Aventon Sinch Review

The Aventon Sinch is Aventon Bikes folding electric bike model. The sinch weighs in at 61lbs and comes equipped with Kenda fat tires. The frame of the Sinch is very similar to other folding ebike models in the market. Due to high maintenance and low mechanical and materials quality, the Sinch scored a 41 on our Tower ebike score giving it a mediocre ebike rating.

DISCLAIMER - Aventon and Sinch are trademarks of Aventon Bikes, and use of that trademark in this review does not indicate that the reviewer is claiming any interest in the mark or any affiliation with or sponsorship or endorsement by Aventon Bikes.

Aventon Sinch Review

Aventon Sinch eBike Review & Tower eBike Score Rating

Today, we are going to be reviewing and rating the Sinch from Aventon. Aventon hopped on the electric bikes trend and the Sinch, in particular, is their folding fat tire style bike. The folding e-bike niche is a growing trend within the industry.

Let's get right into it. The Sinch from Aventon scored a 41 on our 100-point scale, which rates it as a mediocre electric bike.

However, before we get into the details, I want to introduce myself. My name is Stephan Aarstol. I am the CEO of the Tower Electric Bike Repair Shop here in San Diego. We see hundreds of e-bikes coming through here every day and we repair thousands or so each month.

Also, our mechanics have been in the bike world for about five to ten plus years individually and collectively over 40 years. With that, we have our professional mechanics look into the bikes that come in and do a review. The review and ratings are based on seven key attributes; ones that we'll be looking into for our Tower e-Bikes Score.

The seven attributes that we rate are as follows:

Electric Bike Materials quality
Bicycle Mechanical quality
Low maintenance of Electric Bike
Electric Bike Hill-climbing ability
Electric Bike Range
Electric Bike Comfort
Electric Bike Universality

We then take all of those attributes and score them between one to ten, one being the lowest and ten being the highest. We then normalize all seven scores to get a single number or score out of our 100-point scale. This’ll help consumers figure out which e-bike is best for them.

Specifically for the Sinch, we have mixed reviews. Thus, we're just putting our e-bike mechanics on it to test the bike and dive deep into its intricacies. It is nice that we're able to digest all of these scores into one single score. It's almost similar to the wine spectator score if you're familiar. Since the e-bike industry is somewhat saturated, it can be overwhelming to find a bike that matches your needs. It can be difficult to figure out if the e-bike is going to be the suitable one for you without testing it.

Just as it can be confusing and tough to find the wine that you can trust and can satisfy your needs, it's similar with the vast array of eBikes out there. Especially with all these electric bike brands that are now both online and direct-to-consumer, it's tough to test ride a bike. It is best to be able to go for a test ride prior to purchase for you to be able to get a sense of how the e-bike is going to perform and whether or not it's a solid bike. You would rather know these before spending thousands on an e-bike. Unfortunately, there aren't too many shops you can walk into and test ride a product. Thus, doing research and seeing different reviews and ratings is something we recommend before investing in a new electric bike.

That's what we're doing here with our Tower Score. We're calculating these seven key attributes and converting them into one single score. This’ll enable consumers to easily pick, choose and rate different e-bikes and see how they compare to one another.

Apart from this, we also have a secondary score. We call it the Specialty Score. The Specialty Score omits the last two attributes that we looked at; namely comfort and universality. We do this because there are a lot of traditional premium-brand bikes that are sized for certain people and for special purposes - things like road bikes, or high-end mountain bikes and such.

Thus, we include the Specialty Score as a supplementary score. If you are looking for a bike that matches a specific need or a specific size rider, it isn't fair to judge it as something it wasn’t made for (like how we rate most one-size-fits-all eBikes).

Let's get back to the review.

Aventon Sinch’s Materials Quality - 2/10

The first attribute we look into is the materials quality. The reason we look into this first is that not only do we think that it’s the most important category, but it also paints a good enough picture of what the rest of the categories will seem like. Usually, if a company cheaps out on the quality of its materials, chances are they're going to cheap out on other areas that aren’t immediately apparent; such as the electrical components of the bike.

