Intermittent Walk Assist on Levo / Kenevo

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Hey all,

On my past few rides where I've really needed it, Walk Assist has worked intermittently. Sometimes it will work for a minute or so, next it will stop completely. Only way of getting it to work again is by turning off the bike then turning it back on.

I've noticed it on a couple of bikes now, it always seems to be a bit buggy.

Anyone else have it too? Any tips to get it to work consistently?

Thanks,
Rob.

 

[Stompweaver]

My Kenevo (1000+ Miles) has always done this on both the old and new firmware. It always happens when I’ve used the walk assist, stopped and then want to start walking again. Turning on and off is the only solution. I’ve also had the walk assist stick on a couple of times which is quite amusing! Again switching off and back on again stops it.

 

[Sparkydave]

Tried walk assist on my new Kenevo yesterday and it did nothing

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

My Kenevo (1000+ Miles) has always done this on both the old and new firmware. It always happens when I’ve used the walk assist, stopped and then want to start walking again. Turning on and off is the only solution. I’ve also had the walk assist stick on a couple of times which is quite amusing! Again switching off and back on again stops it.

I have had the same issue too and yes, it is amusing in certain circumstances quite scary when the remote assist comes on when your not expecting it to and you are right in the middle of casing out a big drop you have not done before and it is dragging you towards the edge.... and you are thinking wtf is going on....

 

[Dax]

Yeh mine stuck on the other day, bike was just sat there doing a burnout

 

[Stompweaver]

Mines only ever stuck on after I’ve been using it for a while. It seems to happen when the back wheel spins a lot if the ground is loose or muddy. It’s never come on if it’s own accord though, that would be scary!

 

[Donnie797]

Never experienced the walk assist coming on or switching off on itself, that would be a bit scary and i would consider to bring it to the lbs.
What i've experienced it that everytime when i start the walk assist, it comes on veeeery slow and after a couple of seconds/meters it's speeding up to 6 km/h. I guess this is how it was programmed, but i wish that assist could be tweaked to personal preferences through the app as well

 

[Stompweaver]

I’ve noticed the same thing Donnie797, I wish it would come in quicker. It takes a few seconds to get going which is pain when your pushing up a steep hill.
I’ve looked into why it sometimes doesn’t work or sticks on and everything checks out OK. I think it’s a bug in the firmware.

 

[jxj]

Same problem here on 2018 Carbon Comp. Sometimes nothing. All the time when it works it is way too slow for most uses. At a minimum I think Spec should have three levels EcoWalk, TrailWalk and TurboWalk, perhaps we could set the speeds for these three levels. If its technical pushing I need Eco. If its just steep go faster. Wonder if Spec reads this forum?

 

[c4s2rs6]

Same for me on a Kenevo expert. Takes a while to come on and seems to switch off. Thought maybe it’s programmed to cut out if it thinks it stationary, normally on the very steep stuff :-(

 

[dfkenevo]

I ride a S Kenevo and it does exactly the same. The walk mode doesn’t engage until you have push the bike a couple of feet. In the beginning I thought that something was wrong but finally I was told by an Specialized rep that this is how it works.
I can tell you It helps if you push the bike on a place that you can walk and push at the same time but if you are stuck pushing up over a big rock or really steep hill then you have to use your own power and moving up the 52lb isn’t an easy task.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Same problem here on 2018 Carbon Comp. Sometimes nothing. All the time when it works it is way too slow for most uses. At a minimum I think Spec should have three levels EcoWalk, TrailWalk and TurboWalk, perhaps we could set the speeds for these three levels. If its technical pushing I need Eco. If its just steep go faster. Wonder if Spec reads this forum?

For the speed I usually shift it into a higher gear to help ? you can get it moving quite fast I’ve found.

 

[Pendo]

After a few dusty rides, my walk assist wasn't working. Cleaned up the charging plug with WD40 and fixed the problem. Seems a small bit of grit can stop the battery plug seating properly. Assist would work but not the walk assist.

 

[Sparkydave]

For the speed I usually shift it into a higher gear to help ? you can get it moving quite fast I’ve found.

Not being argumentative, genuinely curious - how can changing into a higher gear affect walk assist? Our an I just being stupid?

 

[Sparkydave]

Not being argumentative, genuinely curious - how can changing into a higher gear affect walk assist? Our an I just being stupid?

Just realised I'm being stupid, of course it can ?

