Has anyone tried both Levo and Kenevo back to back? Wondering what, apart from the obvious travel differences, were the main things that you thought were different?
Levo vs Kenevo
- Thread starter Rob Rides EMTB
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #3
That looks amazing. Do you find you ride the Levo more? Interested in the handlebar speed controller removal. Do you reach down to the battery now to change mode? Or just keep it in one mode all the time?
- Thread starter
- #5
Been toying with the idea of trying a 29er front wheel from my regular bike on my ebike. It seems to be a bit of a thing in mainland Europe at the moment.
I seem to be constantly changing tyre pressures to balance the trade off between grip and tyre squirm. I ditched the 3” Nobby Niks that came with the bike & went to Maxxis Minions in DD casings which did stiffen the sidewalls up significantly but the front end still squirms if you push hard into berms etc.
So my thinking is 27.5” x 2.8” Rear for climbing traction and 29” x 2.5” front for roll over and steering stability.
- Thread starter
- #7
What kind of tyre pressure are you at? I'm at 16 psi front on the 2.8 Butchers on the Levo and that seems too firm to me. Currently riding some hard packed stones that are wet at my local trail centre and the front is really slippery!
I run different pressures for different surfaces & conditions.
Wet & muddy as low as 11F 14R
General trail riding 16F 20R
Park/DH with fast berms & big jumps 22F 26R to prevent tyre squirm & dinging the rims.
I'm a fair old lump at 110kg and ride pretty hard which obviously has an impact.
Tyre casings seem to have a big effect on how they behave. It's worth experimenting, shame the 2.6" and over tyres are so expensive! If the 29" front doesn't work out I think I will try 2.6" Magic Mary's....
Might be worth dragging these tyre & pressure comments into a new topic rather than derailing this one.
Wet & muddy as low as 11F 14R
General trail riding 16F 20R
Park/DH with fast berms & big jumps 22F 26R to prevent tyre squirm & dinging the rims.
I'm a fair old lump at 110kg and ride pretty hard which obviously has an impact.
Tyre casings seem to have a big effect on how they behave. It's worth experimenting, shame the 2.6" and over tyres are so expensive! If the 29" front doesn't work out I think I will try 2.6" Magic Mary's....
Might be worth dragging these tyre & pressure comments into a new topic rather than derailing this one.
I have ridden both and have found they arent too different from eachother.
The one big thing I have noticed is that the Levo is a lot more playful, so if you are mainly a trail centre rider and you don't want the bike to do the majority of the work for you, then the Levo is the one to go for. If you are doing mostly downhill riding then the Kenevo is the obvious choice and it won't hinder you at all doing standard singletrack.
I've found that they climb as well as eachother and buying the Kenevo won't really make you climb any slower than you would on the Levo.
If I was going to buy one, it would have to be the Kenevo, its always nice to have the option of tackling bigger stuff, and they certainly look a lot meaner than the Levo!
The one big thing I have noticed is that the Levo is a lot more playful, so if you are mainly a trail centre rider and you don't want the bike to do the majority of the work for you, then the Levo is the one to go for. If you are doing mostly downhill riding then the Kenevo is the obvious choice and it won't hinder you at all doing standard singletrack.
I've found that they climb as well as eachother and buying the Kenevo won't really make you climb any slower than you would on the Levo.
If I was going to buy one, it would have to be the Kenevo, its always nice to have the option of tackling bigger stuff, and they certainly look a lot meaner than the Levo!
Last edited by a moderator:
Levo/Kenevo?
A few members here may already know that I recently purchased a used Levo off ccrdave a couple of weeks back. Thanks for all the advice ccrdave and giving me the much needed push to finally get into ebikes ?????
As a self confessed serial upgrader, I knew after the very first ride on my local trails in Wales I would be making some changes. After watching a few EMBN videos that had tested both Levo and Kenevo an idea sprung to mind that got me thinking, hmmmmm, why not make my own version of the Kenevo out of my newly acquired second hand base build Levo?
The end product which you will see below is what I came up with. Some of the changes I have made, will no doubt get some interesting feedback and comments as they may be seen as a bit of a ‘curve ball from the norm’ but hey, that is why I joined this forum to read what other members think, their opinions (agreeable and not so agreeable), capture knowledge and experiences and pass on my own thoughts, limited knowledge and experiences to hopefully help us all improve our bikes and increase our enjoyment out there on the trails on our electric steeds ?.
