Hill climbing ( again)

Bigbee

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 12, 2008
445
1
Ok,centre crank motors are better for hill climbing because you cycle throught the gears,its been done to death on here( mainly by me:p )

My village idiots having the Weekend off so Ive stepped in to help.

Ive seen 6% and 7% hill climbing ability mentioned on some websites,that doesnt seem much to me?Does any one know in %,the ability of the well known makes?Front,centre or rear motor.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,560
30,849
Like Fecn I can handle 25% hills on the Panasonic crank motored bikes, and can just cope with 30%, so most should be able to do similar with one of these with a hub gear of 7 speeds upwards. My weight around 70 kilos/11 stones.

The majority of internally geared wheel-hub motor bikes cope with up to 10% hills ok with riders of moderate weight and fitness, but start to demand more from the riders above that. There are factors that make things very variable though, the motor maximum power/torque point and the internal gearing of the hub motor. Some are geared to reach 15 mph at their natural motor maximum speed, some are geared to reach higher speeds if not restricted by their controllers, and the higher that speed, the more it detracts from hill climb ability.

For example, the 905se has a quite powerful motor with maximum torque/power point probably around 10 mph, and is geared to reach about 18 mph if not restricted, so it's hill climb ability is average. The Powabykes motor is also powerful, but the maximum torque/power point is at around 7 mph and the motor is geared to give 15 mph, so these two factors make it an exceptional climber and not so much of a racehorse.

Another example is the Powacycle Salisbury/Windsor which is the lowest powered bike on the market. One would think it would be a very poor climber, but in fact it's not too bad, since it's motor is internally geared quite low. It accelerates to 13 mph with fair enthusiasm but tends to take it's time making it to 15 mph. That still leaves it perfectly ok on 10% hills and matching some other more powerful bikes in that respect.

On motor alone the eZee Quando is the best hub motor climber of all, but it's single rider gear make things tough for the rider above 14% hills. I converted mine to add gears and as a result can match the Panasonic motored bikes with 25% and even just about 30% climb ability. That's exceptional though, and no standard legal hub motor bike gets near on climb ability.

Direct drive hub motors are generally poor climbers if within UK/EU power limits, examples being the Sparta and Koga bikes which are very poor on hills. Only the BionX direct drive legal 250 Watt motor is reasonable as a hill climber, though nothing special in that respect.
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fishingpaul

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 24, 2007
874
86
Like Fecn I can handle 25% hills on the Panasonic crank motored bikes, and can just cope with 30%, so most should be able to do similar with one of these with a hub gear of 7 speeds upwards. My weight around 70 kilos/11 stones.

The majority of internally geared wheel-hub motor bikes cope with up to 10% hills ok with riders of moderate weight and fitness, but start to demand more from the riders above that. There are factors that make things very variable though, the motor maximum power/torque point and the internal gearing of the hub motor. Some are geared to reach 15 mph at their natural motor maximum speed, some are geared to reach higher speeds if not restricted by their controllers, and the higher that speed, the more it detracts from hill climb ability.

For example, the 905se has a quite powerful motor with maximum torque/power point probably around 10 mph, and is geared to reach about 18 mph if not restricted, so it's hill climb ability is average. The Powabykes motor is also powerful, but the maximum torque/power point is at around 7 mph and the motor is geared to give 15 mph, so these two factors make it an exceptional climber and not so much of a racehorse.

Another example is the Powacycle Salisbury/Windsor which is the lowest powered bike on the market. One would think it would be a very poor climber, but in fact it's not too bad, since it's motor is internally geared quite low. It accelerates to 13 mph with fair enthusiasm but tends to take it's time making it to 15 mph. That still leaves it perfectly ok on 10% hills and matching some other more powerful bikes in that respect.

On motor alone the eZee Quando is the best hub motor climber of all, but it's single rider gear make things tough for the rider above 14% hills. I converted mine to add gears and as a result can match the Panasonic motored bikes with 25% and even just about 30% climb ability. That's exceptional though, and no standard legal hub motor bike gets near on climb ability.

Direct drive hub motors are generally poor climbers if within UK/EU power limits, examples being the Sparta and Koga bikes which are very poor on hills. Only the BionX direct drive legal 250 Watt motor is reasonable as a hill climber, though nothing special in that respect.
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My torq 2 seems to climb hills far better than my old sakura,which had a powabyke motor in a 24 inch wheel,i believe if a quando had the torq 2 motor it would then be the ultimate hill climber.