Levo Gen 2 WALK mode 50% less assist after firmware update.

[wepn]

To make it pass som legislation they needed to limit walk assist mode as well.

Groundbreaking. I know legislating is difficult & requires a lot of lowly paid legislators to make the wheels turn. So I’m impressed that they continue to find things to legislate good & proper. Who could’ve predicted the creativity required to think up walk mode legislation.

And making it kick in after 5 seconds for extra safety….genius !!

Well here’s something. The EP8 walk mode is very strong. Like super powerful! Instant activation and pulls like a train on the demo bike I had it on. ?‍
Edit - can almost wheelie with it if I hold the front brake and let go!
Not sure which directive the brands are following but Shimano seems to be allowing a lot of power in walk mode

Well there's only one solution - beef up the legislation. I better order one now.

 

[urastus]

I just got my motor replaced and the new firmware.
I noticed the walk assist is now a crawl assist. No longer is it helpful trying to get up steep (un-ridable), loose hike a bike sections. Now I have to drag and lunge to get it up. Bummed!

Now you know what it's like for us shimano owners

 

[eagerly]

Apart from delay, in my opinion it's totally fine

 

[KeithR]

Groundbreaking. I know legislating is difficult & requires a lot of lowly paid legislators to make the wheels turn. So I’m impressed that they continue to find things to legislate good & proper. Who could’ve predicted the creativity required to think up walk mode legislation.

The law pertaining to walk-assist in Europe/the UK hasn't changed - it was and still is subject to a limit of 6 kph/3.7 mph.

Dunno about the US, but AFAIK Australia sticks to the same numbers used in Europe.

The gear the bike is in matters, of course - maybe people who are noticing a change would be happier once they'd clicked through the gears a bit?

 

[wepn]

The law pertaining to walk-assist in Europe/the UK hasn't changed - it was and still is subject to a limit of 6 kph/3.7 mph.

That would make sense except if that was the case then 6 km/h speed-limited throttles would be within the regulations and would be an option don't you think? It seems possible there may have been some back channel directives to ditch the push-button throttle. I'm so confused I think I need to forget about walk-mode. Mine isn't going anywhere and I might use it for the 3rd or 4th time tomorrow.

 

[Riprocken]

I believe the change in walk assist was because riders were holding down walk mode while riding the bike

I do not have the update, 2019 Levo. The walk mode does not have enough power to pull a person on level ground. Yes I have tried it, it won't even begin to pull me.

 

[losgatosgtr]

Walk mode on my 2019 s works levo has always worked very well. Just need to be patient and hold the button down and be in a useful gear.

I have no plans to update to the new BS "crawl mode" until specialized makes the "neutered walk mode" and normal "old school" walk mode a selectable feature in the mission control app. Which is what they should do. I have never heard of anyone being hurt on a Levo using walk mode.

Some people use walk mode all the time and it must function properly and be reliable. For those that never use it... Then don't worry about it.

 

[Specialized Rider Care]

We hear you - since our recent motor firmware update the walk assist hasn't been great. We're working on this together with our motor partner as a priority - but just for the record walk-assist is designed to be most effective in the lowest gears, if you're in the higher 50% of gears then you'll struggle.

 

[wepn]

Was wondering what the problem was in 14th gear. I kind of worked it out & tried it in 5th & 6th though gear shifts were a bit difficult :')

Reading between the lines it sounds like it wasn't a directive after all.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Reading between the lines it sounds like it wasn't a directive after all.

I think the problem was that it didn't comply with the original legislation as it was, so Brose pushed some changes through to make it comply.

It sounds like their implementation went too far and has made it pretty much unusable for most practical purposes.

From what I'd previously heard, which seems confirmed buy SRC above, Specialized are working with Brose to improve it so it still fits within the rules, but is more than just an angry thumb exercise.

Maybe they can have Zimmer mode. You press and hold the Turbo button which instantly gives you full power walk mode but only for a maximum of 5 seconds. Helps push the bikes up over obstacles, but could be used for hill starts by the old and inept (me then....) But, you can't really use it as a thumb throttle - which I think was the problem.

 

[wepn]

I think the problem was that it didn't comply with the original legislation as it was, so Brose pushed some changes through to make it comply.

It sounds like their implementation went too far and has made it pretty much unusable for most practical purposes.

From what I'd previously heard, which seems confirmed buy SRC above, Specialized are working with Brose to improve it so it still fits within the rules, but is more than just an angry thumb exercise.

Maybe they can have Zimmer mode. You press and hold the Turbo button which instantly gives you full power walk mode but only for a maximum of 5 seconds. Helps push the bikes up over obstacles, but could be used for hill starts by the old and inept (me then....) But, you can't really use it as a thumb throttle - which I think was the problem.

Right that makes sense! Zimmer mode sounds useful actually - wepn mode is exactly the same as Simon Cowell mode.

Why not make it either rider or dealer selectable functionality depending on jurisdiction and local directives ? Probably just another unessesary complexity maybe.

 

[Lasse]

We hear you - since our recent motor firmware update the walk assist hasn't been great. We're working on this together with our motor partner as a priority - but just for the record walk-assist is designed to be most effective in the lowest gears, if you're in the higher 50% of gears then you'll struggle.

