One of the newest e-bikes out of the Aventon stable is the Pace 500.3, a cruiser-style city bike that is chock-full of features for both casual and serious riders, whether it’s used for commuting or grabbing groceries or just tooling around town.
It’s no secret that Aventon’s e-bikes are among our favorites over here at CleanTechnica, as we’ve ridden and reviewed a number of different Aventon models in recent years, and all of them have passed muster with the team. In fact, out of all of the different bikes in my barn, from mountain bikes to road bikes to e-bikes, the Aventure is pretty much my go-to bike for both on- and off-road riding.
All of the Aventon e-bikes we’ve had a chance to ride so far have been really well-built and well thought out, and the Pace 500.3 is no exception. The short version of this review is that if you’re looking for a daily driver e-bike that rides and handles like a champ, is comfortable, and looks sharp as well, then the Pace is your huckleberry.
For my next trick, I put a full charge on the battery, paired the Pace with the Aventon app (yes, there’s an app for that…), and then headed into town to run some errands and hit the coffee shop to meet a friend. As far as the app goes, I’m not real big on using most of the features available, because when I ride, I generally just want to pedal like mad and feel the wind in my face, and not track my rides or collect stats on my journeys. That being said, for those who do like to quantify their cycling for whatever reason, the app will capture stats like miles traveled, cycling time, max and average speed, etc., plus things like calories burned and the amount of CO2 reduced by choosing to cycle instead of drive. And there are some tweaks to the bike’s configuration that are available only through the app, such as the speed limit for the electric motor (in case you live somewhere that has a law about speed limits for e-bikes, AND you want to comply with said law). The Pace comes with a top speed of 28 mph for the pedal assist configuration out of the box, but you can tweak that lower if you want.
My second impression of the Pace 500.3 — even before I began pedaling this time — was that I couldn’t believe there weren’t any water bottle mounts (braze-ons) on the bike, which was kind of a bummer, seeing as how I get pretty dang thirsty riding in the dry summer heat, and having a water bottle right at hand is essential in my book. And as this bike was purely stock — no front or rear rack – there wasn’t a handy place to put a water bottle (or a tool kit, more on that later), other than wearing a backpack. Adding a front or rear rack, or both, would be one of the first things I would do to the Pace if it was going to be my daily commuter bike or regular grocery-getter, because I feel like it’s way more comfortable to load the bike with my stuff than to load myself with a heavy backpack. Obviously, your mileage may vary, but I think if the Pace was kitted out with a rear rack and a couple of panniers (and a water bottle cage mounted somewhere, maybe on handlebars?), it would definitely check most of the boxes for me.
My overall impression of the Aventon Pace 500.3 is that it’s an excellent choice for a daily commuter bike, a grocery-getter, or just for some good clean recreational fun. The upright cruiser-style frame is comfortable and easy to get used to, the battery has enough juice for most anyone’s needs (up to 60 miles of range), and the 500-watt motor has plenty of kick for most applications. If I was regularly riding a bunch of steep hills, or if I was a much larger human, I’d maybe want a more powerful motor, but I didn’t have any issues whatsoever (and pedaling HARDER is the way to conquer any hill or distance, so there’s that). Again, I’d advocate for adding a rack or two, and if you do live in a climate with a lot of rain, you’ll probably be happiest with front and rear fenders for it.
The Aventon Pace 500.3 e-bike is available through the company’s website for $1699, and there are a bunch of reasonably priced accessories for it as well.
This article is sponsored by Aventon. The Pace 500.3 was provided to the author for the purposes of this review.
All images by Derek Markham / CleanTechnica.
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