It all started with a number of hours of research and a number of parts stolen from my variougs analogue bikes. A BIG thank you must go out to TF Tuned for customising my 200mm eye to eye DB Coil rear shock off my Intense Carbine so it would fit the Levo frame. It took 2 attempts to get it right as we were also trying to squeeze a bit more travel out of the shock (this is a current ‘work in progress’ as I think we can do a bit more tweaking after test riding it yesterday and today. I will add a bit more detail in another thread once we have completed tweak number 3.......
Parts changed/added from the original Turbo Levo
1. Original Front brake changed to Shimano Saints (thanks ccrdave) I added on an XTR Trail lever.
2. Rear brakes changed to XTR Trail with semi metallic finned pads. I need to see how these go, I may change to Saint later but so far they are doing a great job.
3. Handle bars changed to carbon ZOOM 750mm wide bars. This is my preferred width, some people like wider, some like narrower. You need to do what feels best for you ?
4. Brand X seatpost (thanks ccrdave) this bike did not come standard with a dropper.... I really don’t understand why on Earth not? But it is what it is ?
5. Stem changed to 50mm Renthal Apex.
6. Superstar Nano pedals. Some people like them, some people don’t.
7. Cassette changed to XX1
8. Front wheel changed to 20mm axle Roval Traverse 30mm internal wide non boost
9. Rear wheel changed to Roval Traverse 30mm wide boost
10. Tyres changed to Magic Mary DH casing ADDIX Ultra soft 2.6. running at 17psi front and rear. These tyres have the stiffest sidewalls I have ever come across so you run quite low pressures with too much squirming.
11. Forced to change to 500ml water bottle due to the coil shock clearance
12. Rear shock changed to customised Cane Creek DB Coil with 50mm stroke
13. Forks changed to 180mm Fox 36s ‘Push’ tuned by TF Tuned.
14. Cranks changed to Nimbus Venture 2 150mm, yes, that was not a typo they are 150mm in length ?
I am looking forward to your comments, positive or negative.
After a few rides my findings so far are...... it still scoots up the hills just as well as before showing no big issues on the steeps with the longer forks. However, to cover all bases a 180mm Talas or 180mm RS Dual position may be better on the super steep climbs but this is a ‘testing in progress’ thing at the moment and I will need to feedback any disastrous back flips and cart wheels down banks if that happens. Point the bike down hill and forks and coil rear really soak up the rough terrain giving you loads of confidence. The brakes? Just as well they are good as with the extra confidence comes extra speed.... If you bleed them properly in my opinion Shimano’s are a pretty solid choice. The cranks? One word, Brilliant! I was having a lot of pedal strike issues climbing really steep technical climbs and navigating deeply rutted trails. This issue has now disappeared. Three of my friends have ridden the bike in the last 2 days and none of them noticed the shorter cranks length. This is very interesting to me as there is a lot of debate going round regarding short cranks would be good to hear your thoughts on this subject.
So, enough of the waffling....time for you to check out my Franken-ebike creation out ?????
A few members here may already know that I recently purchased a used Levo off ccrdave a couple of weeks back. Thanks for all the advice ccrdave and giving me the much needed push to finally get into ebikes ?????
As a self confessed serial upgrader, I knew after the very first ride on my local trails in Wales I would be making some changes. After watching a few EMBN videos that had tested both Levo and Kenevo an idea sprung to mind that got me thinking, hmmmmm, why not make my own version of the Kenevo out of my newly acquired second hand base build Levo?
The end product which you will see below is what I came up with. Some of the changes I have made, will no doubt get some interesting feedback and comments as they may be seen as a bit of a ‘curve ball from the norm’ but hey, that is why I joined this forum to read what other members think, their opinions (agreeable and not so agreeable), capture knowledge and experiences and pass on my own thoughts, limited knowledge and experiences to hopefully help us all improve our bikes and increase our enjoyment out there on the trails on our electric steeds ?.
It all started with a number of hours of research and a number of parts stolen from my variougs analogue bikes. A BIG thank you must go out to TF Tuned for customising my 200mm eye to eye DB Coil rear shock off my Intense Carbine so it would fit the Levo frame. It took 2 attempts to get it right as we were also trying to squeeze a bit more travel out of the shock (this is a current ‘work in progress’ as I think we can do a bit more tweaking after test riding it yesterday and today. I will add a bit more detail in another thread once we have completed tweak number 3.......
