Kenevo Gen1 Official 2020 Kenevo Owners Thread

[Waverid]

Hi all, new to the site. I am riding My21 Kenevo Expert with Rockshox ultimate select plus as original rear shock, which I am not satisfied with.

I've noticed quite many here have put Fox X2 with 65mm stroke that gives 188mm travel. I understood MY20 Fox fits directly but MY21 not but requires some frame modifications?

I wonder has anyone put Rockshox Select ultimate with 65mm stroke instead, does it fit? Select ultimate is as tunable as Fox X2 but can be fitted with megneg to have better mid range support. Plus it helps if it fits directly...

Talk to Craig at Avalanche Racing. He custom built a coil over for me and it’s insanely good. Crazy reaction and very composed. 65mm stroke and last few mm is bump stop to prevent harsh bottom outs.

 

[CjP]

Hey, your post says you’re running 29er front and rear? If so what if any struggle did you have to make the rear fit? Thanks!

Stock expert dual crown front will only take around a 2.4 front and 2.6 in the rear with mud guards with about 5mm clearance. If you ride in muddy conditions this can get easily clogged up.
I ran an Ohlins front and brother got 29 lowers on his boxxer to get more clearance up front.
Ended up settling on 2.4 front and a 2.3 rear with no issues.

 

[Dustjunky]

Wow ….so you can actually get a 29” in the rear of a Kenevo ? ….That’s great to know

 

[Cseven]

Stock expert dual crown front will only take around a 2.4 front and 2.6 in the rear with mud guards with about 5mm clearance. If you ride in muddy conditions this can get easily clogged up.
I ran an Ohlins front and brother got 29 lowers on his boxxer to get more clearance up front.
Ended up settling on 2.4 front and a 2.3 rear with no issues.

Awesome thank you for the info

 

[Dustjunky]

I know you can fit a 29 in the front with the Z1s …no issues at all

 

[gbarfoot]

Talk to Craig at Avalanche Racing. He custom built a coil over for me and it’s insanely good. Crazy reaction and very composed. 65mm stroke and last few mm is bump stop to prevent harsh bottom outs.

Was it a complete custom shock or is it built from a standard coil shock like the bomber?

 

[Waverid]

From the Bomber

 

[Alexbn921]

Just did a full service on my bike. Pulled all the pivots apart and cleaned greased them. Also changed out all the cables/housing to Shimano SP41.

Dropped the motor, cleaned lubed and put thermal pads in between the frame and motor. Should help with heat transfer and keep the motor much cooler. Also found a spot on the drive side that was rubbing the frame. I think this where the creaking was coming from.

Also added a Rockguardz front fender and bash guard. She's ready for the rain to stop and the dirt to dry out a little.

 

[Olliecurlywurly]

has any one upgraded brakes on the 2021 kenevo ? I’m not keen on the codes, if so what ? And was the performance worth it? Cheers Ollie

 

[Tbar]

has any one upgraded brakes on the 2021 kenevo ? I’m not keen on the codes, if so what ? And was the performance worth it? Cheers Ollie

i went for Saints. Very happy. Massive upgrade over the Codes.

 

[ScottWest]

has any one upgraded brakes on the 2021 kenevo ? I’m not keen on the codes, if so what ? And was the performance worth it? Cheers Ollie

Saints also.

 

[beutelfuchs]

MT7 + Trickstuff power

 

[Alexbn921]

Xtr 4 pot and 220mm rotors. World's better.

 

[Cseven]

has any one upgraded brakes on the 2021 kenevo ? I’m not keen on the codes, if so what ? And was the performance worth it? Cheers Ollie

I kept the codes but changed my brake pads to mtx gold pads. Great stropping power and budget friendly

 

[Mcharza]

I kept the codes but changed my brake pads to mtx gold pads. Great stropping power and budget friendly

I also kept the Codes, but changed rotors to Galfer and brake pads also to Galfer. Budget friendly change and got much better brakes.

 

[Rosemount]

has any one upgraded brakes on the 2021 kenevo ? I’m not keen on the codes, if so what ? And was the performance worth it? Cheers Ollie

Magura MT5 caliper with Shimano XT levers = Shigura .

