Aventon calls this color 'Clay' and it's nicer than it sounds.

I’m always on the lookout for interesting new ebike designs and ideas, and to be honest, the new Aventon Level.2 is… pretty staid. Radical frame design? Not really. Exotic materials? Nope. Insane motor power? Not here.

But Aventon consistently produces useful, reliable, durable -and yes, innovative - ebikes that are both entertaining and highly practical, and the new Level.2 continues that tradition. I pedaled around on one for most of the past summer.

As noted, the $1,949 Level.2 is a pretty straight-forward commuter-style ebike. My review bike arrived as a large standard full-frame model with dark grey paint they call Clay, a rear rack and a 750-watt Bafang rear hub motor. It also had full fenders to ward off Oregon’s damp weather and a color LCD display that connects to the Aventon app via Bluetooth for tweaking motor performance and other details. It’s also available as a step-through.

Aventon was one of the first bike makers to use an app to tweak the bike, and it's easy to use.

The Level.2 is a Class 2 ebike, and it includes a thumb throttle for free-wheeling without pedaling. Power comes from a large in-frame battery that is also removable and good for 60 miles of lower-power assist. A small but bright LED headlight and Aventon’s trademark dual frenched-in tail/brake lights - among the best in cycling - are supplemented by a third small brake light on the rear fender. An 8-speed Shimano Altus shifter rides next to the hub motor, and the tire are 27.5-inch mountain bike style with an urban-biased tread pattern. However, the Level.2 does include a suspension fork for smoothing out some bumps, and it can be locked out for a full hard tail type ride as well.

New to the Aventon Level.2 is a torque sensor, the tech du jour for ebikes that coupled with a pedal cadence sensor, better matches motor output to pedal input and smoothes assist engagement. Basically, the harder you pedal, the more the bike will assist in your efforts. Back off and the assist drops away. It’s all very transparent to the rider, but it’s a huge help on hills and increases efficiency, extending the range of the battery.

The 54-pound Level.2 was easy to set up out of the box, requiring installation of the front wheel, handlebars and pedals. With the tools included from Aventon, it took about 20 minutes to get up and rolling. Everything is pre-wired so once everything is tightened up, it’s ready to ride. The battery had a decent charge so I went for a quick spin and immediately got caught in a rain shower. No worries, thanks to the fenders, but I returned home a bit damp.

Dried out and battery fully charged, I headed for my test route, which includes a butte that gains about 700 feet in elevation. Assist set to max and top speed set to 28mph, I fairly flew up the hill at a steady 20mph with some decent effort on the pedals, but I stayed seated on the wide, comfortable seat. The ride back down is a good test of handling (and brakes) as the route swirls and switches, with some broad sweepers and two good straightaways in the mix. The Level.2’s front fork felt a touch underdamped in some rough patches of roadway, but I was also pushing the bike well over 30 mph so that’s not unexpected. In top gear and far above any pedal assist on the upper straight, the Level.2 briefly touched 40mph and tracked true, the hydraulic brakes scrubbing off speed without howls or grabbiness as a wide right corner approached. The Level.2 sailed through composed and confident with no discernible frame flex, the wind whistling in my ears. Sure, it’s a commuter bike, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun as well.

After the speed and handling test, I mounted up two soft pannier to the rack and headed to the local grocery store for some supplies. Weighed down with two full panniers, the power of the rear motor made itself known as I flew down the bike path adjoining a busy Portland thoroughfare, easily making better time than the cars, trucks and buses jockeying for position in traffic. Gotta love a good ebike, but I’d like to see Aventon put a bell (and a loud one) on every bike they sell.

At night, the Aventon Level.2 is pretty hard to miss thanks to a quartet of LED lights.

And finally, my favorite test: the night ride. Aventon uses a small LED headlight that looks low-watt but it projects a bright, focused rectangle of light well ahead of the bike, and even earned a few headlight blinks from cars annoyed at its luminosity (too bad, I want to be seen). Out back, the triplet of tail and brake lights provides excellent visibility unless panniers are on the bike, which can hide the two main lights a bit. Fortunately, the third red LED on the rear fender picks up the slack. The brake lights also activate any time the brakes are used, day or night. I commend Aventon for their continued commitment to making their bikes highly visible at night, including stock tires with reflective striping for more visibility from the side.

With battery power to spare, I eased off the pedals and thumbed the throttle, gliding around my neighborhood after dark with a soft whir emanating from the rear hub motor. True summer fun.

The Level.2 is another solid offering from Aventon, which makes a wide range of ebikes, from foldies to roadies to fat-tired bombers. But the Level.2 represents what they do best: Offer a highly useful, affordable and integrated commuter platform that’s also fun to ride and built to last. On the street, most people won’t give the Level.2 a second look these days, so common are electric bikes. But for just short of $2,000, it’s a satisfying and worthwhile investment, if not an outright bargain, since it includes stout fenders, real-deal lights and a solid dollop of hill-climbing power. Highly recommended.