Cutouts going uphill (beginner question)

[Sami]

Hi, I recently purchased an Inmotion V8s and am slowly learning to ride it. I live in a hilly area, with the maximum incline being about 8 degrees, on a hill that ascends for about 1/4th a mile. I've seen many videos of riders faceplanting, and I've heard that riding uphill is one situation in which you really don't want to push the EUC too hard. But I have no real sense of what "too hard" is. Would going up an 8% incline at 10 or 15 mph be risky (assuming battery is above 50%)? I'm hoping some of you can give me your two cents. I weight 160 pounds.  I'm also worried about accelerating uphill. How can I know how fast I can accelerate uphill without risking a cutout? All advice appreciated!

 

[meepmeepmayer]

The V8S is not the strongest wheel, but I wouldn't worry too much.

If you are going a constant speed (uphill or not), then the stress on the wheel is constant, and it has no reason to suddenly cut out (unless the hill is crazy steep and the wheel fries before it can warn you of overheating).

You're right that the acceleration (uphill or not) is where the danger lurks, but unless you are strongly accelerating on a steep hill (especially near top speed) I don't think you can overpower a V8S that easily. The wheel will also warn you unless the stress comes too fast. And you're quite light.

So just ride relaxed (not fearful!) and don't do crazy things (e.g. strong acceleration at high speed or on very steep hills) and give the wheel opportunity to complain if you push it too much. For the rest risk (however small it is) you have wrist guards and a (full face, ideally) helmet

As for actual testing (if you want to do that, maybe to get a better intuition for the wheel), just go up the hill and do a quick but light acceleration to see if it beeps at you. You can try that at different speeds (the faster you go, the less reserves for acceleration) or maybe with lighter and stronger short speed-up tests.

[Scubadragonsan]

From EUC Custom Power-Pads: My Inmotion V5F, for example, switched off at somewhere over 160 Fahrenheit.

This is from an Inmotion user. Don't know if it applies to your V8s. It may give you a ballpark idea. I don't know if a temperature alert is in Inmotion app. I know some app you can set a temperature alert when temperature reach that pre-set, it will alarm you. I hope this helps!

Here is the link to that chat: 

 

Edited October 8 by Scubadragonsan

[Sami]

1 hour ago, meepmeepmayer said:

The V8S is not the strongest wheel, but I wouldn't worry too much.

If you are going a constant speed (uphill or not), then the stress on the wheel is constant, and it has no reason to suddenly cut out (unless the hill is crazy steep and the wheel fries before it can warn you of overheating).

You're right that the acceleration (uphill or not) is where the danger lurks, but unless you are strongly accelerating on a steep hill (especially near top speed) I don't think you can overpower a V8S that easily. The wheel will also warn you unless the stress comes too fast. And you're quite light.

So just ride relaxed (not fearful!) and don't do crazy things (e.g. strong acceleration at high speed or on very steep hills) and give the wheel opportunity to complain if you push it too much. For the rest risk (however small it is) you have wrist guards and a (full face, ideally) helmet

As for actual testing (if you want to do that, maybe to get a better intuition for the wheel), just go up the hill and do a quick but light acceleration to see if it beeps at you. You can try that at different speeds (the faster you go, the less reserves for acceleration) or maybe with lighter and stronger short speed-up tests.

This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for, thanks! I'll ride with a bit more confidence uphill now   A few speed-up tests sounds like a good idea too.

[Sami]

48 minutes ago, Scubadragonsan said:

From EUC Custom Power-Pads: My Inmotion V5F, for example, switched off at somewhere over 160 Fahrenheit.

This is from an Inmotion user. Don't know if it applies to your V8s. It may give you a ballpark idea. I don't know if a temperature alert is in Inmotion app. I know some app you can set a temperature alert when temperature reach that pre-set, it will alarm you. I hope this helps!

Here is the link to that chat: 

 

Thanks, definitely helps! I will look for an app with a temperature alert (from what I can tell the Inmotion app doesn't have it).

[Tomallo]

2 hours ago, Sami said:

Hi, I recently purchased an Inmotion V8s and am slowly learning to ride it. I live in a hilly area, with the maximum incline being about 8 degrees, on a hill that ascends for about 1/4th a mile. I've seen many videos of riders faceplanting, and I've heard that riding uphill is one situation in which you really don't want to push the EUC too hard. But I have no real sense of what "too hard" is. Would going up an 8% incline at 10 or 15 mph be risky (assuming battery is above 50%)? I'm hoping some of you can give me your two cents. I weight 160 pounds.  I'm also worried about accelerating uphill. How can I know how fast I can accelerate uphill without risking a cutout? All advice appreciated!

 

I think you can watch this bit to get an idea of what's around the limit of this wheel: 

That's an older version of your V8S, so I'd guess yours would fare just as well, if not better. My take - unless you accelerate hard when going uphill, while going over 25km/h (15mph) - you'll be fine.

[meepmeepmayer]

The wheel itself will beep at you when it gets too hot. Pretty sure Inmotions do that just like all other wheels. So you don't need an app.

As far as temperatures go, the real danger is the temperature rising so quickly that the wheel fries before the beeps can kick in. So don't brutally force it steep uphill for a prolonged period of time (and even then it might just beep).

If you are clear away from the top speed, you have a lot of power reserves anyways. The danger (of overpowering a wheel) is mostly being close to max speed and then accelerating hard in combination.

Finally, if you want to ride "dynamic" and zoom around and do quick (fun!) starts and just go faster and don't even think about hills (or braking downhill), you can get a more powerful wheel. I don't like the V8 series very much because on one hand they feel a bit meek, but on the other hand they are good and strong enough so you might never consider that you are missing out on sweet performance wheel (which is pretty much every modern wheel).

[Sami]

28 minutes ago, meepmeepmayer said:

If you are clear away from the top speed, you have a lot of power reserves anyways. The danger (of overpowering a wheel) is mostly being close to max speed and then accelerating hard in combination.

Happy to hear this, I don't anticipate going close to top speed uphill anytime soon. And if I do develop a need for speed later on I'll look into better performing wheels.

[Sami]

42 minutes ago, Tomallo said:

I think you can watch this bit to get an idea of what's around the limit of this wheel: 

That's an older version of your V8S, so I'd guess yours would fare just as well, if not better. My take - unless you accelerate hard when going uphill, while going over 25km/h (15mph) - you'll be fine.

That "hill of doom" segment is reassuring, don't think I'll ever be tackling inclines like that.