Question about Walk Assist on Shimano Steps

[Trevormonty]

Most are as bad, not enough power to get up a steeper slope and awkward to use.
.

It does depend on what gear you are in.
Shimano Walk is easiest to use compared Bosch CX and Activeline. All much same when active.

 

[Danidl]

I have walk assist on the bosch active machine . Borderline useless.. if walking the pedals rotate and catch legs ,holding in the button is a pain , it's ok for 3 minutes but say for the 15 needed to cover a mile....

 

[Dewey]

I've seen the Bosch walk assist reprogrammed for max speed,so it works like a push-button throttle. I bet the Shimano can do the same, but you need access to the programming software.

I looked at the manual the other day as you can buy a USB cable for doing firmware updates on the E6000 but while it said you could change what functions the buttons perform there didn’t appear to be any speed parameters you could change.

 

[Dewey]

Shimano Walk is easiest to use compared Bosch CX and Activeline.

Steps requires you arrow down to level 0 and hold down a button for 2 seconds to activate walk mode then hold a button, vs Bosch has a Button to push that says walk...much simpler.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I looked at the manual the other day as you can buy a USB cable for doing firmware updates on the E6000 but while it said you could change what functions the buttons perform there didn’t appear to be any speed parameters you could change.

I think the Bosch does it when you change the wheel size somewhere. You can't change that as a user. Different parameters need different authorisation levels to change them.

 

[Nealh]

Apart from the Swizzbee, I have excellent walk assist on my other bikes.
It's called throttle .

 

[SilverTurfer]

I have an Gazelle Ami C7 with a Shimano E500 (40Nm)
And the walk assist does not really work.
1) its a lot of phaaf, you have to select walk by holding the button down for 2 seconds, then you have to keep it pressed.
2) It does not seem to assist at all .... all it enables the bike to do is keep me company if I'm walking. I would expect it to be able to propel the bike up a stair ramp gutter, but it just dosn't produce any torque.

Apart from that its a great town bike.
I've just written a review of it on another thread.

 

[LeighPing]

Use a bulldog clip to hold the walk assist button in, it helps a lot.

 

[SilverTurfer]

Cheers Leigh,
I bet you doggy love the Bulldog Clips!
On mine its not worth it, I think that's the one thing Gazelle didnt get right, the walk mode just does not have the "puddy wegs" to take the skin off a rice pudding, let alone go up a ramp.

 

[Trek]

I have Shimano Steps 6100 I have it automatically go to gear 3 when bike stops ready for the off, no problem shooting away hills or otherwise. I found walk assist great, I run out of tarmac and hit soft sand just dismounted into walk assist, no button needed to hold down, pedals don’t get in the way and easily walked me through a fair amount of soft sand.

 

[TedG]

Slightly off topic but my Shimano steps motor has had to be re-torqued twice in less than 2000 miles as it is coming loose in the cradle and also giving 3mm lateral / axial play at the crank.
Do I go leaping like Leighping?
Answer No.
Do I ride up and down Coronation St cobbles?
Answer No.
Used on tarmac towpaths and familiar main roads where I know where the potholes are.
Not yet found a walk mode but if it keeps trying to destroy itself I will need to know ASAP.

 

[Swizz]

Gazelle are kindly loaning me one of their ebikes to test ride for a month, here in the US it is branded EasyFlow but in the UK/EU it is the Gazelle Ami C8 HMS. It has a Shimano Steps E6000 motor but no throttle. I am a utility cyclist and intend to tow a trailer and go shopping. On my own ebike I like to use the throttle just to get going when stopped facing up hill. The Gazelle is a pedelec but has walk assist, I've used walk assist on my Bafang BBS01 to push my bike up ramps but I was wondering can the walk assist feature on Shimano Steps be used when riding to get going from a stop? I just need a little boost to help start pedalling when carrying or towing a load, or is the torque sensor sensitive enough to read the pedal pressure and kick in right away? Cheers for the advice, I'll post my experience using the bike after I pick it up next weekend and had a chance to ride it for a bit.

Hiya,
It's a torque sensing system so it'll provide power as soon as you put pressure on the pedal. Have ridden a Steps bike - it was fantastic - I don't think you will miss the throttle.
Isla