June 26, 201411 yr I took my wife's Santana CD to a longish climb this morning due to reading about the gear changing and hill climbing ability. The steepest bit of the hill is about 13 or 14 % according to Strava and my VDO bike computer. I'm about 82kg. The santana got up it but not on throttle alone I had to assist it a bit. As to the gear changing. I went up to gear 5 on a flat bit so that I could change down as the hill steepened. Once the power was on with the motor and me pedalling I waited until the bike started to slow.From gear 5 down to 4 a bit of a loud clunk, from gear 4 down to 3 less of a clunk, from gear 3 down to 2 it went OK and from gear 2 down to 1 it was pretty seamless. I've read reports of people cutting the power off as they change down and I don't doubt them but to be honest I think if i'd cut the power the bike would have stopped. I'll be typing a thread tonight about ebikes on that hill but thought I'd post about the Woosh alone on this thread since people have been debating it.
June 26, 201411 yr jimod, in my test I found on 8%+ hills, the Santana CD is best climbing in gear 1 with assist level 5 and full throttle even when it looks like you don't need it. I think that is because you get higher motor output when the chainring runs fast. Edited June 26, 201411 yr by trex
June 26, 201411 yr Author jimod, in my test I found on 8%+ hills, the Santana CD is best climbing in gear 1 with assist level 5 and full throttle even when it looks like you don't need it. I think that is because you get higher motor output when the chainring runs fast. I was in power level 5 all the time and the throttle was full open all the time. If I'm honest I thought the Woosh would have been slightly better than it was. However, I intend to try it again and maybe just let it go on throttle alone but it was slowing down below 6 mph when I started pedalling. I'm not faulting the Woosh, it got me up to the top and I have done that hill a few times on the Kudos Typhoon which is a different animal. I'll maybe try it again tomorrow if I get a chance, if not it will be another week before I can try again. I have a plan to get a lighter female to try it and see what happens.
June 26, 201411 yr I was in power level 5 all the time and the throttle was full open all the time. If I'm honest I thought the Woosh would have been slightly better than it was. However, I intend to try it again and maybe just let it go on throttle alone but it was slowing down below 6 mph when I started pedalling. I'm not faulting the Woosh, it got me up to the top and I have done that hill a few times on the Kudos Typhoon which is a different animal. I'll maybe try it again tomorrow if I get a chance, if not it will be another week before I can try again. I have a plan to get a lighter female to try it and see what happens. That's a good plan:)
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