Steps e8000 walk mode

Brianjonesphoto

Active member
Patreon
Oct 8, 2018
162
120
Seattle USA
Doesn’t seem that challenging to shift gear in walk mode to me. It’s only a few clicks when you start or stop walking. You don’t have to pedal to shift before using walk mode.
 

iXi

E*POWAH Master
Feb 17, 2019
424
321
Brisbane
Walk assist on my shimano wouldn't pull the skin off a rice custard. Barely can get over 1km/h,its pathetic
 

dirt huffer

E*POWAH Master
Dec 3, 2018
312
313
Minneapolis
I've found that if you shift into your smallest cog, the walk assist speed is 3mph. According to Google the average walking speed is 3.1mph.

When shifted into the largest cog, it's 1.5mph.

It would be nice if Shimano allowed the user to adjust the walk mode up to 4 or 5 mph in the smallest cog
 

iXi

E*POWAH Master
Feb 17, 2019
424
321
Brisbane
I can here the motor trying to churn but it just delivers nothing. Maybe mine is set to di2 when I don't have it
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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Mar 29, 2018
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I've found that if you shift into your smallest cog, the walk assist speed is 3mph. According to Google the average walking speed is 3.1mph.

When shifted into the largest cog, it's 1.5mph.

It would be nice if Shimano allowed the user to adjust the walk mode up to 4 or 5 mph in the smallest cog
walk mode just spins the crank at a set rate. i suppose it could be handy if that rate was (slightly) customisable.
Gearing alters the speed the wheel turns at and tyre circumferance dictates the speed the bike "walks" at.
if you want it to "walk" faster fit larger gearing (larger chainring or smaller sprocket, or both) or fit a larger diameter rear tyre/wheel.

Personally I find walk mode pretty useless on most climbs as anywhere you need it you'll be in a low gear so you always need to change gear for it to walk at pushing speed, then when you want to get back on you need to change back to a suitable climbing gear.
I sometimes use it for changing to a suitable gear by lifting the rear wheel before getting back on at the start of a descent though
 

RRebikes

Member
Jan 4, 2019
33
15
Norway
I was out on a ride today with very steep hills, and the walkmode on my bike is totally useless! I cant understand that Shimano is not seeing this as a problem
 

Brianjonesphoto

Active member
Patreon
Oct 8, 2018
162
120
Seattle USA
Something I've learned for my mototrials riding on steep hills: If the bike can power itself unless there is enough weight on the rear wheel to create traction it's just gonna spin.
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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Mar 29, 2018
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What's better about it now?
I tried out walk mode yesterday. Felt the same as always to me (still pretty pointless for anything but changing gear standing still). I updated firmware a few days ago too. Has there been a newer update out since?
 
Last edited:

papab

Member
Jun 10, 2018
89
45
colorado
I don't have hard data (pedal RPM), but I'm pretty sure it cranked faster. I updated 2 days ago, the 1st time for a long time.
 

papab

Member
Jun 10, 2018
89
45
colorado
I timed the cadence in walk mode. 5 sec for 1 rev. slow, but I think it was slower before. Maybe some one out there that hasn't updated the firmware could measure
 

33red

New Member
Jun 12, 2019
447
137
Quebec, Canada
I am new to Ebikes, i realy enjoy it so i might buy an other one.
I have a Yamaha without walk assist and do not miss that feature.
For those who miss it how heavy is your Ebike(i read some reach 55 pounds)?
Do you have instant power? Well i am not sure how it is called but as soon as i press a pedal it activates the assist. I read some have some delay.
 

33red

New Member
Jun 12, 2019
447
137
Quebec, Canada
That's true, but when you are not able too to pedal bike anymore cause it's too steep, bike is already on the largest cog on the cassette, you then have to gear down to third or second smallest to make it work fine, and then when it`s possible to pedal the bike again, you have to gear upp will you are in walk assist to the biggest cog again, this takes time, and if you are out on a ride along with people with either Shimano with DI2 or Bosch, you will be left behind, because they are so much faster. And another issue is that because of this useless function on the non DI2 bikes, you don't take the time to gear up and down in walk assist, and then push the bike with force, and you will be totally exhausted compared to people with proper walk assist.
The trip we had today, have really steep climbs, and we are talking about 400-500 meters of walking, and 100-150 height meters. Works great on my bike with Bosch, but is a pain in the A.. on my Merida with Shimano without Di2
Why are you not able to pedal? Is it too hard, your low gear is not low enough? The trail for that section is a bit tougher than you are confortable with?
 

LawmanMtb

Member
Aug 15, 2018
142
49
Wigan
We have the very same issue with our Meridas, i have XT Di2 and the missus has mechanical XT, her walk assist is useless so going to try the smaller cogs idea to see if thats any better first, i had a right nightmare last weekend at Coed-y-brenin where my Di2 wouldn't shift at all with my bike throwing E010 and E020 error codes up and cutting out so im thinking of swapping out my Di2 for mechanical XT so i can at least change gear to get me back from a hilly ride
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
13,998
20,749
Brittany, France
On a mechanical shifter bike (none di2) has anyone tried changing the chainring size with stepsunlocker or something to see if the system re-calibrates the walk mode assistance ? Say drop it to 15 teeth instead of 34 and see what it does (if it lets you change it that much).