Parts changed/added from the original Turbo Levo
1. Original Front brake changed to Shimano Saints (thanks ccrdave) I added on an XTR Trail lever.
2. Rear brakes changed to XTR Trail with semi metallic finned pads. I need to see how these go, I may change to Saint later but so far they are doing a great job.
3. Handle bars changed to carbon ZOOM 750mm wide bars. This is my preferred width, some people like wider, some like narrower. You need to do what feels best for you ?
4. Brand X seatpost (thanks ccrdave) this bike did not come standard with a dropper.... I really don’t understand why on Earth not? But it is what it is ?
5. Stem changed to 50mm Renthal Apex.
6. Superstar Nano pedals. Some people like them, some people don’t.
7. Cassette changed to XX1
8. Front wheel changed to 20mm axle Roval Traverse 30mm internal wide non boost
9. Rear wheel changed to Roval Traverse 30mm wide boost
10. Tyres changed to Magic Mary DH casing ADDIX Ultra soft 2.6. running at 17psi front and rear. These tyres have the stiffest sidewalls I have ever come across so you run quite low pressures with too much squirming.
11. Forced to change to 500ml water bottle due to the coil shock clearance
12. Rear shock changed to customised Cane Creek DB Coil with 50mm stroke
13. Forks changed to 180mm Fox 36s ‘Push’ tuned by TF Tuned.
14. Cranks changed to Nimbus Venture 2 150mm, yes, that was not a typo they are 150mm in length ?
I am looking forward to your comments, positive or negative.
After a few rides my findings so far are...... it still scoots up the hills just as well as before showing no big issues on the steeps with the longer forks. However, to cover all bases a 180mm Talas or 180mm RS Dual position may be better on the super steep climbs but this is a ‘testing in progress’ thing at the moment and I will need to feedback any disastrous back flips and cart wheels down banks if that happens. Point the bike down hill and forks and coil rear really soak up the rough terrain giving you loads of confidence. The brakes? Just as well they are good as with the extra confidence comes extra speed.... If you bleed them properly in my opinion Shimano’s are a pretty solid choice. The cranks? One word, Brilliant! I was having a lot of pedal strike issues climbing really steep technical climbs and navigating deeply rutted trails. This issue has now disappeared. Three of my friends have ridden the bike in the last 2 days and none of them noticed the shorter cranks length. This is very interesting to me as there is a lot of debate going round regarding short cranks would be good to hear your thoughts on this subject.
So, enough of the waffling....time for you to check out my Franken-ebike creation out ?????
- Thread starter
- #11
Woah! That looks amazing! Great work @Kiwi in Wales
Hedge Monkey
New Member
Love it...
May i ask what is probably a silly question.
is the rolling circumference the same between a 27.5 and a 29...
May i ask what is probably a silly question.
is the rolling circumference the same between a 27.5 and a 29...
WOW! you have been a busy boy mate lol
roval traverse very good upgrade I never really got why spesh thought they needed 35mm rims, I put roval traverse on my new bike, miles better!
I have 165mm cranks and I cant tel the difference from 175mm but 150mm hmmm let me know how you get on long term. the downside I can see is it will make you sit higher on the bike, you can shorten the cranks but you cant shorten your legs so to get the right leg position you have to raise the saddle right?
I would be very interested to see how much more travel you can get at the back without any bits colliding, I want to do the same. does it steepen the seat angle? if yes that might compensate for the longer forks.
so 180mm forks brave man!! I have chickened out to go from 150 to 160!! what does 180 do to the head angle? from 65.5 to ...64!!! how much higher did it raise the BB?.
I do love a fettler well done!!
roval traverse very good upgrade I never really got why spesh thought they needed 35mm rims, I put roval traverse on my new bike, miles better!
I have 165mm cranks and I cant tel the difference from 175mm but 150mm hmmm let me know how you get on long term. the downside I can see is it will make you sit higher on the bike, you can shorten the cranks but you cant shorten your legs so to get the right leg position you have to raise the saddle right?
