The ezee forte on steep hills

[musicbooks]

Following some excellent advice from guru Flecc. (Thank Flecc). I would be grateful for any stories of how the ezee forte copes with long steep hills with a light rider(9.5 stones). I need to negotiate approx 2 miles of hill each day during my commute to work.

 

[flecc]

While you wait for a Forte owner, here's a comparison for you.

My Q bike, which is an eZee Quando with added 6 gears, has 576 watts of gross power. It weighs 25 kilos, I weigh 70 kilos (11 stones). In my hilly area I ride up 1 in 5 (20%) hills easily in second gear which is about as steep as most hills get. I've also experimentally sought out a couple steeper, a 1 in 4.5 (22.5%) which I ride easily in bottom gear, and a very short 1 in 3.3 (30%) extreme hill which I just about managed. I'm 71 years old.

The eZee Forte has 8 gears, has 680 watts of gross power, it weighs 26.3 kilos and your weight 60.5 kilos (9.5 stones). I'll leave you to fill in your age.

As you'll see, it's unlikely that with your low body weight that you'll have any trouble, gross weight being the most important factor in hill climbing, giving you a big advantage for this.
.

 

[UrbanPuma]

Hills

Hi Flecc,

What percentage (%) is a 1 in 8 hill? and what kind of hills can my bike climb?

Many thanks

 

[flecc]

It's 12.5% Urban Puma.

To get one from the other, use 100.

For example, on the 1 in 8, divide 100 by 8 and you get the percentage, 12.5%.

If on the other hand you only have the percentage number, you divide 100 by that to get the "1 in" number. So if you have a 15% hill, divide 100 by 15 and that's 6.66, so roughly 1 in 7.

I'd estimate your bike can climb just about 1 in 10 (10%) without pedalling, and steeper than that depending on the rider. So 1 in 8 (12.5%) for a not very strong rider, 1 in 6 (17%) for a quite strong rider and 1 in 5 (20%) for a very fit rider.

As you can see, the rider is a very important factor, since these are electric assist bikes.
.

 

[UrbanPuma]

Thanks Flecc, for both replies.