E-bike Review: Aventon Level 2

Aventon Level 2 with Brooks saddle

Now that enough summer has passed that I have ridden five hundred miles on my new e-bike, an Aventon Level 2, I feel I can confidently write a credible review of the bicycle. Up front and simply stated, the bike is a good value. The Level 2 has proven to by both durable and a comfortable ride.

Prior to buying the Level 2, I was considering buying a Gazelle 2024 Ultimate C380 HMB, a $5,000 bicycle manufactured in the Netherlands. I even test-rode the Ultimate, and it was a beautiful ride. I kept researching, though, and when I found out there was an Aventon dealership about three blocks from the Gazelle dealership, I decided to try out the Level. What I discovered was that the Level was an e-bike that handled well, had excellent online reviews, and was a third the price of the Gazelle. The Level also provided as a part of the $1,800 package a second battery, including free shipping. My final costs provided me a very ride-worthy e-bike and an excellent bicycle carrier strong enough for two e-bikes at half the cost of the Gazelle. However, it wasn't just the price that was my e-bike choice determiner. The Level 2 comes with a throttle (which I use rarely but is great to have when I need it), and it also can be programmed through the phone app so it will generate power up to twenty-eight miles per hour rather than twenty.

How the Level 2 Rides 

The Level 2 is my first e-bike, and one concern I considered when buying was weight. At a little over fifty pounds, the Level is much lighter than the Aventon Adventure, and about the same weight as the Gazelle Ultimate. I found the extra weight of the bike does make handling different. I can't just throw the e-bike around like I can a conventional bicycle. This is my first bike with front shocks, and I must say that the shocks cause less strain to my arms. This is especially true for me because I have two pins in my left elbow, which causes the elbow to tire more quickly. I most recently have changed out the saddle to a Terry Cite Gel and have also added a seat shock absorber; with the seat cut-out and the shock, the ride is much smoother. 

About seventy-five percent of my riding is on lime-chip trails. When the Level's tires eventually wear out, I will replace them with a more gravel-worthy tread, probably replacing the Kendas with Schwalbe treads. I find the current tires not as secure on gravel as I'd like. I've also found the kickstand sticks out a bit more than I like, and I have to adjust my foot position occasionally so my shoe doesn't tick the stand. 

The eight-speed shifting is adequate for the e-boost levels. I rarely move below gear 4; however, when I turn off electric support and just pedal by my own power, I'm in the bottom four gears and have to stand on the pedals for any hill beyond a mild incline. The bike can be ridden without the electric support, but it's a slog. It's pretty easy to bottom out those eight gears when riding downhill, but I don't have much desire to ride more than thirty miles per hour. Using the higher electric-assist levels, I can keep a good pace when on pavement, which is great when I'm just jumping on the bike for a trip to the store.

The battery holds up well. I ride most of the time in the lowest power assist level. (There are five.) At 150 pounds, I'm not real heavy, and I believe I could easily hit fifty miles on a battery charge and not drain the 500w battery. The farthest I've traveled in a single ride so far is a little over thirty miles, and I had a little less than half the battery charge remaining. If I were to take the second battery with me, I believe my rear end would give up long before the batteries would!

All in all, I'm pleased with my purchase of the Aventon Level 2. The bike doesn't come with a Gates belt drive like the Gazelle Ultimate, nor does it have the infinite gear range of the Gazelle transmission. However, for the price, I'm putting many miles on a bike that has other options that I'm glad to have, namely, the throttle and the second battery. The bike doesn't weigh too much and comes with all the extras a commuter bicycle needs: rack, fenders, and lights. I added a mirror, which I think is essential, and also a nice brass bell, which provides a happy sound so I can alert trail walkers who aren't paying attention. I might one day still buy myself a Gazelle, but for now I'm perfectly content with my Aventon. 

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Amtrak to Visit My Parents

Last Sunday night I boarded Amtrak in Ottumwa, Iowa, and arrived in Oroville, California, via the Amtrak shuttle bus, at 6:45 P.M. on Tuesday evening--around 46 hours. The train was on time, but the bus was 45 minutes late. Not bad, though, considering the train can be hours late.

