Though the Soltera is Aventon’s newest e-bike, it’s actually paying homage to the traditional bicycles the California-based company built well before e-bikes had entered the vocabulary of your average American.
That’s right, Aventon has not always made e-bikes. In fact, when I first began hearing the name Aventon tossed around back in about 2012 it was from friends who were neck deep in the burgeoning fixie scene in L.A and Phoenix. Aventon back then made some of the coolest and most affordable fixed geared bicycles around. Bikes designed for college-aged kids who wanted something that looked and rode like the lux (and expensive) track bikes raced in events like the Red Hook Crit and the Wolfpack Hustle Marathon Crash Race, but at a fraction of the cost.
Though Aventon has stopped selling the fixed gears that made their name, they’ve kept the same ethos of affordable, stylish and quality bikes. But the Soltera doesn’t just have that spirit of those old fixed gears, it’s made in their image.
Like those first fixies, the Soltera is a simple but striking bike. The frame is lightweight, with an aero-looking downtube that conceals the battery, a bladed fork and narrow riser handlebars. The model we reviewed is a single speed — though you can get the Soltera with a 7-speed drivetrain — and the bike is powered by a surprisingly peppy 350W rear hub motor.
It’s a Class 2 e-bike with a thumb throttle — something we don’t see all that often on affordable single speed city bikes — and a top motor assisted speed of 20 mph.
There’s also touches we see on this bike that have trickled down from Aventon’s flagship e-bike, the Aventure. Features such as rear taillights that are inset into the rear seat stays for a seamless integrated look as well as the full-color LCD display we saw debuted on the Aventure.
Braking is handled by a set of Tektro rim brakes, which are plenty powerful to handle the Soltera’s notably light 41 lb weight, and the bike rolls on some efficiently narrow 700x35c semi-slick tires.
It’s a simple but well appointed e-bike, where every component was seemingly chosen to balance cost and performance. Considering the bike’s MSRP of $1,199.00 and how much I enjoyed riding it, I’d say Aventon struck that balance well.
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