Aventon Pace 500 Review

Although the first electric bike from Aventon was only released in 2019, the company has been making waves in the industry with their commitment to bridging the gap between stylish, fast, and affordable bikes. The Aventon Pace 500 is no different. If you are looking to take advantage of the convenience and speed of an e-bike, but don’t want to pay top dollar for the privilege. Then this model may be ideal.

I found the Aventon Pace 500 to be a very surprising electric bike. For the price there are a lot of things I was not really expecting. Particularly, how much I fell in love with it.

You can find out what I did and didn’t like about this bike in the following review.

Aventon Pace 500 Overview

The Aventon Pace 500 has been designed to follow current trends towards powerful and comfortable e-bikes that are not too expensive. It is categorized as a Class 3 e-bike and has premium quality components.

This bike has a comfortable riding position, top speeds up 28mpg and hydraulic disc brakes. To ride, the whole thing has the feeling of a more expensive bike. The fact that it looks great is just the icing on the cake really.

Its Stealthy Frame

The Aventon Pace 500 has a very stealthy and streamlined frame made from a 6061-aluminum alloy that has been double-butted. What does this mean?  It is an engineering and manufacturing technique in which the alloy tubes used for the frame are thicker at the merging points/ends to give them extra strength but then thinner at the middle so that a reasonable amount of weight is saved.

What this means in practical terms is that despite the fact that the Pace 500 is less than 50lbs, it is just as structurally robust and durable as many of its heavyweight counterparts.

This is a very slick bike frame. Everything about it screams sophisticated and subtle. It is also a winner in the fact that the battery is semi-integrated into the frame rather than just being bolted on.

Tapered, Rigid and Responsive Fork

There is no suspension in the fork of the Aventon Pace 500, which in my eyes is okay as it’s not really designed for off-road cycling pursuits. This is a city-commuter bike through and through, so the tapered and fully rigid fork made from the same 6061 alloy as the frame is perfect. There are no pedal strokes being soaked up the suspension, which makes for a more efficient ride overall.

Just note that the lack of suspension means you are going to feel bumps and uneven surfaces more.

The Speed and Acceleration

There is no escaping the fact that this is a fast bike. The 750W motor helps you to get to the top speed of 28mph in no time at all, especially if you are using the pedal assist at 4 or 5 or invested in the throttle-on-demand setup.

The Battery, Motor and Pedal Assist

Of course, as noted above it’s the motor that helps, along with the pedal assist, the bike to get to those top speeds. Another key component is the 48v Samsung battery that provides the motor with the power it needs. The great thing is that while I was worried the battery may die out too quickly when I was going at high speeds because of it only being 11.6Ah, there was no such problem.

It offers a surprisingly wide range and manages to stay cool, even when being used in hot weather.

The brushless 48v motor on the rear hub offers a sustained power rating of 500W, with peaks of 750W. This helped to make my rides on this bike smooth and quick, whether I was on flat and straight roads or climbing up steep hills. The company has obviously been making very significant improvements to the included cadence sensor. There never seemed to be a delay when the motor needed to be engaged or shut off. It always happened smoothly and quickly.

As is standard these days, there are 5 different pedal assist settings. For the top speeds, you should be using PAS 3 to 5, but if you want a more leisurely ride, stick to PAS 1 and 2 – then you will only receive help when you really need it.

The Tektro HD T285 Hydraulic Disc Brakes and 180mm Rotors

When you saw the price tag of this bike and then saw that it had branded hydraulic disc brakes, you were probably as shocked as I was. High quality stopping power is a must give that the Pace 500 will take you faster than 25mph.

The Tektro HD-T285 is a real dream to use and helped me feel confident and safe enough to take the bike to the higher end of their limit. Some of the reasons why I liked them so much is because you are able to stop very quickly and there is a lot of modulation possible depending on how soft or hard the brake setups caliper grips at the rotor.

The other big reason why I liked these brakes was simply because they are made by Tektro. Tektro are very much an established and highly regarded manufacturer within the bike industry. As well as ensuring that you get a good quality set of brakes made from the best components, it also means when accidents happen or there are problems with your brake of any sort, it won’t be too hard to find replacements as it would be if you had gone with a bike that featured unbranded brakes by a relatively small company.

LCD Smart Easy Read Display

While it’s not the most crucial part of any electric bike, it’s understandable to want one with a decent LCD display unit. On the Aventon Pace 500, there is an easy read smart display. This comes with a backlight to help you read it in poorer lighting conditions or before morning or after dark.

Despite the fact that the display is not quite as visually appealing as the rest of the bike, it does its job and provides all the information you would want to know. This includes things like total miles, battery life and speed.

Ride Comfort – Contact Points

At the contact points you will find the Aventon Pace 500 has been fitted with a high quality and very comfortable Velo Plush Saddle and ergonomically designed grips. The saddle measures 245mm wide, which means your body wright will be distributed more evenly when you sit down. This will help you to avoid the dreaded saddle sore.

I really appreciated the ergonomics at work in the grips, they felt so natural to hold and fit my hand’s anatomy incredibly well thanks to their shape.  They are made from semi-soft rubber that I think, like me, lots of people will really appreciate.

The Handlebars and Pedals

The Pace 500 has been designed with inspiration from cruise-style electric bikes. It has 640mm handlebars that have a back sweep of about 15%. This is great if you like to stay upright throughout a ride. If, though, you are more familiar with mountain bikes you may find the cockpit feeling more than a little cramped.

The pedals on the Pace 500 are made from alloy and have fixing pins that stop your feet from coming out of the pedals, particularly when you are out there on the road. I can think of no pain worse when riding a bike than feeling a metal pedal push firmly against my shin. Therefore, it is a welcome addition that the pins stop this from happening.

Summary – Is the Aventon Pace 500 for You?

Only you can answer the above question, but it may be helpful to recap some of the key features and specs of this bike before you decide. It is lightweight without losing any of the sturdiness you may be looking for. Thanks to the combination of its powerful battery, motor, the stunning pedal assist setup, and the useful throttle, I had a lot of fun speeding along on this bike and you might too.

Even if you are not in a rush to go anywhere, it still feels good and makes the $1500 worthwhile when you can race along at a steady quick pace from one place to another.

Is it perfect? Of course not. There is, to my recollection, no bike or e-bike that is completely flawless. If they existed, I expect that they would be among the highest priced models. The affordability of this bike, when you consider all of the great components and features, we have looked at, is nothing short of amazing. This bike is kitted out way better than I would expect for one its price and there is a real sense of passion involved in its design.

So, if you are looking for a suitably low-price mid-range bike that has a lot of power, a great upright riding position and very reliable brakes, this is the bike for you.