Aventon Soltera 3 Electric Bike Review: A Fun Hybrid Single-Speed

Belt-drive bikes connection immoderate immense upsides. First, they usually necessitate little maintenance, with galore belts often lasting doubly arsenic agelong arsenic a emblematic chain. Second, there’s nary grease to talk of, and therefore, nary achromatic smudges connected your enactment pants. Third, successful the lawsuit of the Soltera 3, the loop comes from the Gates brand, whose drivetrain belts are arsenic bully arsenic it gets. Belt-drive bikes are soundless and often smoother than their chain-driven counterparts.

That said, the inclusion of a low-maintenance constituent specified arsenic a loop thrust paired with hydraulic disc brakes, which necessitate bleeding astir each year, struck maine arsenic an unusual choice. If Aventon wanted to marque the Soltera 3 arsenic hands-off arsenic possible, cable-actuated brakes would person been a much intuitive choice.

The different happening that instantly jumps retired astir the Soltera 3 is its comparatively airy weight. At 37 pounds, the Soltera 3 is dense for an analog bike. But it’s surely not dense for an ebike, and it’s astir arsenic stiff, nimble, and navigable arsenic a accepted bicycle. One contented I’ve ever had with ebikes is their heft. Given that they’re often made to regenerate a car, they’re built with load bearing successful mind. Also, ebike batteries are heavy.

Adding to that consciousness of “this is just like my different bikes,” the Soltera 3 simply looks cool, which is often not the lawsuit erstwhile it comes to ebikes. The matte achromatic my tester motorcycle arrived successful looks chill due to the fact that matte achromatic astir ne'er doesn’t look cool. (Additionally, the Soltera 3 is disposable successful acheronian matte bluish and a sleek silver.) But beyond the finish, the bike’s geometry; its wide, astir perfectly level handlebars; and its constrictive (by ebike standards) 700 x 36 tires marque it consciousness person successful DNA to a roadworthy motorcycle than a accepted ebike.

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I’m 6′4′′, and the other ample Soltera 3 that I tested was astatine a maximum saddle height. It was suitable for me, but I couldn’t urge anyone bigger than maine riding the Soltera 3. That said, with 4 sizes ranging from tiny to other large, the enactment covers a wide swath of riders, ranging from my tallness each the mode down to 5′ tall.