Beginners question about hills

Gilles27

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 18, 2020
12
1
Hi, I have recently upgraded from an old fold-up electric bike with a twist-grip throttle to a Cube Touring One 500. My question is about hills. On my old bike I could go up very steep hills with no problems by sticking it on full power and either peddling or using the throttle. With the Cube I have to peddle quite hard and keep going down gears, even in Turbo mode. I have seen that there a range of aftermarket chips or hacks to delimit the bike, but they all seem to concentrate on the top speed of the bike. I'm quite happy about the speed of my bike. If the limiter was altered would I get more help going up hills?
P.S. I understand the legal and warranty implications. I want to go up a hill on my own private land.
 
Last edited:

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,406
16,387
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
there is no solution for your case.
Your old bike uses a cadence sensor, your new bike torque sensor.
That difference is fundamental. You have to pedal harder to get more out of your new bike.
The only solution I can think of is to change the cassette to one that has more teeth on the granny gear.
 

Gilles27

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 18, 2020
12
1
Thanks for the swift reply. You've saved me a a lot of time as I couldn't find the answer elsewhere and you've saved me some money and kept me legal!
 

Lumo

Finding my (electric) wheels
Aug 10, 2020
18
6
Have you tried gear 1 or 2? I have a similar ebike to the one you have. When I first got it I would try hills in maybe gear 4 as that felt right in terms of pedalling but the motor wasn't giving a big boost, if I switch to a gear that feels very low and pedal harder and faster in that gear the motor has a very nice boost.

On a push bike when I get to a hill I stay in the highest gear I can and switch down when I need to. With the ebike I start a hill in a low gear and switch higher, I find that works much better in terms of getting the most motor boost .
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: robert44

Lumo

Finding my (electric) wheels
Aug 10, 2020
18
6
Can I ask why you disagree robert , I am just saying what I found works best for me and was suggesting the OP tries it to see if it works for them also.

I expected a higher gear to work better as I could give more torque, but was surprised to find the sweet spot was a couple gears lower than I expected.
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
a dongle only removes the speed limit so wont help at all you need to change the gearing.

a smaller front sprocket will help more on steep hills and the cheapest option imo.
 

Gilles27

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 18, 2020
12
1
Thanks everyone. I’ll try going lower and lower on the gears. My main query was about whether removing or bypassing the limited would help in the hills and that has been answered well.
Cheers!
 

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