We also look at the brand of the tires, the quality of the seat and the pedals, etc. For this category, the Sinch scored a two out of ten. The Sinch uses Kenda tires. These are known to be mainstream, low-quality tires. We find it silly that a company would put cheap tires on an electric bike that is meant for rugged outdoor use. A lot of customers may even go off-roading with this product.

Further down the line, you can expect issues with this e-bike, especially with the Kenda tires. Either it’s going to degrade over time or you’ll experience a lot of flat tire moments, one or the other is going to happen sooner or later.

We also didn’t like the seat on the Sinch. The quality of the seat is not stellar. It is a relatively cheap seat. This is the same with the pedals. We think that Aventon didn't spend a lot of time making sure that the components on this bike will be high-quality. It looks like they're trying to target a certain price point. You can’t price low if you spend a lot on quality materials. Thus, we think they cheaped out on the exterior of this e-bike.

Again, on materials quality, the Sinch scored at two out of ten.

Aventon Sinch’s Mechanical Quality - 3/10

The second attribute we looked at was mechanical quality. On mechanical quality, the Sinch scored a three out of ten. This is in large part due to it having mechanical brakes. We don’t recommend mechanical brakes on electric bikes. It is a little silly to put mechanical brakes on something that has a strong motor. Because you’re riding an e-bike, you're just going to wear down those breaks quickly. By working here at our bike repair shop, it's highly apparent to us that most of the bikes that come in with brake issues are always due to it having mechanical brakes.

It would have a much higher score were it to be equipped with hydraulic brakes. You simply have a far more maintenance free experience with a hydraulic self-adjusting brake system. If you're not familiar with bikes and you can't do a brake caliper adjustment yourself, you're going to find yourself going into the shop a lot. This is definitely something to consider.

Also, the Sinch e-bike has a relatively cheap derailleur. It does have gears on it, which is nice to see. But that derailleur in the shifter is of poor quality. It's non-branded, and it's not as smooth and as nice as a lot of the other derailleurs on the market.

A nice thing about this bike is it does have some front suspension. Going back to the fact that it's branded a folding, fat tire bike, having suspension is highly appreciated. You’ll have a much smoother ride if you are to travel through bumps or if you go off-road on gravel. Without the suspension, it’s definitely harder on the rider. We also liked that it does come with a threadless headset.

Other than that, there were just too many areas that we didn't like on the bike. When we're looking at an e-bike’s mechanical quality, we're also looking at how well the bike performs just as a bike.

We want to see if, without a motor, is it in itself a sound bike? We found it to have quite a cheap derailleur here and just lower-quality components. Thus, the Sinch scores a three out of ten on mechanical quality.

Aventon Sinch’s Low Maintenance Score - 3/10

The next attribute we looked at is the low maintenance score. The Sinch scored a three out of ten giving it a poor score here. We see this e-bike come into our shop often. Again, this is due to the mechanical brakes for the most part. Brake adjustments are tough to do at home. Thus, most customers come to us for repairs.

This means that this is something to consider and think deeply about. Going back, it's that with the lower quality components on it, they're probably going to break way more often than normal. Especially the brakes. They're going to need to be replaced.

It’s good that this e-bike is somewhat rust-resistant. But if you are frequently going to be riding the bike by the ocean or in a wet environment, it might not hold up for too long because it isn't fully rust-resistant. Over time, it may turn a bit brownish. However, in certain areas, the spokes are made of stainless steel. This is something we definitely appreciate because those spokes won’t rust on you. However, the actual frame may slowly deteriorate after a little while.

Another thing worth mentioning is it is nice that this bike has multiple gears. It's a pro and a con at the same time. You get a strong and wanted feature, the gears, but with more gears means that there are more things that can go wrong. Matched with lower-quality drive chain and the shifters, this might cause problems. All of these factors tell the tale of why this e-bike scored a three out of ten.

Aventon Sinch’s Hill-climbing Ability - 7/10

The fourth attribute we looked at is hill-climbing ability. So on hill-climbing ability, the Sinch scored a seven out of ten. We took it to one of the steeper hills here in San Diego and it performed fairly well.

