I think this is a great city e-bike for the money, and I'm enjoying riding this bike a lot as a first time e-bike owner.

I purchased this bike on a Black Friday sale for $1,000, which I consider to be a great value for the money. Even at the original price of $1,200, the combination of hydraulic disc brakes and a torque-sensor are great bang for buck specs. I'm sure the next revision of the Soltera is coming soon, but I have no regrets purchasing this bike at this price point. I also purchased the handlebar mirror, bell, and Aventon rear-rack compatible with the Soltera 2.5, and all accessories fit well and were pretty easy to install.

This is my first e-bike I've ever owned, and I wanted a bike that would be good for both grocery/shopping runs, as well as commuting on transit when needed, and I think it fits those requirements well. At about 46 pounds stock, and closer to 50 pounds with a rear rack, lock, and accessories, it's still possible for me to pick this bike up and carry it up or down stairs in a pinch, which is significantly harder for other long-range e-bikes like the Level 3, which clocks in closer to 70 pounds. This is important for me, as it means I could load it onto a bus bike rack or take it on local metro to extend my options. The lighter weight also means it is feasible to ride without motor assist, whether you want more exercise or if you run out of battery on a ride, which is a great fallback capability.

As far as the motor goes, it is definitely on the low end of assist power, which I knew going in. That being said, it has plenty of assist for riding in hilly terrain, especially if you shift down into your lowest gear. The gear range is not the best, but a combination of the lowest gear + high assist will get you up all but the craziest of hills. However, you won't be getting up those hills on throttle alone, so be aware. Overall, I feel like the biggest shortcoming of the lower power motor is the throttle, which I mostly use at intersections or to get around obstacles. On this bike, you get a bit of a kick, but I still have to pedal to pick up a lot of speed. Again, this is a tradeoff you're getting for having a lightweight city bike, and the tradeoff to me is worth it, but this isn't a bike you'll just be throttling around everywhere.

The other big aspect of an e-bike is range. I've taken this on at least one 20-mile ride so far, and I was able to complete the ride with only starting at 75% charge. By the end, I was nearly out of charge, and I had an issue where I was at 20% charge, then turned the bike off, later turned it on, and was at 6%. This could be because the battery was new and still calibrating, but be careful when doing your first couple long rides that you may have less range than it appears. I would also recommend always charging the battery to 100% before going on any long rides (which the manual recommends as well). And again, if you underestimate the range or your battery dies before you expect, you can always shift down and pedal without assist to get back in a pinch, so no worries about getting stranded or having to get a rideshare if you have the stamina to finish.

Finally, I have some criticisms of the assembly process. I assembled this bike at home with my partner, and while I've never built a bike before, I am pretty well versed in bike parts and bike maintenance, so I'm somewhat knowledgable and not a newbie. Unfortunately, both the printed instructions and the instructional assembly video on YouTube include instructions for assembling the Soltera 2, the predecessor to this bike. While largely the same, there are some differences between the two, and also some details that the are not clear in the instruction manual. A quick list of issues I had with assembly:
- The QR code on the box leads to a 404 web page
- The handlebar stem is flipped backwards for shipping purposes, so make sure to flip it so the long end is facing away from the center of the bike. This was a simple mistake on my part, but it wasn't explicitly called out, and I got a few steps in before I realized the issue.
- The bike headlight is installed on the *bottom* of the handlebar clamp, not the top. If you look closely at the pictures/videos you can see this, but it's not called out in the instructions, so I again had to fix this during the build. Otherwise, the headlight is blocked by the bike's display on the handlebars.
- There are disc brake inserts on the front fork calipers, so make sure to remove them before installing the front wheel, otherwise the disc won't slide between the brake pads

Overall, I feel the bike is a great value for the money and checks the boxes I was hoping for for a lightweight, minimal city e-bike. I would recommend updating the assembly instructions to be more clear, as that's the first experience you have with the bike. Otherwise, I think you'll be happy if you go in knowing this bikes' strengths and weaknesses.

My daughter loves her new Soltera 2.5 . Its fast, light and nimble.She also gets a lot of compliments how beautiful it looks.

So far it has been a great purchase. Lots of goodies for this price point, and usual Aventon reliability, fit and finish. Smooth, light, quick, comfy seat, good ergonomics, more upright than my Trek FX 2 hybrid. I like this geometry better (6’0” tall). Three things I wish were better: I wish there were a couple more
color options, thumb shifter vs grip shifter, and a frame that could accommodate gravel tires (42-44). But this is not a dealbreaker to me at all, and I am very happy with the purchase.

Now that the rail is open in Hawaii, I decided I wanted to ride a bike. After riding a normal bike and coming to work sweaty, I wanted an Ebike that I would make my ride to the train station and work easier, a bike I can easily get on the rail or put on the bus if I had to and a bike that would let me get a little bit of a workout when I feel like. This bike does all that. My house to the rail station is about 2 or 3 miles away. It takes me about 5 minutes to get there - I think. The ride is so much fun I don't really pay attention to time. It's easy to get it on an elevator or carry up the stairs if i have to. Its easy to pop it on the back wheel and secure in the trains bike compartment (the guys with the heavy rides have to stand and hold their bikes in place). Its easy to ride to work and ride up steep hills to my office when i put it at the lowest gear but the highest torque. When i want to put it on the City Bus rack - it's super simple. My only gripe is really that I have had two flat tires. You can't fly over bumps because you will get a flat. I am constantly checking tire pressure and have to carefully choose my routes to ensure that the tires wont pop. I rode the same route with skinnier tires on my tri-bike and it was fine. Not sure why this one keeps popping. I had 2 flats the first week i bought this bike and had to take it to a shop to fix. I 've been checking the pressure but really selecting routes carefully so thats probably why i havent had a flat.

Great bike and fun to ride. Punchy and fast when you push it. Couple of things I think would improve the bike. Two piece crank/chain ring instead of stamped steel chain ring; carbon fiber handlebars, stem and seat post; peddles that are adaptable to toe clips; cable instead of hydraulic brakes for easier maintenance/repair; more color options.