Hi all! New ebike, some concerns about its durability....

[dirtmagnet]

Hi all.
Long time mountain biker on traditional bikes, BMX'er in the 80s, mountain biker since the 90s, just splashed out on a 2020 Specialized Kenevo.

The bike goes well, and handles like a champ.

However, on the second ride I did a steep technical descent with a lot of loose rocks and stones - a stone got flicked up by the front wheel and hit the battery guard. I couldn't believe it - it knocked a piece out of the guard. Pic attached.
This was the second ride!!!

What a disaster. I looked up the price for spares and the cover is over £50. What a rip-off.

I'm really concerned by how brittle and fragile the plastics used by Specialized are.. If it can't take a modest rock strike (flipped from the wheel, not a collision) then that grade of plastic has no place on a premium mountain bike.

So, lesson learnt, I ordered an Amygos protector from France. It took about 5 days to get from France to the UK. Pic attached.

That looks like it'll do the job, but it's really annoying how fragile the bike is.

Fingers crossed I won't get any more problems......

 

[SupasafeElectroLumberjack]

hot damn thats bad. I almost bought the Vitus ebike from CRC before reading a review which stated it had no undercarriage protection fo rthe motor. Thats a massive weak spot in my book. Bought a kona, has (what I assume to be) a thick aluminium guard all around the underside. And I've needed it- I did a descent as you describe not long ago and felt and heard a large pointy rock smack into the frame. Dread to think what it would have looked like without the guard.

 

[FSEngineer]

That is atrocious, especially considering how much Specialized charge for these bikes... it's nice that the aftermarket is strong enough for solutions to be available, but still!

Hopefully that'll be the last of your issues with it, and you can enjoy the ebike life

 

[dirtmagnet]

That is atrocious, especially considering how much Specialized charge for these bikes... it's nice that the aftermarket is strong enough for solutions to be available, but still!

Hopefully that'll be the last of your issues with it, and you can enjoy the ebike life

Thanks.

I agree - the plastics used on this premium bike are brittle and fragile.

I'm not a careless rider. This was an unforeseeable event when the front wheel spat up a stone at speed. The bike should be able to easily withstand a strike like this, especially as it's marketed as one of the more robust models.

Poor show, Specialized. I'm not impressed. They should supply spare rock guards by the bucketful to their customers.


That said, I am very impressed with my Amygos guard. This should be standard equipment if you go anywhere near rocks.