Its definitely not the easiest for me to get up a hill, but I dont have to get off and push. I want to do alot of my riding on our local Hike and Bike and Towpath(flat), but I would also like to ride on the road(some small hills). I'm not as schooled into the terminology so the gear numbers ie 48/32/24 dont really click for me. I'm sure once I get more experience into riding it will make sense. Another thing that you can do from Utrikes is customize the bike while ordering: http://www.utahtrikes.com/CONFIGURE-TTROVER.html What if any of these options are worth considering?