Aventon Level or Himiway?

[Wooshers]

So prices seem to be raising everywhere and I'm hoping to pull the trigger ASAP. The store within a 30 minute drive sells Aventon and I really like the look of the Level. They'll order it and says it takes up to 6-8 weeks to get but ordering from them gives me 3 tune ups included. My weight is roughly 290 atm hopefully headed down but it still exceeds Aventon of 250. The Himiway is a little bit cheaper but I'll have to put it together and find a service center if I have an issue plus pay for tune ups. But it has a bigger battery which would be very helpful with my added weight. Also has more accessories like the front basket for my grocery trips and has a child seat which I might need in a few months. The fat tires could be a pro or con I guess. I'll mostly be on roads but maybe there are some places near me which have some offroad, won't know till I go exploring. I noticed Himiway shows Velotooler(Mobile bike mechanic)and its apparently available in my area. So I'd probably use that to service if and when I need it.(Assuming I can't get someone at LBS to do it)

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[WattsUpDude]

Have you done a test ride on either one, yet?

 

[Wooshers]

Have you done a test ride on either one, yet?

I've ridden a Lectric Xp, Biktrix Mid drive, 6 different Pedego bikes and an expensive Townie. The store has no Aventon in stock for ppl to test drive....they sell out as soon as they come in and said they can place an order for it but they're about 6-8 weeks out. I talked with someone with a Himiway but did not ride. He had only good things to say but ownership is short atm so hard to say down the line. So unfortunately wouldn't be able to test either. The Biktrix is similar to the Himiway in that it had fat tires and it might have even been the same frame. Different drive system though.

 

[PedalUma]

Lion Sleeps Tonight, Himiway, Himiway.
A guy brought in his Himiway last week. It died six-months ago on its first real ride. He has been trying to get customer service ever since. He thought that a hub motor could climb a hill! The bike is such a porker it can't go up and down curbs and has a bunch of ugly wires at the handle bar. We will see if the motor is burnt when he gets a new controller in six-months.
Get a mid-drive that you have ridden. Smaller batteries are best. Lighter is better. My 36V x 10.5 battery out ran today a bike with a 48V x 21.1 battery. Because each of the three bikes on today's ride have mid-drives they could do the climbs.

 

[Wooshers]

Lion Sleeps Tonight, Himiway, Himiway.
A guy brought in his Himiway last week. It died six-months ago on its first real ride. He has been trying to get customer service ever since. He thought that a hub motor could climb a hill! The bike is such a porker it can't go up and down curbs and has a bunch of ugly wires at the handle bar. We will see if the motor is burnt when he gets a new controller in six-months.
Get a mid-drive that you have ridden. Smaller batteries are best. Lighter is better. My 36V x 10.5 battery out ran today a bike with a 48V x 21.1 battery. Because each of the three bikes on today's ride have mid-drives they could do the climbs.

Yeah. Heard a few bad things but there are also a ton of good things people say. The juggernaut duo was tempting because I really enjoyed my ride with the Biktrix but it’s probably out of my price range and months wait. There is a Verve 2 used for sale in area but I do worry a bit being used without warranty. The Bosch motor be nice but otoh I think if I needed extra battery that price is almost the price of a Himiway.

If I pushed the budget to 2600 I think there was a Modela 2 for around that, Verve 2, Giant E 3, Momentum Vida, and a Lafree. The lafree is a nice price but I’m not sure I’d enjoy the ride style. I did like the sorta leaned forward type ride of the juggernaut and this seems more cruiser like. Although the Townie was a nice ride...I did feel a little lazy while riding it and I do want some exercise.

also fwiw I live in Florida so climbing hills won’t really be a problem here.

 

[WattsUpDude]

Just like @PedalUma , I'm a huge middrive fan. A big part of that might be that we live in hilly San Francisco Bay Area. I think that hub drives have their place and will probably keep you happy if you happen to live somewhere relatively flat.

I'll chime in with personal experience on the Aventon. The Pace 500 (shares the controller with the Level, as far as I know) does not like to go slow. Assist level 1 will launch you to 11-12 MPH very quickly. It sucks to ride it anywhere there may be other people or obstacles in the way. And hubdrives "run out of breath" on steep or sustained hills. I will say that the build quality on the frame was really nice for the price point. But I'll never ride a bike with a basic cadence sensor ever again. It's not for me. I like the very natural feel of a torque sensor.

 

[PedalUma]

Wooshers, Hub-drives do have their place. It is just not in hill country. Get one with some local support that you can test ride. Not a bike like the one in these photos. This first bike's owner got a bike that did not work. It is heavy and oh so wrong.

