My Vado 4.0 SL is two days old. I was riding up a steep hill in Turbo going about 7.5 miles per hour, all is fine, as soon as it leveled off the motor shut off, went back on and shup off again. At this time I was only at 12 miles per hour. Has anyone experienced this. And how can it be fixed. The dealer I bought it from is 60 miles away. Can any dealer do warrantee service for no cost?
Vado SL 4.0 Motor cuts out in Turbo
- Thread starter NormL
- Start date
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
If you bought from them, it should be free. If not, the dealer will handle warranty claim but can ask for some fee.
P.S. It looks like a bad battery contact. In case of SL, only the dealer can inspect and fix it.
P.S. It looks like a bad battery contact. In case of SL, only the dealer can inspect and fix it.
Hi Norm - just to check and this is v unlikely but was the cut out momentarily or motor shut off completely? If momentarily, and the bike is new, any chance after levelling off you momentarily freewheeled, automatically cutting out the motor? I seem to remember being surprised when my SL was new and after a really steep ramp I paused out of breath and the motor also stopped. I wasn't used to this and it surprised me.
Ah ok, freewheeling - when you stop pedalling and the bike keeps moving due to speed you have built up already. The 'freewheel' refers to the mechanism in the rear hub that allows the drive train to not move when pedals are stationary but rear wheel continues to turn.
A similar thing happened to me. I have a 2020 Vado 4. The power cut out at random times. The first thing the LBS did was check the battery connections and installed a new battery lock. (the Vado SL doesn't have that same battery lock as the Vado) The power still kept cutting out. It worked out that there was some mess up with the display. They replaced the display and that fixed the problem. Maybe that info will help you?
I think that sounds normal... hard to be 100% certain without seeing it in action - so when you stop pedalling the motor assist also stops? It's probably just the motor sensors noticing you have stopped pedalling and so pausing the assist. It might seem abrupt there because when you freewheel/glide without pedalling near the top of the hill, perhaps the road is still rising and so without the assist of the motor - the motor cutting out, suddenly the bike might slow right down with the weight of bike (and you) becoming more noticeable without the power of the motor to help creating a moment of uncertainty. Does that make any sense?!
For me, on my Vado SL, what I described is normal. I don’t notice it now at all, haven’t after first couple of rides. I’d suggest you take it for a few more rides and see if it still bothers you or you forget about it- or if you feel it’s getting worse, in which case take back to shop.
This might be strange for someone new to ebikes but as NormL already knows a normal Vado I wonder why the SL surprises him here. I know quite a few ebikes (not the normal Vado/the Brose motors yet) and I never felt the SL characteristics strange or different to other ebikes, more the opposite (SL better and smoother).
That's true. And it might just be a fault with his SL. It's hard to know without hopping on the bike and recreating the situation.
If not a fault it might be because on the hill, in turbo assist, and starting to freewheel means assist drops instantly from Full to Zero and gravity kicks back in before the bike has hit level or downward ground causing a feeling like a stall. Unlike freewheeling on level ground where the bike's momentum carries you forward so you don't notice that assist has cut off. So could it be that with the more powerful motors like full fat Vado you tend to keep pedalling right through without freewheeling? Sort of instinctively knowing the heavier bike needs to keep moving at that point? Another thing I used do when I first got the SL was to immediately drop the assist level on reaching the top of a hill. If in Sport I'd press button to Eco for example. But immediately the bike felt sluggish and almost like it was still on a steep part of the hill. I realised this was because even though the gradient had dropped from say 15-20% it was still going up as I came close to the brow of the hill. Dropping to lower assist too early wrecked my cadence and felt like I was suddenly pedalling a bike with huge heavy bags on it. Now I keep it in Sport, pedal right through the top of the hill and automatically wait until I can feel that freewheeling or dropping assist levels won't effect the speed of the bike. It is a smooth motor/assist, but I have steep hills and I feel it's just getting to know the quirks of the assist. Perhaps it's because as my first e bike but long term cyclist I'm replicating the instinctive habits from analogue bikes and the meagre/limited assist levels on the SL means I am out of breath when reaching the top of the steep hills and so automatically freewheel in relief to get my breath back? Whatever it is, exploring all this and having to think through it makes me realise again at how quickly we adapt to changes in riding behaviour to match the bike's characteristics.
