The Aventon Ramblas hardtail eMTB is a great e-bike, but not a great mountain bike

Aventon banner ads seem to follow me everywhere on the internet. However, it wasn’t until the brand launched its first electric mountain bike, the Ramblas, that the ads really got my attention. After testing the Ramblas over the past couple of months, I can say that it’s a good-looking hardtail that delivers an excellent e-bike experience, though as a mountain bike out of the box it’s not quite everything I had hoped.

Aventon Ramblas key specs

• 130mm front suspension travel (coil fork)
• 708Wh battery, 100Nm max torque motor
• Class 1 e-bike, pedal assist up to 20mph
• 12-speed SRAM NX Eagle drivetrain
• 56lb as tested (size XL with pedals)
• Price: $2,899
• Buy from Aventon

The Ramblas aluminum alloy hardtail features Aventon’s own A100 motor and battery system, which is powered by LG cells. The motor is capable of producing up to 100Nm of torque and 750W of peak power. Aventon doesn’t offer a range extender for the Ramblas. However, the battery is removable for a quick swap. A simple, three-button controller is used to turn the bike on, select the assistance level, and adjust other settings. The color screen is bright and has good detail, with a similar look and feel to the Shimano e-bike displays I’ve used.

One of the things that drew me to the Aventon Ramblas is the look. The shaped tubes give it a distinct aesthetic, with a steeply sloping top tube that offers plenty of standover height. Internal headset cable routing keeps everything sleek and streamlined, though obviously it’s not the most home-mechanic-friendly design. There’s a single set of mounts for a water bottle inside the front triangle, and no additional accessory mounts. Robust chainstay protection is pre-installed with the frame.

One frame feature I hadn’t noticed initially is the set of integrated rear lights. They blend seamlessly into the seat stays until you turn the lights on, offering great visibility on the road. The frame is UDH-compatible.

The Aventon brand began in 2013 selling light and fast fixed gear bikes. Then in 2018, the company released its first electric bike. Today, the company sells e-bikes exclusively, with electric commuter models priced as low as $1,199.

Aventon Ramblas geometry

With a 66.5° head tube angle and a 130mm travel fork, the Aventon Ramblas is a fairly capable hardtail mountain bike on paper. The 481mm reach on the size XL I tested is on the short side, but I found it to be a comfortable ride overall. Because it’s an e-bike, the 465mm-long chainstays are on the long side compared to a non-electric mountain bike, but the Ramblas is still reasonably maneuverable on tight trails.

Four sizes, small through extra large, are available. Size small frames come with 27.5″ wheels while the other, larger sizes roll on 29″ wheels.

Component check

The Aventon Ramblas gets off to a good start with a SRAM NX Eagle 12-speed drivetrain (single click) and SRAM DB8 4-piston brakes. However, the fork, dropper post, wheel, and tire component selections are disappointing.

Up front, the Ramblas comes with a 130mm RockShox Silver R coil fork with rebound adjustment only. Since there’s no air spring, riders can’t set sag to match their weight, and entry-level coil forks like this one generally have a dead feeling on the trail.

I’m glad that Aventon includes a dropper post on the Ramblas, but it’s a no-name model that doesn’t work very well. Mine requires a lot of force at the lever to get it to drop at all, and the return is slow. A $199 aftermarket dropper post will offer more travel and faster, smoother action.

The rims on the stock wheels are not tubeless-ready, and the included 29×2.4″ Maxxis Rekon tires are not tubeless-ready either. Not only that, this OEM version of the Rekon doesn’t include a puncture protection layer, leaving it vulnerable to sharp objects in addition to the risk of pinch-flatted tubes.

This is the first time I’ve tested a SRAM NX Eagle shifter with single-click action, and as an experienced rider I found it frustrating. I suppose this is to ensure the drivetrain doesn’t get choked up trying to shift multiple gears at once under power, but the downside is it’s slow to shift ahead of steep climbs on fast rolling trails. To be completely fair, clicking the lever rapidly has almost the same effect as a single long push… but not quite.

Overall the cockpit is comfortable with 35x760mm aluminum alloy bars and a “3D Groove” saddle that fit me just fine. A front light is included in the box, though I must’ve goofed and bent the tiny pins inside the connector when installing mine so I never got it to work.

