I've had my Aventon Aventure for about two months, and I love it. I use it for transportation. I choose it every time as a commuter over my car as long as the weather allows it, and I can carry with me what I need, and the distance is within the range of the bike. I try to charge the battery when it gets down to about twenty percent, which only allows me to travel about fifteen miles. I'm constantly riding it at the maximum speed of thirty-two miles an hour. I've been putting about two hundred miles per month on it. I'm wondering how others who own the Aventure are liking it. How often do you ride it? Have you had any problems with it? Would you change anything about it? I would like to hear from others about their experience with the Aventure.
Welcome to the forum, glad to hear that you are enjoying your Aventure. There's mixed views about Aventon customer support on here, but I'm glad yours has been going well. Seems like it's a popular ebike choice and a lot of people have them.
Astrotraveler
Member
- Local time
- 1:27 AM
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2022
- Messages
- 34
Hiya Warren. Second post, first day here. I just finished assembling my Aventon Aventure a half hour ago and have just completed my test ride around my neighborhood. This is my first ebike, first bike with disc brakes, first bike that weighs more than 30 pounds, Please factor in my ebike noob status in considering my comments, but likewise I've been mountain biking for about 35 years, so am not new to bikes.
Where to start? I'll start with the good. I had never ridden any ebike prior to my first ride on my Aventure that concluded 10 minutes ago. Things I liked were the noticeable boost even on pedal assist mode 1. Not subtle at all and at least from a first timer it put a smile on my face. The frame is relatively well made. The online assembly instructions were decent. The bike worked well enough to test straight out of the box (though I am going to have my local shop, which is an Aventon affiliated dealer, check my assembly and the torque of all the nuts and bolts I messed with.
Now the "just okay". The packing was adequate, though only just adequate (mine had obviously been dropped as the lower front of the bok was split and had been repaired with tape, the white plastic protector on the fork stem above the three spacers was shattered and piece of plastic had wedged between the top spacer and fork head tube. The front brake caliper spacer was rattling around loose in the box, so I'm not sure the front pads are contacting the disc evenly.
The "not okay" or "not sure I like this" next. The riding position will take me some getting used to. On every other bike I own or have ever ridden, I am somewhat stretched out over the top tube. I'm not a big guy at 5'9" and 175# with size 10 shoes, yet at low speed with my feet on the pedals the front wheel and fender contact the toe box of my shoes if I make a sharpish turn. I sit very upright on the Aventure which will suck for aerodynamics on the very windy afternoons I experience around here. I am torso-limbs disproportionate with very long arms and legs relative to my compact torso, which could be a factor. The cheap white box derailleur (in place of the Acera, which is plenty low end already on a $2k product) doesn't even have a barrel adjuster and the tune from the factory is off a bit, leaving me to fuss with the barrel adjuster at the shifter. I prefer adjusting the barrel adjuster at the derailleur. I also think the rear upshift and downshift travel limits need adjusting as it looks like I can almost get the chain to hop the small cog and hit the rear stay an hop the large cog and hit the dropout.
As a total noob to ebikes, I will give it some time. It's charging now and I am headed into the shop to add some air to the tires. More to come. Oh I should add my frame is a Medium, so the geometry gripe isn't because I chose too small of a frame. And a question for you. I am riding mostly om badly maintained rural roads through vineyard marshland in the California Wine Country. I will be using the bike to get to and from my favorite Mayacamas Mountains trailhead for hikes (about 20 miles from my house) 4 times a week. I'm not sure what to set the tire pressure to. With so much air volume and a suspension fork, I'm inclined to pump em up pretty good for lower rolling resistance given that most of my distance will be on hard pack gravel and bad asphalt. What do you think? (I just pumped the rear up to 40 psi and quit; 4" tires take a LOT longer to inflate than 2-inchers!).
Where to start? I'll start with the good. I had never ridden any ebike prior to my first ride on my Aventure that concluded 10 minutes ago. Things I liked were the noticeable boost even on pedal assist mode 1. Not subtle at all and at least from a first timer it put a smile on my face. The frame is relatively well made. The online assembly instructions were decent. The bike worked well enough to test straight out of the box (though I am going to have my local shop, which is an Aventon affiliated dealer, check my assembly and the torque of all the nuts and bolts I messed with.