If not a fault it might be because on the hill, in turbo assist, and starting to freewheel means assist drops instantly from Full to Zero and gravity kicks back in before the bike has hit level or downward ground causing a feeling like a stall. Unlike freewheeling on level ground where the bike's momentum carries you forward so you don't notice that assist has cut off. So could it be that with the more powerful motors like full fat Vado you tend to keep pedalling right through without freewheeling? Sort of instinctively knowing the heavier bike needs to keep moving at that point? Another thing I used do when I first got the SL was to immediately drop the assist level on reaching the top of a hill. If in Sport I'd press button to Eco for example. But immediately the bike felt sluggish and almost like it was still on a steep part of the hill. I realised this was because even though the gradient had dropped from say 15-20% it was still going up as I came close to the brow of the hill. Dropping to lower assist too early wrecked my cadence and felt like I was suddenly pedalling a bike with huge heavy bags on it. Now I keep it in Sport, pedal right through the top of the hill and automatically wait until I can feel that freewheeling or dropping assist levels won't effect the speed of the bike. It is a smooth motor/assist, but I have steep hills and I feel it's just getting to know the quirks of the assist. Perhaps it's because as my first e bike but long term cyclist I'm replicating the instinctive habits from analogue bikes and the meagre/limited assist levels on the SL means I am out of breath when reaching the top of the steep hills and so automatically freewheel in relief to get my breath back? Whatever it is, exploring all this and having to think through it makes me realise again at how quickly we adapt to changes in riding behaviour to match the bike's characteristics.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Hard to say. My full-power Vado always behaves naturally from cycling/freewheeling viewpoint. (Heavy e-bike carries a lot of momentum during coasting; the motor unnoticeably kicks in at the moment you've started pedalling again). The only situation the motor gets some hiccup is one with dirty battery contacts. Yet, the OP rides a brand new SL with non-removable battery, so no idea.
I have a Vado SL and a Creo SL. If I climb a hill in turbo I have found that it is important to avoid freewheeling until well over the crest of the hill. Otherwise the motor cuts out quickly and gravity takes over causing what seems like a dragging sensation. It is more noticeable with the Creo perhaps because the bike is lighter than the Vado. Like Ras, I had to adjust my climbing technique and avoid freewheeling for a bit when I get to the top of the hill. Dropping the assist level to sport as I get near to the top of a hill also sometimes helps. The motor cutout when freewheeling in the sport mode doesn't seem to be as quick as the turbo mode.
I don't know why the motor does that. Perhaps it is programmed in the controller to do that. After my last software update (a few months ago) it seemed more noticeable. There's a new software update available for my bikes but I haven't taken them into the LBS yet.
I sometimes ride with a buddy who rides a big Bulls eMTB. He is recovering from a heart condition and weighs about 150 lbs. more than me so I typically let him set the pace and ride behind him. However, when we get to a big hill to climb, I have to pull out in front and climb at my own pace because it's too hard to switch between pedaling and freewheeling while behind him in the turbo mode. When I first got my bike, he thought he'd leave me in the dust on the hill climbs because of his big motor but that hasn't happened yet.
I sometimes ride with a buddy who rides a big Bulls eMTB. He is recovering from a heart condition and weighs about 150 lbs. more than me so I typically let him set the pace and ride behind him. However, when we get to a big hill to climb, I have to pull out in front and climb at my own pace because it's too hard to switch between pedaling and freewheeling while behind him in the turbo mode. When I first got my bike, he thought he'd leave me in the dust on the hill climbs because of his big motor but that hasn't happened yet.
Maybe it depends also on the way you pedal or stop pedaling. I'm normally pedaling constantly and longer "pedaling breaks" only if it's going down. I'm almost never swapping every few seconds between pedaling and pausing, so I don't know for sure how the SL drive reacts here.
But even with others it's normally not necessary to pause, just switching between level 0/1/2 should usually be enought to adapt your speed to others.
But even with others it's normally not necessary to pause, just switching between level 0/1/2 should usually be enought to adapt your speed to others.
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