Kenevo Gen1 My 2019 Kenevo

[Juggy1985]

Hey all, just thought i’d share my so far early experience of buying/owning a second hand 3 year old Kenevo. I was looking for an e bike for a while, wasn't in a rush but there was no way I could afford a high spec e beast new as that would of cost approx £6-7000 in my opinion. My limit was closer to £3500 which doesn't get you much new, yeah the frame and motor might be half decent but the rest would be on the lower end which wasn’t what I wanted. Ended up pursuing a Kenevo, preferred the 2020 onwards model but out my range and stumbled across a fair few 2019’s. Found a nice looking one up for £3250 on eBay also accepting offers.

Ended up getting it for £2850 after a long drive. The bloke was super helpful and even put a Hope rear wheel on as he wasn't happy with the Roval hub on the Roval wheel. It come with quite new Zeb ultimates, a new Reverb post, Magura MT5’s, Burgtec bar & stem, Deore rear mech with SLX shifter, a spare battery, both batteries 100% on 40ish charge cycles and motor had been replaced and had done around 330 miles.

Obviously a 3 year old bike thats made for slaying will have a few war wounds and I knew i’d have to give some tlc which i’m currently upto now.

So far I’ve put some old DMR vaults on, a Nukeproof seat, the brake lever clamps were both cracked so replaced them, new rear pads and swapped the stock maxle for a quick release variant as the maxle looked rough.

Had a friend whos a good bike mechanic give it a quick once over, he put a new gear cable on, regreased headset, 4 new frame bearings and check all bolts including motor mounts (all loose except 1)

Got a new chain and cassette to put on, and when saved up some more pennies I might get a new XT shifter & mech.

Theres an awful creak coming from the frame somewhere, i’m hoping is the du bearing end as that would be easiest.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Theres an awful creak coming from the frame somewhere

Weirdly, sometimes it's the plastic motor covers. Try squirting some silicone lube round the edges of them then have a quick test ride.

 

[Juggy1985]

Man ive took the covers off, battery out still there. Im 99% sure its the du/shock hardware

 

[Juggy1985]

Not a fan of the rovals, not sure what it is they just feel/look cheap. Gotta keep em sweet though. Onto 6 new bearings on the Kenevo so far this week

 

[Juggy1985]

Had these in the shed for my Nukeproof generator wheels but they haven't needed bearings in 7 years

 

[Juggy1985]

I always remove one rubber seal and pack new bearings with 222 grease, making sure to put the side i opened then closed on the inside. If you take your time, careful and use a sharp enough pin then you wont damage the seal at all.

 

[Juggy1985]

New chain and cassette fitted. The hope hub was in a little better condition than the roval, bearings a little dry but i re packed. Cleaned all the pawls and springs, lightly greased with sram butter to keep the hope chainsaw noise.

 

[Juggy1985]

Just some crank protector vanity stickers today.
Before:

After:

unsure whether to keep or not, i’ll keep em on for a while and see.

 

[Juggy1985]

Bearings for frame come. With this 12 all 16 will have been replaced. All 16 frame bearings are 6802. These 12 are the fancier max/full compliment. Going to pack em all with mobil 222 grease before fitting.

 

[Juggy1985]

Still havent fitted the frame bearings as i’m lacking in kit. Trying to find/source a decent puller but they aint cheap . Done all the bearings in the rear hope hub though, thats running nice now, somehow the previous owner had managed to mangle the green plastic seal that goes behind the freehub body so had to get a new one but thats sorted too. Still got a few creaks which im struggling to find, possibly the csu or headset or maybe even the crown race, doesnt have an effect on the ride, just obviously annoying. 1 of my batteries had a recall on it so was hoping for a new one but just got a new control pad and some epoxy instead

 

[Juggy1985]

Not gave up on the beast yet. Just been quite busy. Finally got hold of a proper bearing puller/press kit, a specialized fsr one at that. It was missing the most important part though, the 15mm bearing puller. I struggled without anyways. I put the bearings in the freezer before hand to slightly shrink them for easier fitment. All bearings sorted and the creak still remains

 

[Juggy1985]

New rear shock bush and still creaking

 

[Ciorbarece]

It‘s the plastic motor covers, my 2018 Levo has the same problem. It never appeared in the winter, but regularly now during summertime. Especially when not having cleaned the bike for a long time, creaking is inevitable.

i took the covers off and used silicone, just like Specialized suggests, but that helped only very little.

