Turbo Como 4 IGH - WALK ASSIST MODE

[jkurian]

I know that the walk assist mode can be turned on by doing a long press on the + button and holding it down. Question: Does the speed vary depending on which mode (eco/sport/turbo) on is in and/or does it vary depending on which manual assist gear (ENVILOLO) one is? ....or do neither of this make a difference?

My driveway is up a steep incline and I find walk mode is extremely slow and sometimes fails to engage. Any insights appreciated.

PS: How does one email Specialized Tech Support for bikes?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Question: Does the speed vary depending on which mode (eco/sport/turbo) on is in and/or does it vary depending on which manual assist gear (ENVILOLO) one is? ....or do neither of this make a difference?

It is an interesting question. I have used the Walk Assist in numerous situations from walking my Specialized e-bikes upstairs to climbing a steep railway embankment (both situations actually occured on a demanding ride yesterday!)

I think Walk Assist is a distinct Mode, and it works the way to rotate the chainring cranks at the same speed you are walking your e-bike. I have just proven it by setting all the modes to 0/10% using Mission Control. Upon activating Walk Assist, the e-bike still provided the walk assistance. Moreover, the performance of the rear wheel did not depend on the assistance set to ECO, SPORT or TURBO modes! The Walk Assist must be a separate Assist Mode then.

The Walk Assist acts on the rear wheel through the drivetrain: set a high gear and the rear wheel will try to spin fast but it will deliver a little of torque. Set the gear to the lowest one and you will get max torque but the wheel would rotate deadly slowly.

Pushing and keeping the Walk Assist button depressed will deliver only 3 seconds of assistance if you do not walk your e-bike (I have proven that, too). It is probably done so you cannot ride your e-bike. However, the Walk Assist remains active as long as you keep the button depressed and walk the e-bike all the way.

My driveway is up a steep incline and I find walk mode is extremely slow and sometimes fails to engage. Any insights appreciated.

The Walk Assist might be slow to engage. With the Specialized e-bikes that have the Walk Assist on the "+" button, the system needs a short while to determine if you are just increasing the assistance (short press) or requesting Walk Assist (long press and keeping the button depressed). If you are not walking your Como at the proper pace (which might be very slow or pretty fast, depending on the incline), the Walk Assist might disengage.

I have found Specialized Walk Assist being the most effective on extremely steep climbs. Your situation might require you set the manual gear in the middle or higher gear: You need to do some experiments!

Yesterday, I could walk my fully loaded Vado SL up very steep stairs using Walk Assist. As the speed was extremely low (like, crawling), I had my e-bike in a very low gear.

 

[Ben J]

Walk assist is one area where hub drive bikes are superior. You just engage walk assist and the bike can drive the rear wheel at the exact assist speed. On mid-drive bikes, there has to be a feedback loop between how fast the motor turns and how fast the rear wheel turns. The speed sensors on the rear wheel aren't very responsive at low speed. This leads to slow startup and a jerky assist (especially if the tire slips, like it can on stairs).

I think the best bet is going to be to start in the highest possible gear, since that's the worst case from the bike's point of view (it can't start the motor any faster than it should for the highest gear or it risks going too fast). Personally I don't get much use out of walk assist because it's only worthwhile for a long-ish hill (due to slow startup time) and by the time I can't ride up something (on a MTB geared bike) it's likely that the bike will slip under its own weight with walk assist.

One thing I do use it for (which is a tip I saw online somewhere) is if I'm not on the bike and I need to make a lot of gear changes. You can just rock it up on the kickstand so the rear wheel is in the air and use walk assist to pedal through the gears.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I think the best bet is going to be to start in the highest possible gear, since that's the worst case from the bike's point of view (it can't start the motor any faster than it should for the highest gear or it risks going too fast).

Honestly, I could not understand that part. Care to explain in other words? The highest gear means what in the cassette sprocket size?

 

[Ben J]

Honestly, I could not understand that part. Care to explain in other words? The highest gear means what in the cassette sprocket size?

The smallest. Consider it from the bike's point of view: You press walk assist. It's got to turn the mid-drive motor fast enough to move the bike at 3mph. However, it doesn't know what gear its in, so it doesn't know what speed it needs. If it turned fast enough to make the bike go 3mph in 1st gear, but you were actually in 12th (on a 500% cassette like mine), the bike would try to go 15mph. So the safe thing to do is turn fast enough to make the bike go 3mph in 12th gear. Then, when the speed sensor on the rear wheel finally comes around, it can estimate what gear you're in and speed up a bit. So, if you want to go 3mph as soon as possible, I bet the right way is to start in 12th gear. Of course usually if you are about to push your bike up a hill, that's not a great gear to be in, so it might not be easy advice to use.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The smallest. Consider it from the bike's point of view: You press walk assist. It's got to turn the mid-drive motor fast enough to move the bike at 3mph. However, it doesn't know what gear its in, so it doesn't know what speed it needs. If it turned fast enough to make the bike go 3mph in 1st gear, but you were actually in 12th (on a 500% cassette like mine), the bike would try to go 15mph. So the safe thing to do is turn fast enough to make the bike go 3mph in 12th gear. Then, when the speed sensor on the rear wheel finally comes around, it can estimate what gear you're in and speed up a bit. So, if you want to go 3mph as soon as possible, I bet the right way is to start in 12th gear. Of course usually if you are about to push your bike up a hill, that's not a great gear to be in, so it might not be easy advice to use.

I absolutely do not get it. In a traditional car, you are in the 1st gear to start moving, as the engine rotates fast but you expect a high torque on the wheels but a slow speed. You can start a car from the 2nd gear in need but you wouldn't be able to do it from the 3rd gear up.

Do this experiment Ben. Your e-bike certainly has a kickstand. Make the rear of your Tero X supported on the kickstand but lean the e-bike so the rear wheel is up. Start in the largest sprocket (the lowest gear). Press the Walk Assist button. You will see how slowly the wheel rotates! (It will stop being assisted after some 3 seconds but will start again if you hold the button). Now, (using the walk assist) upshift to the 12th gear. You will notice the wheel spins much faster than before!

You are getting the maximum mechanical advantage in the lowest gear. However, the motor rotates at a very slow speed in the Walk Mode. As the system adjusts the speed to the walking speed of the person, the proper gear could be a middle one.

 

[jkurian]

I know that the walk assist mode can be turned on by doing a long press on the + button and holding it down. Question: Does the speed vary depending on which mode (eco/sport/turbo) on is in and/or does it vary depending on which manual assist gear (ENVILOLO) one is? ....or do neither of this make a difference?

My driveway is up a steep incline and I find walk mode is extremely slow and sometimes fails to engage. Any insights appreciated.

PS: How does one email Specialized Tech Support for bikes?

 

[Dazmanturbo]

The type of remote can make a difference. I have the Levo remote on my Creo 2 (also had it on Creo 1 for a time to). This has a dedicated walk button and works fine on the Creo 1 and 2.

 

[teskow]

Let's face it the Brose walk system is as close to useless as you can get. It is so hard to use I usually don't even try. This is too bad because the rest of the Brose system works superb.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Let's face it the Brose walk system is as close to useless as you can get. It is so hard to use I usually don't even try. This is too bad because the rest of the Brose system works superb.

It works for me.
Although the one in the SL system is better.

 

[teskow]

I didn't say it doesn't work it just does not work well. It surges and is jerky and unpredictable. This is my second one.