I used to love the walk assist function, but now it is crap...really annoying

 

[albizu]

I can not wait 2 complete turns of the wheel to get power in the middle of an impossible ramp to pedal.

Do you know if we can downgrade firmware version?
Do you know if with Blevo software we can restore the original function of walk assistant?

 

[Stompweaver]

@Specialized Rider Care please put it back how it was! No one can seem to find any legislation that states it had to neutered and none of the the other manufacturers have done it.

Yes it does kick in the lower gears eventually but this isn't much use if your struggling to push the bike up a trail that's steep and difficult to walk up in the first place. I know to get round this I can hold the back wheel off the ground and let it spin for a couple of revolutions but sometimes this isn't possible. It's real issue for those of us with steep terrain and trails.

Please get it sorted as no one is happy about it and it's actively stopping people upgrading to the latest firmware which better protects the motors which will no doubt cost Specialized more money in the long run through excess motor failures.

 

[KeithR]

@Specialized Rider Care please put it back how it was! No one can seem to find any legislation that states it had to neutered and none of the the other manufacturers have done it.

No, but there is legislation which the previous firmware probably wasn't compliant with, forcing Brose's and/or Specialized's hand.

 

[Stompweaver]

@KeithR that being the case why haven't Shimano, Bosch etc. done the same thing? Bosch have just released their "85Nm" firmware upgrade and walk mode still functions as it did previously and as Rob says the new Shimano motor has a powerful walk mode.

I'm not being @rse at all and that's not a dig it's just this change doesn't appear to make any sense and it's a real pain for me and many others.

 

[KeithR]

@KeithR that being the case why haven't Shimano, Bosch etc. done the same thing?

I suppose their walk mode wasn't being routinely reported as being too fast.

A lot of people seemed to think that of the Specialized walk mode, so...

 

[losgatosgtr]

Walk mode needs to work just like it did before. Make the neutered mode "Opt In" or user selected in the mission control app. Simple.

 

[DetailsMonster]

Has anyone figured out how to get the "new" walk mode to work? For me, when I press the button the crank spins super slow. In a comment above someone mentions the wheel having to complete 2 rotations. Is this what will cause it to actually do something? Since I am typically using walk mode on a really steep section of trail, my wheel would not turn that much before giving up on trying walk mode.

 

[KeithR]

Walk mode needs to work just like it did before. Make the neutered mode "Opt In" or user selected in the mission control app. Simple.

And illegal, if its earlier setting provides a walk mode which is faster than the law stipulates.

 

[losgatosgtr]

And illegal, if its earlier setting provides a walk mode which is faster than the law stipulates.

There is no law against walk mode in the US as far as I know? What law are you talking about?

 

[Stompweaver]

OK if it was illegal then make it so it works the same but reduce the speed it assists up to.

@DetailsMonster you have to lift the back wheel off the ground, stick it in a low gear and let the wheel rotate a couple of times and then it kicks in as it was before and doesn't feel any slower either! ?‍
Obviously this is not ideal when you've got up try and get a 50lb bike up a steep incline!

 

[losgatosgtr]

I searched the web for over 15 minutes and didn't find any laws regulating ebike walk mode in the US. It was not an exhaustive search but this new law definitely is not well known or main stream. Also why are the other motor manufacturers not neutering their walk mode?

Also, if there was a new law it would only apply to bikes made after the law was implemented and not apply to existing bikes.

 

[albizu]

Has anyone figured out how to get the "new" walk mode to work? For me, when I press the button the crank spins super slow. In a comment above someone mentions the wheel having to complete 2 rotations. Is this what will cause it to actually do something? Since I am typically using walk mode on a really steep section of trail, my wheel would not turn that much before giving up on trying walk mode.

And furthermore, if you accidentally stop pressing the button for a millisecond, it should start over.

 

[Hectorecontreras]

Hello i have a new 2021 levó comp and been updated after 100km of use and my walk assist is so poor now and i dont like, can i Go back to my old firmware? Thanks

 

[Tim1023]

You have to hold down the walk assist button, for about 5 seconds it is very weak and slow then suddenly kicks in with plenty of assistance.

Aha! My bike is only two weeks old and I thought that the walk assist was completely useless. I could tell it was on, as the cranks were turning, but up a steep hill, it was no easier than not using it. I'll test it again, holding the button for longer.

 

[Tim1023]

Of course it would be really nice if we could tune how walk assist works in Mission Control, just like the other modes. Max speed, max torque, how quickly support ramps up after hitting the button...

 

[Jjk]

One more Levo owner in need of a walk assist that works in steep, real world conditions... please help specialized.

 

[salko]

Be patient ladies, Specialized promised they will fix it with next firmware update, hopefully OTA with MC app ...

 

[kombos]

We hear you - since our recent motor firmware update the walk assist hasn't been great. We're working on this together with our motor partner as a priority - but just for the record walk-assist is designed to be most effective in the lowest gears, if you're in the higher 50% of gears then you'll struggle.

Any updates on this?

Be patient ladies, Specialized promised they will fix it with next firmware update, hopefully OTA with MC app ...

Did this happen and I missed it?