# E-bike "Walk Mode"?



## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

Purportedly to assist in recovering said e-bike when the rider is unable to ride.

My friend's Dad stalled on a root step-up and tipped off the low side of the trail, somewhat injuring himself. It would have been quite the predicament had we not been around to help him - although I think he would not have been on such a trail on his own.
Getting the bike back on the trail was not an easy task in itself, but once he regained his composure and continued on, we came upon several downed trees. He was at a loss for lifting the bike over the trees with his injury. When we got to the trail exit, which we all knew was ~1/2mi. hike-a-bike up a steep, rooty hill with scattered rocks and short slabs, we actually had to take turns hauling the thing up. It is a Trek. Walk mode either did not work, or he didn't know the function.

He's a fairly experienced rider, but I'm not sure how long he's had the bike.
Either way, I'm wondering how often someone just ends up ditching their e-bike and just walking out if things go badly. I think we were about 3 miles from the end when this occurred.

-F

This sounds related:
My 2017 (USA) Trek Powerfly finally has Walk Assist!


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Fleas said:


> Purportedly to assist in recovering said e-bike when the rider is unable to ride.
> 
> My friend's Dad stalled on a root step-up and tipped off the low side of the trail, somewhat injuring himself. It would have been quite the predicament had we not been around to help him - although I think he would not have been on such a trail on his own.
> Getting the bike back on the trail was not an easy task in itself, but once he regained his composure and continued on, we came upon several downed trees. He was at a loss for lifting the bike over the trees with his injury. When we got to the trail exit, which we all knew was ~1/2mi. hike-a-bike up a steep, rooty hill with scattered rocks and short slabs, we actually had to take turns hauling the thing up. It is a Trek. Walk mode either did not work, or he didn't know the function.
> ...


Some trek ebikes need a firmware update to enable the walk mode assist mode. For sure I'd pick clean trails without a lot of downed trees to ride on, they are heavy.


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## quadzilla411 (Feb 25, 2015)

Fleas said:


> Purportedly to assist in recovering said e-bike when the rider is unable to ride.
> 
> My friend's Dad stalled on a root step-up and tipped off the low side of the trail, somewhat injuring himself. It would have been quite the predicament had we not been around to help him - although I think he would not have been on such a trail on his own.
> Getting the bike back on the trail was not an easy task in itself, but once he regained his composure and continued on, we came upon several downed trees. He was at a loss for lifting the bike over the trees with his injury. When we got to the trail exit, which we all knew was ~1/2mi. hike-a-bike up a steep, rooty hill with scattered rocks and short slabs, we actually had to take turns hauling the thing up. It is a Trek. Walk mode either did not work, or he didn't know the function.
> ...


I have a Orbea Wild with Bosch CX it does have a "walk assist" but it is tricky to use in the field and you really need to practice with it or it is worthless. I don't like mine, the toggle to start it and the overall procedure is twitchy so it turns off if you don't push the buttons or toggle with exact pressure and they placed on the controller in a place that is hard to operate while pushing bike uphill.

Anyway, IMO, there is a misconception that E mountain bikes are used by fat old people and maybe need the crutch of a walk assist. But the bottom line is that good E mountain bikes are very capable of riding terrain that is technical and burly. If you go there then you need to have the strength to push, pull and lift your bike when you go over the side or get stuck. Walk Assist will not save you......


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## _CJ (May 1, 2014)

Walk assist seems like a gimick. If you can't push, pull, lift, or carry 50 pounds, you probably shouldn't be riding any sort of technical trails. While alone, I've hiked 8 miles out to a trail-head with my 24 pound analog bike after crashing and snapping my collar bone in two, then lifted the bike into the car and drove myself to the hospital. Aside from a broken leg, it's hard to imagine any injury that would cause me to leave a bike behind.


.


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## Sparticus (Dec 28, 1999)

Last month a few local riders replaced four footbridges over creeks on local mountain bike trails. The hardest part wasn't building the new bridges. The hardest parts were demo-ing the old, rotten bridges plus hauling new stringers and decking materials into the bridge worksites.

As to the latter, we'd pre-cut decking materials (2x4s) to 32" wide. To haul these, we utilized large backpacks which we filled with the 32" 2x4s and transported uphill via two-track, which was then followed by uphill singletrack, into the worksite. Two members of the "bridge club" had ebikes which made transporting the heavy(!) backpacks MUCH easier than pedaling up the hill under human power only.

At the point where the two-track transitioned to singletrack, there was a short, steep bank which the bike had to be pushed up -- too steep to ride. This transition was maybe 10' high and 25' long. Short but VERY steep. I could barely walk up it while wearing the heavy backpack full of 2x4s but I certainly could not do so while pushing a heavy bike in addition to wearing the heavy pack. I'd borrowed one of the ebikes to try it out (a Trek Rail); I employed walk mode when I got to the steep transition.

Walk mode made it easy. In fact, the bike's walk mode helped by sort of pulling me and my heavy pack up the steep hill while I sort of leaned on the bike.

I was glad the bike's owner had showed me how to use walk mode before taking that test ride.
=sParty


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Sparticus said:


> Last month a few local riders replaced four footbridges over creeks on local mountain bike trails. The hardest part wasn't building the new bridges. The hardest parts were demo-ing the old, rotten bridges plus hauling new stringers and decking materials into the bridge worksites.
> 
> As to the latter, we'd pre-cut decking materials (2x4s) to 32" wide. To haul these, we utilized large backpacks which we filled with the 32" 2x4s and transported uphill via two-track, which was then followed by uphill singletrack, into the worksite. Two members of the "bridge club" had ebikes which made transporting the heavy(!) backpacks MUCH easier than pedaling up the hill under human power only.
> 
> ...


Yep, that's what it's for. Not a gimmick.


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## Crankout (Jun 16, 2010)

Wow....really?


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## mtbbiker (Apr 8, 2004)

Yep, I don't use walk mode often, but when I do, it is a very helpful feature. 
On my Intense with DI2 shifting, walk mode was slightly faster then my walking speed and it would literally pull me up the hill using it. 
On my Specialized Levo, walk mode is slightly slower, but still much appreciated to have that feature. 
Is it needed? Maybe not, but since it is there, use it, because it does work and help!


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## russinthecascades (Jun 1, 2013)

_CJ said:


> Walk assist seems like a gimick. If you can't push, pull, lift, or carry 50 pounds, you probably shouldn't be riding any sort of technical trails.
> .


Really? Speak for all do you? My wife has a permanent neck injury that cause pain riding/pushing up trails. Riding technical downs is a far different body position which she still does just fine. Walk assist is not a gimmick, you just have to know how to use it.


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## Old & Slow (May 3, 2020)

I briefly (3 months) had a fat tire folder as my first ebike. With its hub motor it was limited to 10% grades before I was in walk mode. Fortunately it had a throttle so at least it could propel itself up the 20% grades while I walked beside.

When that throttle failed, which happened numerous times, I was in push mode . . . not fun. Learned from the experience, that I will insist on a throttle on my next ebike. Preferred PAS and rarely used the throttle, but still nice to have.


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## rangeriderdave (Aug 29, 2008)

Having walk mode and not having to push #45/50 # is is nice . Sort of like slipping the clutch .on a moto while walking beside it.


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