 

[Wooshers]

Just like @PedalUma , I'm a huge middrive fan. A big part of that might be that we live in hilly San Francisco Bay Area. I think that hub drives have their place and will probably keep you happy if you happen to live somewhere relatively flat.

I'll chime in with personal experience on the Aventon. The Pace 500 (shares the controller with the Level, as far as I know) does not like to go slow. Assist level 1 will launch you to 11-12 MPH very quickly. It sucks to ride it anywhere there may be other people or obstacles in the way. And hubdrives "run out of breath" on steep or sustained hills. I will say that the build quality on the frame was really nice for the price point. But I'll never ride a bike with a basic cadence sensor ever again. It's not for me. I like the very natural feel of a torque sensor.

Thanks for the info on Aventon. My mom is also looking for an ebike as she’s older and just recently retired and wants to get out and about. We were really considering the step through level or 500 for her but that might not be good if that’s not adjustable. Although idk of a Torque sensing bike with a step through, store support, and a throttle.

 

[PedalUma]

Step through bikes can be made electric. With a torque sensing mid-drive.! The blue one and the red one can have a throttle added but it drops performance to Class 2. Only 8-wire displays can have a throttle with a torque sensor.

 

[WattsUpDude]

Step through bikes can be made electric. With a torque sensing mid-drive.! The blue one and the red one can have a throttle added but it drops performance to Class 2. Only 8-wire displays can have a throttle with a torque sensor.

Sorry for going off-topic but I really like your work. Is it possible to mount a TSDZ2 on a belt drive bike?

 

[PedalUma]

Sorry for going off-topic but I really like your work. Is it possible to mount a TSDZ2 on a belt drive bike?

I think the topic ran its course.
Thanks, I am doing one this week. It just takes a wafer thin adapter. Google Gates 110BCD - 130BCD spider. $35..
Then a fresh problem arises. The gearing with the additional power feels too low. The cost effective answer is to use a HL1L Wide chain that lasts as long as a belt, dropping the rear cog to 16-T on the Nexus or Alfine 8. Then the bike does 24.2Mph at 80Rpm and feels nicely balanced. See some additional ideas at PedalUma.com. The Wide chain will have some break-in stretch by three weeks of climbs, then it stabilizes nicely. Rear cogs on belts are all too big for what I like to ride.

 

[GenXrider]

I was interested in the Aventon Level at one point, but it didn't have power percentage adjustment for each individual assist level, wasn't geared as high in top gear as I would have liked, and the tires weren't as wide as I preferred. I ended up going with a Ride1Up 700 instead which has the higher top gear, adjustable power for each assist level (and options of ranges), and 2.4" wide tires on wide rims. I don't even have a local bike shop within 2 hour round trip, and they don't have Aventon, so that wasn't a factor for me.

 

[JohnCZ]

Lion Sleeps Tonight, Himiway, Himiway.
A guy brought in his Himiway last week. It died six-months ago on its first real ride. He has been trying to get customer service ever since. He thought that a hub motor could climb a hill! The bike is such a porker it can't go up and down curbs and has a bunch of ugly wires at the handle bar. We will see if the motor is burnt when he gets a new controller in six-months.
Get a mid-drive that you have ridden. Smaller batteries are best. Lighter is better. My 36V x 10.5 battery out ran today a bike with a 48V x 21.1 battery. Because each of the three bikes on today's ride have mid-drives they could do the climbs.

Himiway suspects I may need a new controller based on a minor, very minor glitch I have. They have immediately expedited a shipment of a new controller to me free of charge.
Things must have improved, greatly.

 

[tgianco]

Yeah. Heard a few bad things but there are also a ton of good things people say. The juggernaut duo was tempting because I really enjoyed my ride with the Biktrix but it’s probably out of my price range and months wait. There is a Verve 2 used for sale in area but I do worry a bit being used without warranty. The Bosch motor be nice but otoh I think if I needed extra battery that price is almost the price of a Himiway.

If I pushed the budget to 2600 I think there was a Modela 2 for around that, Verve 2, Giant E 3, Momentum Vida, and a Lafree. The lafree is a nice price but I’m not sure I’d enjoy the ride style. I did like the sorta leaned forward type ride of the juggernaut and this seems more cruiser like. Although the Townie was a nice ride...I did feel a little lazy while riding it and I do want some exercise.

also fwiw I live in Florida so climbing hills won’t really be a problem here.

I've had the original Himiway Cruiser for 4 years now, have a little over 2650 miles on it (had an injury that kept me off it a while) & it still is fast, strong and goes for quite some range (over 2 rides last week, totalled 52 miles & about 2,000 feet climbing). BTW, I weigh 245, and it still kicks butt 4 years later.
I've called Himiway three times over the last 2 weeks (thinking about getting one of the new mid-drive models), and they have actually been the fastest to pick up (compared to Aventon, Evelo & Ride1Up, who were all good at picking up, just not as quick or thorough).

