How steep can you go?

[Henrik Olsen]

KS14c climbing a 32° skate ramp in slow motion.. (the rider is my son ~45kg) 

 

 

[checho]

On the picture in can be seen that he enters the ramp with lots of momentum and then as he reaches the top he slows down, under those conditions any wheel can climb any ramp given that the ramp is short enough and that a lot of momentum is used like on the video.

I get the impression from the video and the steepness of the ramp that he would fail to go up if he started from the ramp at speed 0.

I weight 110kg, and been doing just that and all the wheels I have tried have failed on very steep ramps.

On ramps of 10 to 12 degrees:

Airwheel x8 fail it will not go up

Airwheel Q3 fail it will not go up

King song 18 1100w, it will go up really slow consuming lots of Amps causing the control board to overheat quickly resulting in permanent damage to the control board, which ended up in a faceplant after the overheating the control board became unreliable.

Have not tested other wheels yet. 

But to test incline capability and be able to compare with results of other forum members it is important to know the weight of the rider and start at the incline with speed 0 that is without momentum, otherwise many variables are introduced and it makes it impossible to compare.

In the case of the ks18a the overheating it is caused by the large consuption of Amps, since a rider of weight 70kg will use about half the Amps , and it will not overheat the control board, but the same hill with a 110kg rider will over heat the control board and it will take only a 12 degree hill at 110kg.

In my case the ks18a does not overheat with small inclines, it is with steep inclines where overheating ocurs.

Most specs when it comes to inclines are highly unreliable since they never mention rider weight and that is a very important factor only Gotway recently started publishing the riders weight on the specs and their number are now more realistic but became a lot smaller for example for gotway 18 type 3 they would advertise 39 deegree incline and not mention the riders weight. now they adverized 20 degree ( almost half of what the used to advertised) but they mention it is for a 100kg rider.

Since I weight 110kg I am waiting on the specs of the new msuper3 18 type 3 to be released. 

[SlowMo]

16 minutes ago, checho said:

But to test incline capability and be able to compare with results of other forum members it is important to know the weight of the rider and start at the incline with speed 0 that is without momentum, otherwise many variables are introduced and it makes it impossible to compare

Also how far the incline goes..

[Henrik Olsen]

"I get the impression from the video and the steepness of the ramp that he would fail to go up if he started from the ramp at speed 0."

True, he would only reach about 80% before full stop

I did mention the riders weight and incline angle in the original post.. 

This was not a scientific report (then I agree the approach should be different).  just thought it would be fun to share, and hear the experience of others which you provided ;-)

I'm +90kg and would not be able to complete this 32° ramp even with added momentum...  

 

 

 

[US69]

2 hours ago, Henrik Olsen said:

"I get the impression from the video and the steepness of the ramp that he would fail to go up if he started from the ramp at speed 0."

True, he would only reach about 80% before full stop

I did mention the riders weight and incline angle in the original post.. 

This was not a scientific report (then I agree the approach should be different).  just thought it would be fun to share, and hear the experience of others which you provided ;-)

I'm +90kg and would not be able to complete this 32° ramp even with added momentum...  

 

 

 

As You Are a light weight guy like me with your 90kg....:-) what Are Your experiences with The Ks16 on inclines? Heatwise?

[dmethvin]

Rider's weight is definitely the big factor in climbing. It's nice that Gotway is now giving that information when it quotes hill climbing ability. Maybe we should change the title of the thread to "Hill climbing: How fat are you?" 

[Henrik Olsen]

5 hours ago, KingSong69 said:

As You Are a light weight guy like me with your 90kg....:-) what Are Your experiences with The Ks16 on inclines? Heatwise?

It climbs better than KS14c with me on top...  so far no heat issues, it only runs out of power towards the top....

[UKJ]

We have a 30° street marked with a sign that we verified that is about 60 m long.

I am 75ks on my ks14c climb it easy with confidence, in fact I stress much more going back down it!

Not to say if I do it repeatedly it will over heat beep tilt back!

ukj

[100hoverboard]

i guess it's easy to go.

[Henrik Olsen]

Uphill 27dgr. - rider 45kg... It is not possible from zero incline speed (he tried that) 

 

 

[MaxLinux]

My neighborhood has some very steep hills. If I climb the steepest hills early in the ride, the euc climbs them very well. However, if I attempt those hills after an hour of riding, the euc comes to a stop before reaching the top. In this case, after stalling on a hill, the euc has very reduced power, even on level ground. I can barely limp home. It feels like the battery is run down, but the battery indicator shows the battery is well over 50%. Has anyone experienced something like this? Could heat like some have mentioned in this thread cause the behavior I described? BTW I ride an IPS 121.

[Jurgen]

@MaxLinux

the charge indication is roughly based on voltage,.

check the voltage indication in your app; my IPS wheels are 60V when indicating 80% capacity. I prefer not the ride below 55V, for safety reasons (power, control, risk of face plants).

