I wrote this article over a year ago but never posted it — who knows why? I finally went through and edited it, adding photos and videos from a few of the rides. Although it is not timely, it still stands as my opinion of the eBikes. I hope you enjoy it..
In June 2021, we finally took the plunge and ordered two eBikes. I have been visiting eBike web sites and watching videos on YouTube for the past year or so, but I always decided to wait. I am glad we did, because after I saw the reviews of the Aventon Aventure (that's not a misspelling) in late spring, my mind was made up that this was the one we wanted.
The Aventure costs a little more than other basic fat-tire eBikes (such as the RadRover or Himiway Cruiser), but it had upgraded features such as a larger battery, better motor, and hydraulic disc brakes, to name a few. I was also very close to ordering the RipCurrentS from Juiced Bikes, but the price was $800 more than the Aventure, though there are more features and an even larger battery.
I was really leaning towards the Himiway Cruiser when the Aventon Aventure appeared in my searches. It had just recently been released and there were a number of reviews hitting YouTube.
I ordered the bikes via the Aventon website on June 6th. The Aventures are made in three different sizes (S, M, L), depending on your height. This is another advantage of the Aventure over some of the other similar bikes. I needed two small bikes and luckily they were available. I was informed they would ship about June 26th.
Ordering, Shipping, Unboxing and Assembly
After placing the order for the bikes, I received an email within a few minutes providing my order number and order status. Status said the bikes would be shipped at the end of the month.
On June 23rd I received an email stating that the bikes had shipped and was provided a UPS tracking number, stating that delivery would be June 26th. On the 26th I received yet another email stating the order was out for delivery, and I did receive the bikes that day.
The information I received at the time of ordering was accurate and the bikes were delivered on or ahead of what they promised me. Interestingly, I received an email from Aventon after I had received the bikes saying they were shipping and provided the website for the User Manual and Assembly Video.
The bikes each arrived in their own box each weighing 80-85 pounds. The bike and battery are 73 pounds and the packing materials accounts for the additional weight.
Both bikes were well-packed and the boxes were still in good condition upon arrival at our house. Upon opening each carton, the bikes were in good shape and there was no damage to either from shipping. However, there was one issue: one of the bikes was missing the cord that goes from the charger brick to the outlet. I wrote to Aventon about this, but to this day have never heard back from them. I ended up buying another on Amazon for $8 as I got tired of waiting.
Before receiving the bikes, I watched Aventon's Assembly Video 2-3 times to become familiar with what was needed for assembly. Once I knew when they were going to be delivered I watched the video again. The video was very thorough and provided good directions.
I assembled both bikes and had no troubles. As I will discuss in "The User Manual" section of this article, I do wish they would have provided torque values for all of items to be assembled, especially the handlebars.
Along with the bikes, we purchased the front and rear racks as well as a mirror for each. These were all easy to install as well. Not sure how much use the front rack is going to be for us, but the rear rack is nice to have.
The User Manual
BALANCING THE BATTERY (pg 19)
The User Manual can be found here: Aventure User Manual. The manual is 29 pages of which the first six pages are mostly safety warnings. Pages eight through 16 detail the assembly instructions, but I liked watching their video instead. I guess I am better at learning by seeing someone do it. The assembly video can be found here: Aventure Assembly Video. Pages 16-19 talk about battery charging and long term storage of the battery. Pages 23-25 provide information on basic bike maintenance and provides an inspection and service checklist. Page 26 lists trouble shooting information should you have a problem. The last couple of pages talk about the warranty and if you have a claim.
It's not a bad manual, but there are a number of items, in my opinion, that are missing. Let me say that I am mechanically-minded and pretty handy with tools. Below is a list of what I believe is missing or not fully explained in the manual:
- First and probably the biggest omission in the manual is that nowhere does it tell you that you have to turn on the battery by pressing the button on it for power to flow to the system. This is mentioned in the Getting Started page listed under the Related Articles section, but if you didn't see that or didn't know it was there, you could be wondering why the bike's display would not power on. This is a HUGE omission in the user manual! As a matter of fact, a friend of mine purchased two bikes after he saw ours and he said later that it took him quite some time to realize there was a power button on the battery and the key did nothing concerning power.
The other related item is that the provided key is only used to unlock and remove the battery. It has nothing to do with turning on/off the power. This should also be made very clear and is not.
- I would have liked to have the torque values for many of the items I was assembling, such as for the handlebars. Torque values were provided for the front wheel nuts and the pedals only.
- On page 3, Suspension, Handlebar, Grips, and Seat Adjustments states: "The suspension fork on your ebike will affect the handling of the bike so you must understand how it works before use. The suspension fork should be properly adjusted according to your weight and terrain." But, it doesn't tell you how to adjust it?
- Also on page 3, it states: "Ensure the handlebar and handlebar stem are properly aligned, fitted to the user, and secured to their recommended torque values." But it provides no torque values to use?
- The manual provided the tire inflation range of 5-30 PSI in a couple of places, but it gives no suggested settings for different kinds of terrain or operator weights. I understand there are multiple variables here, but a simple chart with recommendations would have been helpful.
- The manual shows how to install the seat, but there is no direction provided on how to properly set the seat height. I went onto YouTube and watched a video on how to set the seat height.
