Aventon Soltera Electric Bike Review, 2024

The Soltera’s 36V, 10Ah (360Wh) battery is certainly on the smaller end of the spectrum when it comes to e-bike batteries, but it suits the lightweight and lightly-powered commuter very nicely.

In our range testing the Soltera logged 23.95 miles with an average speed of 16.9 mph in PAS 5 and 49.49 miles with an average speed of 12.62 mph in PAS 1. Those are awesome results from a budget electric city bikes.

Compared to other e-bikes in its class, such as the Propella V4.0 and the Ride1UP Roadster V2, the Soltera far outperformed both bikes in both tests. Which shouldn’t be surprising considering the Soltera comes stock with a larger battery than most in its category. Both the Propella and the Ride1UP come with a 250Wh battery to power a similarly sized motor.

I also really like how Aventon hid the battery neatly inside the frame but still kept it removable. Again, compared to the two other bikes, this is another improvement: The Ride1UP’s battery is integrated into the frame but isn’t removable and the Propella’s battery is removable but not integrated.

Uphill, the Soltera is a good climber for an e-bike with one gear and a small(ish) rear hub motor.

With a little athleticism from the rider (likely standing and pedaling), the Soltera is going to clear most reasonably sized hills. On smaller hills, the Soltera’s throttle alone will likely have enough oomph to make it to the top. But on unreasonably sized hills, such as our test hill Hell Hole, you may find a challenge.

We did two hill climbing tests on the Soltera on our test hill Hell Hole, which is a one-third of a mile long section of bike path with an average gradient of 12 percent. In the first test using PAS 5 and my own leg strength, I was able to clear the hill in 1:32.00 with an average speed of 11.8 mph. That’s a good time for an e-bike like this, but I’ll add one caveat: I had to stand and pedal for almost the entire hill and I definitely was breathing a little heavy by the top. That’s not at all uncommon for single speed city bikes like this one, but it is something to keep in mind if hills are a concern for you.

While the Soltera cleared Hell Hole on PAS 5, it did not make it to the top using just the throttle. It cleared about a third of the hill before Hell Hole got the best of it and the 350W rear hub motor had enough. This, quite frankly, was an expected result. While I do think the Soltera is a solid hill climber, there’s only so much you can ask of a 350W motor. Luckily hills like Hell Hole are few and far between, especially in places we’d most likely expect to find the Soltera such as urban areas.

Disk brakes have fast become the norm in the e-bike world, and for good reason: your typical e-bike is heavy, fast and need a braking system with a little extra oomph to slow it down.

But the Soltera is not your typical e-bike.

While it is fast, it’s not heavy. At just 41 lbs, the Soltera is closer in weight to a non-motorized commuter bike than many e-bikes that can run 60 lbs or more. The Soltera’s featherweight design allowed Aventon to spec the bike with a set of old-school Tektro caliper rim brakes

The e-bike crowd is likely going to look at these with some doubt, which, if this were a typical heavy e-bike, I’d be right there with you. But on a bike as light as this one these brakes are plenty powerful.

That’s evidenced by the Soltera’s result in our brake test of 15-feet-2-inches, which is almost a full foot better than the average stopping distance of all the bikes we’ve reviewed. You can get Tektro mechanical disk brakes if you order the 7-speed version of this bike, but the caliper brakes on the single speed Soltera are evidence of Aventon balancing performance and cost. They knew these brakes would perform fine and help keep costs down, so it’s what they went with.

Still have doubts? Consider that in the world of road bike racing, where pro riders can approach 80 mph on descents, there’s still plenty of debate over whether rim brakes or disk brakes are the best option. If they can fly down the Alps at 60 mph trusting these brakes, you should trust them at 20 mph.

The Aventon Soltera handles quite a bit like the fixies it was built to look like. It’s snappy, nimble and feels refreshingly light compared to some e-bikes I’ve ridden recently.

Its fully rigid frame and narrow 700 x 35c tires make the bike feel very connected to the road. The handling is quick, stable and almost dares you to take corners fast. Though we tested it on the relatively uncrowded bike paths in southwest Utah, I could absolutely see this bike whipping in and out of traffic and avoiding pedestrians in a city center or on a college campus.

It’s a comfortable but athletic e-bike that places the rider in a slightly more forward position. The slightly narrow but still nicely padded Selle Royal seat matches this more athletic vibe, as does the alloy riser bars and rubber ergonomic grips.

One thing that we’re really excited about on the Soltera is it’s display. Aventon debuted a new display when they launched the Aventon Aventure electric fat bike in mid-2020 that was full color and chock-full of cool features we hadn’t seen on any other affordable e-bikes. That same display has made it onto the Soltera. It gives you the same riding metrics you’d expect, including speed, distance traveled, time, etc., but also some neat additional information including how many kilograms of CO2 and trees you’ve saved by riding your e-bike instead of using a car.

I was tipped off a while ago that Aventon was working on an e-bike that would pay homage to the non-motorized fixies that made the brand’s name, and I’ve been excited since to see what they came up with.

It’s hard to say how Aventon’s first fans that fell in love with their cheap, cool and functional track bikes would feel about the Soltera, as the fixie crowd has been a bit hesitant to embrace the idea of e-bikes, but I’d say Aventon’s done a bang-up job. It looks like those first bikes, rides like them and I think they did a nice job of balancing e-bike assist with a bike that pedals exceedingly well.

Like most of Aventon’s other e-bikes, the Soltera’s looks, performance and spec sheet are bar-none for the price. Compared to other e-bikes in the lightweight city bike category, the Soltera is a lot of e-bike for just under $1,200 MSRP. Add $100 on top of that, and you can get this same bike with a 7-speed drivetrain and mechanical disk brakes — a steal.

I admittedly have a huge soft spot for single speed e-bikes with small(ish) motors, but I think there are many others out there like me. My bet is this bike starts popping up on college campuses and in city centers around the U.S., as an affordable alternative to public transportation or driving a car.

If you like the Aventon Soltera it can be bought online at the Aventon website and shipped to your door. Or, if you prefer to buy in person, there are a number of Aventon dealerships scattered across the U.S.

‘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 Soltera.