If it adjusts automatically for di2, it's possible it works out how much assistance to give on a mechanical based on the gearing parameters it has available ?

did you see that ? I made a post without saying anything stupid ! :) well .. not intentionally stupid.
 

iXi

E*POWAH Master
Feb 17, 2019
424
321
Brisbane
I am new to Ebikes, i realy enjoy it so i might buy an other one.
I have a Yamaha without walk assist and do not miss that feature.
For those who miss it how heavy is your Ebike(i read some reach 55 pounds)?
Do you have instant power? Well i am not sure how it is called but as soon as i press a pedal it activates the assist. I read some have some delay.

The Yamaha is great, my missus has one and walk assist is fantastic. The shimano is pathetic. On the flat I'm lucky to get 3km/h assist, on a hill forget it, you can hear the motor whirring but nothing happens.

On a different note the Yamaha is instant power when pedalling the shimano has a quarter turn before you get engagement. Each has their merits.
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
13,998
20,749
Brittany, France
On a mechanical shifter bike (none di2) has anyone tried changing the chainring size with stepsunlocker or something to see if the system re-calibrates the walk mode assistance ? Say drop it to 15 teeth instead of 34 and see what it does (if it lets you change it that much).

OK, so was lazy and stopped work early and had a quick play (including 12 minutes of inspirational lazyness watching Robs cool Megavalanche Video) and obviously a quick ride which seemed obligatory after watching the crazyness.

Stepsunlocker lets you increase the chainring size from 34, but not decrease it - so that idea doesn't work as a workaround. I also tried changing it to Di2 just in case by default it was faster without knowing the Di2 gear it was in .. It wasn't.

One interesting point that related to another post. If you have a Di2 bike and it's in Di2 configuration on the E8000, it still works fine if the Di2 is disconnected or doesn't exist - so you can downgrade from Di2 without changing any settings.
 

Ren

New Member
Oct 30, 2018
22
24
Christchurch - New Zealand
Last weekend I was on a very steep and rocky trail and I just decided to go back cause I wasn’t enjoying so I had to use de walk mode. I noticed that in order to get the bike going you can not push the bike faster than the bike is going itself, you have to let the bike do de work and as soon as you try to speed up the motor stop pushing and in order to continue you have to release and press again the lever.
I agree the speed is not the ideal but even being slow I was glad to have something to help me. I tried to just push myself to go faster and was very hard work ?.
 
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33red

New Member
Jun 12, 2019
447
137
Quebec, Canada
Last weekend I was on a very steep and rocky trail and I just decided to go back cause I wasn’t enjoying so I had to use de walk mode. I noticed that in order to get the bike going you can not push the bike faster than the bike is going itself, you have to let the bike do de work and as soon as you try to speed up the motor stop pushing and in order to continue you have to release and press again the lever.
I agree the speed is not the ideal but even being slow I was glad to have something to help me. I tried to just push myself to go faster and was very hard work ?.
I guess the impossibility to accelerate it is for safety in case you loose control or you fall.
I did a few demos of Shimano 8000 in Quebec in the last weeks and it is just not functional. The market is international but the final product varies by region. I think we do not have any button to push.
 

Finken

New Member
Feb 2, 2020
6
2
skien Norway
This is a well known issue, poor walk assist on Steps8000. The problem is the motor angle, programed in by the manufactur of the bike.
Go to your bike shop, and let them check, that the mounting angle of the motor, is the same as programed by manufactor.
Use an angle app on you phone, and measure on the flat spot under the motor.
Mine was 10, programmed in 17, when changed, i had Turbo walk assist :)
Almost every Merida i have sold, had this problem.
 
Last edited:

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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Mar 29, 2018
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On a mechanical shifter bike (none di2) has anyone tried changing the chainring size with stepsunlocker or something to see if the system re-calibrates the walk mode assistance ? Say drop it to 15 teeth instead of 34 and see what it does (if it lets you change it that much)
#Necroreply

My ESentier being primarily a commuter was set-up in SexUnlocker with wheel circumference of roughly half the true size and a closer ratio cassette and walk mode was still pointlessly slow.
Can't say i ever use it anyway
 

Dan63

Well-known member
Feb 4, 2019
289
170
Brisbane
This is a well known issue, poor walk assist on Steps8000. The problem is the motor angle, programed in by the manufactur of the bike.
Go to your bike shop, and let them check, that the mounting angle of the motor, is the same as programed by manufactor.
Use an angle app on you phone, and measure on the flat spot under the motor.
Mine was 10, programmed in 17, when changed, i had Turbo walk assist :)
Almost every Merida i have sold, had this problem.
I've noticed mine is set to 15 degrees from memory. There is no way to change this is there?
 

Finken

New Member
Feb 2, 2020
6
2
skien Norway
Only Shimano tech guys, or the brands representative, have privileges to enter those settjngs, not bike shops. They can see what angle is programmed, in diagnose, but not change it.

This is where you measure the angle.

2020-02-05 12.22.09.jpg
 

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