Aventon Sinch Folding E-Bike — CleanTechnica Tested
I’ve had the chance to ride a few electric bikes in my life, but this one is definitely the most fun I have ever tried. The Aventon Sinch.2 is a cool, foldable e-bike with fat tires and a few great features.
When I got on the Aventon bike for the first time on the way home from the bike store where it had been assembled, I had mixed feelings. I’ve never had a bike with fat tires. Therefore, it took me a little while to get used to it. At first, when I got on the bike, I thought it felt a bit wobbly, but when I hopped on it again a few days later, it felt like I had been using it all my life. I don’t know what changed, but I guess I just needed a little bit of time to get used to the different feel.
One thing you have to get used to is the short turning radius, or potentially sharp turning, due to the bike’s fat (small?) tires — unless you’re already used to a bike like this, rather than a more traditional street bike or mountain bike. Once you get the hang of it, though, you are going to love this bike (Yes, that’s why I picked it as the best folding e-bike in our 2023 best bikes guide —Ed.).
I don’t like when e-bikes have complicated controls. The remote to operate the bike that is on the left side of the handle is super easy to navigate. A few buttons let you change the pedal-assist level while biking. You can choose between Eco, Tour, Sport, and Turbo (or leave the pedal assist off completely). Because the controls are simple and right at your fingertip, it’s easy to switch to the mode that you want at the moment, even if you’re going up a steep hill (which I tried) or across long grass (which I also tried).
One particularly interesting and pleasant thing about the electric assist on the Sinch.2, which is definitely not always the case with e-bikes, is that it doesn’t jerk the whole bike in a jarring way. That type of jerking problem has kept me from using pedal assist on e-bikes in the past, but it’s not a problem to worry about with the Sinch.2. You can easily turn on the electric-assist mode you’d like to use and the bike smoothly adjusts to it. This is how it should be done.
The LCD display placed in the center of the handlebar is big enough to clearly show you your current electric-assist mode, the speed you are riding, your battery life, and CO2 emissions saved. Unlike some such screens, this one is easy to read. You can also easily adjust its angle to your height and can adjust the brightness. Notably, the screen was visible even in the bright Florida sun.
What I think I love the most about this Aventon e-bike is that you can also enjoy biking without the electric-assist on (some bikes are just too heavy for that or not built well enough), but then when you feel you could use a little boost, you can quickly and easily turn the pedal-assist to the level you want. Also, even with pedal assist, you’re still doing your job pedaling — just with some extra help here and there when needed. It reminds me of those moving walkways at airports. You are still walking, but getting a little bit of help when you need to get going faster or when you’re simply tired and could use help getting up the next hill.
I love the way you sit on this bike, too. Even after biking for a while, your back is not tired at all. It’s like you’re sitting at your favorite café sipping your favorite coffee.
The fat tires make it easy to get on and off sidewalks or even small curbs. The bike is equipped with a great braking system, so braking at any point feels safe, easy, and smooth.
The carrier on the back allows you to put some cargo on the bike as well.
The Aventon Sinch.2 is clearly my favorite e-bike so far. I should mention that I like to use my bike as a form of exercise, and this bike definitely gives you the opportunity to either get good exercise or take it a bit easier and get a bit of help from the electric-assist feature — or a bit of both. Sometimes, even if you’re biking hard for some good exercise, you need a little bit of relief in the middle of a hot summer day in Florida!
The Aventon Sinch starts at $1,299, but the model we got (the Sinch.2) costs $1,799. Specs for this version of the Sinch are as follows:
- 20 mph top speed (same on all Sinch models)
- 55 miles of range (from 672 Wh battery from LG)
- 300 lb payload capacity
- 4″ fat tires
- 500W (sustained)/750W (peak) motor
- 48V 3-amp fast charger, 4–5 hour charging
- 68 lb
- Rear rack capacity: 55 lb
Disclosure: Aventon provided us with this e-bike in order to conduct a review. However, they did not influence the review at all (beyond building the bike, that is).
This article is sponsored by Aventon.
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