Today, Aventon is launching an updated version of their electric hardtail mountain bike, the Ramblas ADV, that promises to improve on the original, even if only just. Still priced at $2,899, the bike is marketed as an eMTB for “navigating challenging mountain trails or cruising city streets.”
The Aventon Ramblas ADV switches between Class 1 and Class 3 modes
Given the dual use case nature of the Ramblas, Aventon now offers owners the ability to switch between Class 1 and Class 3 drive modes. To be clear, both modes are pedal assist — there’s no throttle mode — and the main difference is that the top speed can now be increased from 20mph to 28mph. Though most eMTB-legal trails are limited to Class 1 bikes, paved bike paths often allow Class 3 operation, and this new feature gives riders the ability to choose.
Critics will argue that this feature could be abused, leaving enforcement up to land managers who are stretched thin. At the same time, determined riders have already found ways to hack their Class 1 bikes to unlock more speed on their own.
The Aventon Ramblas ADV adds a fourth “Auto” assist mode that’s separate from Eco, Trail, and Turbo. Though the bike still boasts a 708Wh battery, Aventon says the updated bike gets up to 90 miles of range on a single charge, up from 80 miles previously. It’s unknown if this is due to efficiency improvements related to the new “auto” assist mode, or if other factors account for the improved range.
Aventon has improved their A100 motor, promising quieter operation and the same 750W peak power and 100Nm max torque.
Updated component mix adds tubeless tires but downgrades the brakes
Although I was impressed by the Ramblas as an e-bike, the “MTB” component mix left much to be desired. The Aventon Ramblas ADV now sees tubeless wheels and tires, which should save weight and improve performance overall. However, Aventon now specs SRAM DB6 brakes instead of the more expensive DB8s as before. Fortunately, the brakes are still four-piston.
The RockShox Psylo Silver R fork looks like an upgrade on paper, but it’s actually just a rebrand of the same RockShox Silver R coil fork the original Ramblas included. The Ramblas ADV keeps the bike’s SRAM NX 12-speed drivetrain.
The Ramblas ADV weighs about the same as the original Ramblas, with a claimed weight of 54lb.
Size small bikes are gone, but the geometry is unchanged for the remaining sizes
For the Ramblas ADV, Aventon is not offering size small bikes for riders shorter than 5’5″. The 66.5° head tube angle is pretty conservative, though not out of line for a hardtail with 130mm of travel. Reaches are fairly short across the board, while the 74.5° head tube angle is just half a degree off the average hardcore hardtail.
The Aventon Ramblas ADV will be available for purchase online.
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