As holiday's approach consider buying from a dealer, NOT Aventon online

[DennisP]

As holidays approach, I want to most STRONGLY urge that consumers buy the Aventon ebike of their dreams via an authorized dealer. Do NOT make the mistake that I did buying directly from Aventon - especially around the holidays. Want to know why? It's easy. Let me tell you about my Aventon purchase and the ordeal associated with it.

First I ordered an Aventon LEVEL for my wife as a Christmas surprise, well before the holidays. I was assured that my pre Black Friday offer was the BEST they would do. It was not, when I called customer service they blew me off and told me that since I accepted a previous offer, I was not eligible for the better Black Friday discount. I ordered the bike with an upgraded display. I received multiple updates regarding the display delivery but not ONE for the actual LEVEL bike delivery. It was a surprise for my wife and I had made arrangements for delivery to an alternate address. So..., no heads up for my poor neighbor who gets surprised by a delivery I couldn't warn him about, along with a BADLY damaged box. Not off to a good start with Aventon.

We managed to get the bike assembled and planned to move it to my home Christmas Eve. Needed to take the front wheel off to move it in my SUV. The front brake engaged and completely closed. I presented my wife with her expensive present, less a front wheel on Christmas day. After nearly 18 emails, I finally received a replacement front brake assembly nearly a month later. In the meantime, when I questioned why it wasn't recommended to use a spacer when moving the bike, I requested Aventon provide me one. An Aventon supervisor suggested I go to a bike store and buy one. NOT the greatest customer service. Your dealer will advocate on your behalf in any similar circumstance.

Finally, in late March my wife is ready for her first ride. We notice after a few good rides that the display remains at 100%. and again, the saga with Aventon customer service begins again. They replace the display, no help. Then they send me a controller that I can't even find on the bike and when I request instructions to replace it, they don't have instructions and suggest that I take my bike to a dealer for the repair.

They offered a $40 credit to their authorized dealer for the repair - READ the warranty info for any bike purchase CAREFULLY. That's where Blimp City Bike & Hike in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio falls into this frustrating equation. Andy and his service team there went above and beyond the call of duty to manage this on my behalf. THEY DIDN'T HAVE TOO! I didn't buy the bike from them. They listened to me, they read the ridiculous message threads, and addressed my issues directly with their Aventon sales rep on my behalf. They didn't have to, but I seriously appreciate how they helped me.

Please - as holidays approach consider making your bike purchase from an authorized dealer. DO NOT put yourself in the position I placed myself in, dealing with a growing company with a good product, but overwhelmed with growth their support organization had NOT grown into and likely still can't possibly provide. I learned a valuable lesson and hope that any interest in an ebike purchase takes you directly to your local dealer. Do NOT buy directly online from Aventon.
Happy Holidays, in advance!!!

 

[harryS]

After a rough start like that, I hope your wife is enjoying the AVenton and uses Blimp City to keep it tuned?

 

[DennisP]

We are Blimp City fans forever!

 

[rob feature]

Totally on board with buying from the bike shop, but that brake thing wasn't on the manufacturer. The brakes did what they were supposed to - close when the lever was pulled. It's a simple fix - just pry them back apart with something clean. Larger flathead screwdrivers are good for this. If it ever happens again

 

[Tom@WashDC]

I agree with Rob Feature. The brake thing is on you. Happens all the time to hydraulic brakes, you just need to spread the pads with a flathead screwdriver.

I purchased two Aventon Levels in Sept 20'. Very happy with my purchase. Aventon was very responsive with my service problem and sent me a new motor/wheel assembly pronto. I had one problem with them but not related to the actual bike/service. They would not divulge the BMS Amp capacity of the battery to me.

To your point. If you buy a bike online, you are probably going to pay a bit less than if you purchased the same bike from a dealer, thus you may save money. If you are unwilling or unable to do your own basic assembly and repairs, then you should absolutely purchase a bike from a local bike store.

BTW I replaced the controller on my Aventon Level. It was an simple procedure for me. Took about 30 minutes.

I hope you enjoy your Level once the kinks are ironed out.

