End of season reductions! Best time to buy a bike?

hi all, seeing as the 2018 trek powerfly have now started to be heavily discounted (£1000k off the lt9) , any thoughts/insight on when specialized and others are are likely to follow suit? about to pull the trigger on a levo carbon comp!

The Trek are likely to be discounted because they have Bosch motors and there’s rumours of a new one on the way.

I think i read that on one of your posts! The powerfly 9lt at £4150 is a serious consideration but think I'm going to be hold out for a hopeful end of season levo/ kenevo reduction.

I’ve got a Powerfly 8 LT and it’s great but if I was buying now it would be a Kenevo first then a Levo.

thanks for for that, it's good to hear from someone with the bike. Any reason for the kenevo over the levo? more versitile?

Better (for me) geometry, more travel, more gnarr. It’s a Levo, but grown up disgracefully.

I test rode the trek and didn't particularly like the on/off of the bosch motor, it was kinda comedy but the levo/kenevo felt a lot more natural. With the trek, I knew I was riding an ebike, with the specialized it just felt like I suddenly got loads fitter.

Dax said:

I test rode the trek and didn't particularly like the on/off of the bosch motor, it was kinda comedy but the levo/kenevo felt a lot more natural. With the trek, I knew I was riding an ebike, with the specialized it just felt like I suddenly got loads fitter.

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This seems to be a common love /hate thing, i can see advantages to both, bosch on demand power when you need it, but also can get you into trouble where a half crank stroke results in lurching you forward on a tricky technical section, against the argument of the brose not really kicking in when you need to power over a rock /step-up etc but not having the worry of binning it , would you say that was accurate?

Finch9981 said:

Dax said:

I test rode the trek and didn't particularly like the on/off of the bosch motor, it was kinda comedy but the levo/kenevo felt a lot more natural. With the trek, I knew I was riding an ebike, with the specialized it just felt like I suddenly got loads fitter.

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This seems to be a common love /hate thing, i can see advantages to both, bosch on demand power when you need it, but also can get you into trouble where a half crank stroke results in lurching you forward on a tricky technical section, against the argument of the brose not really kicking in when you need to power over a rock /step-up etc but not having the worry of binning it , would you say that was accurate?

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I hired a Levo Carbon comp demo. On turbo it was also jumpy on only a half crank, not in a bad way when you are trying to get over something

Finch9981 said:

This seems to be a common love /hate thing, i can see advantages to both, bosch on demand power when you need it, but also can get you into trouble where a half crank stroke results in lurching you forward on a tricky technical section, against the argument of the brose not really kicking in when you need to power over a rock /step-up etc but not having the worry of binning it , would you say that was accurate?

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I think that’s accurate. I crashed the Bosch into a gate due to the launch when i put in half a crank. I am certain I could get used to it because it was less of a lurch in trail mode, and it also made me giggle a lot, but its the kenevo I ordered.

I bought my Levo expert last August from Rutland cycles for £3750
Brand spanking new with full warranty.
Definitely deals out there as shops make space for next year's toys

haha i could see me doing similar hopefully the gate was ok
?. im sill torn between levo carbon comp and the kenevo. with the kenevo half my issue is which colour i prefer, i love the green but the black stealth just has that look about it!

StuR said:

I bought my Levo expert last August from Rutland cycles for £3750
Brand spanking new with full warranty.
Definitely deals out there as shops make space for next year's toys

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now that is a deal id take their hand off for!

@StuR Awesome price mate.

@Finch9981 you can get some good deals at the moment, did you see that Freeborn bikes are doing 15% off some Levo / Kenevo models?

Hi Rob i spotted that in the other thread. This looks a cracking deal but i really am stuck between the levo comp carbon and the kenevo! i just can't make up my mind it's driving me mad haha. the levo looks like the sensible choice for the vast majority of my riding but with electrical assistance why would you not have the extra travel! i guess i just need to get both?

Dax said:

I test rode the trek and didn't particularly like the on/off of the bosch motor, it was kinda comedy but the levo/kenevo felt a lot more natural. With the trek, I knew I was riding an ebike, with the specialized it just felt like I suddenly got loads fitter.