Another thing to consider, as we touched on before, is that the Sinch has multiple gears and a pedal assist system that can switch between one and five. There is a lot of room here to give you an extra boost. You can switch to a lower gear to help get you uphill which, in turn, helps it with its hill-climbing ability score.

Thus, we gave it a seven out of ten. It performed pretty well on our hill-climbing test.

Aventon Sinch’s Range - 3/10

The next attribute we looked at is range. What we're looking at here is how far the bike can go on one charge. We do a multitude of tests for this category. We try to run on just pedal assist, just throttle, and then a combination of both to get an idea of how long the battery can truly last. The cells within this battery are not branded cells, which is always a bad sign. Your range is going to suffer greatly when you are using lower quality cells. This is from the moment you get the eBike, and then that range starts to get lesser over time as the biggest problem with sub-par battery cells is degradation. So a few months after purchase you are going to likely see a significant drop off in your range.

We recommend that you purchase a bike that has brand-named cells inside of the battery. Meaning that the bike battery is either a Samsung, LG, or Panasonic cell. We hope that companies state this on their website or product page because, more likely than not, if they don’t state the specific brand of the battery cells, they are using non-branded, low-quality cells. The battery pack on many eBikes represents half the production costs of the entire electrical system, and a battery with quality cells can cost twice that of a battery with cheap cells. So it's a place brands can save a ton of money on production cost. Unfortunately, consumers find out too late.

We did find through our tests that it didn't add up and didn’t perform like Samsung battery cells. Thus, we think that even with the 500-watt motor, 14-amp hour battery, and 48-volt system, it still doesn’t compensate for using cheap Chinese battery cells.

So we gave the range of three out of ten.

Aventon Sinch’s Comfort - 5/10

Now, let’s take a look at how comfortable this e-bike is. We look at how comfortable the ride will be for consumers. Going back, we did touch on the fact that the bike does have a nice front suspension, as well as those fat, high-cushion tires. With these parts, riders get a smoother ride. You aren't going to be burdened too much by bumps on the road. Also, if you go off-road and on gravel or on a trail with this bike, the suspension will play a great factor in giving you optimal comfortability.

There were some things we didn't like about this e-bike. It is a folding bike; meaning there is not too much adjustability on the stem. Also, when you are riding the Sinch, you're not fully upright. Over long rides, which is somewhat common on eBikes, this can result in a little undue strain on your back. There were some actual sizing things that we didn't like as well. A pedal-forward design an e-bike means that there is a horizontal distance from the pedals back to the crankset. This is one of the most comfortable riding positions you can have on an eBike, but few bikes employ this type of design. On the Aventon Sinch, the crank is almost directly beneath the seat, which we didn't find too comfortable. If that battery ever does die on your, it's going to be a bear to peddle this bike home.

It makes the ride a little bit more relaxed when you do have a pedal forward design. In comfort, there are some good things and there are some bad things.

Thus, the Sinch scored a five out of ten.

Aventon Sinch’s Universality- 6/10

And then the last attribute we looked at is universality. We’re looking at how universal this bike is. Can anyone get on this bike and ride it? Do you have to be a certain size rider to use this e-bike? How much adjustability does it have? Things like that.

On universality, we gave it a six out of ten. One thing we didn't like was how high this bike’s step-over height is, especially for a folding e-bike. Usually, a folding e-bike will have a lower middle. Either it’s easier to get on and off the bike or companies will make a step-through version of the e-bike. However, on the Aventon Sinch, the step-over-height was really pretty high; especially for a folding e-bike.

This is something to consider. We measured it at 31 inches. It’s a little difficult to get on and off this bike. The seat height range was quite ideal. You can customize this bike to fit any rider, as long as you're able to get over the middle frame. One con about this bike is that the handlebars don't go forward and back. They are just situated there like a pole. They can go up and down, but they don't go forward and back.

Touching back on the riding position, with it being semi-upright, we would have liked to see it be able to get pushed a little bit closer to the rider. This way, riders can get more of an upright feel.

