Hills: is it the V8 or is it me

[GMan]

Still very new to this (2 weeks on street). I live in San Francisco so dealing with hills important. Today went out to practice taking off from a stop and climbing hills. Battery was at 80%. While going up a steep the wheel seemed to not have enough power. It didn’t freeze but slowly came to a stop. Forum members have told me it’s a relatively underpowered wheel for 5’10” 180lb self. I’m not sure if I wasn’t riding correctly or if it not strong enough. If it’s the wheel, I may have to upgrade sooner than I thought - there are a lot of hills around here. 

[alcatraz]

Depends on the grade and your weight. Climbing uses a lot more power than just crusing at max speed. 

A small rider can maybe zipp up those climbs easily.

A bigger diameter wheel is not necessarily what you want. I've heard the best climbers are stronger 14 inch wheels. They have more torque simply because of the wheel diameter.

The big wheels motors are often oversized to compensate for this and might even exceed the smaller because thats where the market is.

My point is, a big wheel needs to be relatively heavier to make a climb than a small wheel needs.

Weight isn't a problem riding though, just when carrying the wheel up stairs and such. Some even like the weight.

Maybe a gotway tesla, kingsong 16s, might be up your alley.

[photorph]

Gotway mcm5 if you want a hill climber.  That being said I’ve went up some pretty steep grass hills on my v8, I’m 140 lbs and I can’t think of a hill it doesn’t take me up. 

[lioku]

I'm a similar weight (6'2" 170lb) and I've been riding hills in SF for a year now on a V8. It doesn't rocket up steep hills, but it should get to the top if you go slow, and steer side-to-side in a sinuous switchback motion. I actually have yet to find a hill that it won't climb. The V8 is a bit more sketchy descending steep hills though. I don't trust its braking ability as much as its ability to climb, so sometimes I'll walk down an exceptionally steep section that I was able to ride up.

That said.. I have a 16X on order. The V8 is surprisingly capable and it's been great, but my needs have changed as I've become more comfortable riding.

You might carefully try pressing a bit harder on the pedals when going uphill. Gear up before doing this and make small adjustments. Applying more pressure is kind of a weird feeling at first, but it is required for ascending the steeper hills, especially with the V8's small pedals. Switchback motion helps with this.

Edited September 2, 2019 by lioku

[GMan]

Thanks Lioku! Seems like it’s me. I’ll try pressing more. I was carving as you suggested but I’ll try wider sweeps.

[Blueblade]

I'm ~230lbs, and can ride my v8 up pretty steep hills (~12° about the steepest aroubd here,  I measured with my phone/an app), but it was slow going, maybe 7mph or so. (Drawing about 13 amps or so to do that)  I noticed I can't start facing up a hill though, i have to start sideways then turn uphill after getting mounted/moving. I can't seem to put enough pressure on the front of the pedals with one foot, facing up hill, so it just stops as i try to get my other foot on.