Now the "just okay". The packing was adequate, though only just adequate (mine had obviously been dropped as the lower front of the bok was split and had been repaired with tape, the white plastic protector on the fork stem above the three spacers was shattered and piece of plastic had wedged between the top spacer and fork head tube. The front brake caliper spacer was rattling around loose in the box, so I'm not sure the front pads are contacting the disc evenly.
The "not okay" or "not sure I like this" next. The riding position will take me some getting used to. On every other bike I own or have ever ridden, I am somewhat stretched out over the top tube. I'm not a big guy at 5'9" and 175# with size 10 shoes, yet at low speed with my feet on the pedals the front wheel and fender contact the toe box of my shoes if I make a sharpish turn. I sit very upright on the Aventure which will suck for aerodynamics on the very windy afternoons I experience around here. I am torso-limbs disproportionate with very long arms and legs relative to my compact torso, which could be a factor. The cheap white box derailleur (in place of the Acera, which is plenty low end already on a $2k product) doesn't even have a barrel adjuster and the tune from the factory is off a bit, leaving me to fuss with the barrel adjuster at the shifter. I prefer adjusting the barrel adjuster at the derailleur. I also think the rear upshift and downshift travel limits need adjusting as it looks like I can almost get the chain to hop the small cog and hit the rear stay an hop the large cog and hit the dropout.
As a total noob to ebikes, I will give it some time. It's charging now and I am headed into the shop to add some air to the tires. More to come. Oh I should add my frame is a Medium, so the geometry gripe isn't because I chose too small of a frame. And a question for you. I am riding mostly om badly maintained rural roads through vineyard marshland in the California Wine Country. I will be using the bike to get to and from my favorite Mayacamas Mountains trailhead for hikes (about 20 miles from my house) 4 times a week. I'm not sure what to set the tire pressure to. With so much air volume and a suspension fork, I'm inclined to pump em up pretty good for lower rolling resistance given that most of my distance will be on hard pack gravel and bad asphalt. What do you think? (I just pumped the rear up to 40 psi and quit; 4" tires take a LOT longer to inflate than 2-inchers!).
That was a great review! Thanks for taking the time to write it. I rarely ride my Aventure off pavement. I will tell you that I added some "FLAT OUT" to each of my tires. I've had the bike since October, and I haven't had to add any air to the tires since then. I like the tires to be hard for the same reason that you do. This is my fifth ebike, and only the second one that had a throttle. Three of the other four were pedal assist only. The other bike I gave to my daughter because I didn't care much for it. As for now, I own one other ebike, a Specialized Turbo Vado 5.0. It is a totally different experience. I like each one of my bikes for different reasons. I'm wondering how you can ride your Aventon twenty miles from you house and back home on one charge. Do you run the battery all the way down? Are you riding in only the lowest pedal assist levels? Thanks for the communication.
Astrotraveler
Member
- Local time
- 1:27 AM
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2022
- Messages
- 34
Hi Warren. I do indeed plan on riding mostly in PAS 2 for the ~38 mile round trip to and back home from my favorite hiking trailhead. I've plotted the route in Google Maps which now offers an elevation gain/loss graph when you select the "bicycle" icon for mode of transport. My route is rated "mostly flat" with just a few gentle hills along the way, so per Aventon's range per PAS level chat, in PAS 2 I should make it there and back again with a little juice left in the battery. That's theory.
On Wednesday I will take the bike to the local bike shop which luckily is one of the few Aventon dealers to have them inspect the front brake and my slightly clacking headset which were likely damaged when the front of my shipping box was ripped open and taped (presumably by Aventon as I've never seen any carrier (Fed Ex) tape damaged boxes. It looks like the box was dropped from some height. The front tire zip ties were all broken and the tire was loose in the box, the spacer on the front brake was loose in the bottom of the box and I fear possibly the bearings in the headset were damaged. A shop that routinely builds Aventons should be able to tell quickly whether replacement parts are needed or only some repair TLC.
I had hoped to do my first long ride this weekend, but the rubbing front brake pad and the suspect headset spooked me enough to wait for a pro shop to take a peek.
