First Long Climb

[fifthmass]

Guys,

I took my bike out for it's first substantial continuous elevation gain.

Total 1,500 feet gain from downtown Fitchburg, MA (500') to the summit of Mt Watchuset (2000') in central northern Mass. The first 14 miles involved a 500 foot elevation gain on rte 2a from Fitchburg to the base of the final climb in Westminster. The final 3 miles was a 1000 foot elevation gain with no let up.

WattsUp data:

Total trip to summit: 423 wh, 24.8 wh/mile
Final 3 miles (1000 foot gain): 183 wh, 61 wh/mile.
Pedaling with the motor the whole way.
Hub motor too hot to touch (408)
Controller not even warm (40 amp rated, max 24 amp current peak)

Coming down was terrifying . No faster than 5-6 mph the whole way. Rims got too hot to touch and brakes were beginning to be less effective. Had to let things cool off at the base of the mountain before the final 500 foot drop on mile hill road (10% grade for a mile with turn at bottom).

All in all a good trip and the little 408 can take quite a bit of abuse it seems.

Regards,
Bill

 

[adrian_sm]

Thanks for the report good too know the little 408 can handle this sort of work.

A couple of questions:
What was the ambient temperature?
What sort of speed were you maintaining for the final stretch?

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[fifthmass]

Thanks for the report good too know the little 408 can handle this sort of work.

A couple of questions:
What was the ambient temperature?
What sort of speed were you maintaining for the final stretch?

Cheers,
Adrian

70 F at the start
60 F at the summit
10-12 mph up the worst grades. Pedaling my a$$ off and adding 18-20 amps from the motor.

Bill

 

[paultrafalgar]

Coming down was terrifying . No faster than 5-6 mph the whole way. Rims got too hot to touch and brakes were beginning to be less effective. Had to let things cool off at the base of the mountain before the final 500 foot drop on mile hill road (10% grade for a mile with turn at bottom).

If you had to do that sort of descent regularly it would be a good case for regeneration.

 

[pwbset]

If you had to do that sort of descent regularly it would be a good case for regeneration.

I descend 1,600ft on my way home from work and the most I've ever regened was around 15%. Pretty good sure, but I had to use a low voltage high wound motor to do that and to this date don't think a regen controller would be worth the complication. 15% equates to like $0.00912... less than a penny... so it's not like regen would save me much money. :lol: I do use the motor as a resistive brake though and that works extremely well.