This is by far the heaviest eMTB I’ve tested despite riding several long-travel, full-power bikes over the years. I had to look up the weight limit for my two-bike car rack and found that fortunately it’s 60lb per tray; the 56lb Ramblas (with pedals) slides in with just four pounds to spare.

On the trail

As an e-bike, the Aventon Ramblas is awesome. Right out of the box the controls are intuitive and easy to use, with three assistance modes plus a walk mode for pushing up steep slopes. The free Aventon app allows you to adjust the assistance modes, screen brightness, and max speed (up to 20mph), and also update the firmware. You can even use the app to turn the lights on, or change assistance modes while you’re riding. The app also tracks your ride times and distances, though you’ll need to give the app permission to map where you ride.

Out of the box, the Ramblas felt slow to respond with a lag between pedal and assist. Fortunately, this was an easy fix within the app; I set pedal response to 100% for Eco mode, and the drivetrain instantly felt more natural and responsive. I suspect the default setting of 80% pedal response in Eco is for less experienced riders who may need a moment to find their balance before the bike accelerates.

Reviewer profile height: 190cm (6’3″) weight: 75kg (165lb) testing zone: Southeast, USA

The Aventon Ramblas has a similar off-road ride feel to the $550 Mongoose Switchback Expert I tested this spring. The coil fork is absolutely dead and absorbs very little vibration on the trail. I’m glad the fork is there for bigger impacts, but otherwise it might as well be rigid, at least for my weight. (Aventon says the maximum rider weight for the Ramblas is 300lb, so at 165lb I’m never going to get much travel out of the fork unless I’m jumping the bike.) The fork makes it very difficult (though not impossible) to compress into wheel lifts, and the overall bike weight adds to the required effort. A playful bike, this is not.

The Aventon Ramblas motor is neither quiet nor loud when providing assistance. The high-pitched whine makes it unmistakable this is an e-bike, but no more so than other bikes I’ve tested.

Frame rattles are another matter. Even at slow speeds and on relatively smooth surfaces, the bike is noisy. As best I can tell, most of the noise is coming from cables rattling inside the frame, plus the occasional chain slap.

Aventon claims up to 80 miles of range on a single battery charge, and while that seems a bit generous, I won’t say it’s impossible. On a 20-mile ride along rolling terrain, riding a mix of trails and pavement, I used 30% of the battery capacity. That suggests 60+ miles of range without actively trying to conserve the battery. With a 708Wh battery, the Ramblas has one of the larger-capacity batteries you’ll find on a hardtail eMTB, especially in this price range.

The Maxxis Rekon tires are an efficient choice that surely helps the Ramblas achieve such impressive range. The tires are fast rolling on hardpack, but obviously don’t offer as much bite or cornering traction as say an Ardent or my favorite, a pair of Minions. While the motor quickly gets the bike up to speed, the tires had me grabbing the brakes prematurely.

During one of my test rides I noticed the motor momentarily stopped providing power on a short but steep climb. It almost felt as if the motor switched into a different gear to continue up the hill. I actually rode the same hill a couple of times to confirm it wasn’t a one-time thing.

After updating the bike’s firmware and making some minor adjustments to the assistance modes, I returned to the same section of trail and found the assistance remained consistent from top to bottom through multiple test runs in all three assistance modes. My conclusion: either I was imagining things the first time, or a firmware update fixed the issue.

Priced at $2,899, the Aventon Ramblas isn’t cheap, but then again, it’s hard to find a similarly capable eMTB for less. If this were my bike, I’d budget a few hundred dollars to upgrade the tires and dropper post to start. To be a truly capable mountain bike it really needs a better fork, which will cost at least $400. There’s a chance the rims could be taped to run tubeless tires, but if not, wheels are another $400+ upgrade that would greatly improve handling and reliability. The upshot is the frame and drive system offer an excellent platform worthy of more trail-oriented upgrades.

Pros and cons of Aventon Ramblas

Pros

• Excellent e-bike experience with tunable settings and a big battery
• Good, clean looks

Cons

• Entry-level fork, wheels, tire, and dropper post all limit off-road capabilities
• Heavy, even for an e-bike

Bottom line

As an e-bike, the Aventon Ramblas is dialed: it’s easy to control, the app makes setup a breeze, and the battery range is great. As a mountain bike, the component mix limits its off-road capabilities to only the smoothest dirt paths and gravel roads.

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