Here's Aventon's own range predictions for a 180# ride riding on an 80% flat route using different PAS levels:
On PAS 2 I should be able to reach 45 miles as my route is 80% flat or flatter and I am 180# or a couple of pounds less. As soon as I've put the theory into practice I'll report back.
Best,
Jim
On Wednesday I will take the bike to the local bike shop which luckily is one of the few Aventon dealers to have them inspect the front brake and my slightly clacking headset which were likely damaged when the front of my shipping box was ripped open and taped (presumably by Aventon as I've never seen any carrier (Fed Ex) tape damaged boxes. It looks like the box was dropped from some height. The front tire zip ties were all broken and the tire was loose in the box, the spacer on the front brake was loose in the bottom of the box and I fear possibly the bearings in the headset were damaged. A shop that routinely builds Aventons should be able to tell quickly whether replacement parts are needed or only some repair TLC.
I had hoped to do my first long ride this weekend, but the rubbing front brake pad and the suspect headset spooked me enough to wait for a pro shop to take a peek.
Here's Aventon's own range predictions for a 180# ride riding on an 80% flat route using different PAS levels:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1520/2468/files/aventure-ebike-real-world-testing.jpg?v=1619825145
On PAS 2 I should be able to reach 45 miles as my route is 80% flat or flatter and I am 180# or a couple of pounds less. As soon as I've put the theory into practice I'll report back.
Best,
Jim
Astrotraveler
Member
- Local time
- 1:27 AM
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2022
- Messages
- 34
So an update. First off, I didn't bother taking the bike to the local shop for an inspection of my home assembly job. Instead I borrowed a bicycle torque wrench from a neighbor and checked all of the bolts et al that I installed during installation. Glad I did - I was loose on the 4 bolts that clamp the bars to the stem!
I took a monster long ride (for me) last Sunday. 50 miles round trip on an out and back route, 20% hills. I used PAS 2 with a few PAS stints on the steep short hills and the very long gentle climbs and had consumed just 5% of the battery at my 25-mile turn around point. Emboldened and a bit tired, on the way back I rode in PAS 4 for most of the route with PAS 5 on the steep hills and PAS 3 and hard pedaling on the steep descents. The second 25 miles of my 50-mile ride consumed only an additional 10% of the battery's charge. The bike had 85% charge when I reached home.
I'm a 5'10" middle aged 180# rider, and I was pedaling the entire route, but was by no means killing myself, so I am astounded by how inaccurately pessimistic the manufacturer projections on range per charge are. Odder still are the online videos showing riders like me seemingly riding like I ride, but running out of juice much sooner than I do. One factor that probably hurts their range is that they set the bike to Level 3 (28mph top boost speed) whereas I leave mine in Level 2 (20mph top boost speed), though on my way home I hammered down one of the bigger hills and hit 42mph on pedal thrust and gravity alone (the PAS stops when you hit 20mph with the bike configured as a Level 2 bike).
If the Sunday Ride is any indication, I should be able to do a PAS 4, 50-mile ride over rolling hill terrain with only moderate pedaling effort and still have a huge amount of charge left. I may try a hillier, longer route next weekend to see if I can burn more battery. I suspect more hills and steeper hills will have a big impact on charge remaining.
Still learning, but am greatly relieved of my initial "range anxiety" feeling when buying the bike.
I took a monster long ride (for me) last Sunday. 50 miles round trip on an out and back route, 20% hills. I used PAS 2 with a few PAS stints on the steep short hills and the very long gentle climbs and had consumed just 5% of the battery at my 25-mile turn around point. Emboldened and a bit tired, on the way back I rode in PAS 4 for most of the route with PAS 5 on the steep hills and PAS 3 and hard pedaling on the steep descents. The second 25 miles of my 50-mile ride consumed only an additional 10% of the battery's charge. The bike had 85% charge when I reached home.
I'm a 5'10" middle aged 180# rider, and I was pedaling the entire route, but was by no means killing myself, so I am astounded by how inaccurately pessimistic the manufacturer projections on range per charge are. Odder still are the online videos showing riders like me seemingly riding like I ride, but running out of juice much sooner than I do. One factor that probably hurts their range is that they set the bike to Level 3 (28mph top boost speed) whereas I leave mine in Level 2 (20mph top boost speed), though on my way home I hammered down one of the bigger hills and hit 42mph on pedal thrust and gravity alone (the PAS stops when you hit 20mph with the bike configured as a Level 2 bike).
