Aventon built its reputation on commuter bikes. The brand's e-bikes have been approachable, well-priced, and squarely aimed at the rider who wants to get somewhere rather than one who wants to launch off a dirt jump in Arkansas. The Current, Aventon's first full-suspension mountain e-bike, is a different kind of machine entirely. It is a 29-inch trail bike with 150mm of travel up front and 140mm at the rear, powered by the company's new UltraX mid-drive motor. That motor delivers 110 Nm of torque at sustained output and jumps to 120 Nm during a 30-second boost burst. The Bosch Performance CX, the motor fitted to most highly regarded trail eMTBs from established mountain bike brands, produces 85 Nm. The Current weighs 52 lb fully tubeless in a medium frame.
The eMTB market has been splitting into two camps for years. The premium end — Specialized, Pivot, Trek's electric mountain line — regularly pushes past $10,000, and the top-tier full-suspension builds run $15,000 and above. The affordable end is dominated by hardtails without the travel to handle serious descents. The Current is trying to occupy the gap. The EXP spec uses a carbon front triangle paired with an aluminum rear — an unusual pairing that keeps weight down while adding front-end rigidity. The 800Wh battery is fully removable and among the largest in the segment at this price tier. A touchscreen display, SRAM drivetrain with an electronic dummy battery (which feeds gear data to a top tube display in real time), and Maven hydraulic brakes round out a build that competes on paper with bikes that cost considerably more. Aventon backs the Current with a 2-year warranty and says roughly 1,800 to 2,000 US dealers can handle in-person service.
The review was conducted at a preview of the Oz Bike Park, a lift-access facility under construction in Bella Vista, Arkansas, near Bentonville. The reviewer, riding a medium frame at 5'9" — a size that ran noticeably small — covered technical climbing trails, a jump line, and a dedicated tech descent. The boost mode's full 120 Nm triggered the bike's wheelie-control system on steep pitches: a feature that reads front wheel lift and modulates power to keep the rider from going over backward. Boost can be triggered again as soon as the 30-second window expires, with no enforced cooldown. Battery efficiency held up across hard use: three hours on the trail, 13 miles covered, 4,600 feet of climbing done almost entirely in turbo or boost mode left the pack sitting at 49%. App connectivity lets riders adjust power delivery, set password protection, and raise the speed limiter to 28 mph for road use. One of the more novel features: the bike logs air time when jumping, which the reviewer put to the test on the jump line and found the result genuinely addictive to check.
The one consistent gripe was tire confidence under hard braking. The Maven brakes are powerful enough that the stock rubber became the limiting factor on steep, loose descents — the front end moved around more than the brakes wanted. That is a function of the tires, not the suspension geometry or motor behavior, and it is the first upgrade the reviewer flagged after the ride.
Bottom line: The Aventon Current is the hardest eMTB to dismiss in its price range right now. The motor is genuinely powerful, the suspension does real trail work, and 52 lb is competitive for what is packed into this frame. The reviewer went looking for a catch after a full day of riding and mostly didn't find one. If you are in the market for a full-suspension trail eMTB and not committed to a specific brand name, audit this bike before doubling your budget on something with a more familiar logo. The tires need swapping. Everything else is ready for the trail.