Riding Up Hills
Are there good reasons for riding an electric bike in areas devoid of hills? Certainly, and quite a few at that. However, being able to ride comfortably up hills is an often cited reason for wanting an electric bike.
How well or easily then does an electric bike crest hills? Which hill may be considered 'steep' rather than 'moderately so' is of course subjective but expressed in numbers e.g. an 8-10% grade hill might be considered steep (or fairly so) by many cyclists? When riding a regular pedal-only bicycle up such a hill some of us shall perhaps crest only by major or even exhaustive effort, while on our electric bike we shall glide up with perhaps no more than moderate, enjoyable concurrent pedaling.
Most cyclists, i.e. riders who consider bicycling to be about agreeable pedaling, find that the highly bicycle akin, pedal activated Giant Twist of nominally a 'mere' 250 Watts does remarkably well also on the steepest of hills. Its torque sensing system responds instantly and proportionally: The power you need, the instant you need it. The similarly pedal activated (torque sensing) 20" wheeled 250 W Dahon Boost also does well on hills.
The nominal Wattage rating of the motor clearly tells part of the story. It is however above all a matter of what the system delivers, specifically how many Amps of current are put through by the controller, i.e. net available power where literally 'the rubber meets the road', how long high power can be sustained without overheating the motor and controller, and how conducive the bike's design is to agreeable concurrent pedaling.
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