I’ve been looking at a decent, strong, full suspension MTB for a while, and have now settled on an EMTB, and in particular a Kenevo Expert.
The background is I’m looking to get back into serious exercise. I’ve had some health issues in the last couple of years that have held me back, and have gained some weight accordingly. I need to ease back into it, thanks to Chronic Fatigue, hence deciding on the ebike. I won’t be doing any downhill, just trails and XC for now.
Before I pull the trigger I wanted to get some second opinions from actual Kenevo owners first, but also make sure what I’ve found is documented for the next guy in my position. There are a bunch of people looking for an answer but most threads end up with ‘don’t buy a bike and get off the pies fatty’ rather than a helpful response. In my case I’ve found a LBS who have gone out of their way to help out.
I’m going with a 2021 Kenevo Expert, since it comes with the Rockshox Super Deluxe Select+ air can now. With four tokens, we’ve got it at 40-45% sag, so no suspension upgrades required. Sag is a bit more than we’d like but it’ll be ok until I lose a few kgs.
Because of the sag, LBS is recommending shorter cranks, specifically Hope 155mm. From what I can tell stock cranks are 175mm. Pricy upgrade though!
On my analogue road bike, I found I needed to upgrade the discs to larger ones, so we’re doing the same thing on the Kenevo, going up to 220mm front and rear. Bit pricier than I was expecting though, at around AU$230 for the discs and mount adaptors, and with all the negative feedback on the Code R brakes on here I wonder if I’m better off going straight to Maguras?
Wheels and tyres I’ll leave for now. I figure I’ll wear the tyres out faster anyway, and upgrade to better tyres then, and LBS seems to think the new Butchers are much better. When the new Mavic E-Deemax wheels are available locally I’ll pick up a set and possibly upgrade to a 12 speed cassette at the same time.
Also going Saint pedals, and possibly upgrade to a riser bar. The demo bike at the LBS had a ~30mm riser bar on it and it was a good fit for me at 5’11”.
I hope that info is useful for others in my situation, and if anyone has any suggestions or advice on the above I’d greatly appreciate it.
The background is I’m looking to get back into serious exercise. I’ve had some health issues in the last couple of years that have held me back, and have gained some weight accordingly. I need to ease back into it, thanks to Chronic Fatigue, hence deciding on the ebike. I won’t be doing any downhill, just trails and XC for now.
Before I pull the trigger I wanted to get some second opinions from actual Kenevo owners first, but also make sure what I’ve found is documented for the next guy in my position. There are a bunch of people looking for an answer but most threads end up with ‘don’t buy a bike and get off the pies fatty’ rather than a helpful response. In my case I’ve found a LBS who have gone out of their way to help out.
I’m going with a 2021 Kenevo Expert, since it comes with the Rockshox Super Deluxe Select+ air can now. With four tokens, we’ve got it at 40-45% sag, so no suspension upgrades required. Sag is a bit more than we’d like but it’ll be ok until I lose a few kgs.
Because of the sag, LBS is recommending shorter cranks, specifically Hope 155mm. From what I can tell stock cranks are 175mm. Pricy upgrade though!
On my analogue road bike, I found I needed to upgrade the discs to larger ones, so we’re doing the same thing on the Kenevo, going up to 220mm front and rear. Bit pricier than I was expecting though, at around AU$230 for the discs and mount adaptors, and with all the negative feedback on the Code R brakes on here I wonder if I’m better off going straight to Maguras?
Wheels and tyres I’ll leave for now. I figure I’ll wear the tyres out faster anyway, and upgrade to better tyres then, and LBS seems to think the new Butchers are much better. When the new Mavic E-Deemax wheels are available locally I’ll pick up a set and possibly upgrade to a 12 speed cassette at the same time.
Also going Saint pedals, and possibly upgrade to a riser bar. The demo bike at the LBS had a ~30mm riser bar on it and it was a good fit for me at 5’11”.
I hope that info is useful for others in my situation, and if anyone has any suggestions or advice on the above I’d greatly appreciate it.