 

[Al Boneta]

I have never used it

 

[Donnie797]

Don't know where i read this (i think it was in the manual), the walk assist can move the bike with max. 6 km/h, no matter in what gear you put it - BUT, it should be shifted into a low/slow/easy gear if it's a steep climb, so the walk assist has an easier job of turning the rear wheel. Makes sense to me - guess the walk assist doesn't output a very high amount of power.

 

[Stompweaver]

That’s the way it works Donnie, it cuts out when you reach a certain speed (or by itself sometimes!). I put it in a low gear when going up steep stuff to give it an easier time.

I’ve found Walk Mode useful when you reach the bottom of a downhill and want to ride back up but you’re still in a high gear. Put it in Walk Mode and change through the gears to a lower one, it saves putting high loads on the drivetrain by getting on the bike and pedalling yourself while changing gear going up hill.

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

That’s the way it works Donnie, it cuts out when you reach a certain speed (or by itself sometimes!). I put it in a low gear when going up steep stuff to give it an easier time.

I’ve found Walk Mode useful when you reach the bottom of a downhill and want to ride back up but you’re still in a high gear. Put it in Walk Mode and change through the gears to a lower one, it saves putting high loads on the drivetrain by getting on the bike and pedalling yourself while changing gear going up hill.

I just went out on my bike and tried this.
Great tip! @Stompweaver this works really well. Thank you!

While I was doing this I thought I would check out how much actual power in Watts the ‘Walk Assist’ gives you while it is engaged. Using the Blevo App, thank you again @PaoloBLEvo I got a reading of 101 Watts

So when it actually works...... The way I view it is ‘Walk Assist’ is a very low powered throttle that gives you up to 6km/h max and 100 Watts max of assistance which should be enough to help you get your bike up a steep climb you have failed to climb which really is a good tool.... but only if it works

 

[Stompweaver]

It’s a neat little trick @Kiwi in Wales glad you found it useful.

I didn’t think that walk assist used much power, 100 Watts seems about right. Once it gets going it’s got enough umph to drive itself up really steep stuff as long as it’s got traction. I’ve pushed mine up the back of the Stiperstones and the Wrekin and there’s sections there that are so steep it’s hard to walk up without a bike but it’ll happily motor its way up dragging me behind!

 

[Oldmanlevo]

Walk assist?
That's why I have an E-bike...

(I don't have that feature on my 17')

 

[Grasshopperaggy]

Mine cuts out sometimes as well. Have to switch it off and on again.

 

[SMJA]

Rolling the bike back sometimes helps, very slowly, seems then somethings catches/ registers and the bike starts forward. I’ve found pressing with my thumb so hard it hurts while pushing up a deadweight isn’t the best reason to ‘try that bit again’ either. Thanks for the gear tip, will try that one.

 

[Dee Scee]

Walk assist?
That's why I have an E-bike...

(I don't have that feature on my 17')

haha! i added that feature to my ‘17 and i am so glad i did. the walk assist works about the way the others here say, but it’s a lifesaver.3

 

[Tim69]

Same as all said above, on my 2018 kenevo expert: won't start working till I've pushed a meter or two... Then slowly starts working, then cuts out after about 30 seconds of pushing uphill! And won't restart, without switching the bike off and on . Annoying.
But when it works it great! I just assumed it worked on a 30 sec. Timer...
And great tip, about using low gear, and using it for shifting!?
Tim

 

[SMJA]

Walk assist?
That's why I have an E-bike...

(I don't have that feature on my 17')

Yes, but this is for when you can't ride up... ever.

 

[idahoskiguy]

Glad to see I'm not the only who has had the walk assist not disengage when releasing the button.....first time it happen I thought WTF......there I was trying to climb up a STEEP rock face I could not ride with rear wheel spinning out of control. Turning off the battery and restarting seems to resolve the issue but I just never know when it will happen but are prepared for it if it does.

 

[SMJA]

You’d think there would be middle ground between staying on and not coming on at all. Its called WORKING.

 

[Mikerb]

I have experienced the walk assist stopping ( thankfully never had auto starting!). I would guess it is mostly to do with the button press. Assuming you have the + and - in the ideal position relative to your thumb the walk assist button is at an awkward angle to press directly in and an "angled" push may not be making an ideal internal connection. It would be helpful if the ( smaller) walk assist button had a raised rather than flat surface......I am considering adding a pad to the button with a spot of superglue. That might enable a better contact to be made.

 

[SMJA]

I promise you, have tried every angle and every pressure and even every finger. It has a mind of its own. It is Skynet, there is a deeper purpose to this testing of mankind.