Even with a reputed brand like IPS that has the necessary safeties include, I will never, ever try to go u a steep phill on a battery that is below 60V.

[nute]

I get the same Max. If the battery percentage indication is dictated by voltage it would appear that the voltage can vary (up or down) depending upon the amount of work you the wheel is doing. When I climb a long steep hill with the battery showing say 65% on the IPS app on my phone I watch it drop rapidly to between 5 and 15% going up the hill but if I pause half way up it then recovers to almost what it was at the start. 

 

I know now nothing about battery chemistry but it seems if you work the battery hard it's voltage will drop only to recover after a short rest. 

[Henrik Olsen]

from yesterday 34 dgr. and rider around 60kg

 

[dmethvin]

I don't think it counts to call that climbing a 34 degree hill. The rider is carrying a lot of momentum into the hill so climbing at that angle is probably not sustainable. We need an official set of olympic regulations! 

[Peter Harrison]

I notice that the riders are on their tiptoes, bearing all their weight down right at the front of the pedals.  I've never tried this as I assumed that would outlean the unicycle.  Does anyone else do this?

[dmethvin]

You would need to try it on your EUC. On my old 132Wh 14 inch EUC if I pushed forward aggressively the pedals would move forward and you'd better be ready to jump off. On the 520Wh Firewheel I haven't outleaned it yet but I haven't tried a really super steep hill. 

[Henrik Olsen]

Did some more testing on KS16 - seems 95kg is the limit for 20 degree from almost zero speed... But it does not take much more speed to overcome ;-)

 

 

[checho]

On 5/11/2016 at 3:57 AM, Peter Harrison said:

I notice that the riders are on their tiptoes, bearing all their weight down right at the front of the pedals.  I've never tried this as I assumed that would outlean the unicycle.  Does anyone else do this?

I have done it and it is very dangerous.

I have done it with helmet, gloves, knee pads to test climbing ability of EUC starting from speed 0, at 12 degrees both X8 and Q3 failed resulting in immediate faceplants, since they never got any speed I managed to jump safely.

It is good to do this to know the limits of your wheel, you do not want to find out what the limits are in traffic or not wearing any protection.

Overheating the wheel is also dangerous since after a given temperature the control does not respond well and results in faceplant.

[The Fat Unicyclist]

So here is a question... A heavy rider on a steep hill climb. The choice is to climb as slow as possible or as fast as the EUC will go.

Which will provide better overall performance (total distance?) without pulling too much charge from the battery?

[lizardmech]

6 minutes ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

So here is a question... A heavy rider on a steep hill climb. The choice is to climb as slow as possible or as fast as the EUC will go.

Which will provide better overall performance (total distance?) without pulling too much charge from the battery?

Fast is actually possibly better, direct drive motor efficiency is dismal near stall speed. However maximum climbing angle would be lower excluding using momentum to climb.

[MaxLinux]

The manual for my IPS 121 states: "Carefully control the unicycle on a low speed when you go uphill. Since the ability of going uphill and downhill is limited due to the motor power and torque value, we suggest to ride on a low speed when you go uphill and downhill. The unicycle is more capable at climbing and protected from damage because of a greater torque."

[checho]

On 5/23/2016 at 9:07 PM, The Fat Unicyclist said:

So here is a question... A heavy rider on a steep hill climb. The choice is to climb as slow as possible or as fast as the EUC will go.

Which will provide better overall performance (total distance?) without pulling too much charge from the battery?

Not counting on momentum and assuming it is a long steep hill 1/8 of km or more, you do not have a choice with current generation of unicycles. The reason is that a heavy rider will barely go up a steep hill if he can go up the steep hill at all, so going up a steep hill slow is the only speed possible, all the available power will be used for moving you very slowly, there will be no power left for going fast, and if you try to go fast it will result in a faceplant. So my answer is that you do not have a choice, slow will be the only speed.

[MaxLinux]

On ‎5‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 3:12 AM, checho said:

all the available power will be used for moving you very slowly, there will be no power left for going fast, and if you try to go fast it will result in a faceplant. So my answer is that you do not have a choice, slow will be the only speed.

I find my IPS121 climbs best at the beginning of a ride, with the battery freshly charged. I also find that when climbing after riding around for a while, its ability to climb hills can vary. Once in a while I enter a hill that I know my EUC can climb, but on a given day for some reason it runs out of power before reaching the top. And yet some days after heavy riding, I come to a hill expecting to die partway up, and I get the pleasant surprise that my EUC climbs it easily. I fully agree with checho's comment that "slow is the only speed."  I follow a strict policy of not asking for more than the EUC can deliver. Sometimes it goes up the hill so slowly that I almost can't remain upright. But I'd rather creep slowly up the hill or come to a stop rather than fall because the EUC is overwhelmed.

[WeeJ]

J only has an Airwheel X3, and weighs approx 28kg.   Not sure how steep a ramp he is able to climb!