After cleaning the bike (I use a mild pressure washer) the creaking dissapears, and no creaking during winter time. Also creaking occurs 100% in dusty conditions.

 

[Juggy1985]

It‘s the plastic motor covers, my 2018 Levo has the same problem. It never appeared in the winter, but regularly now during summertime. Especially when not having cleaned the bike for a long time, creaking is inevitable.

i took the covers off and used silicone, just like Specialized suggests, but that helped only very little.

After cleaning the bike (I use a mild pressure washer) the creaking dissapears, and no creaking during winter time. Also creaking occurs 100% in dusty conditions.

I hope it is just this. I’ve eliminated all the shock and shock linkage I think. Last night i seperated the seat stays from the suspension linkage so the rear end was only held on by the main pivot bolt near the motor and the creak comes from round that area when pulling/pushing the rear wheel side to side. Possibly flex on the plastic covers, all bearings seem fine as they are all new and well packed with grease, all run smooth when moving with finger. I’m so sick of it that I dont want to ride the friggen thing, last night i was so pissed off with it i didnt even lock it up, just locked my other bikes

 

[Juggy1985]

Had a bike mechanic look at the creak as its driving me nuts. He’s 99% certain its the bearings in the main pivot moving due to the old ones being in such a bad way they could of been spinning slightly in the frame causing damage to the bearing seats. He said if it is the case its only moving less than a hair’s width and can easily be rectified with either loctite 641 or the more permanent 638. Going to try the 641 and go on from there. If that is the case then its just down to poor maintenance by the previous owner

 

[Swissrider]

Good post. I like all the photos. I’ve got a 2018 Kenevo and I’ve not yet found any play or noise from the pivots and I’ve done 5000k, but I did buy a bearing press and puller kit and replaced the bearings in the rear wheel and there is already play in the rear wheel again. My creak was from the battery. I cured this by wrapping a layer of insulation tape around the bottom spigot of the battery. This also raised the battery a fraction and made it easier to engage the top bolt into the threads

 

[Juggy1985]

Good post. I like all the photos. I’ve got a 2018 Kenevo and I’ve not yet found any play or noise from the pivots and I’ve done 5000k, but I did buy a bearing press and puller kit and replaced the bearings in the rear wheel and there is already play in the rear wheel again.

the bearings from the main pivot were a real mess. All 4 were just piles of rust that needed replacing long before i did . I’ll see how
The loctite 641 goes when it comes. Other than the creak the bikes perfect. Every bearing except the headset bearing has been replaced, i suspect jet washing or maybe just poor maintenance was the cause of the condition of the bearings, i’ve never saw so many bad bearings on 1 bike.

 

[Swissrider]

Maybe that’s why it was for sale! It’s fortunate that you have good mechanical skills and that bearings are relatively cheap. Anyway, I’m sure you will enjoy the bike. That model was best in test a few years ago in bikes under €5000 in emountainbike magazine. The bike is sort of in between the current Levo and Kenevo and it can pretty much do anything.

 

[Dfriz]

Good post. I like all the photos. I’ve got a 2018 Kenevo and I’ve not yet found any play or noise from the pivots and I’ve done 5000k, but I did buy a bearing press and puller kit and replaced the bearings in the rear wheel and there is already play in the rear wheel again. My creak was from the battery. I cured this by wrapping a layer of insulation tape around the bottom spigot of the battery. This also raised the battery a fraction and made it easier to engage the top bolt into the threads

Do you have a pic as to where you applied your tape

 

[Juggy1985]

My Kenevo is in the bike shop now, had the bearings replaced and glue/loctited in with special bearing mount compound (loctite 641). It takes 24 hours to properly cure so i wont be getting to see till wednesday if the creak had finally gone. Fingers crossed

 

[Juggy1985]

Still creaking

 

[Fuzzyzola]

Hi do you know what size all the bearing were on the rear suspension? I am looking for a bearing removel tool and need the different sizes before I take it apart

 

[GeordieKenevo]

Only just found this great thread and have a similar 2019 Kenevo which will need this sort of work on it soon I'm sure but I might just get local bike shop to replace frame bearings if they are bad when I check them all instead of getting a puller . The creaking on mine 100% came from the plastic covers around the motor which after applying some grease to the edges seems to have resolved it... for now