Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through Review, 2024
Oct 27, 2023
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Popular Step-Through Fat Tire e-Bike Gets Even Better With Latest Fine Tuning and Small Details
The Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through we’re reviewing is one of the more popular e-bikes on the road today. The first Aventure gained a large following thanks to features that satisfy a lot of riders’ wish lists: excellent handling, great acceleration and cruising speed, strong stopping power, long battery life, easy to operate, comfortable ride, and all this for under $2000!
When we were sent the Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through to review, we wondered what the brand did to make a great bike even better. The answer? Fine tuning and focus on the little details. Aventon’s “fine tuning” has a lot to do with this bike’s new torque sensor, replacing the cadence sensor. This not only improved motor engagement with the pedaling, but it also improved this bike’s battery range and its hill climbing efficiency. While the little details include adding frame-integrated turn signals for added safety.
This step-through e-bike continues to be offered in two sizes – regular and large, making this bike very rideable for a large number of people. Seniors and shorter riders will especially benefit from the ease of mounting the saddle without having to deal with kicking their leg over a frame top tube. But really, who can’t appreciate a ride that’s easier to hop on?
If you’ve noticed more fat tire e-bikes rolling on your local roads, and you’ve wondered what the fuss is all about, then read through our Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through review. You’ll better understand the full scope of fun and function a good fat tire e-bike can offer, and you’ll see why we feel the Aventure.2 Step-Through is one of the best fat tire e-bikes you can find.
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Bike Category:Fat Tire / Commuter / Cruiser
Class 2 E-Bike:Throttle up to 20 mph; Pedal assist up to 22 mph (can be changed to 28 mph in the app).
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Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through Video Review
Pros- A natural-feeling, yet powerful ride. Aventon improved motor engagement by replacing the cadence sensor with a new torque sensor. You get the fun speed of the old Aventure but improved ride quality.
- Longer range without extra battery weight! The torque sensor and new PAS system make better use of the same sized battery from the previous model.
- Produces a very stable & comfortable ride through the short wheel base, sturdy frame, and well balanced handlebar-seat-pedal ergonomics.
- Each PAS level feels usable. More efficient power output by replacing the 5-level PAS with 4 PAS modes instead, with noticed improvement on hills in lower settings.
- Safer rides using the new integrated turn signals to warn drivers where you’re intending to go.
- You can fine tune your ride functions using the smartphone app that integrates additional features.
- Features nice colors with a stunning blue or classic black (with grey and green available on the highstep model)
- You can fine tune your ride functions using the smartphone app that integrates additional features.
- Enhancing this bike’s commuter / adventure appeal are the range of accessories Aventon offers for customizing your Aventure.2 Step-Through to meet your riding needs.
Cons- While you don’t feel it while riding, the 77 lbs of the Aventure is slightly heavier than similar fat bikes. Make sure you get the best bike rack for higher weight capacities.
ELECTRICAL SPECS & FEATURES
- Motor: 750W, 48V Aventon brushless rear hub motor
- Throttle: On demand, from complete stop up to 20 mph
- Speed: Up to 28 MPH on pedal assist
- Battery: 48V, 15Ah (720Wh) Lithium-Ion with LG cells
- Sensor: Torque sensor
- Range: Up to 60 Miles
- Display: LCD smart easy read display with backlight, colorful screen with app
- PAS: 4 levels: Eco, Tour, Sport, Boost
- Charger: 48V 3 amp fast charger, 4-5 hour charging
Weight & Dimensions
- Claimed weight: 77 lbs.
- Maximum rider weight: 400 lbs.
Components & Accessories
- Brakes: Tektro HD-E350 hydraulic disc brakes, 180mm rotor, 2-piston calipers
- Crankset: 48T, 170mm crank arm
- Gearing: Shimano 8-speed, 12-32T cassette
- Derailleur/Shifter: Shimano Altus 8-speed, rapid-fire trigger shifter
- Frame: 6061 single-butted aluminum alloy with internal battery
- Fork: Suspension fork with 80mm travel, with lockout
- Tires: Innova 26″ x 4″ puncture resistant all-terrain tires
- Tubes: Butyl rubber, Schrader valve
- Hubs: 36H disc nutted front and rear axles
- Handlebar: Aluminum, 31.8mm stem clamp diameter, 680mm width
- Grips: Ergonomic comfort
- Pedals: 9/16′ alloy platform
- Bottom bracket: Square taper, sealed, w/ torque sensor
- Chain: 122 Link, 8 Speed
- Kickstand: Rear mount
- Rims: Double wall aluminum 36H front & rear
- Spokes: Black stainless 13G front / 12G rear
- Saddle: Aventon by Velo
- Seatpost: Forged alloy, 30.9mm 2-bolt clamp
- Stem: Threadless, 31.8mm, 8 degree rise
- Headset: Sealed bearing headset
- Seat clamp: 34.9 mm quick release
E-Bike Overview: Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through
If you’re new to the Aventure series, here’s a quick takeaway of what made this bike so popular: it helped normalize a lot of the features you find on most e-bikes in the $1500-$2000 bracket you find today. It upped the ante of the time by using a color LCD screen, integrating the battery into the frame, offering multiple frame colors and sizes to choose, and stopping on hydraulic disc brakes. Common place now, not so much the case in 2021. And that makes mention of nothing of the hallmarks of a fat tire e-bike: powerful 750W motor, massive 4″ wide tires for cruising down the street comfortably or for prowling over your nearby fire road.
