Noob question on E Tube app and Shimano Steps settings

[Bobajobbob]

Afternoon all. Just beginning to fiddle with my new bike and so I installed the E Tube app to have a look at settings.

Maybe its just me being thick but I don't really understand the possible power configurations available and/or why anyone would change them. As far as I understand it my bike has three manual modes; ECO, Trail and Boost. My vaguely logical mind assumed that ECO was the lowest setting, Boost the highest ergo Trail must be in the middle.

I then opened E Tube and can see that each of these three modes can then be set at High, Medium and Low and strangely by default Boost is on Low and Eco is on High?!?

Am i missing a layer of granularity here in that Boost is always the highest power setting but can be fine tuned so that Boost/Low is marginally above Trail/High and that Eco/High is just below Trail/Low or are there simply three power settings and it is up to you what you call them. I.e you could set ECO to high if you want and Boost could be the lowest?

Sorry if this is a really dumb question but my 20 years in product development and software design has left me none the wiser. All advice would be very welcome.

 

[Bobajobbob]

Apologies for the self bump but I’m still trying to figure this out. Here are the relevant sections in the manual that are confusing me.

What’s the benefit of the new Shimano E-TUBE update?

The adjustable Eco setting comes with a few benefits for different riding applications. As with Boost and Trail, there are three Eco setting options to choose from:

ECO – High (default) – Ideal for an increased towing weight. This setting allows to extend your riding range but will still give more than sufficient support for the less extreme rider or those that carry additional weight.
ECO – Medium – Balanced range and power output for a natural riding experience
ECO – Low – Maximum range while still providing useful support

When choosing your Eco level, do keep in mind that variables such as terrain (hilly/mountainous) or weather (strong winds) can significantly affect the range as well as the setting you may want to choose for a particular ride.


What are the assist characteristics?
Shimano STEPS Dynamic Mode – Dynamic mode is the default mode, with Boost level set to high, Trail on low and Eco on high. Its high Boost setting gives you max support to tame vertically demanding terrain. The low Trail setting provides you with finesse control through the tricky bits and will offer full support when you push hard. High Eco means more than enough support to extend your riding range while remaining responsive and fun.

Shimano STEPS Explorer Mode – Explorer mode has both Boost and Trail set on medium. You’ll feel that you ride faster than your normal pace, but with improved technical control. Eco is set on high so you can comfortably hit those unexplored trails that were previously out of range.

Shimano STEPS Custom Mode – Custom mode lets you hand-pick Boost, Trail and Eco support levels to match your unique riding style and intended terrain. Custom mode also comes in handy when riding with your buddies. Simply adjust your settings accordingly to even the playing field.

For anyone who has this system and has customised the settings I guess my question in its simplest form is ‘is there a difference in Eco set to High and Boost set to high?’

It would make sense if it was related to Power output and Torque settings I guess but it’s just not clear to me from the instructions.

 

[iXi]

Definitely noticeable. I have my eco set to med to get a bit more range and I find it provides sufficient assist. Eco in high was a little to easy and I wanted a bit more of a work out. Low would be OK if I lost some more weight,. Maybe if you were a smaller guy or super fit low would be ok.

I have trail mode in med as well. It provides good all round dynamic assistance.

Lastly I have boost on high as I rarely use this mode. It's only there for when it's an extreme climb or I'm totally gassed and just want a slow shuttle ride up the hill. If I'm going to bludge I may as well use the entire power of the motor.

I don't know how people can ride in boost all the time with the shimano. It's just to jerky.

Lastly to answer your question high in eco is only 60% assist. High in boost is 300% assis. It's a huge difference.

 

[steve_sordy]

I have Eco set to Med, because on Low I was moving into Trail too often.
Trail set to High, because that is where it feels most responsive. Also, when it was on Med I had to go into Boost too often for my liking.
Boost is set to Med because High is insane for where I ride! Boost in Low was too low to get me up the hills. But I very rarely use Boost.

If the terrain is solid and very grippy, then I might get away with Boost - High. But the sandy and loose soil where I ride just leads to wheelspin when in Boost-High. Trail-High gives me better results when climbing sandy hills.