But in universality, the Sinch scored a six out of ten.

Tower e-Bike Score (41) and Specialty Score (36)

That is our rating and review of the Aventon Sinch. Again, the Sinch scored a 41; giving it a mediocre e-bike rating. And on the Specialty Score, the Sinch scored a 36 out of 100; giving it a non-recommended e-bike rating. It took a hit on the Specialty Score because while it's comfort and universality we're the greatest, they were on average better than the rest of the eBikes scores. Thus it scored even lower when eliminated those last two factors.

A couple of other last things we'd like to touch on are the weight and looks of the e-bike. It’s not included in the rating but we do like to mention them.

Electric Bike Weight - 68 pounds

The Aventon Sinch weighs 68 pounds. For context, that is way too heavy for a folding e-bike. For comparison, our full frame Tower electric beach cruisers with a large capacity battery pack and powerful motor still only weight in the 50 lb range, almost 20 lbs lighter. And they're not meant to be folding, highly transportable ebikes. Usually, you’d want to see a folding bike that's easy to pick up and put down or easy to put in the back of your truck or bike stand. However, 68 pounds is not easy for people to pick up. This is something to consider.

Electric Bike Looks

We also like to comment on the looks of the bike. The Sinch looks like many other folding electric bikes on the market. If you are in the market for a folding bike, you can attest to the fact that they all look similar. The Sinch does have a nice, all-black colorway. We enjoyed this. Again though, that middle frame is just quite high for a folding e-bike. This is something to consider as well.

Aventon Sinch’s Low Proprietary Risk Score - 4/10

The last thing we want to touch on is arguably the most important category. We call it the low proprietary risk score. For context, we’ve been in the e-bike industry for a while now and we’ve accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience throughout the years. Like everyone, we’ve observed that the e-bike niche is quite saturated. We've witnessed this happen in other industries, and we're pretty confident that about 95% of all these ebike brands operational today are unfortunately going to go out of business one day. Now, why is this important to you?

The last thing we want is for a customer to buy an electric bicycle from a company that no longer is able to service their bike. Unfortunately, we see it all the time here at the Tower eBike Repair Shop. A customer may come in with a bike and, of course, they come to a repair shop to have their bike serviced. Now, the issue we run into is that the electrical components within the bike, maybe the battery or whatnot, are highly proprietary. Meaning that no one can sell their electrical components other than the brand themselves.

If the brand is no longer in business (or even if they are just out of stock for the time being... which might be 3 months), there is close to nothing the customer or repair shop can do to remedy this problem. Of course, the repair shop can try to ‘Frankenstein’ some parts of the bike, but that is not the solution we’d like to be stuck doing for customers. Apart from all that, for this category, we also consider how refined the customer service experience is.

Now, let’s look at the Sinch. On the proprietary risk score, the Sinch scored a four. Although it has nice and standard Kenda tires in a standard tire size, ones which you can find almost anywhere, the rest of the parts seem to be highly proprietary to Aventon. The LCD display is nice in this e-bike. We found it super interactive, large enough, and easy to read, However, it is highly proprietary. The controller and the LCD screen are only going to work with the whole electrical system here on the Aventon Sinch.

This means that if you do need a new display screen or anything like that, you are going to have to go directly to Aventon and Aventon only. The same thing goes for the battery and the controller here with folding e-bikes. On the Sinch, the batteries are hidden within the frame of the bike. Again, if you need it serviced, you’re going to have to go directly to Aventon.

One more thing we want customers to know is that if Aventon stopped producing the Sinch, they will also of course stop producing the Sinch’s battery. Meaning, you’re left in the dust here. That is something to think about. The same thing goes with the Sinch’s motor. Usually, we like to see motors from a trusted name. The motor on the Sinch is a lower-quality motor and highly proprietary. All this to say, get a bike that isn’t composed of highly proprietary parts if you plan to keep it for long. This way, you’ll be able to source parts for damaged components.

That's our full review on the Aventon Sinch. Let us know what you think. Check out our site for Tower Scores on a growing list of other e-bikes that we see coming through our San Diego based eBike Repair Shop.