Found a place to practice gear changes

[Naranja_CT5+]

I think I am still more comfortable climbing a hill using my MTB rather than on my e-bike because of the weight.

On my City5+ I make sure
1. the PA is on 5
2. I put the shifter on 4 at the start and shift it higher accordingly.
3. Once I feel slowing down. Then I try giving the throttle a twist. But by this time the motor no longer responds.

I am terrible describing how steep a hill is so I've attached pictures. But even pictures does not show well the slopes. Now I'm getting a little phobia tackling hills even going downhills.


On this particular hill. I manage to get to the viewpoint before I had to stop.

[John Rose]

3. Once I feel slowing down. Then I try giving the throttle a twist. But by this time the motor no longer responds.

But it still shows that the motor is burning up 500W, right? So the motor "responds", but it just doesn't have any more to give. (Oh. That sounds like inspiration for a Blues song.)

[inoxa]

You probably tapped out the motor.  Consider a controller upgrade.  It will help.  Area13 had them in stock this past week for your model.  If they don't try electro bike world. 

[Naranja_CT5+]

Thanks, I have forgotten about the motor. Everyone in Canada with the exception of the people that hacked S/W or F/W. Canadians are limited to 500W. So with my weight plus 500W may have a lot to do with my gear issues.

It is disappointing but realistically this might be my problem. I just need to avoid steeper slopes. I have climbed hills higher that this but those ones have gentler slopes. Due to pedal assist I have longer tolerance pedaling uphill so I just have to be ready when it comes to big hills.

I am not going to do any upgrading until my warranty has expires. So will live with my limitations.

[John Rose]

🤔 Hmmm... For steep hills, maybe the best thing is a bike with mid-drive motor. Since it drives the chain, it (the motor) can take advantage of gearing down. Sadly, I can't imagine any way you could easily mod an existing bike already equipped with a hub motor.

[Naranja_CT5+]

You probably tapped out the motor.  Consider a controller upgrade.  It will help.  Area13 had them in stock this past week for your model.  If they don't try electro bike world. 

For practical reasons I'm really not entertaining any power plant modifications on my bike at this time. But I did look at the upgrade kit at Area13. And my first impression is that the size of the controller is a lot bigger than the stock City5+. I like to tinker therefore it is tempting to upgrade but for now I am holding back. Especially the stock display console the stock UI is useless.


At this time I'm perfectly fine with the performance of the bike. The more I ride the more I am discovering the limitations of the bike. A little bit of walking the bike uphill is not a bad thing. https://www.radowners.com/index.php?topic=644.0