Some riders ride in Trail all the time and just let the software control the level of support. I prefer to switch between Eco and Trail to better control battery usage.

@Bobajobbob Just experiment with your settings. Take your time, there is no rush.

 

[Bobajobbob]

Definitely noticeable. I have my eco set to med to get a bit more range and I find it provides sufficient assist. Eco in high was a little to easy and I wanted a bit more of a work out. Low would be OK if I lost some more weight,. Maybe if you were a smaller guy or super fit low would be ok.

I have trail mode in med as well. It provides good all round dynamic assistance.

Lastly I have boost on high as I rarely use this mode. It's only there for when it's an extreme climb or I'm totally gassed and just want a slow shuttle ride up the hill. If I'm going to bludge I may as well use the entire power of the motor.

I don't know how people can ride in boost all the time with the shimano. It's just to jerky.

Lastly to answer your question high in eco is only 60% assist. High in boost is 300% assis. It's a huge difference.

Thanks a lot for this. Further digging and reading has made it clearer. Each mode has an assist value and a torque value, so as you say, High in Boost is very different to High in Eco.

I'm not sure why Shimano doesn't make this a bit clearer but maybe I'm just a bit thick. Armed with this info I can now tweak the settings a bit less randomly.

 

[Bobajobbob]

@Bobajobbob Just experiment with your settings. Take your time, there is no rush.

Thanks and very wise words.

 

[MartinW148]

Does anyone know what the percentage and torque settings for low/med/high actually are?

I have recently changed from eTube to Stunlocker and I do find that I am using the battery a lot more on Stunlocker.


Thanks
M

 

[Bobajobbob]

Does anyone know what the percentage and torque settings for low/med/high actually are?

I have recently changed from eTube to Stunlocker and I do find that I am using the battery a lot more on Stunlocker.


Thanks
M

I think you can check them from the info page in Stunlocker. I took this screenshot but can’t remember whether it was before or after I made some changes.

 

[Pivot]

Hey Bobajobbob (cool name!)

First of all thank you for posting your question, as inadvertently you pointed me to Shimano OEM app, which I couldn’t find

To return the favours...

I reset Shimano app to Medium setting for all three (eco, trail & boost)

With those pre-sets, I went to Stunlocker App and I took the measurements:

You can see that:
Eco is 40%, 30Nm, 400W
Etc.

Following that, I updated the Shimano FW to 4.8.0 and I set my parameters with STunlocker just the way I want it

In my case I down-tuned the Eco to 20%, 20Nm, 250W
Tune-up the Trail to 100%, 70Nm, 500W
Boost I hardly ever use and I maxed it to 300%, 70Nm, 500W

 

[Bobajobbob]

Hey Bobajobbob (cool name!)

First of all thank you for posting your question, as inadvertently you pointed me to Shimano OEM app, which I couldn’t find

To return the favours...

I reset Shimano app to Medium setting for all three (eco, trail & boost)
View attachment 38257

With those pre-sets, I went to Stunlocker App and I took the measurements:
View attachment 38258

You can see that:
Eco is 40%, 30Nm, 400W
Etc.

Following that, I updated the Shimano FW to 4.8.0 and I set my parameters with STunlocker just the way I want it

In my case I down-tuned the Eco to 20%, 20Nm, 250W
Tune-up the Trail to 100%, 70Nm, 500W
Boost I hardly ever use and I maxed it to 300%, 70Nm, 500W

Thanks that's really helpful. I'm going to do some more tweaking myself. Trail on medium seems like a solid baseline to build on. Switching to US Market was also a big positive for me. That extra 5mph makes all the difference.

 

[Pivot]

PS. In these wicked times, I wouldn’t post a pic with my serial number.
Most people hide it, as some miscreants might be able to use it, in a way that we didn’t even consider

 

[MartinW148]

I think you can check them from the info page in Stunlocker. I took this screenshot but can’t remember whether it was before or after I made some changes. View attachment 38230

OK so when I first looked I was 60%/90%/300%, so I guess I was medium/ medium/ high...

 

[Bobajobbob]

PS. In these wicked times, I wouldn’t post a pic with my serial number.
Most people hide it, as some miscreants might be able to use it, in a way that we didn’t even consider

Thanks didn't notice that.