Starting uphill from a stop
One of the true joys of an electric bike and the Ultra in particular is the ability to start uphill. On our old mountain bikes we often can’t get pedalling from a stop going up our steep local logging roads, even in the lowest gear. If the road is wide enough, we have to start downhill and do a u-turn. But that often resulted in a spill into the nearest ditch. On many occasions we had to walk the bikes up the hill to a flat to get pedalling. With the Ultra, sit firmly on the seat, push on the pedal and the torque sensor kicks in and bingo, you are headed up the road. If the road is really steep, you can use the thumb throttle to get going but you have to be holding on tightly and with all your weight on the saddle or the bike has enough power to kick you off.
I agree with TForan, the Ultra is a hill-climbing beast, not a racer, a fast Kenworth, not a Ferrari. I've had mine to 30 km/hr downhill and all I could think about was - can I stop?