeth.

Maybe a good time to check the belt tension, as well, with an approved Gates tension checker tool!

Thanks again Mike! The belt and front ring are easily cleanable; however, the rear ring is difficult to clean due to the Enviolo Automatiq hub interface with the belt attached. But I did clean the front ring and belt with dish soap and water. On a short test ride, the noise was eliminated!! Plan on doing a longer ride in the next day or two. Hopefully noise stays away after a longer ride. Thank you for the suggestion!!

Luckily, I have the Gates Krikit tool to measure belt tension. This is been very handy while trying to solve this issue.

I am having a similar problem on an R&M Nevo 3 with Enviolo hub (manual). Noise only present when pedaling, and it's not quite synchronized with the pedal rpm. I checked the belt tension (I used both a Gates tension meter and their app) and found it above the recommended level. I have readjusted belt tension and the noise still returns. I'm going to remove the rear wheel and see if something is loose in the freewheel assembly. I found this video,

describing a very similar noise, but on a hub drive. He eliminated the noise by tightening his freewheel. I'll post if this works for me. This is driving me nuts; the bike works well but is embarrassingly noisy/annoying.

I feel your pain! Hopefully that solution works!!

Please read that single post and Bob is your uncle

Spraying with water to remove fine dust

Probably a good idea to clean the rear ring. I am a bit apprehensive to clean it with too much water as I don't won't to mess up the Enviolo Automatiq hub. But I shoule be able to to do this a more controlled manner.

Thanks for all the suggestions!!

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

@mattie_b: I love how a plan comes together! Again, keep in mind, as the miles accumulate and the dirt builds up, the squeaking will likely return as it did on my Soho DLX; but not a big deal once the offending noise has been identified. Happy miles and trails!

 

[mattie_b]

I rode 40 miles yesterday. The first 10 miles were great! The belt was virtually silent. But then the squeak returned. I decided to spray a bit of water on the rear sprocket per @Stefan Mikes suggestion. And it worked! At least temporarily. The sound returned roughly 10 miles later. But a couple sprays during the ride allowed me to finish without too much fuss. Much better than listening to the squeaking the entire ride.

I did purchase some of the silicone spray recommended by Gates. Hopefully that will help.

But this makes me feel something is wrong. The Gates website says it could be an alignment issue (rear/front sprocket or rear wheel) or a bad component. I will look all those over again, but thinking I may need to get a LBS involved as this is getting outside of my comfort zone.

 

[Seventysomething]

I rode 40 miles yesterday. The first 10 miles were great! The belt was virtually silent. But then the squeak returned. I decided to spray a bit of water on the rear sprocket per @Stefan Mikes suggestion. And it worked! At least temporarily. The sound returned roughly 10 miles later. But a couple sprays during the ride allowed me to finish without too much fuss. Much better than listening to the squeaking the entire ride.

I did purchase some of the silicone spray recommended by Gates. Hopefully that will help.

But this makes me feel something is wrong. The Gates website says it could be an alignment issue (rear/front sprocket or rear wheel) or a bad component. I will look all those over again, but thinking I may need to get a LBS involved as this is getting outside of my comfort zone.

If you have removed the rear wheel before it’s simple to remove the hub interface with a 17 socket, it’s not that tight, then you can see your sprocket

 

[mattie_b]

Thanks @Seventysomething!

I pulled the rear wheel and removed part of the interface. Cleaned everything up and noticed the sprocket is loose and has some play. Here is a video:

Should there be any play in that sprocket? If not, what type of tool do I need to tighten it?

 

[Seventysomething]

Thanks @Seventysomething!

I pulled the rear wheel and removed part of the interface. Cleaned everything up and noticed the sprocket is loose and has some play. Here is a video:

Should there be any play in that sprocket? If not, what type of tool do I need to tighten it?

Should not be any back to front movement, but you can rock it towards you, it’s good as long as the 9 lobes are locked behind the teeth,

 

[Seventysomething]

Should not be any back to front movement, but you can rock it towards you, it’s good as long as the 9 lobes are locked behind the teeth,

Should not be any back to front movement, but you can rock it towards you, it’s good as long as the 9 lobes are locked behind the teeth,

Forgot about the snap ring, it will only fit if the sprocket is right, so you should be good

 

[mattie_b]

Thanks @Seventysomething !

I removed the snap ring for cleaning and the video. But it fits on well. Also, the lobes are locked in.....so it looks like everything is fine with the rear sprocket.

Hopefully cleaning the rear sprocket will help with the noise. Will ride in the next couple days to confirm.

 

[Seventysomething]

Thanks @Seventysomething !

I removed the snap ring for cleaning and the video. But it fits on well. Also, the lobes are locked in.....so it looks like everything is fine with the rear sprocket.

Hopefully cleaning the rear sprocket will help with the noise. Will ride in the next couple days to confirm.

Hope it works out, I’ve had mine two years with almost the same mileage, so far I haven’t had any issues ( knock on wood )