Priority current vs normal bike on 15% grade hill

[Eric0976]

Reading through recent reviews and discussions on ebikes, I have seen quite a few people wondering how an ebike without throttle rides on a steep hill. Quite a few reviews also state that the Current "chews" any hill as if it is a piece of cake because the Priority Current generates an impressive 140Nm of torque. This torque does help a lot but the effort required on steep hills is NOT small, it is actually quite intense but far less than on a standard bike. The following video shows me passing a fellow bicyclist on a steep hill, you can hear that I have to pedal quite hard through the hill but I pass him easily.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Bottom line, the Current is a bike not a moped. You are expected to contribute, sometimes quite significantly, to forward motion (in the early days my legs would hurt after that climb, no longer the case). After two years with this ebike, my main wish is for it to be lighter by about 10/15 lbs (current 52lbs). Don't add throttle (enough choice of ebikes with that and in level 5 with enviolo it starts very fast at a stop/light if needs to be quick), don't add suspensions, just bring it closer to a standard commuter bike but with the extra kick it currently has.

 

[fooferdoggie]

you don't have the gearing to go up fast. on my bosch, I can do 15% grades at least 15mph on tour. 18% 10 to 11mph. on our tandem, we would be about the same speed or a little faster than you. I wish I had a regular bike to compare, but I doubt I have the energy to really get it up a steep hill.

 

[Eric0976]

Reading through recent reviews and discussions on ebikes, I have seen quite a few people wondering how an ebike without throttle rides on a steep hill. Quite a few reviews also state that the Current "chews" any hill as if it is a piece of cake because the Priority Current generates an impressive 140Nm of torque. This torque does help a lot but the effort required on steep hills is NOT small, it is actually quite intense but far less than on a standard bike. The following video shows me passing a fellow bicyclist on a steep hill, you can hear that I have to pedal quite hard through the hill but I pass him easily.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Bottom line, the Current is a bike not a moped. You are expected to contribute, sometimes quite significantly, to forward motion (in the early days my legs would hurt after that climb, no longer the case). After two years with this ebike, my main wish is for it to be lighter by about 10/15 lbs (current 52lbs). Don't add throttle (enough choice of ebikes with that and in level 5 with enviolo it starts very fast at a stop/light if needs to be quick), don't add suspensions, just bring it closer to a standard commuter bike but with the extra kick it currently has.

you don't have the gearing to go up fast. on my bosch, I can do 15% grades at least 15mph on tour. 18% 10 to 11mph. on our tandem, we would be about the same speed or a little faster than you. I wish I had a regular bike to compare, but I doubt I have the energy to really get it up a steep hill.

Nice. The Current can’t go up that fast (well, at least I can’t…)

 

[fooferdoggie]

Nice. The Current can’t go up that fast (well, at least I can’t…)

it could if you had more gears. this is the price to pay for a belt drive unless you have a rohloff hub. there is always give and take with bikes. if you put a smaller chainring on the front, that would help too. like our tandem only has a 38t chainring, so we can climb hills great, but it's hard to get to 28mph because we have to peddle so fast. if your not climbing lots of steep hills it may not matter at all. the extra torque helped you out.