 

[Dpickin1]

i went for Saints. Very happy. Massive upgrade over the Codes.

Did the same with 220mm rotors front and rear. Probably the best upgrade I made but would definitely ne interested in magura mt7 as well.

 

[Cseven]

Did the same with 220mm rotors front and rear. Probably the best upgrade I made but would definitely ne interested in magura mt7 as well.

Hey what adapter set did you use to put a 220 rear? Would you mind showing me a picture? Thanks!

 

[MPalli]

Hey Spoon

Hm. So after having to put in so much pressure into the Fox Float DPX2, I've now installed a DVO Topaz on my Kenevo, and I also need to put quite a bit more pressure into it then what is recommended in the manual.

I checked my weight with riding gear, which is around 64kg, so with the additional 8kg from the bike I end up around 72kg.
The DVO Topaz setup guide would put me to around 165 psi. I had to put in 195 psi. And 5 spacers in the positive air chamber. And am still using every mm on my test track.

The Kenevo's leverage ratio seems to greatly differ from what the shock manufacturers seemed to have had in mind when they put together their pressure recommendations.
Does anyone else have to put way more pressure into their shocks than what the manual for their shock says?
I also wonder if a more linear coil shock would actually work so well in the Kenevo, when I have to put in so many spacers into the air shock and increase the pressure so much. And originally they did sell the Kenevo with coil shocks.

I have been looking for this everywhere. The recommended ballpark settings for my weight (80kg including gear) would be WAY to soft. Rock Shox recommends weight in LBS + something for ebike weight in psi. I bottomed out on even the smallest drops and jumps.

if going by your weight/pressure ratio i would be at 238 psi. My LBS set my shock to 190… and said that would be fine. Lol

Since getting my Kenevo 2021 a month ago I increased pressure in the RS Super Deluxe Select + to 210. Sag changed to ~33 to ~30 - still bottoming out.

Ordered volume spacers and got them yesterday.
I‘ll try opening that damper today and put in another volume spacer or two… and might try going towards 230…

The bike being developed for such a long time I wonder how the engineers experience and tinkering is not being published for end users. The ballpark recommendations are out of this world.

 

[#lazy]

Just get to your suited sag and ride your normal trails . If it bottoms out , put in a spacer and back to same sag , keep dong this until you hit the sweet spot , THEN take a psi reading for future ref

 

[sp00n]

Yes, that would be the ideal procedure. However the problem with the Fox DPX2 shock that comes along with the Comp model is that you cannot add any tokens/spacers to it. More precisley, it already has the maximum volume spacer allowed by Fox and you can't go any higher. So the only way to increase the bottom out resistance is by increasing the air pressure. Or change the shock.

Which I did, but I seem to have damaged my Topaz now after a couple of months, it's losing a significant amount of air during a ride. I fear this may have something to do with what Steve from Vorsprung Suspension is rambling about in this video:

I.e. too much lateral forces on the air shaft inside the shock due to the yoke Specialized is using on the Kenevo, which increases the effective length of the shock.
Did anybody have problems with shocks being damaged without any apparent reason? At least for the Kenevo SL they modified the kinematic setup so that the yoke doesn't increase the shock length anymore...

 

[#lazy]

Yes, that would be the ideal procedure. However the problem with the Fox DPX2 shock that comes along with the Comp model is that you cannot add any tokens/spacers to it. More precisley, it already has the maximum volume spacer allowed by Fox and you can't go any higher. So the only way to increase the bottom out resistance is by increasing the air pressure. Or change the shock.

Which I did, but I seem to have damaged my Topaz now after a couple of months, it's losing a significant amount of air during a ride. I fear this may have something to do with what Steve from Vorsprung Suspension is rambling about in this video:

I.e. too much lateral forces on the air shaft inside the shock due to the yoke Specialized is using on the Kenevo, which increases the effective length of the shock.
Did anybody have problems with shocks being damaged without any apparent reason? At least for the Kenevo SL they modified the kinematic setup so that the yoke doesn't increase the shock length anymore...

