Walk Assist vs Throttle for climbing stairs

Mike M

New Member
I'm looking to buy my first ebike. I live on the 3nd floor of a condo complex so have stairs to deal with. My current standard bike is 38lbs and I can carry it up the stairs ok. Most eBikes are ~50lbs so I'm concerned about carrying it up all these stairs, especially after riding all day, I'm petty tired.

So in shopping for an ebike, I wonder if Walk Assist would help wheel it up the stairs. What about Throttles? Is that overkill or can that still work if you just give it a little juice?
 
Hey Mike, I have been able to use walk assist to get up stairs (did that recently with the Turbo Vado electric bike, watch the video at 19:18) but the pedals move forward with a mid-drive system so they banged into the steps and kind of crowded my legs... it's not a perfect solution but it does help. Most Bosch and Brose ebikes do have walk assist enabled but there are a few brands that do not, including Trek. You usually have to press walk assist and either hold it or then hold the plus or forward button on a keypad so you end up balancing the bike and trying to hold onto the button all while climbing stairs and it can be a little tricky.

It seems like fewer electric bikes are offering throttles these days but if you do have this option, it can help you get up stairs but has the same balance plus twist or push on the trigger difficulty. You'll be doing multiple things at once and often times, the throttle is on the right bar which means you either have to use your left hand (my non-dominant hand) or reach across the bike with your right hand and this can be difficult. Also, throttles usually offer a lot more power and it could be difficult to regulate that power to slowly climb stairs vs. taking off and maybe pulling you up and to the side.

So neither of these are perfect solutions to carrying a heavy electric bicycle up stairs, both walk assist and throttle tend to be challenging to operate while also climbing and balancing with your body and I have noticed that the tire will spin and create marks on stairs or possibly tear up carpet. The pedals could collide and you could end up falling over and then down the steps with a heavy e-bike landing on top of you. My best advice is to search for a lightweight electric bike with a removable battery pack and either take two trips or remove the battery and put it into a backpack while lifting or pushing the bike frame. I have a whole category of light electric bike reviews that you could explore along with a search filter that can let you set a maximum weight. I hope this helps and wish you luck! Do be safe climbing steps with your bike and feel free to share what you end up choosing or any other tips that you discover during your search.
 
I have a Radrover hub drive bike at around 70 lbs fully loaded (accessories, rack, rack bag). It does have 2 mph walk feature; but, I've never tried to use it up inclines or stairs. I just use the throttle (converted from a twist to thumb throttle). I have tried the throttle up 2 flights of stairs and it work great because it only turns the rear wheel and you can modulate or hold between zero and full 750w of power with the thumb throttle I added.

Even at +70 lbs, the Radrover is very easy to walk down stair just by using both hand brakes (not ride down; but, walk beside it). When I work commute, I store my Radrover in my server room next to my office on the 2nd floor. Elevator up in the morning at 6am and down the fire escape stairs well out the back door at 3pm.

Rad Power Bikes does make the Radcity with the same programming and 750w rear hub motor (2 sizes, headlight, throttle and PAS levels 0-5, rear rack, front/rear fenders, front suspension forks included). The only difference is it has smaller 2.3" tires for city riding; but, it still comes in at +60 lbs like the larger Radrover (minus 7 lbs without battery). Even the small Radmini folding bike still comes in at +60 lbs.
 
Thanks Court for your insight on this. Given what ebike costs, I want to make the best informed decision for my needs as much as possible, especially since my purchase may likely be online and from out of state. I did try a Bosch Trek ebike a while back but I wasn't thinking about weight and stairs at the time. Good to know Bosch walk assist is not offered on Trek. I heard too that Bosch only recently made walk assist available in the US on 2017 models? There's a bike shop here that sells EasyMotion City with a throttle. This bike is too heavy (60lbs) to carry up stairs but I will test out walking the bike with low throttle to see if it might work in this scenario. I'll also check out your light electric bike reviews.

When I started my ebike search I didn't know there were so many different kinds on the market so your EBR site has been a tremendous help!
 
I use the walk assist on my BBS01 motor to get my bike up 3 steps into my backyard, I have to hold down the + button with my thumb which is a problem when climbing stairs. One UK reporter mentioned Bosch might release a software update to activate walk assist where you do not have to hold down a button but you should check with Bosch if that was accurate because this recent discussion suggests not, it does offer the tip of putting the bike in highest gear before activating walk assist.
 
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