Pace 500 arriving soon...

[67Tony]

I pulled the trigger on a Pace 500.
The new Sand color is backed up about 3 weeks, black ships within 24 hours.

I ordered it last Friday, it shipped this morning (Monday), and is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday.
Pretty dang fast turnaround, I'd say, especially from CA to VA!

My wife, and about ten others in our community, love theirs, so I am excited to join the Pace gang.
Plus, Aventon's prices are set to go up in the fall, so I figured it was a good time to order.

 

[Marci jo]

Me too, Tony!

I put a down payment on a Pace 500 a few days ago. My lbs is an Aventon dealer and they have a hard time keeping them in stock.
I need the step through frame but couldn’t decide between a small or medium frame. The shop is ordering both the small and medium size so I can test ride both sizes. He said they won’t have any trouble selling whatever one doesn’t fit me. Wow, talk about great service!

This will be my first throttle ebike and I hope I don’t get too lazy using the throttle all the time. Many of my miles are in town with lot of stop lights, stop signs, and generally dodging cars. And the step through frame will make it easier to hop on & off.

Looking forward to pics of you and your wife on your Pace 500s.

 

[Key West Rick]

Awesome eBikes! Wife and I have them and could not be happier! Can’t wait to see posts from you all describing your ebike adventures!

regards,

KWR

 

[67Tony]

My initial giddiness about a fast turnaround time has been tempered.
FedEx now says to expect delivery on Friday, instead of Wednesday.

In another post, a guy said this went on for weeks,,,I hope that's not my case!

 

[Pobidz]

Congrats and welcome to the Pace club!

I say that, but I'm not truly in it myself and I'm following this thread to live vicariously lol. I ordered a 500 ST through my local dealer, and it's been over a month. I just checked the shop's website and they finally have some in stock today, but they haven't called me yet

 

[67Tony]

Got it today, one week exactly after a last Friday order.
I'm sure shipping is sporadic, and frustrating some, but I'm glad I got lucky.

Too hot in the garage to do much, about 100 degrees, but I'm looking forward to unboxing and assembling the 500.
Counting the twin balance bikes behind the box, and three in the attic, I appear to currently have a smidge over a dozen bikes!

 

[Key West Rick]

Hey 67Tony. How’s the assembly going on the ebike?


KWR

 

[67Tony]

Good news and bad news, with the bad news turning out OK quickly enough.

The good news is that the assembly went well. It's the fourth one I've done, and I continue to be impressed the packing, ease of assembly, and overall bike quality. I even remembered to put the little cap on top of the stem, before adjusting the angle. The stem can be a bit tricky, but I am used to them by now. I also had some brake pad rubbing on both discs, but corrected it easily by loosening two bolts, squeezing the lever, and, while still squeezing the lever, tightening the bolts back up. YouTube taught me that one.

Speaking of brakes, several of our neighborhood Pace 500's experience a pretty significant squealing/grinding/gurgling noise. My fix is to use a rag, wet with WD40, and wipe the entire disc with it. This works well, and did not alter the stopping ability of the brake system.

The bad news is that one of the fork dropouts is too narrow, and the axle wouldn't drop in. Using a digital calipers I measured the axle at 8.7mm, the good dropout at 9.3mm, and the pinched dropout at 7.2mm! Luckily I have a bit of experience, and was able to use a medium-length crow-bar, with tongue depressor protective shims, to open the pinched one up. Being a softer steel, the dropouts are somewhat malleable.

For comparison's sake, my wife's 500 is a year-and-a-half old, and she has nicer hand grips than mine. Also, her battery charger runs a fan while charging, while mine is shaped differently and has no fan. Lastly, my bike did not include a water bottle holder.

 

[67Tony]

Assembly update.

The head set needed a small snugging up.
Watch a video...it's easy to do but requires several steps.

And, I've already scratched the sweet black (powdercoat?) finish. It's a tiny scratch, but still.
The problem is the forward saddle clamp bolt is aligned so that the allen wrench rubs the seat post.
Probably those ball-end allen wrenches would solve the issue, now that I know that!

 

[67Tony]

Couple more small things...

My rear derailleur was occasionally hesitating, slightly, when up-shifting. I spun the micro-adjuster knuckle on the derailleur 4 notches counter-clockwise to tighten up the shift cable a smidge. Up-shifting is now very crisp. I also lubricated the chain while I was at it.

The kickstand is, conveniently, adjustable. The bike arrived with it set too short (in my opinion), so I lengthened it for a more upright stand still position.

Hopefully the pedal bearings loosen up with use, as they are pretty tight out of the box...