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Start on uphill slope


skunkmonkey

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I've recently got the basics down, and now I can kick-start just fine on level ground. Today I had to stop on an uphill slope that had a stop sign while I waited for traffic. Trying to kick start up the slope was a real pain. I finally got it by moving my foot really far forward and being really quick to get my 2nd foot on the pedal, but it was dicey and ungraceful to say the least.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks that they use in these situations?

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This may not work for on-street riding with other traffic, but I found on steep gravel paths, you can simply start sideways and then immediately turn into the incline.

Maybe a little wiggle from a-bit-sideways (towards the side of the road) to forwards works on streets, too.

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Do you have power pads you can lean into ? If so, lean into them a little harder with your leading (mounted) leg.

It is worth spending a whole day doing difficult free-mounts both up and down-hill so that you lose the fear of them.

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That's an excellent idea, thanks! I do have the power pads. I just haven't installed them yet since I'm letting my wife learn on the wheel too, and she's still at the stage where she's falling over constantly, and I didn't want them to get destroyed.

I'll try the hill again after I install the pads! It doesn't help that I'm using an InMotion V11 which has very high pedals due to the suspension, so you have to leap up higher than you would on a non-suspension wheel.

Edited by skunkmonkey
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  • 3 weeks later...

My area is pretty hilly and I'm still new-ish to my wheel, so I'm still learning this too. Something that works okay so far for me is using my mounted foot to get a bit of acceleration going before pushing off with my other foot. I can get enough burst speed to build momentum up this way.


Usually I'll aim to have my EUC almost directly under me before i put pressure to engage the motor so that I have a bit of wiggle room to work with.

It's like if you were to stand around at rest with only one foot on the pedal and idly pushing backwards and forwards with it. For going uphill, I commit on the "pushing forward" phase.

It's still kinda dicey for me. Starting at even a slight angle (as the other person suggested) definitely also helps and i sometimes do that on really tough inclines.

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I'm not really sure what I'm doing differently now. Maybe it was just needing to build leg strength, or balance. I'm not sure. I seem to be handling starting on hills pretty well now though without really having practiced it much. My riding capabilities have grown quite a bit just from riding a lot since I first struggled. I don't have to rush to put my foot on the pedal when starting, and even on a hill it feels pretty natural. I haven't tried balancing on one foot, but I don't think it would be a problem at this point, and maybe that's the difference for me. My push off foot is not really necessary for anything but getting me up to a balanced position.

I do have the power pads on though, and I absolutely use them a ton, especially on hills.

Edited by skunkmonkey
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Free-mounting on my Abrams on a steep incline took me sometime. I had to build up skills and leg strength.

It is easy now. But it wasn't so to start with. Before the Abrams, I was riding a V12.

The technique that helped me was not to mount up in one go. Take a couple of steps first, just like how some people do it when they are mounting on a bicycle.

Additionally, do not to get all the forward momentum by pushing with your leg. You lean your upper body forward to shift your COG forward to get the motor to engage and accelerate. I don't lean into my pads. As the foot on the ground lifts up, you try to get a feel for the balance point on the wheel with your other leg that is already straddled on the wheel. When you feel that you got the balance point, place your body weight on that leg and mount up. Don't mount up until you feel you have that balance point.

I practiced a lot at home, and when I was out riding.

Edited by techyiam
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