So what is the new Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through trying to normalize now? Well, a torque sensor and some more integrated features is a nice sight on fat tire e-bikes.
Torque sensors present some advantages for riders. It helps the motor engage better with the rider because it identifies how hard the rider is pedaling, and this carries over to better power output management (on the high and low end), more efficient battery use, and better hill climbing performance in lower PAS setting.
Aventon could have just added this one key component and decided that was enough of an update, and riders would probably still be pretty happy. But Aventon didn’t stop there. In order to help increase power output efficiency, they also redesigned the pedal assist system by dumping the old PAS 1 -5 levels and instead setup a 4-level system that actually gives you more at the low and high PAS modes.
One example, the Eco mode that replaced PAS 1 now runs at a more robust pace, making it more rider-friendly, we found when we used this mode for the long range battery test. With the old version PAS 1 was too slow and ineffective for constant use. We’ll go into more detail on this in the Range Test section that’s coming up, but this says something about the added benefits just from adding a torque sensor to this bike.
Further improving your ride experience was a switch to a larger 48-tooth chainring, giving the rider more pedal power while also reducing incidences of ghost pedaling at higher speeds. Changing to a larger chainring does make uphill pedaling a little more difficult, but any setback this might cause is also countered by the much-improved motor power output on hills, because the torque sensor now tells the motor you’re pedaling uphill and need more power. The cadence sensor on prior models couldn’t do that. We like how Aventon listens to its riders, and gives them what they want.
Aventon focused on power changes with this new edition, and they also addressed stopping power. Gone are the lesser-known Bengal brakes of the past. Now the Aventure.2 ST comes with the proven Tektro HD-E350 hydraulic disc brakes, which give the new Aventure.2 ST greater braking ability, and they are more common to find when you need new brake parts
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The Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through’s tires offer great versatility for hitting the unpaved areas.
The new torque sensor makes the motor and gearing feel like a different – albeit better – bike!
The 48T chainring works great with the 12-32T 8-speed cassette distributing power to the rear wheel, and no ghost pedaling issues!
The bike continues to be adorned with 26” x 4” fat tires, except now this bike rolls on a new brand, Innova’s puncture-resistant tires. Protecting you from splatter and debris being kicked up are the same fenders as before. This bike still comes with a rear rack that can carry up to 45 lbs., except now it’s a new design that adds to it’s sleek look, unlike the generic rack look on the earlier model.
Night riders will especially appreciate that this bike now had two frame-integrated tail lights, giving folks from behind a better alert about your braking. But not only that, the two lights now work as turn signals, as well, which provides greater safety in case riders behind you don’t understand your arm signals.
The colorful display that pairs to Aventon’s app is a nice feature too. You can easily tailor the ride to you while tracking some metrics.
After discovering the Aventure.2 ST’s great new features, and having the chance to make a few test rides on it, we were ready to put this bike through our gamut of performance tests, and see what this bike is capable of now.
Speed Test: Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through
Riding an e-bike on the Speed Test shows us how well the bike’s motor engages with the rider’s pedaling in each of the pedal assist levels. We’re looking for consistent engagement because riders need to know when to expect the motor to kick in. This not only gives them a better ride, but also a safer ride. This bike was tested first at the Class 2 speeds, but we had some fun with class 3 speeds as well.
Overall, I liked the power distribution here. I’ve found that it takes some time to get used to riding hub motors with torque sensors, but once you find the groove, you’ll enjoy the experience.
As the chart above shows, speeds were a bit closely grouped together for me in PAS 2, but that’ll vary rider to rider. It all depends on your pedal input as it’ll try to multiply your effort, but I think they all felt distiguishable which is the biggest deal.
And as far as class 3 speeds go, not all e-bikes are solid feeling north of say 25 mph. The Aventure.2 Step-Through feels like it was made to hit those speeds, so it conquers it with ease.
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The Aventure.2 Step-Through’s motor has the juice needed to climb things easily and for you if you hit throttle.
Easy to reach throttle and button panel for controlling the PAS changes and ride settings.
Trigger shift makes gear changes a sinch, while the rubber grips keep your hands in control – whether wet or dry.
Range Test: Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through
This is actually the second time this year we’ve tested out an Aventure model. We also reviewed the Aventon Aventure.2 high step model. I was happy to see fairly similar results across the two tests.
Since two data points are better than one, I’m reporting the average of the two tests here. 38-56 miles is great range from a fat tire e-bike. The battery’s 720Wh seems modest with the 750W motor on paper only. The torque sensor helps you manage your range well, extending your rides further than we initially expected. That’s enough to give the Aventure.2 Step-through model an A on this test.
