Kenevo Comp vs Expert. Which to buy?

[Adam]

Hi all,

I have to be quick as rushing off to work, but have been looking at both bikes and been offered/seen a couple good deals on both.

Would love to get some opinions from people on which you'd go for the comp or the expert? Is the expert worth the extra money in your opinion?

Thanks, I'll try and check in while at work if people have replied.

Adam

 

[R120]

Personally i would go for a 2018 if you can find one at a knock down price.

e.g this Troy lee edition, Size l, £4675.

Buy The New Specialized Turbo Kenevo Expert 6fattie 2018 Troy Lee Edition with free shipping - Freeborn Bikes

 

[Mcharza]

It depends. If you ride downhill also and your typical trail is like enduro trails, I prefer expert because it has better suspension

 

[Dax]

Expert. The comp isn't a big enough saving to justify the smaller battery and worse suspension. As above, look out for a deal on a 2018 expert.

 

[Gofurtherfaster]

Expert. The comp isn't a big enough saving to justify the smaller battery and worse suspension. As above, look out for a deal on a 2018 expert.

100% this.

Million times over this.

This.

 

[Adam]

Sorry for the long reply, put the most important bit in green if you want to save time reading.

Cheers for the responses guys, wish I'd had more time to of given more details before I ran off to work. I'd seen the Freeborn deals, in fact, could get any of the 2019 Kenevos for that £4675 price too by trading in a knackered old kids bike I have in my garage and using the PARTEX code. Would possibly end up with £700 worth of vouchers to spend on accessories as well it seems.

The thing that's holding me back though is just how tempting of a deal I was offered by Berkshire cycles after contacting them from hearing about them on Rob's video and on here. Not sure I really want to put the exact price here as in the video with them they seemed to want people to contact them directly for prices, and don't want to be an ass. But I'll say it was a good grand plus cheaper than I could pick up any of those Kenevo Experts from Freeborn or Berkshire Cycles themselves. Plus as mentioned in the video they'd upgrade the battery to the 504wh, and if I really wanted to I could upgrade the Yari for £200ish with the RC2 Damper to essentially turn it into a better fork than the Lyrik on the Expert. All of this with still somewhere in the region of being a grand cheaper still. With that savings in mind, when it comes down to the Ohlins vs the fox, and all the other components I'd love to hear if that alters your opinions at all or if you think the Expert is still worth the extra money?

The list of what would be the differences left over as far as I can see would be;
Rear shock - Ohlins vs Fox
Motor - 1.2e v1.3
Drive train - Sram vs Shimano
Brakes - Code R vs Guide RE
Narrower rims and tyres
Dropper post (Not sure i'm sold on the Wu myself anyway, haven't people had issues with them?)
Swat tools
And lastly it seems a 4a charger vs a 2a charger (£65 to buy a 4a charger)

Any thoughts? Worth the money?


Cheers guys, sorry for the long post and pestering. Would love to hear from anyone who's tried both or owns a Kenevo Comp to give thoughts on if they felt noticeably different or how if they have any complaints about the Comp.

Thanks for reading and sticking with me if you've got this far. It's much appreciated.
Adam

P.s.
Honestly I doubt I'll ever truely need the amount of travel that the Kenevo has and a Levo would probably do me fine (was a green 2017 Levo comp that I had a demo weekend on that sold me in wanting a new bike). They are both good bikes and with it being pedal assisted to get up the hill, why not go for the extra travel. Another thing that has me leaning towards the Kenevo over the Levo is that I'm a bit of a heavy guy at just under 17st and have heard that air shocks tend to not work well with heavier riders by the time you have to put so much pressure in them. Can't remember where I read/watched/heard that though or how accurate that info is.
Have also considered the Cube 160 range and the Giant Trance E+ 0/1/2 Pros.

P.p.s. Just noticed how closed Berkshire cycles is to Swinley Forest, guess if I buy from them I know where I'll be heading with my uncle the day I buy it before driving home.

 

[R120]

So lets say you are able to get a Kenevo Comp for £3500 with the bigger battery, which is how i interpret what you are saying. The yari is a perfectly good fork, and as you say you can upgrade it but i would ride it first to see if you actually need to. Rear shock is fine, but i would get it set up professionally to get it working right for your weight - you will probably need a new spring for it.

Imo the Wu Post is a POS, so its a bonus not having that anyway. First thing you are going to want to do is change the wheels because they are pretty low rent and have a reputation for banging up easily, and i can see this happening with your weight. Probably want some beefier construction tyres on there too. So thats maybe £5-600 on top of the purchase price.

 

[Kenevo cambo]

If you can afford the expert then definitely buy it over the comp.
I have the comp because that’s all my budget would allow but if I had my time again I would have waited and bought the expert.

 

[Dax]

Make sure you can get a firm enough spring for the back of the kenevo, I know @Al Boneta had issues getting one.

