Feature Update: Uphill Start Assist

Aventon’s mid-drive, off-road bikes are built to muscle through the tough stuff—offering the control you need when the trail turns loose, steep, or just plain unforgiving. Both the Ramblas and the all-new Aventure M are built to eat up dirt and tackle any adventure. But more often than not, it becomes necessary to stop and assess an obstacle, and one of the challenges of riding a bike off-road is the first few pedals after stopping halfway up a hill.

Between trying to keep your balance, choosing the right line, and finding the right gear to get rolling, nothing beats a little push to get the momentum going. Thankfully, Uphill Start Assist is there to help you grind up the climb, not grind your gears. This feature leverages the bikes’ ability to detect slope, and can automatically produce increased power and torque output during the first initial crank rotation, helping you get back on the bike, and make it up every climb. Whether it’s a tight turn that requires pause, or the best photo opportunity is halfway up a hill, the Uphill Start Assist feature is there to make sure a break isn’t the turn-around point.

There are set parameters to activate the motor when it’s set to a regular pedal assist function that have to do with cadence, pedaling torque, and how much the crank rotates. All of these conditions can be tough to meet when going uphill, especially on a relatively steep slope, because the motor requires the bike to move a certain distance unassisted.

Uphill Start Assist eliminates the prerequisites involving cadence and crank angle and activates the motor based solely on pedal pressure. In other words, the motor will activate if you put enough pressure on the pedals for a certain amount of time - no need to pedal unassisted to start up the motor.

Uphill Start Assist can only be activated in the Aventon:MyRide app. Go to the “More Settings” menu underneath your bike and scroll down the Uphill Start Assist. Turn on the mode and you’re ready to go!

That doesn’t mean that its activation is not without conditions. Adjustable in the Aventon:MyRide app, Uphill Start Assist requires a certain degree of slope (sensed by the IMU built into the A100 mid-drive motor) as well as a minimum amount of torque on the pedals for a certain amount of time.

Uphill Start Assist lasts for one full rotation of the cranks. Since the resulting speed and crank rotation could still be too low to activate the normal pedal assist, Uphill Start Assist also assists into the second turn of the pedals - anywhere from .4 seconds to 1 second, depending on your settings.

The amount of assistance you receive depends on the Uphill Start Assist setting in your Aventon:MyRide app. With a sensitivity setting of 1-5, you can choose how much and how long you need to torque the pedals before the motor activates, how steep of a hill you need to be on when Uphill Start Assists kicks in, and how much time the motor will continue to assist between the first and second rotations of the crank. The higher the sensitivity, the easier it is to start the bike.

Uphill Start Assist is available now on the Ramblas eMTB and the new Aventure M, the brand new fat-tire ebike from Aventon. Aventure M is paired with a suite of all-new tech features, including AutoShift, Auto Mode, and E-Shift and is ready for anything that comes in its way, while the Ramblas continues to conquer trails, up and down.

Unlock Limitless Exploration with Aventure M and the trail-tested Ramblas eMTB.