I always find beach cruisers to climb hills pretty easy. I prefer single speeds to derailure models. Well, some hills. both of mine have 1pc cranks from mtbs and I push both of them hard. Starting at an intersection shouldnt be that hard, one of mine has a 12 tooth rear sprocket and the other a 24, both have good acceleration. The problem is the freeplay in the coaster, I find having the pedals in near verticle position helps because of the inch or two of nuetrality between the brake disengaging and the sprag unit catching.