Hard nose, hard tail mountain biker with first fat tire eBike - Aventon Aventure

[Astrotraveler]

Hi, have just purchased my first ebike, an Aventon Aventure, and have joined to ask questions and share product and user (and if they should unfortunately arise) manufacturer support and services experiences.

I am assembling the bike now and it looks pretty good, though it's clear Aventon has substituted much cheaper no name parts (bearing nobody-ever-heard-of brands or Aventon's own brand - example: earlier reviews of this bike feature bikes with Shimano branded rapid fire shifter and Acera rear derailleur but the one I just unpacked has a much cheaper white box derailleur and shifter branded "Aventon A3").

The packing job was just "okay". The spacer for the front hydraulic brake pad assembly was floating loose in the box, the plastic spacer atop the head tube was shattered and a piece was jammed between the fork tube and the top spacer requiring me to tap that spacer down to install the stem.

These are my first disc brakes on any bike (my other bikes have cantilevers or U-brakes - yeah, dating myself). It looks like *possibly* the dislodged front pad spacer and and shattered head tube protector may have been due to a drop of the shipping box, repaired by someone with tape (the box is split on the bottom right and has been repaired), and possibly dislodged the interior front brake pad. If I was familiar with discs I would probably know for sure, but will see if I have rubbing in front once I get the pedals on and the rest of the assembly finished.

More to come in topic-specific threads.

 

[Anton]

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for posting your experience with the Aventon Aventure. Sorry to hear about the average packaging of the bike.

The cheaper no name parts are a let down. If you're into mountain biking, you would know that there is simply no substitute for quality parts.

 

[Astrotraveler]

Thanks Anton.

Too true. However parts are expendables. When the downgraded parts wear out, as the inevitably will, they can be replaced with higher quality parts.

Were I to rate the white box, Aventon branded "rapidfire" style shifter, I'd give it a 5/10. It's pretty bad. And it is not helped by the white box Aventon branded derailleur, which lacks a barrel adjuster (aesthetically mimicking higher end SRAM derailleurs). The shifting quality and tunability (or rather lack thereof) of is the biggest letdown, and quite frustrating given that the early bikes used what are already low end (one up from bottom level) Shimano Acera shifter and derailleur. That is a $23 derailleur, so I can only imagine how cheap the no-name, self-branded substitute was. Otherwise the downgraded Zoom brakes are only a slight downgrade from the Bengals on the early bikes, and work adequately. The casette is still a Shimano unit (thank GOD!).

I understand that prices are going up due to supply chain problems and growing inflation. But rather than dropping quality to maintain price, it would be nice if manufacturers like Aventon also offered an "upgrade package" as an option that includes something on par with Shimano Deore level components at least (headset, brakes, brake levers, shifter and derailleur) for an extra few hundred dollars.

I'll ride on the original componentry until it fails, and then invent my own "upgrade package". ;-)

 

[Anton]

That's right, those parts are consumables. I'm sure the good quality parts will fit on the Aventon when the time comes to replace them. (I have heard reports that some of the really cheap bikes come with custom parts that cannot be replaced with quality parts.)

Disc brakes are very low maintenance from my experience with downhill riding. Just put a new set of pads in there every now and then. Hydraulic disc brakes will need bleeding from time to time.

 

[outdoorvtguy]

I too have a recent Aventure with the non-name L3 derailleur but it has a Shimano shifter. I was able to adjust it using the barrel on the shifter but, if that was not there, I would be opening a “warranty claim” per guidance from Aventon Customer Service. The derailleur is fairly easy to replace and that will probably happen depending on the use and durability of the L3 unit. If I can’t keep it adjusted or it turns out to be a POS, it‘s cheaper and easier to replace than to go through whserver procwas Aventon decides to run me through. Perhaps that is what they are counting on

 

[centerisl]

Were I to rate the white box, Aventon branded "rapidfire" style shifter, I'd give it a 5/10. It's pretty bad. And it is not helped by the white box Aventon branded derailleur, which lacks a barrel adjuster (aesthetically mimicking higher end SRAM derailleurs). The shifting quality and tunability (or rather lack thereof) of is the biggest letdown, and quite frustrating given that the early bikes used what are already low end (one up from bottom level) Shimano Acera shifter and derailleur. That is a $23 derailleur, so I can only imagine how cheap the no-name, self-branded substitute was. Otherwise the downgraded Zoom brakes are only a slight downgrade from the Bengals on the early bikes, and work adequately.

Interesting - my bike (ordered 4/26) has Shimano Acera shifter and derailleur and Tektro brakes. The Aventon web site simply says "8 Speed" and "Hydraulic Disc Brakes, 180mm Rotors" so maybe it's just the luck of the draw.

I'm in Seattle and it was likely an easy ship up the coast - my bike still had the front disc plastic insert in place and the only transport/packaging related anomaly was the black plastic insert for the front fork was in 2 pieces (both still inserted though).

 

[TonyT]

I got two Aventures in December 21 and have Shimano Shifter and derailleur. Sorry to hear yours came with cheap replacements. Unfortunately, as has already been noted they do not specify the components. There is a shortage of the Shimano gear so the question is, are you better off with a bike without the Shimano or no bike at all. Good luck and I hope they don't wear out two quickly.