I would be very interested to see how much more travel you can get at the back without any bits colliding, I want to do the same. does it steepen the seat angle? if yes that might compensate for the longer forks.
so 180mm forks brave man!! I have chickened out to go from 150 to 160!! what does 180 do to the head angle? from 65.5 to ...64!!! how much higher did it raise the BB?.
I do love a fettler well done!!
27.5 & 27.5 + are both smaller dia than 29” (even 3” plus tyres).
I tried putting a 29” rear wheel from my clockwork bike with a 2.4” tyre onto my Jam2 27.5+ the other day wrongly assuming it would fit as there is a 29” version of the same bike. Needless to say it wouldn’t go in the rear triangle.
Looked kinda cool with a 29” up front and a 27.5+ out back.
Difference in size with a 2.8” tyre on the 27.5+
Nice work! I've been kicking around the idea of getting a ohlins coil for the rear.
Hedge Monkey
New Member
wow they are much bigger.
thank you so much..
i would think they would roll over stuff much better and more rubber on floor to in crease grip i supose..
i think a set of those can be put on a e levo maybe worth thinking about
dont know how this would effect gearing ect i presume i could change the size in mission control app
thanks once again for the picture they speak a thousand words...
thank you so much..
i would think they would roll over stuff much better and more rubber on floor to in crease grip i supose..
i think a set of those can be put on a e levo maybe worth thinking about
dont know how this would effect gearing ect i presume i could change the size in mission control app
thanks once again for the picture they speak a thousand words...
Roll over & speed are definitely better on the 29”, think the 27.5+ has the edge on traction with the wider footprint and lower pressures.
I would say rides ‘nicer’ rather than better. They are certainly more comfortable taking the edge from sharp hits.
Thanks Dave,
You are spot on with the Traverse wheels, they are great, The Ultra soft MM 2.6s are very sticky but the slight penalty is they are a bit weighty. However, I am having no issues with reduced battery life. So, so far so good on that front.
I have run with 165mm cranks on all of my analogue bike for the past 6 years so going down to 150mm has not been a big impact for me apart from no longer having pedal strike problems ? I have not needed to raise the seat post as it a large frame and I am normally a medium so that has worked out to my advantage.
I think I will be able to squeeze the rear shock stroke length out to another 3 to 4mm without hitting anything and you are right it will steepen the seat angle. I noticed when fitting the rear shock, due to the weight of the actual ebike the shock has a ‘natural’ sag of about 3 to 4mm which is where I will get my additional stroke length. I have never noticed this type of ‘sag’ before on my analogue coil shocked bikes probably because it weighs under 12kgs. The boys at TF tuned are brilliant re custom tuning, I have used their services for many years. They are not the cheapest but they are in my opinion the best at custom work.
The forks are set up really soft with a 30% sag as that is how I like to ride them and the PUSH tune has been taylored to my riding weight.The head angle is very slack but by the time you jump on the bike with all your kit on and the fork and rear shock do their sagging thing it sort of balances things out. How high is your BB? I need to check mine and compare if you wouldnt mind letting me know what your BB height is?
I am really happy how it is riding now after all the upgrades and as I said before, if I get issues with super steep climbs (which I haven’t yet) I will get a Fox Talas or more than likely a RS dual position 180mm Lyrik.
I can assure you it is worth it for sure ? what ebike are you riding?
'18 Levo carbon comp
Very close contest ?
I have always preferred coil over air but my obsession with light weight always pushed me down the air route.
Now I have an ebike I don’t have to worry about weight as much as I used to do anymore (to a point). The bottom line here is it is so close it comes down to personal preference and whatever tickles your fancy ?
I know what you mean re body weight and coil springs. On my Nomad I only need a 400lb spring. With the Levo shock, stroke length, eye to eye length and leverage I need a 600lb spring.
Now to just find a good deal...it looks like $600 w/o coil is the going rate on an ohlins.
EMTB Forums
Latest articles
-
Santa Cruz Vala X0 review - a new approach to perfection?
The new Vala is Santa Cruz’ first attempt on a Bosch-powered emtb. Like...- Knut Nes
- 6 min read
- Views: 1K
- Reaction score: 5
- Comments: 4
-
A new standard for charging ebikes is coming? A quick interview with Bosch - charge2bike
I had a quick chat with dr Vikram Godbole about "charge2bike", a new...- Knut Nes
- 2 min read
- Views: 987
- Reaction score: 7
- Comments: 4