2019 (not 20!) Keveno first ride/bolt check & motor feel to E8000

[sisuman]

First ride impressions from an inept muppet who shouldn't be on a bike .. Very quick shakedown (impatient).. work trousers tucked in sock, no armour .. just a check and feel. No conclusive comparisons .. but the words of a crazy person comparing an e8000 hard tail with a Kenevo (if you don't want to read on - they're quite different).

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Nothing really adjusted so this really was just a quick first impressions.

So .. FIRST impression .. it's heavy .. bedded the brakes in going down hill from the house .. motor assist wouldn't work at all, so pedal back home without it..

Power off, power on as I couldn't find anything else wrong and that fixed it .. now if only I'd just done that at the bottom of the hill ..

Continued my 7k ride .. 23 minutes .. average 18kph . 232m elevation. That's with the no assist ride up a hill included.

Felt really nice !! really really nice ... even if you just want to plod along and want to treat yourself to a crazy bike .. A Kenevo is just as happy plodding as ploughing !

Did three other short climbs .. one two minute hill - 10 seconds slower than my fastest E8000 HT time. Three minute hill - 10 seconds slower than fastest E8000 HT time. 80 second hill - exactly the same as my fastest E8000 time. So all in, they're pretty comparable.. at a rough guess I'd say the brose was slightly faster as I wasn't going full heart attack at it and that's just on whatever the factory settings are.

Going down, just been a storm so several trees and branches down and no armour so no stupid downhill (need to go out tonight with the chainsaw).. plodded down a red and again .. it felt nice ! reassuring and so so so so much easier to keep your damned feet on the pedals on the rough stuff with suspension ..

Motor is silent, which is a bit weird after the old remote controlled car sound of the E8000 - which you just take for granted - there's something re-assuring once you're used to it that you know it's working ! The Brose cuts out smoothly at 25kph. No speedo which is a bit weird after the E8000. The Kenevo eats up ground and you're definitely going faster on the fire roads than on a HT - I only know as the motor seemed to be off more than it was on. Either that or the limiter is set at 12kph.

So yes ... if in doubt, buy one. If you like something else, buy that .. today's conclusion - they're all nice. Just some are nicer than others !

 

[sisuman]

Thinking about trading my 18 Levo for the Kenovo. Seems like a much better bike for mountain terrain.

 

[CjP]

Well to be honest having ridden both a properly set up Levo can hold its own. I quite liked the one I rode.
I think the Levo is a better all mountain bike but the Kenevo has the edge in the gravity stuff.
Personally I’d wait to see what the Kenevo replacement is like before coughing up the coin for a bike that is not far off what you have now. Once that comes out, I’m sure you could snap up a killer deal on the current model.

 

[Swissrob]

The butchers are ok but not the best, I replaced the front tyre and will run them out on the back at about 26.28 psi (95kg kitted up) . Then they are predictable and roll good, I need good grip in the front to cover my lack of skills!

 

[Martins8]

Good decision very nice and very capable bike. I’ve seen them swallow up everything in their way without a drama. Looks great in that colour. Like you I spent months researching etc , travelling around different shops having demo’s and getting quite nerdy with specs , motors and geo as well Then I ended up by chance taking a quick look at a 2019 turbo Levo initially out of my price bracket had a go fell in love instantly struck up a good deal with the LBS 8 hours later I was the proud owner and been made up ever since. So sometimes quick decisions work out well.

 

[CjP]

You can’t go wrong with either one, they are both very well thought out and capable bikes.