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Hill Test: Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through
Using power assist from the motor in order to ride up hills is a big reason why many people opt for an electric bike, as opposed to a standard bicycle. Simply put, a lot of folks don’t want to get sweaty and tired from riding their bike (and maybe that’s part of the reason you’re looking into buying an e-bike?). When we test e-bikes on their hill climbing capabilities, e-bike shoppers can get a good sense of how well an e-bike will take them up hills.
In the Throttle-only test, this bike reached the top of Hell Hole Trail in a time of 1:19, and an average speed of 13.7 mph. For a bike this size that is an excellent time and average speed. .
The PAS results were even better. The motor still did most of the work, but with a little pedal effort, the bike made it up in a time of 1:08 to the tune of a 16 mph. average.
Simply put, you’ll have a hard time finding a hill the Aventure.2 Step-Through can’t climb, and you have the option of letting the throttle do all the work or helping a bit with your legs.
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The gear range is nice for finding your ideal pedal effort.
Comfy seat for the longer rides; 55 lb capacity rear rack good for bringing home groceries.
Softening the bumps & bounces from the Zoom suspension fork and 26”x 4” knobbies.
Overall, the Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through can climb hills with the best of them. This bike has the added benefit of doing a bit better navigating hills at lower PAS settings since the bike will detect you on a hill by virtue of you having to pedal harder. It’s nice to not ramp up both the PAS and the gearing on every hill.
Brake Test: Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through
The Tektro HD E350 system is one of the most common that I’ve tested. It’s a solid stopper, that performed better than usual here on the Aventure.2 Step-Through.
Heavier bikes tend to take longer to stop. At 77 lbs, the Aventure’s weight can be considered a disadvantage. But our brake test results showed that the Tektro hydraulic disc brakes did a great job stopping our test bike. Positing an average stopping distance of 20’ 2”, the Aventure.2 Step-Through showed it has great stopping ability, compared to the average distance of 22’.
When it comes to overall bike safety we have to say that the Aventon feels like and performs like a safe bike. This bike feels safe in the way it’s easy to maneuver and easy to operate gears and PAS controls. And this bike performs safe in the way it manages speed from the motor, and the good braking that safely stops the bike. And the nice conclusion is seeing how it stops better than average compared to other e-bikes.
The fact that you have brake lights and turn signals just adds to an overall safe package knowing you’ll be seen better on the roads too.
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Ride Comfort & Quality: Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through
The Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through has a lot going for it that makes it a comfortable ride. First, there are the 26” x 4” Innova fat tires that provide great traction as well as cushioning the rough road parts you face. For bigger bumps there are the suspension forks, providing 80mm of travel and a way to adjust fork stiffness, right up to the lockout for full stiffness when you need to pedal extra hard (like up steep hills).
The Aventon custom saddle has a comfortable level of padding so your butt doesn’t get sore as quickly as other seats might. The quick release on the seat post makes for easy height adjustment for optimum leg extension when pedaling, along with the easy to adjust seat rail for moving the saddle forward and/or backward. And the stem adjusts easily so you can get the handlebar at the right height and the right reach for giving you a ride posture that works best with your body.
The 680mm wide handlebar has a good width for maneuvering the bike in and out of traffic, along with the slight rise for supporting a more upright position during the ride. The rubber grips are ergonomically shaped to give your hands a better grip. Manually adjusting the bike’s speed using the left thumb throttle is easily accessible for simplifying speed changes; the rapid-fire trigger shifter moves gears back and forth easily, and the brake levers provide an easy grip distance, pull and rebound when actuating the brakes.
The left hand button panel used for adjusting settings on the display and pedal assist has a nifty trick as well. You can hit the left and right arrows to activate turn signals! The brake lights on the seatstays pull double duty and let people behind you know where you’re turning. I wish they had an auto off after a few seconds though.
Aye captain! This cockpit hosts a feel for adventure and simplicity for your journeys.
Rough and tumble: you can take on the all kinds of terrain with the Aventure’s 26”x4” knobbies.
Easy peasy: the suspension, fenders and sleek step-through frame help simplify your ride.
Light up the world: these LED lights shine bright, making you safer riding day and night.
Summary / Where to Buy: Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through
We’ve covered a lot of nitty gritty details in this Aventon Aventure.2 Step-Through review, so I’ll just get straight to the point: this e-bike is a super fun ride that anybody can enjoy. It’s as capable, versatile, and reliable as any bike with a similar price tag. Maybe even more.
The Aventon Aventure.2 is made all the better with a step-through frame for easy mounting. Riders can easily and comfortably get on and take advantage of all this e-bike has to offer.
Fat tire behemoths won’t appeal to all riders due to their size and weight. But they are undeniably comfortable, powerful, and just a blast to take around town or off the map. So even if you don’t think it will be the bike for you, you might be surprised.
If you do buy one, don’t be surprised if you find yourself “Aventuring” more often.
Happy Riding! Make sure to let us know if you have any questions down in our comments section or if you think we left anything out in this review of the Aventon Avenutre.2 Step-Through.
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