Best hill-climber with throttle under $3k?

[zw10]

Hello everyone,
I am looking for an ebike that can help me get up some pretty gnarly inclines in a rural area. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[fooferdoggie]

well a throttle is not going to give you more power your legs and a motor will give more. the bike you tried has more torque then most bikes with a throttle. but I have found the gearing is not always best for hill climbing. but you should be able to get unto 20 mph with little effort.

 

[indianajo]

The total rise in a short time matters. For climbing from the Pacific ocean to the top of the sierra in one session, only mid-drives will do it without overheating. Because most are compliant with european specifications (350 W max) most will require major human input in a low gear.
I climb 15% grades in short runs with a 1200 w geared hub motor, at 330 lb gross & up. Because I only do that 1 minute at a time 3 times over a 3 hour ride, the motor doesn't overheat.
Direct drives like the crystal shed the heat much more effectively due to the windings being on the outside, but are highly inefficient on steep grades at low speeds. A 1000 w direct drive motor took about twice as many watt hours on my 30 mile run as the 1200 W geared hub motor.

 

[zw10]

The total rise in a short time matters. For climbing from the Pacific ocean to the top of the sierra in one session, only mid-drives will do it without overheating. Because most are compliant with european specifications (350 W max) most will require major human input in a low gear.
I climb 15% grades in short runs with a 1200 w geared hub motor, at 330 lb gross & up. Because I only do that 1 minute at a time 3 times over a 3 hour ride, the motor doesn't overheat.
Direct drives like the crystal shed the heat much more effectively due to the windings being on the outside, but are highly inefficient on steep grades at low speeds. A 1000 w direct drive motor took about twice as many watt hours on my 30 mile run as the 1200 W geared hub motor.

Thanks for the reply. Which bike are you using?

 

[jaizon]

https://www.biktrix.com/pages/stunner-x-details#ds Seems to have what you are looking for. Super torque.

 

[zw10]

well a throttle is not going to give you more power your legs and a motor will give more. the bike you tried has more torque then most bikes with a throttle. but I have found the gearing is not always best for hill climbing. but you should be able to get unto 20 mph with little effort.

Do you have any suggestions for a bike with a throttle that could help?

 

[indianajo]

I'm riding a non-electric yubabikes bodaboda cargo bike (left) that I installed a 1200 W ebikeling 48 v geared hub motor on the front. It has gearing down to 32:32 with a triple front crank, which allows me to pedal the 330 lb up the steepest hill if the throttle fails in a heavy rain. ebikeling has quit selling the 48 v geared hub motor, probably because of warrenty returns from people overheating them. electric-bikes.com refused to sell me a 500 w mac geared hub motor for that reason - I have steep hills. he was in california, where the average customer starts out at the sea and tries to ride to the park on top of the sierra the first weekend. burns the windings every time. We have rolling hills in Indiana, I hit 30 mph at the bottom before the next 15% grade.
The gazelle t10 has bosch performance 4, which is pretty good, and a 36 rear sprocket, but bosch only allows a single front sprocket. Yamahas as the giant MTB models have 2 front sprockets, and some of the mtb models have a 48 tooth rear sprocket.
I terms of raw power luna had something 2000 w. They did sell me a 500 w 48 v mac 12t geared hub motor, but I haven't worn out the ebikeling motor so haven't used it yet.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Do you have any suggestions for a bike with a throttle that could help? Something maybe like the Gazelle but with throttle?

throttle wont help you unless your legs are really weak. I climb 16 % grades on my Bosch bike without a problem takes some work but not too bad. anything less and its s not a problem. but I Dailed in the gearing as my bike is a 28 mph and it had too much top end.

 

[fooferdoggie]

The gazelle t10 has bosch performance 4, which is pretty good, and a 36 rear sprocket, but bosch only allows a single front sprocket. Yamahas as the giant MTB models have 2 front sprockets, and some of the mtb models have a 48 tooth rear sprocket.

ya and I found they tend to have too large of a chainring in front. rescue it a bit and they climb far better and use less battery.

 

[byunbee]

For under $3k Bafang Ultra would probably suit your needs. Frey HT1000 might be a good option.

 

[Rin]

I would second the Bafang Ultra, particularly in sport mode that thing will climb anything. The HT1000 is under $3K, although you would probably have a several month wait to get one.

 

[BlackHand]

The gazelle t10 has bosch performance 4, which is pretty good, and a 36 rear sprocket, but bosch only allows a single front sprocket. Yamahas as the giant MTB models have 2 front sprockets, and some of the mtb models have a 48 tooth rear sprocket.

Agreed - it's Gazelle's choice of 11-36 gearing on the rear that's letting the OP down, not the Bosch or the OP's legs.

I have the previous gen Bosch Performance Speed but my bike has 11 speed gearset that tops out with a 46 tooth gear. I usually don't even get into the lowest gear, but when I have it will climb a hill from a dead stop while I'm seated and the biggest problem is spinning out too fast. I do find that I have to have more forethought about what gear I'll need for a hill and get into it BEFORE I get bogged down. The Speed motor likes a pretty good cadence so it is not very forgiving if you find yourself in the wrong gear.

The Bafang Ultra is a torque monster and will absolutely throttle you up a hill no problem and you certainly won't have to pay as much attention to what gear you're in and so forth.

 

[zw10]

Agreed - it's Gazelle's choice of 11-36 gearing on the rear that's letting the OP down, not the Bosch or the OP's legs.

I have the previous gen Bosch Performance Speed but my bike has 11 speed gearset that tops out with a 46 tooth gear. I usually don't even get into the lowest gear, but when I have it will climb a hill from a dead stop while I'm seated and the biggest problem is spinning out too fast. I do find that I have to have more forethought about what gear I'll need for a hill and get into it BEFORE I get bogged down. The Speed motor likes a pretty good cadence so it is not very forgiving if you find yourself in the wrong gear.

The Bafang Ultra is a torque monster and will absolutely throttle you up a hill no problem and you certainly won't have to pay as much attention to what gear you're in and so forth.

Thanks