I recently assembled two Aventon Pace 500’s, one for my wife and one for her friend. Other than a few minor issues, and a needed revamp of the directions, I was very impressed with the overall quality of the bikes.
The Aventons were packaged very well, and other than a small tear in the nose of a saddle there was no shipping damage. Be careful after snipping the zip ties and freeing up the front wheel, since a crank arm is entwined with the spokes and needs to be gently guided out, in the right direction. Also, when removing the rear derailleur guard, it broke apart, leaving a portion of it on the axle, just below the smallest cog. I was lucky to notice it, as it was almost invisible, and was able to pry it free.
The rear wheel is now shipped already on the bike, and both wheels use nutted axles, neither of which are reflected in the directions. With that said, though, all four rims were perfect…round and true. The reflective stripe on the tires may not be perfectly round, but the rims are. The front wheel axles spun as smooth as butter, well-greased and correctly assembled. To make sure the tires were seated well in the rim I deflated them to about 25 pounds, rolled around carefully in my driveway, then went to 45psi pressure. I don’t know the brand of the tubes, but they have a solid gold stem which is pretty cool. The Kenda Kwick Seven-5 Sport 2.2” tires look good, and are an ideal width for this bike, in my opinion.
The hex wrench and allen key tools supplied were convenient, especially the hex wrench. It’s even got a little offset so you don’t scratch the paint when tightening the axle nuts. When installing the front wheel, by the way, make sure it is centered.
Greasing the seat post and seat clamp is advised, but then requires quite a bit of pressure to clamp the quick release down so that the saddle does not twist. The 8-speed Altus drivetrain required some minor tuning, easily accomplished by using the micro-adjuster near the rear derailleur.
The handlebars and cabling mounted easily, but for me the stem took some figuring out since I was unfamiliar with this sealed bearing style. Again, no clear explanation in the directions for this, so I went to a video to learn. First, break loose the two sideways clamps, the ones that face opposite each other. Next, going from the top down into the stem, crank that down snug. This should set the bearing load for the head set, so there will be minimal play in the fork. Then tighten the two clamps to set the head set pre-load. While squeezing the front brake, and rocking the bike back and forth, you should not feel any slop in the fork’s head set.
To raise the angle of the stem, first break loose the bolt on the right side of the stem, then loosen the bolt on the underside of the stem, then raise the stem up to the desired height. Tighten the underside bolt, then the right side bolt. But, don’t forget to find and place the little rubber cap into the top of the stem beforehand, since you will not have access to it after raising the stem.
I’m also unfamiliar with hydraulic disc brakes, so I was dismayed when I heard the rear brake rotor rubbing against the brake pads…on both bikes. In addition to the slight inefficiency of brake pad rubbing, I do not want to wear the pads out prematurely. I sent an e-mail asking Aventon about this, and will update this thread with their explanation or solution.
As mentioned earlier, I am very impressed with the overall quality of the Aventon Pace 500. It is fun, fast, somewhat lightweight, and relatively easy to assemble. Considering the reasonable price, I would say that the Aventon Pace 500 is a very good value.
The Aventons were packaged very well, and other than a small tear in the nose of a saddle there was no shipping damage. Be careful after snipping the zip ties and freeing up the front wheel, since a crank arm is entwined with the spokes and needs to be gently guided out, in the right direction. Also, when removing the rear derailleur guard, it broke apart, leaving a portion of it on the axle, just below the smallest cog. I was lucky to notice it, as it was almost invisible, and was able to pry it free.
The rear wheel is now shipped already on the bike, and both wheels use nutted axles, neither of which are reflected in the directions. With that said, though, all four rims were perfect…round and true. The reflective stripe on the tires may not be perfectly round, but the rims are. The front wheel axles spun as smooth as butter, well-greased and correctly assembled. To make sure the tires were seated well in the rim I deflated them to about 25 pounds, rolled around carefully in my driveway, then went to 45psi pressure. I don’t know the brand of the tubes, but they have a solid gold stem which is pretty cool. The Kenda Kwick Seven-5 Sport 2.2” tires look good, and are an ideal width for this bike, in my opinion.
The hex wrench and allen key tools supplied were convenient, especially the hex wrench. It’s even got a little offset so you don’t scratch the paint when tightening the axle nuts. When installing the front wheel, by the way, make sure it is centered.
Greasing the seat post and seat clamp is advised, but then requires quite a bit of pressure to clamp the quick release down so that the saddle does not twist. The 8-speed Altus drivetrain required some minor tuning, easily accomplished by using the micro-adjuster near the rear derailleur.
The handlebars and cabling mounted easily, but for me the stem took some figuring out since I was unfamiliar with this sealed bearing style. Again, no clear explanation in the directions for this, so I went to a video to learn. First, break loose the two sideways clamps, the ones that face opposite each other. Next, going from the top down into the stem, crank that down snug. This should set the bearing load for the head set, so there will be minimal play in the fork. Then tighten the two clamps to set the head set pre-load. While squeezing the front brake, and rocking the bike back and forth, you should not feel any slop in the fork’s head set.
To raise the angle of the stem, first break loose the bolt on the right side of the stem, then loosen the bolt on the underside of the stem, then raise the stem up to the desired height. Tighten the underside bolt, then the right side bolt. But, don’t forget to find and place the little rubber cap into the top of the stem beforehand, since you will not have access to it after raising the stem.
I’m also unfamiliar with hydraulic disc brakes, so I was dismayed when I heard the rear brake rotor rubbing against the brake pads…on both bikes. In addition to the slight inefficiency of brake pad rubbing, I do not want to wear the pads out prematurely. I sent an e-mail asking Aventon about this, and will update this thread with their explanation or solution.
As mentioned earlier, I am very impressed with the overall quality of the Aventon Pace 500. It is fun, fast, somewhat lightweight, and relatively easy to assemble. Considering the reasonable price, I would say that the Aventon Pace 500 is a very good value.