- Step 14 in the manual is titled: Powering on the display. It doesn't mention the button on the battery that needs to be pressed first. It needs to mention that here.
- On page 19 there is critical information on "Balancing the Battery"
- I like the Expected Range table they provide on page 22 that shows what you can expect for range based on conditions.
- On page 23, there is an easy to read and understand maintenance interval chart. The first sentence states: "Check hardware for proper torque: See Recommended Torque Values chart." There is no Torque Chart that I could ever find.
- Page 24 lists a pre-ride checklist. I think the items in the table are good, but some require more explanation. For example, the one for brakes states to check the brake pads for wear and ensure they are not overworn. However, nowhere do they provide a simple picture telling you what to look for. I have been around motorcycles most of my life and know how to check disc brake pads, but many may not.
Some other items that are not in the manual that I wish they had covered or provided links to:
- No info on adjusting preload and lockout for the front shock absorber
- No info on adjusting gears
- No info on adjusting brakes or determining remaining life
Transporting the eBikes
Each of the Aventures weighs in at 73 pounds, including the battery, so that is almost 150 pounds on a bike carrier for two of these eBikes. This is significantly more than most bike carriers can handle. Removing the battery will reduce the weight by about eight pounds for each bike, but they are still heavy at 65 pounds.
There were two bike racks that I found that would hold these heavier bikes, but both had backlogs. I first went to QuikrStuff and got on their waiting list so I would be contacted when they were ready to receive more orders. I kept searching and came across 1up and also went on their waiting list. I got on both of these waiting lists within a week of ordering the bikes.
Not knowing if I was going to be waiting months, I searched for other bike racks on Amazon and found the Hollywood Racks Sport Rider for Electric Bikes HR-1500-2", which has an ASIN of B08HJTFN64. This rack was rated to carry a maximum weight of 80 pounds per bike for up to two bikes and could accommodate the 4" wide fat tires.
I was just about to purchase it when I received an email from 1up stating that I could order, and that is what I did. I ordered the 2" Super Duty Double in black and got the spacer kits for the wider tires. I also paid for the expedited shipping so I would receive the rack sooner than non-expedited requests. It came about a week later, fully assembled and ready to go. It is heavy at 47 pounds and mounts on a 2 inch receiver hitch.
It installs on the receiver hitch easily and they even provide a way to tighten it down so it does not rattle and fatigue the steel. The only adjustment I had to make was to move one of the spacers in four positions so as not to contact the rear fender. I did this on the opposite side spacer for the other bike since they are loaded facing different directions.
The 1up rack is rated at 50-75 pounds per bicycle for the double which is adequate for these eBikes.
The Videos
Aventon Support
I only wrote to Aventon once via email since having the bikes and that was due to one of the bikes missing the cord that goes from the brick to the outlet. I never heard back from them.
I know that their sales jumped incredibly when they released the Aventure and they were overwhelmed in all facets of their company. While that's no excuse, I do understand the problem they were facing.
Online Forum
After receiving the bikes I went searching for an online forum where I could ask questions and share thoughts on the bike. I found the Aventon Forum on the ElectricBikeReview site and have been using it to help answer questions that I have. There is a good community of riders that will help you out. I have also watched many videos from ElectricBikeReview and they are always thorough and helpful.
Issues We Have Had
Since receiving the bikes, my wife and I have gone on 5-6 rides together, totaling about 65 miles. My wife has actually gone out with others on a few rides so she has more miles than me.
Our first ride was about 5-6 miles and we had no problems with either bike. We were getting familiar with the bikes and how the power engaged. I have to say the first time I pedaled on level 1, the bike kind of took off on me. My wife had the same experience. We both found that using the throttle to start out was easier for us.
On our second ride we went twice the distance of the first ride. On this ride I experienced two problems with my bike:
- when shifting to the lowest gear, the chain jumped the sprocket and got stuck between the sprocket and hub
- The plastic piece on the bottom of the kickstand that makes it wider fell off
The issue with the gears appeared when I first started riding this second time and once I realized that the chain could jump off, I was careful not to allow it. I would adjust the derailleur after the ride. It's weird to me that there was no problem on the first very short ride but there was on the second ride?
The kickstand piece fell off and I heard it and stopped. I found the plastic piece and the nut, but not the bolt. I found a replacement for it later at home and reinstalled it. I don't know if it wasn't tightened fully at delivery or if vibration made it come loose.
I adjusted the derailleur after I returned home. It required a significant amount of adjustment to stop the chain from being able to jump over the lowest gear. I have ridden the bike a number of times since making the adjustment, and it continues to work as it should.
Note that there is nothing in the User Manual or in any videos that shows how to adjust the derailleur. YouTube to the rescue again. After watching a couple of videos, making the adjustment was easy.
We have ridden the bikes a number of times after these problems and have not had any other issues.
Conclusion
My wife and I are both happy with the bikes so far, although we haven't ridden any others with which to compare them. While Aventon has clearly been growing faster than the can keep up with, we received our bikes on time and as promised.
The fit and finish of the bikes is very nice. Getting fenders, hydraulic brakes and a nice-sized battery are all good.
With some other changes (Torque sensitive versus Cadence controller; variable versus on/off accelerator; built-in delay shutting off power when stopping pedaling) the Aventure could be best in class and price-point.