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Me too , I liked the natural power delivery of the Levo , although it wasn’t much power on the one I had on demmo . You will find the shimano motor has the same natural feel so worth a look at some of the great value bikes that use shimano motors

Finch9981 said:

Hi Rob i spotted that in the other thread. This looks a cracking deal but i really am stuck between the levo comp carbon and the kenevo! i just can't make up my mind it's driving me mad haha. the levo looks like the sensible choice for the vast majority of my riding but with electrical assistance why would you not have the extra travel! i guess i just need to get both?

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Demo them both on the same trails. Mix it up with climbs , traversing and descents.
You'll soon discover the pros and cons and ultimately what suits you.

However, there's definitely an argument for " go big or go home " ?

StuR said:

Demo them both on the same trails. Mix it up with climbs , traversing and descents.
You'll soon discover the pros and cons and ultimately what suits you.

However, there's definitely an argument for " go big or go home " ?

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sounds like a good plan, just trying to find somewhere with the kenevo as a demo close by

I think Rutland Cycles have a Kenevo on their demo fleet.

Finch9981 said:

Hi Rob i spotted that in the other thread. This looks a cracking deal but i really am stuck between the levo comp carbon and the kenevo! i just can't make up my mind it's driving me mad haha. the levo looks like the sensible choice for the vast majority of my riding but with electrical assistance why would you not have the extra travel! i guess i just need to get both?

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Although I don’t have a Levo or kinevo a test I recently read on my commencal may help with your decision , the bike did well but the only negative remark was it was less easy to ride on slower more technical stuff .
Why not have the extra travel indeed , however with that extra travel comes a slacker geometry and probably a heavier bike . I wanted the slack long travel enduro bike to make riding difficult trails easier , drop offs , very steep ground , and rough rocky ground etc , plus Iam quite heavy .
However on a less extreme trail ride , or your average trail centre blue or easier red there is a trade off where the trail bike is likely to be more easy to steer on the slow stuff and generally a bit easier to throw about and be more fun . the kinevo is about as extreme as it gets in long travel slack geometry etc so unless you like riding tougher stuff and would regularly maybe bottom out say a 140 travel bike , it could be overkill and be slower and more tiring to ride . Only you know what you like to ride , or want to want to ride As you say in the ideal world both would be nice , or perhaps a bike that’s a compromise between the two .

I think that's a pretty good analysis Kernow, Im a bit worried the kenevo will be a bit big for trail centers and stuff, but also worried that the levo would be too short travel for bigger stuff. Day to day I ride a 160mm trail bike for pretty much everything from trail centers to DH, which is what I was looking for from an ebike. Arguably the extra suspension travel may offset the extra 8kg over a regular bike.

Finch9981 said:

thanks for for that, it's good to hear from someone with the bike. Any reason for the kenevo over the levo? more versitile?

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I just got my ‘17 expert levo for about half price. $3900 out the door. I absolutely love it. Never tried the kenEvo.

The big difference with the kenEvo is all that extra travel front and rear. I believe 220mm rather than 150 on my expert Levo. Prepare to wait or pay full price on the kenEvo. No deals to be had to my knowledge.

I think 150mm travel is the sweet spot for handling geometry for general single track riding. However if you do a lot of downhill racing or jumping, more travel would be a better setup. It just depends on what you intend to do.

I love my 2018 Haibike All Mtn 6.0 with 150mm travel and the new Yamaha 500W PWX motor, $3600 out the door, here in Southern California ($800 off MSRP). Their new zero cadence power enable works great, no problem with sudden jerks of power, it's a pretty natural feel IMO. In tight turns and switchbacks, sometimes I will dial down the assist level to 1 or 2 eco mode as a logical precaution, but never had any surprises. I really like how Haibike tucks the information display down behind the bars on the 2018 model. Its easy to see the assist level mode with a bright LED light that changes color, but it's well protected being positioned low, behind the bars. The wider 780mm wide bars are a nice addition too that I've grown to appreciate. This bike has opened up all kinds of new trail options, now that I "HAVE THE POWER".

Kenevo is 180 front and rear.