I packed three bags: my folding bicycle (Montague Navigator), my bicycle commuter trailer (Burley Travoy), and my underseat bag. The travel with the folding bicycle went smoothly. No one on Amtrak blinked at the oversized bag, although in Sacramento, the electric cart shuttle driver from the tracks to the terminal asked, "What's that?!" at the Montague bag. He said I had to help him move it, which I gladly did.

My bags at Sacramento Amtrak, waiting for the shuttle bus

Traveling by Amtrak is not for those who are focused on the destination. The journey is part of the reason for traveling by train, in addition to lower ticket costs.

Sleeping through the Midwest, morning brought the Rockies and snow, including some passing views of ski resorts. There's something very satisfying about riding through the high mountains in winter, looking at the snowy vistas while eating a meal in the dining car.

Rocky Mountain winding gorges and tunnels

The journey's  panoramas--quality over speed

The trip changes from forests to desert

The second night of sleeping covers much of the desert. Sleeping nights in the coach seat, it helped to have both seats available, but it's still mostly a process of sleeping 1.5 to 2.5 hours, then waking and needing a new position. Sleeping isn't the high point of Amtrak, but I chose coach over a sleeper car just to be frugal--and I woke up feeling pretty good. After all, lots of time is available, so getting sleep a couple of hours between wake-ups still adds up to a night's sleep.

Although there was plenty of snow in the Sierra Nevadas, it was generally drier and warmer as the altitude dropped. I especially like the mixed forest of the lower altitudes with oak and manzanita mixing with evergreens.

Mountains that I knew while growing up

We dropped down to the Central Valley of California and the liveliness of the state capital.

Sacramento police providing a smile

Arriving in Oroville, I assembled my bike and trailer and rode for about nine miles to my family's house. Arrival at last, with some good exercise after a couple of days of sitting. It was especially fun to be riding my bike again without sock hat or gloves after a winter in Iowa with little bike riding.

Off the bus and ready to set up the rig on the sidewalk by a gas station

Ready to roll

 I am now ready to spend some time visiting family and enjoying the warmer weather. Yesterday I rode my bike home from the bus drop-off. Today I rode to Wal-Mart, to my dad's extended care facility, and then hit the grocery store. My Travoy trailer carried my stuff, and I had fun hauling it in the warm climes of California.

Seven more days of fun left!

Copyright 2014 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

A Day Out with Mom #10: Dad talks bikes

123rf.com

As a kid in Oceanside, besides helping at the family business, Lee's Auto Court, I also worked odd jobs so I'd have some extra money.

Mowing lawns and raking leaves were my first jobs during the summer and fall of my eighth grade year. I'd use Dad's push mower, pulling it down the sidewalks to the job, or sometimes the people would own their own mower that I'd use. I also had a job delivering special delivery letters.

When the letter was sent, in addition to the regular stamp, a special delivery stamp was also bought. The stamp had a picture of a boy on a motorcycle. I'd go to the post office and get the letter then walk to deliver it. Sometimes it was a long walk! I was paid by check twice a month. I think the stamp cost seven cents, and I was paid six for each letter I delivered.

One lady whose lawn I mowed--sometimes I'd go over there and they'd all be in the backyard with their clothes off. They had a tall hedge for privacy. I guess they were nudists. When that happened, I'd just go home.

She had an old bicycle, though, with wooden wheels that had the tires shellacked to the wood. Then you'd pump air into the tires, about forty or fifty pounds. I bought the bike for two dollars, took it home, took it all apart, and cleaned and painted it--a bright yellow so people could see me. It had big longhorn style handlebars that really stuck out. The lady's balance got too bad to ride, so I guess that's why she gave it to me so cheap. Two dollars was a lot of money back in those days, though, especially for a kid!

Now I could ride the bike to deliver special delivery. It was really heavy but much faster than walking. I used that bike to deliver letters on into high school. I'd even be in class and deliver letters. I'd check between classes, and if a letter came in I'd tell the teacher. She'd let me go, and when I got back, she'd fill me in on what I'd missed. Some of the roads were good, and some were just dirt roads. Much of the area around Oceanside in those days was just fields and scrub. Now it's all built up and full of people.