 

[PedalUma]

Ride 1 Up flows through. There are even local dealers in some places that assemble and provide local support. Aventon too.

 

[kevinmccune]

Yeah. Heard a few bad things but there are also a ton of good things people say. The juggernaut duo was tempting because I really enjoyed my ride with the Biktrix but it’s probably out of my price range and months wait. There is a Verve 2 used for sale in area but I do worry a bit being used without warranty. The Bosch motor be nice but otoh I think if I needed extra battery that price is almost the price of a Himiway.

If I pushed the budget to 2600 I think there was a Modela 2 for around that, Verve 2, Giant E 3, Momentum Vida, and a Lafree. The lafree is a nice price but I’m not sure I’d enjoy the ride style. I did like the sorta leaned forward type ride of the juggernaut and this seems more cruiser like. Although the Townie was a nice ride...I did feel a little lazy while riding it and I do want some exercise.

also fwiw I live in Florida so climbing hills won’t really be a problem here.

if you want exercise cut the pedal assist off,its that simple,you are going to find a fattire bike is very hard to pedal without assist,the reviewer called " citizen cycle" had good things to say about the himiway( i dont get this hill thing-do people not pedal?)oth propella has a very nice lightweight bike under $1000,you are never going to find the "grail" just listen to other reviewers and get the closest thing in your price range,"pedaluma"gives good advice,,though i have never been impressed with a 36 volt middrive you might like it( my biggest trouble is my budget)

 

[tgianco]

True! There is no ONE ebike that fits all my wants & needs, at least none that I've looked at in my typical ebike budget (under $5k). Figure out the most important needs/ wants for you and decide off those factors. For me, biggest needs are: 1. Range - I like longer rides and want to get 50+ miles on a charge (mostly in ECO mode). 2. Torque - higher torque to assist on steeper hills 3. Sensor - really like torque (more natural ride) as opposed to cadence.
If you don't live in a hilly area, torque may not be important. Same if you don't plan on longer, 3-5 hour rides (range). Personally, I like a mid-drive, but I see the use cases for both (and own both).

 

[PedalUma]

A good friend just made a big mistake by not understanding that less is more. He was attracted to the balloons, flashing lights, and shinny things. He just purchased a bike with a heavy hub drive, a Gates belt, and a heavy Pinion gearbox. It requires a Bluetooth phone on a network to a remote server to turn on and to keep on. I can understand a Gates. It is strong. That helps with a mid-drive. But this is a hub motor. The Pinon weighs more that 2.3 liters of Coke and only has six speeds. If there is a network problem in remote areas, he is screwed. The direct drive hub weighs in at about 4 liters. The gearing does not interact with the motor. The motor is a single speed so it cannot help with pedaling climbs. It also has an overly large battery that is only attractive as a statistical point. In reality it is more like having an overly large anchor in a row boat. Beauty is about proportion and grace, balance. Parts must enhance the overall. This Stromer is an inelegant bike that would not survive in the wild.

 

[tgianco]

Agreed with PedalUma. Stromer is a good name-brand. However, getting support is a big issue. If you're in Europe where Stromer is more recognized, that's one thing. If you're in the USA, Stromer is a niche, high-end choice. I LOVE the thought of the Gates belt drive, but haven't seen it on a bike that even remotely tickles my fancy. Now, if someone can offer a rugged belt drive on a Bosch mid-drive w/ full suspension and 85+ nm of torque, now we're on to something.

 

[tgianco]

I've ridden a Lectric Xp, Biktrix Mid drive, 6 different Pedego bikes and an expensive Townie. The store has no Aventon in stock for ppl to test drive....they sell out as soon as they come in and said they can place an order for it but they're about 6-8 weeks out. I talked with someone with a Himiway but did not ride. He had only good things to say but ownership is short atm so hard to say down the line. So unfortunately wouldn't be able to test either. The Biktrix is similar to the Himiway in that it had fat tires and it might have even been the same frame. Different drive system though.

Both are good brands w/ big distributor networks. I like their looks and their function (own one of each). I do NOT at all like how the Pedegos look (hey, I still want to look like I'm riding an actual bike... those things look too funky). Biktrix seemingly makes a good bike, but make sure you look at the components and whether someone locally can work on it. If you've got name-brand components (Shimano, SRAM, Rockshox, Fox, Suntour, etc), at least there's a pretty good chance that your LBS (still best to buy from them as they can service what they sell) will be able to service your needs, which you WILL have.