If the Sunday Ride is any indication, I should be able to do a PAS 4, 50-mile ride over rolling hill terrain with only moderate pedaling effort and still have a huge amount of charge left. I may try a hillier, longer route next weekend to see if I can burn more battery. I suspect more hills and steeper hills will have a big impact on charge remaining.
Still learning, but am greatly relieved of my initial "range anxiety" feeling when buying the bike.
That's amazing that you had 85% of a charge after riding fifty miles.!!! In warm weather, I can only go about fifteen miles and have about twenty percent of a charge left on my Aventure. I weigh about 220 pounds and often carry groceries on the bike with me. Omaha, where I live, is usually pretty windy and it's also hilly. I also ride my bike in PAS level 4 or 5, mostly 5, all of the time. I don't know if the speedometer is accurate, but it says that I'm traveling 32 miles an hour quite often. That was a very interesting report from you. Thanks for the information.
Astrotraveler
Member
- Local time
- 1:27 AM
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2022
- Messages
- 34
Thanks for the feedback Warren.
Big differences I suspect are that you have your max boost set to 28mph (Level 3 Ebike) and I left mine set to 20mph max (Level 2 Ebike), and I rarely use PAS 5, and instead stick primarily to PAS 2-3 with occasional PAS 4.
I bet your range per charge would go up if you setup the bike in the phone app as a Level 2/Max 20mph bike. My "max speed" in the flats even in PAS 5 is ~20-21mph, so no where near as fast as your PAS 5 with the bike configured as a Level 3 Ebike,
The Aventon range estimates on their website assume you've set the bike up as a Level 3/28mph boost Ebike.
I'll do some more testing. For example, I'm curious what my range would be on a flat course (minimal hills) with the bike setup as a Level 2 and PAS set to 5. I want to run it dry using PAS 5 in Level 2 mode and see if I can manage my 36 mile roundtrip to and back from my favorite hiking trailhead. Though I am paranoid to lock my fancy new eBike up at the trailhead in the middle of nowhere. There is a cemetery next to the trailhead, so I am thinking I may find a place to lock-up on hallowed ground to minimize theft concerns while hiking.
And then I'll do as you do and set the bike up as a Level 3 and see what my range is in that mode. I suspect it will be much more in line with what you are experiencing and also more in line with what online reviewers say about the range they managed in their testing of this bike.
Big differences I suspect are that you have your max boost set to 28mph (Level 3 Ebike) and I left mine set to 20mph max (Level 2 Ebike), and I rarely use PAS 5, and instead stick primarily to PAS 2-3 with occasional PAS 4.
I bet your range per charge would go up if you setup the bike in the phone app as a Level 2/Max 20mph bike. My "max speed" in the flats even in PAS 5 is ~20-21mph, so no where near as fast as your PAS 5 with the bike configured as a Level 3 Ebike,
The Aventon range estimates on their website assume you've set the bike up as a Level 3/28mph boost Ebike.
I'll do some more testing. For example, I'm curious what my range would be on a flat course (minimal hills) with the bike setup as a Level 2 and PAS set to 5. I want to run it dry using PAS 5 in Level 2 mode and see if I can manage my 36 mile roundtrip to and back from my favorite hiking trailhead. Though I am paranoid to lock my fancy new eBike up at the trailhead in the middle of nowhere. There is a cemetery next to the trailhead, so I am thinking I may find a place to lock-up on hallowed ground to minimize theft concerns while hiking.
And then I'll do as you do and set the bike up as a Level 3 and see what my range is in that mode. I suspect it will be much more in line with what you are experiencing and also more in line with what online reviewers say about the range they managed in their testing of this bike.
I am amazed at the mileage you are getting. I am 6'2" and 225lbs and in PAS 3 at 14-16 mph I can just get 30-34 miles in a flat area of FL. My wife who is smaller and lighter still has about 35% left in the battery when mine has gone to less than 10% over the same distance.