Rosicrucian Fellowship, Oceanside

One place I delivered special delivery to regularly was the Rosicrucian Fellowship. Their place was about six miles out of town on a hill that could see off in all four directions--the ocean, the mountains, the desert. When the train came in, it carried mail. I tried to get there soon after the train and then head off to the Fellowship. Their buildings were adobe painted white, a main building and about ten or twelve smaller places for staying that had roofs that leaned down on one side for the rain to run off.

I'd knock on the main door and a lady would answer. Sometimes she was asleep and I'd have to come in and wake her. She'd sign for the letters, and I'd take off--maybe back to school. I liked going there because sometimes there'd be a batch of letters I could deliver all at once, and I'd still get paid for every single letter I delivered.

Later on in high school, I'd saved up more money. I wanted to buy a motorcycle for my special delivery job, but Dad didn't want me to own one. He said they were too dangerous. Maybe that was because my older brother Leon was killed in an auto accident when he was about twelve.

Once he went fishing up in Bishop for a couple of weeks, though. He went up there a lot and left the rest of the family to run the auto court. He even met the actor Joel McCrea up there and taught him how to fly fish. McCrea had all the equipment--vest and hip boots and pole--but he didn't know how to cast or where in the stream, much less which flies to use. My dad taught him! I remember my dad said McCrea said, "I'm Joel McCrea, the actor. Seen any of my movies?" Your grandpa said, "No, I don't go to picture shows much."

So Dad was in Bishop and I found out one of my teachers had a Harley for sale because he'd just bought an Indian. I couldn't buy it because the teacher was afraid I'd get in a wreck and not have the permission of my family. Mom went down and signed for the Harley so I could have the bike. I took it home and did the same thing with it that I'd done with the bicycle--took it all apart, cleaned it, and painted it. I painted the Harley black and yellow but a brighter yellow so it could be seen better. I also bought a leather helmet to wear.

My dad came home from fishing, and the motorcycle was all together and being used for my job. I was making more money with it, so he let me keep it. My mom probably had a talk with him, too. She didn't say much, but Dad usually listened when she did--well, sometimes, anyway.

One time I came home and parked the bike. Dad came over and looked at the speedometer. It had a trip switch that would show what was the fastest you'd gone. Then you'd hit the trigger and it'd go back to zero for the next time. The needle showed 110 mph. Dad hit the trigger but didn't say anything.

I worked that special delivery job all the way through high school. It was a good job. I got to get out on my own. It was almost like working for myself because all I had to do was pick up the letters and then deliver them. For everything in between, I was my own boss. Out there on the road, there was a lot of freedom.

It's easy to forget how special it is just to be able to move, to travel, until you get old like me. I'm glad I did what I did when I had the chance. I'm glad you've got your bicycle now and are riding it all over. You should ride it back to Iowa. It's not that far, and even if it is, that's not a bad thing. It's a good thing, like getting a special delivery letter.

Copyright 2013 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved

Enjoy the Road with Bicycles

The other morning as I came to work, someone said to be, "Mornings getting cold?"

Probably it was the "layered look" of my biking garb: pants, sweater, jacket--topped by raingear functioning as windbreakers--and a bicycling helmet capped with a rainproof yellow wind barrier.

"Yes, it is cool out." What could I say, that I'd biked in much more severe weather, that once coming home, I'd shattered the frozen sleet from my jacket prior to entering the house, that I'd pushed my bike because the driving snow had gotten too deep? That would sound like bragging--when actually it would just be part of the short, mile-and-a-half ride home as a bike commuter.

I'd rather spend ten minutes riding my bike in snow and ice than spending ten minutes scraping my windshield. It's just much more satisfying.

My commuting is on pavement or a lime-chipped rails-to-trails path near my home, so I miss severe road tests like the one in the video below.


I have ridden through a flooded street that reached my petals, and I have learned to avoid the bike trails after a thaw because of the mud. I have worn my goggles because the sensation of freezing eyeballs is not pleasant. However, "extreme" is a relative term, and after commuting for years, I've grown used to putting up with occasional "adventure."

Knowing home is a short distance away makes it all an adventure, and an adventure that ends with a shower and a chance to watch the weather from inside is fun. It's something I'm glad I can choose to do. And so I hear that the first winter storm is coming tomorrow--I'd better oil up my winter boots!

Copyright 2012 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved