The Aventon Aventure is a nice bike and worth the money but with a few important, potentially debilitating drawbacks. When I first got the bike, the front brake pads made a terrible scraping, grinding sound and never bedded properly. I tried sanding them, but it didn't help. Support said the pads are backordered. They are Bengal Ares 3, PH02 pads, but with a spring. Aventon support said that the calipers were magnetic (even though mine have a spring separator) so I ordered PH02 pads from Perfect Brake. Wrong! The calipers require a spring, they are not magnetic. Aventon corrected themselves (earler calipers were magnetic, they said) and sent pads and a new rotor from a bike that was returned (kudos for that), but they have no idea when pads with a spring will be available. The Bengal website no longer pictures the PH02 pads with a spring. Huh? The bike will be unusable when the pads wear out. Are owners going to have to replace the calipers with a more standard caliper when the pads wear out? This is a ticking time bomb for many new owners that I hope Aventon has a solution for soon.
Next, the battery connector from the charger to the battery is odd. It is very non-standard. It is a ST3 type, but not even like the ST3 connectors found on Grin Technologies ebikes.ca website. I have a cycle Satiator charger which is can be programmed to charge the battery to say, 80%, 90%, or 100% at programmable amperage rates. Down the road, should the current charger from Aventon fail, owners will be unable to charge the battery because the chargers are also out of stock. Aventon should have used a more standard barrel connector so other chargers could be used. Support told me they can only recommend using their charger, even if I could find a connector that would work with the Satiator. Really? A $300 charger vs their charger that probably cost $25 to source and is not available? Disappointing.
I am grateful that Aventon has been able to produce a fun bike at a reasonable price during a time when bike parts are difficult if not impossible to get, but it is short-sighted to not plan ahead and have extra brake pads and chargers on hand, nor is it customer friendly for Aventon to supply a battery with a proprietary connector. Aventon is selling bikes but painted themselves into a corner with regard to brakes and battery chargers. I did recommend the bike to others who made the purchase, but until Aventon address these issues, I will no longer recommend this purchase.
Next, the battery connector from the charger to the battery is odd. It is very non-standard. It is a ST3 type, but not even like the ST3 connectors found on Grin Technologies ebikes.ca website. I have a cycle Satiator charger which is can be programmed to charge the battery to say, 80%, 90%, or 100% at programmable amperage rates. Down the road, should the current charger from Aventon fail, owners will be unable to charge the battery because the chargers are also out of stock. Aventon should have used a more standard barrel connector so other chargers could be used. Support told me they can only recommend using their charger, even if I could find a connector that would work with the Satiator. Really? A $300 charger vs their charger that probably cost $25 to source and is not available? Disappointing.
I am grateful that Aventon has been able to produce a fun bike at a reasonable price during a time when bike parts are difficult if not impossible to get, but it is short-sighted to not plan ahead and have extra brake pads and chargers on hand, nor is it customer friendly for Aventon to supply a battery with a proprietary connector. Aventon is selling bikes but painted themselves into a corner with regard to brakes and battery chargers. I did recommend the bike to others who made the purchase, but until Aventon address these issues, I will no longer recommend this purchase.
