I have been baffled why a hill I frequently ride up takes so much effort especially at a particular point. I have always believed it to be a 12% gradient but people on here say, that their ebike goes up such gradients with relative ease.
So I used google Street, as the camera, so I understand it, keeps level when taking pictures so I grabbed an image and then put it in google Sketchup and used the Protractor tool to ascertain the gradient at the particular point in the hill that seems harder.
Result?
15%
It seems accurate because the rest of the hill comes in at between 11% and 12%
Try it, see what your local hill is.... if you don't have Sketchup (free download) just send me the co-ordinates of the hill you want and I will have a look for you.
So I used google Street, as the camera, so I understand it, keeps level when taking pictures so I grabbed an image and then put it in google Sketchup and used the Protractor tool to ascertain the gradient at the particular point in the hill that seems harder.
Result?
15%
It seems accurate because the rest of the hill comes in at between 11% and 12%
Try it, see what your local hill is.... if you don't have Sketchup (free download) just send me the co-ordinates of the hill you want and I will have a look for you.