Kenevo Gen1 Kenevo setup for heavy rider

[Ryan]

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.

 

[Ryan]

I put MT7 on my Kenevo but they are not "needed" just wanted. Ive got the coil so not sure what this bike is like on air. I also have hope 155 cranks and that made a huge difference. The long cranks caused a violent pedal strike on a wooden feature and ended up with broken hand. First injury in my life doing any sport. This was imo 100% the bikes fault. Ive done that feature 100 times and this is the first bike that slouches in its travel due to the coil combined with the low BB and longish cranks. The lack of low speed compression on the standard shock also means the bike bobs more than you realise. The air shock might mitigate this to a degree but id still get smaller cranks. The pedal strikes can be violent. One sent me over the bars once when i was charging, especially if you use flats like i do

Thanks for that. Sounds like the shortened cranks are a winner.

I wasn’t sold on the brakes on the short demo ride, felt like they had no modulation. LBS said the Code Rs just need heat in them, so they’ll be better on a longer ride. On here plenty of people seem to hate the Code Rs, so I’m considering having them replaced with the Maguras before delivery, but no issue to do later.

 

[Salespunk]

Been on the Kenevo for a while with an air rear shock. It works really, really well. Current setup for me is a Fox X2, but the best thing you could do is get the shock and fork custom tuned. Not sure if you are in the US or UK, but here in the US Fluid Focus does awesome work. Full bench dyno, etc so it is not just some shade tree mechanic. You could either do this with the stock coil and an upgraded spring or with an air shock like the X2.

Regarding the shorter cranks, there is no reason to run them unless your shock isn't properly tuned. That is just the shop trying to sell something which pisses me off more than anything else. If you want shorter cranks that is fine, but it has nothing to do with your weight, they just don't know how to setup the bike. It is fine to buy the bike from them, but I would never trust a shop making this recommendations to ever work on it.

 

[Ryan]

Been on the Kenevo for a while with an air rear shock. It works really, really well. Current setup for me is a Fox X2, but the best thing you could do is get the shock and fork custom tuned. Not sure if you are in the US or UK, but here in the US Fluid Focus does awesome work. Full bench dyno, etc so it is not just some shade tree mechanic. You could either do this with the stock coil and an upgraded spring or with an air shock like the X2.

Regarding the shorter cranks, there is no reason to run them unless your shock isn't properly tuned. That is just the shop trying to sell something which pisses me off more than anything else. If you want shorter cranks that is fine, but it has nothing to do with your weight, they just don't know how to setup the bike. It is fine to buy the bike from them, but I would never trust a shop making this recommendations to ever work on it.

I know what you’re saying, but the shop initially recommended what you’re suggesting - a Fox X2 custom tuned. When the 2021 models came with a Rockshox air shock, they figured they could make that work given Fox X2 stock isn’t likely in Australia for a couple of months I think.

The idea was to compensate for the sag with the shorter cranks but all good, I’m picking it up tomorrow and will check it out over the next couple of weeks.

 

[CA320]

I tried the shorter 155mm cranks which worked well when running it in the low position as the pedal strikes were a lot more than with my Levo. Sounds like with that much sag it would be a good upgrade for you. I got the cheap Miranda ones off Amazon for around $55 usd. Cheap but did the job until i bent them trying to get an extra couple of pedal strokes in a bad spot.

Went back to the stock crank arms and ran the bike in the higher position and was happy enough with that until i put a 29er on the front which raised the bottom bracket so no issues now.

I'm 105 kgs and I was a little surprised with the stock code r brakes after upgrading (i thought) when changing to a kenevo expert from my guide RS on my Levo comp carbon. They would be howling and didn't have much power at the end of downhill segments. At first i thought i didn't bed them in very well and then went with a more aggressive pad (i tried 2-3 different compounds) but still not great, then to a 220mm front and eventually 220mm rear. Worked ok but i have fast longer decent's where i ride and i push pretty hard and i just wasn't confident in them slowing me down when i needed them most.

I ended up with MT7's with 220mm front and rear and they are taking a bit to get used to (mainly the front) because of how strong they are compared to the Code R's. The Kenevo is a heavy bike with a heavy rider on it and i feel that is asking a little more than the Code's were originally designed for.

If i were to do it again i would sell the codes while they were new and put that towards a better brake set up right away. MT7 with a 220 front and 203m rear would be more than enough.

 

[charlotterhodes]

I like the coil in some instances but it does make the bike feel like riding a mattress of clean futon mattress from Best Futon Mattress Reviews 2020 - Top 30 Picks. There is zero pop to a coil shock and conversely it sucks a lot of power out of jumps and kickers. You can smash your way down anything but equally it seriously squats in all the places you wish it didnt.

This happens with me too when I change the coil. But it really sucks because of jumps and bumps.