Fuel EXe Fuel EXe walk mode malfunction

S

Sharkiedog

Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2018
Messages
6
Reaction score
4
Location
Northern California
When I engage walk mode, ~90% of the time no torque is being delivered to the rear wheel. If I lift the back and engage walk mode, the wheel will spin but when I lower the backend, the wheel will stop rotating immediately. If walk mode is engaged with both wheels on the ground and holding the bars back, the TQ tries to deliver torque by lurching forward but there’s no forward movement even on level ground. In ~10% of the time, it works as expected. There’s no difference in what gear it’s in.

The firmware is current as of today, July 6.

I don’t know if it’s always been like this since I don’t use walk mode.
 
⚡ EMTB Pro Go Pro — exclusive discounts & ad-free Peaty's 25% off & more · Ad-free browsing · Pro badge See the deals →
I believe you have to start pushing the bike to fully engage walk mode (counter intuitive I know!).
 
I confess I have the same problem in his/her bikes that otherwise behave flawlessly. Whenever I've tried Walk mode it behaves erratically most of the time resulting in zero assist and an eventual motor error. Then after restart same... I kinda gave up on trying to figure out how it is supposed to work but it is certainly as far from intuitive as you can get... Can somebody offer some pointers? I don't think there is necessarily anything wrong with my bikes, but I'm increasingly convinced that walk mode is unusable as it exists today...
 
My experience is I put it in walk mode then repress and hold. Let the bike roll back a bit and it engages. However my neighbor’s specialized e-bike’s walk mode, is much easier, press once then press again and it goes.
 
I have a 2023 Fuel EXe. Exactly the same issue 90/10% . So frustrating I have given up on it. I’ve had to walk the bike up some very steep hills and really wished TQ would figure this out. Otherwise this bike is perfect!
 
… this!

Erratic engagement, erratic speeds, drops out at hurdles, holding the button down is a PITA when trying to negotiate steep hairpins. Utterly unusable.

I think the WALK mode is not designed as a tool to get the bike up a steep trail (i.e. as an alternative to carry), instead it is for rolling the bike along on terrain where it doesn‘t belong.

Obviously no-one used this on a hillside during testing. Sad.
 
Hmm, I just tested Mrs levity’s 2023 EXe 9.7. The “Walk” mode seems to work fine following the two simple steps suggested above by @John57 back in August 2023:

With the display in any mode press and hold the remote +button for 1-2 seconds until “WALK” appears on the display and then release it. When you are ready to go press the +button to begin walk assistance.

Trek may have wanted to require 2 steps to prevent accidental activation.
 
Read again - it’s not about activation and function in mild terrain (pushing home on a flat tyre), it‘s about usability uphill (as a mountain bike) in mountainous terrain.
 
I will say it’s not a great walk mode. Keeping that button pressed at all times is a challenge when in tough terrain. It stops and then you press harder and it goes again after a delay. I love the bike but not the walk mode.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Keep reading
    Browse all

    Similar Threads

    Community Stats

    Since 2018
    669K
    Messages
    40,844
    Members
    Join 30,000+ Riders, it's free!
    Back
    Top