 

[DennisP]

Totally on board with buying from the bike shop, but that brake thing wasn't on the manufacturer. The brakes did what they were supposed to - close when the lever was pulled. It's a simple fix - just pry them back apart with something clean. Larger flathead screwdrivers are good for this. If it ever happens again

So, put your self in the shoes of a guy who's putting a bike together with a quick release front wheel. Why not include the 30 seconds or so it would've taken in the instruction video to point out what the brake would do and why the spacer might be an important item to save? If not the video, somewhere/anywhere in the install PDF might have helped.

My other thought. Why wouldn't Aventon customer support provide that same simple guidance and send me an entire brake assembly to install instead? Believe me, given your guidance after this happened, I'd have been a happy camper just prying the brake apart. No such guidance was ever given to me by Aventon.

Wish I'd know of this forum when it went down. Your help would have saved much frustration and Aventon a front brake assembly. Appreciate your feedback!

 

[rob feature]

That's a good question. It would have been far cheaper for them to just tell you how to open the calipers. And could have avoided frustrating a customer.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Totally on board with buying from the bike shop, but that brake thing wasn't on the manufacturer. The brakes did what they were supposed to - close when the lever was pulled. It's a simple fix - just pry them back apart with something clean. Larger flathead screwdrivers are good for this. If it ever happens again

unless the pistons have gone too far then you can be SOL. on cheap brakes this is more of a possibility. or at least you will need to bleed the system/

 

[rob feature]

unless the pistons have gone too far then you can be SOL. on cheap brakes this is more of a possibility. or at least you will need to bleed the system/

I guess there could be some designs out there that allow the pistons to travel beyond recovery, but I've never seen that. And would not want to own those brakes. They should also be a closed system and not let air in, but again, like you say, no telling with cheaper brakes. No idea what comes on this bike, but components are a way that manufacturers cut costs. You can't go wrong with Shimano, Sram (these days anyway), Magura and Paul but outside of those, who knows? I've heard a lot of complaints about Tektro (big in the offbrand ebike space) and there is no shortage of Amazon players out there with names like UGVJ or DTYF, LOIOUH that they'll sell ya for a few bucks and tell you they're just fine. Who needs brakes - they only slow ya down

 

[fooferdoggie]

I guess there could be some designs out there that allow the pistons to travel beyond recovery, but I've never seen that. And would not want to own those brakes. They should also be a closed system and not let air in, but again, like you say, no telling with cheaper brakes. No idea what comes on this bike, but components are a way that manufacturers cut costs. You can't go wrong with Shimano, Sram (these days anyway), Magura and Paul but outside of those, who knows? I've heard a lot of complaints about Tektro (big in the offbrand ebike space) and there is no shortage of Amazon players out there with names like UGVJ or DTYF, LOIOUH that they'll sell ya for a few bucks and tell you they're just fine. Who needs brakes - they only slow ya down

ya it may not be a issue on most brakes pushing them out too far now. but they would need bled no matter what. I did that once on my Shimano xt's I took the pads out the check them then peddled to shift down to take the wheel off then squeezed the lever. oops. had to bleed them. even had bleed one when my bike fell over.

 

[Tom@WashDC]

So, put your self in the shoes of a guy who's putting a bike together with a quick release front wheel. Why not include the 30 seconds or so it would've taken in the instruction video to point out what the brake would do and why the spacer might be an important item to save? If not the video, somewhere/anywhere in the install PDF might have helped.

My other thought. Why wouldn't Aventon customer support provide that same simple guidance and send me an entire brake assembly to install instead? Believe me, given your guidance after this happened, I'd have been a happy camper just prying the brake apart. No such guidance was ever given to me by Aventon.

Wish I'd know of this forum when it went down. Your help would have saved much frustration and Aventon a front brake assembly. Appreciate your feedback!

Dennis,
Welcome to the Forum. Feel free to reach out any time.
Pretty much everyone here is very helpful, but don't forget to bring your sense of humor with you. Some of us (myself included) will take the occasional opportunity to kid, goad, or poke fun of each other, but we are all here to help each other in the end.

Looking forward to learning from your experiences and seeing you post a photo or two of your rides.

~Tom