Ramps are a problem in manual wheelchairs – what if you get stuck halfway and your grip starts slipping? You need never be there again.
A cautious person would choose low gear and RUN mode before starting the ramp. Then go until you get tired (you probably won’t, with the power of RUN mode) but, if you do, just stop. The chair will not roll back. When you are ready, you can just keep going.
For very steep ramps, the chair might tip back onto the anti-tips. This is not a problem, just lean forward and keep going – the chair is designed to be quite happy when it is tipped back like that.
The gear change is like a bicycle’s gears – it likes to change when it is moving. It might work when its under heavy load but it might jam, just like a bicycle. Better to change when you’re not on a ramp.
If it jams, turn the chair sideways on to the slope. Move the mode out of RUN mode and into normal mode (handle down). Jiggle the pushrim vigorously until it unjams. Now you are in business gain. Select the gear you want. Go back and forward a little bit using the pushrim. (15cm – six inches – forward and back. ) Now select RUN mode (handle out) and off you go.