I’m 80kg plus kit and the dpx2 works fine on my medium kenevo comp ! If I was you I’d remove all spacers and start again as I said above . If no luck I would think your shock is bust !
Once again FORGET the psi until you’re happy

 

[sp00n]

I’m 80kg plus kit and the dpx2 works fine on my medium kenevo comp ! If I was you I’d remove all spacers and start again as I said above . If no luck I would think your shock is bust !

The shock is not broken, it works fine. It just requires an unusual amount of air pressure to work correctly, much more than what the manuals indicate and what I was used to from other bikes, so that I wondered how riders much heavier than me would be able to ride with that kinematic & shock combination without exceeding the maximum PSI limit. The bike is specified for up to 136kg / 300lbs, so with 80kg you still have a little bit of headroom.
Just out of curiosity, how much pressure are you running?

 

[#lazy]

Give me a minute

 

[#lazy]

240 but not sure on number of spacers as was good from the shop setup

 

[Mcharza]

Yes, that would be the ideal procedure. However the problem with the Fox DPX2 shock that comes along with the Comp model is that you cannot add any tokens/spacers to it. More precisley, it already has the maximum volume spacer allowed by Fox and you can't go any higher. So the only way to increase the bottom out resistance is by increasing the air pressure. Or change the shock.

Which I did, but I seem to have damaged my Topaz now after a couple of months, it's losing a significant amount of air during a ride. I fear this may have something to do with what Steve from Vorsprung Suspension is rambling about in this video:

I.e. too much lateral forces on the air shaft inside the shock due to the yoke Specialized is using on the Kenevo, which increases the effective length of the shock.
Did anybody have problems with shocks being damaged without any apparent reason? At least for the Kenevo SL they modified the kinematic setup so that the yoke doesn't increase the shock length anymore...

One of my friend just broke DVO Topaz on KSL

 

[beutelfuchs]

I.e. too much lateral forces on the air shaft inside the shock due to the yoke Specialized is using on the Kenevo, which increases the effective length of the shock.
Did anybody have problems with shocks being damaged without any apparent reason? At least for the Kenevo SL they modified the kinematic setup so that the yoke doesn't increase the shock length anymore...

What the guy in the video says confirms 1:1 what I meanwhile learned talking to various suspension experts after all my shocks on the Kenevo as well as the Levo broke.
In case the Kenevo owners missing it, here is the thread about the issue on the Levo:
Which Coil Shocks Are Supported on Turbo Levo? - EMTB Forums

So yes, the yoke design is killing coil as well as air shocks. And the solution is to either get something stable like Oehlins, EXT or Push, or another suspension design.

The sad thing being that Spez of course knows all this but leaving users in the dark with their shocks breaking at the most uncomfortable times.

 

[#lazy]

I’ve blown 3 marz coils but the dpx2 suits the kenevo way better !

 

[MPalli]

Does anyone know how many tokens/volume spacers the Kenevo Expert s4 2021 is coming with?

Didn‘t have the time/tools yet to take things apart but will do next week when more time.

At 181cm/85cm inseam, 82 kg including kit my settings are currently:

Boxxer:
22% Sag/140 psi
12 clicks from slowest rebound
3 compression

RS Super Deluxe Select +:
32%/205 psi
-3 clicks from fastest rebound

Butcher Diamond at 24/26 psi.

Still bottoming out on bigger drops (bit less than 2 Meters but to a somewhat flat landing), but this way the bike feels most balanced front/rear and poppy over roots, grippy in turns, hard winter soil.
I found with lower tyre pressure the bike quickly started to feel less precise…

Wondering if other people have comparable settings with similar weight/height. Especially if others are running rebound in the same ballpark.

P.s. thanks for the info @sp00n about frame design and wear on shocks. Quite a rabbithole and - tinfoil hat time - one might wonder if it may be a reason why Specialized has recommended settings for basically all of their bikes - but not for the Kenevo. No recommendation, no responsibility when things go bad. :/

 

[Alexbn921]

I added two tokens to my fork and grease to the shock to increase the compression ratio. Then swapped to a fox X2 full of 4 bands.