Fwiw, I have no issues with my Wu dropper.

How much is the comp? Expert for £4.6k is about what I paid in the summer, no regrets at all. Similarly a levo would probably have done, but the kenevo us just epic fun and so confidence inspiring.

 

[Adam]

So lets say you are able to get a Kenevo Comp for £3500 with the bigger battery, which is how i interpret what you are saying. The yari is a perfectly good fork, and as you say you can upgrade it but i would ride it first to see if you actually need to. Rear shock is fine, but i would get it set up professionally to get it working right for your weight - you will probably need a new spring for it.

Imo the Wu Post is a POS, so its a bonus not having that anyway. First thing you are going to want to do is change the wheels because they are pretty low rent and have a reputation for banging up easily, and i can see this happening with your weight. Probably want some beefier construction tyres on there too. So thats maybe £5-600 on top of the purchase price.

Quick update and response before rushing off to work again.
I agree, I wouldn't upgrade the Yari straight away, I'd ride it and see if I want to first (the 2017 Levo i tried had a Yari and it seemed fine)
I forgot to mention the rear shock spring rate, when speaking to Berkshire cycles they said they'd happily swap the spring out for the correct one for my weight when setting it up. So did my local Certini offer that when I was looking in there. I've been losing weight over the last year (3.5-4st so far) so I'd probably buy the next spring rate down when I get it too ready to swap it out hopefully.

Had no idea of that about the wheels, is this the same case for the ones that come on the expert? Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Adam]

If you can afford the expert then definitely buy it over the comp.
I have the comp because that’s all my budget would allow but if I had my time again I would have waited and bought the expert.

What's been the issue with your Comp? what aren't you liking about it?
Thanks for the input.

 

[Adam]

Make sure you can get a firm enough spring for the back of the kenevo, I know @Al Boneta had issues getting one.

Fwiw, I have no issues with my Wu dropper.

How much is the comp? Expert for £4.6k is about what I paid in the summer, no regrets at all. Similarly a levo would probably have done, but the kenevo us just epic fun and so confidence inspiring.

Good point. I'll maybe pop to my LBS certini and sit on a large or xl if they have them and see how the sag is looking there.
Agreed, the Kenevo looks a lot of fun.

 

[Dax]

You’d need to change the spring for sure on a Large, I’m about 11 stone and its a touch firm but ok for me. @Doomanic is a touch heavier and had comedy sag on my Kenevo.

I would expect the bike shop to supply the bike with the correct spring thou.

 

[Doomanic]

@Doomanic is a touch heavier and had comedy sag on my Kenevo.

I don't know what the problem is, there was 25% travel...













...left!

I would expect the bike shop to supply the bike with the correct spring thou.

So would I, but that's not what Leisure Lakes said when I enquired about a Ken when they were first released.

 

[Adam]

Been doing some thinking and coming kind of coming to the decision that for the price I may be better off with the Comp and saving the money so that I can upgrade it later or it means not dipping into my house deposit savings so much.

The main thing holding me back right now is just the worry that I may regret the 1.2 motor instead of the 1.3.
Anyone else tried both? Notice much if any difference?

I remember once seeing a fairly long forum thread on here about the differences of the 2 that I was going to read properly when I had chance but after looking, I can't seem to find it anymore to read. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks

 

[Kenevo cambo]

Been doing some thinking and coming kind of coming to the decision that for the price I may be better off with the Comp and saving the money so that I can upgrade it later or it means not dipping into my house deposit savings so much.

The main thing holding me back right now is just the worry that I may regret the 1.2 motor instead of the 1.3.
Anyone else tried both? Notice much if any difference?

I remember once seeing a fairly long forum thread on here about the differences of the 2 that I was going to read properly when I had chance but after looking, I can't seem to find it anymore to read. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks

Best way to describe the difference between the 1.2e and 1.3 motors is that the 1.3 motor will pull you up any hill you want with minimal effort whereas the 1.2E can climb the same hill but a reasonable amount of pedal effort is required and you have to use the gears more. The 1.3 can tear up most hills in pretty much any gear you like.

60nm vs 90nm is a big difference if it’s a steep climb

 

[R120]

Not helped by the fact the Kenevo is a heavy bike.

 

[Mcharza]

Not helped by the fact the Kenevo is a heavy bike.

Sure it's heavy, but doesn't matter. Going faster downhill

 

[R120]

It does if your running a smaller battery

 

[Dax]

Not helped by the fact the Kenevo is a heavy bike.

What’s the weight difference between a Kenevo and a Levo? Full and empty camelback?

 

[Superlukey]

 

[R120]

What’s the weight difference between a Kenevo and a Levo? Full and empty camelback?

Well average Kenevo is circa 24 kg depending on spec and average Levo 21 Kg depending on spec. Not making a point against the Kenevo, just saying the extra weight for me would mean getting the bigger battery is bit of a no brainer.