Turbo VadoSL 5.0 and walk assist question

[Howie7]

Hi,
I have a couple of questions about the walk assist on my turbo Vardo SL5. If I press the walk assist button with the motor assistance set to off it does not going to walk mode. If I put the motor into eco and press the walk assist button ‘walk‘ comes up on the mastermind display and I can push the bike for about 10 seconds before walk assist disappears. With the motor on and in eco mode if I lift the rear wheel and press the walk assist button the pedals and rear wheel rotate for about five or six seconds and then there is a click and it switches off I then need to wait a few seconds before it will go back into walk mode when it will operate again for just a few seconds. Is this normal or should the walk assist continue to rotate the rear wheel for as long as the walk assist button is pressed?

 

[Tim C]

Are you holding the button down continuously or just pressing it once?

 

[Howie7]

Holding it down continuously.

 

[teskow]

I too have the Brose system and it pretty much works the same way. It is so inconvenient and annoying I don't even use it.

 

[Tim C]

Hi,
I have a couple of questions about the walk assist on my turbo Vardo SL5. If I press the walk assist button with the motor assistance set to off it does not going to walk mode. If I put the motor into eco and press the walk assist button ‘walk‘ comes up on the mastermind display and I can push the bike for about 10 seconds before walk assist disappears. With the motor on and in eco mode if I lift the rear wheel and press the walk assist button the pedals and rear wheel rotate for about five or six seconds and then there is a click and it switches off I then need to wait a few seconds before it will go back into walk mode when it will operate again for just a few seconds. Is this normal or should the walk assist continue to rotate the rear wheel for as long as the walk assist button is pressed?

The walk assist should stay active for as long as you keep pressing the button, and only stop once you release the button. Sounds like an issue for the bike shop to check out.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Hi,
I have a couple of questions about the walk assist on my turbo Vardo SL5. If I press the walk assist button with the motor assistance set to off it does not going to walk mode. If I put the motor into eco and press the walk assist button ‘walk‘ comes up on the mastermind display and I can push the bike for about 10 seconds before walk assist disappears. With the motor on and in eco mode if I lift the rear wheel and press the walk assist button the pedals and rear wheel rotate for about five or six seconds and then there is a click and it switches off I then need to wait a few seconds before it will go back into walk mode when it will operate again for just a few seconds. Is this normal or should the walk assist continue to rotate the rear wheel for as long as the walk assist button is pressed?

Howie,
A friend has just returned my Vado SL 4 EQ (that he borrowed for a week from me). I have made several tests. My corridor is 26 seconds of walking long. I have just tested the Walk Mode, and it worked flawlessly. There are two conditions for the Walk Mode to work:

• The walk button has to be kept depressed all the time
• You need to actually walk the bike. (The stationary test is of no value).

NB: It is highly recommended to use the Walk Mode in the lowest gears to reduce the "walking" speed of the e-bike.

Walk Mode is not the throttle.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I have Brose motor with Bloks
I don't have walk switch/button.

Funny to think my first iteration of a MY2017 Vado 5.0 had a Brose motor, BLOKS display and Walk Mode

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Okay. I do have Walk.
Tiny button on my Bloks.
I

For you to understand, Rome. Brose only delivers motors to the OEM such as Specialized. Any OEM is free to choose the battery, display, remote, app, and other stuff. To some extent it is an open architecture system, at least for the OEM. Having said that, Specialized has created own infrastructure around Brose motors used in the full power Vados, Comos, and now Teros. Until and including 2019, Specialized had to use BLOKS for display but the brand was using its own battery solution and own remote. That's why the Walk mode was always easy to find on Specialized e-bikes. In 2020, Specialized created their own solution for the display (TCD-w), and have replaced several things in the system, too. Thanks to the Brose's "open architecture", my 2017 Vado became a 2020 Vado with the overhaul by Specialized.

 

[Howie7]

Howie,
A friend has just returned my Vado SL 4 EQ (that he borrowed for a week from me). I have made several tests. My corridor is 26 seconds of walking long. I have just tested the Walk Mode, and it worked flawlessly. There are two conditions for the Walk Mode to work:

• The walk button has to be kept depressed all the time
• You need to actually walk the bike. (The stationary test is of no value).

NB: It is highly recommended to use the Walk Mode in the lowest gears to reduce the "walking" speed of the e-bike.

Walk Mode is not the throttle.

Thanks Stefan, I am going to try it out again, this time on a hill in a low gear to see if that makes a differenc.

 

[Howie7]

Thanks Stefan, I am going to try it out again, this time on a hill in a low gear to see if that makes a differenc.

It does work!
I’ve just tried it out on a 7% hill (there’s not much steeper around this part of Cambridgeshire) in the 11th gear and it seems to work fine. When I’m pressing the walk assist button the back goes forward up the hill with the pedals turning, when I take my finger off the assist button although I can continue pushing the bike up the hill the pedals then cease to rotate, on pressing the walk assist button again the pedals start to rotate once again. The bike went up to 3.4 mph in walk assist mode up the hill!
I assume, therefore, that there is something in the software that detects either the load on or speed of the bike to kick out the walk assist mode when not appropriate!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It does work!
I’ve just tried it out on a 7% hill (there’s not much steeper around this part of Cambridgeshire) in the 11th gear and it seems to work fine. When I’m pressing the walk assist button the back goes forward up the hill with the pedals turning, when I take my finger off the assist button although I can continue pushing the bike up the hill the pedals then cease to rotate, on pressing the walk assist button again the pedals start to rotate once again. The bike went up to 3.4 mph in walk assist mode up the hill!
I assume, therefore, that there is something in the software that detects either the load on or speed of the bike to kick out the walk assist mode when not appropriate!

You wrote 11th gear? I hope you meant the large cog on the cassette?

 

[Howie7]

Yes, largest but one, it’s a 12 speed cassette.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Yes, largest but one, it’s a 12 speed cassette.

OK, it's the second gear. Just to clarify.