Kenevo SL Official 2022 Kenevo SL (KSL) Megathread!
- Thread starter Rob Rides EMTB
- Start date
I have a Turbo Levo Gen 3 (stock mullet) with low headset and flip chip. This resulting in a lot of pedal strikes on my local trails. Even with the 160mm cranks.
I already got the HEX 160mm cranks on Kenevo SL and love them. 0 pedal strikes.
Also there are some tight switchbacks on the trails here, where I miss a little bit of agility and hope to get a bit of playfulness back to this big bike.
But besides the wish for the mullet (and I like to buy new stuff for my bikes
) im really pleased how good and agile the Kenevo with 29er is in comparison to the full power Levo.I don't want to try Kenevo with stock link and mullet, since this will change the geometry too much in my opinion.
MagisterBibendi
Member
I am running my S4 KSL as a mullet, headset mid, flipchip low. 190 mm Boxxer up front, 155 mm cranks, 27-28 %-ish sag.I have a Turbo Levo Gen 3 (stock mullet) with low headset and flip chip. This resulting in a lot of pedal strikes on my local trails. Even with the 160mm cranks.
I already got the HEX 160mm cranks on Kenevo SL and love them. 0 pedal strikes.
Also there are some tight switchbacks on the trails here, where I miss a little bit of agility and hope to get a bit of playfulness back to this big bike.
But besides the wish for the mullet (and I like to buy new stuff for my bikes
I don't want to try Kenevo with stock link and mullet, since this will change the geometry too much in my opinion.
Yes, the BB drops quite low, but with the short cranks I only get occasional pedal strikes on technical trails. The only place where I’m feeling discomfort is decending rock gardens with a scatter of tall pointy rocks, where even the bash guard could get a hit. In all other places, bikepark or trail, it’s a beast yet remains agile to throw around with the smaller rear wheel. The +5 mm of chainstay lenght with flip chip on low makes all the difference in a very balanced feel on the bike and especially when railing corners IMO. I simply cannot go back to high flip chip, but wouldn’t mind a bit taller BB, hence the interest for a mullet link also from my side. No gripes with other aspects of the geo with the setting described above.
I have a Turbo Levo Gen 3 (stock mullet) with low headset and flip chip. This resulting in a lot of pedal strikes on my local trails. Even with the 160mm cranks.
I already got the HEX 160mm cranks on Kenevo SL and love them. 0 pedal strikes.
Also there are some tight switchbacks on the trails here, where I miss a little bit of agility and hope to get a bit of playfulness back to this big bike.
But besides the wish for the mullet (and I like to buy new stuff for my bikes
I don't want to try Kenevo with stock link and mullet, since this will change the geometry too much in my opinion.
Mullet ksl with flip chip in high and headset in steep is very similar geo to 29er low/neutral. It works really well as a mullet.
sethimus
😠 Donald Duck 😠
Evilkenevil
Member
Looking for some wheel replacement suggestions. I currently have the Roval Traverse Alloy 350 6B. They seem to be made of cheese or some other material with no strength. My rear wheel currently looks like someone has used it for target practice with a shotgun. I was think possibly Hope? Or DT Swiss H1900. It would be good to hear what others are running. Thanks
DT Swiss E1700 is good choice
DT Swiss EX511 on hope pro5 have proven incredibly strong. Despite falling out the sky at Dyfi and heading the back rim hit the ground, it’s still round and holding air.
DT Swiss 240 hubs with DT FR541 rims, they’re basically indestructible. Prior to using FR541 rims I destroyed 7 rear wheels in a year!
I had a Hope Pro5 rear hub for a while and could never stop the rear brake from rubbing because the disc mount face hadn’t been machined straight, so it looked like every disc had a massive “throw” in it! Cost me about £400 in different (new) brake discs before I figured that out
.
D
Deleted member 19064
Guest
I swapped over to some DT Swiss XM 1501 aluminum rims which are stiffer. I run them on my other bike and like them a lot. They didn't absorb like the stock Roval's so I swapped back over. The Roval's absorb better so the ride is better for me.
D
Deleted member 19064
Guest
DH makes sense and VERY intriguing. Wonder how it rides uphill with the mullet setup? Does it improve or impede uphill performance from your experience.
Mine rides fine uphill as a mullet, I’ve taken quite a lot of Strava QOMs (up and down hill!) off people riding full-power e-bikes without a lot of effort.
I don’t really get pedal strikes even running the stock 165mm cranks.
Mullet makes the bike so much easier to turn and better in steep and tight stuff, mine’s S2 and I’m only 5ft4 so as a full 29 the wheelbase was just a bit too long for me.
This is my “spare” frame with 155mm Praxis cranks on, the frame I’ve been riding for the last 12 months still has the stock 165mm cranks on but I don’t have a good photo of that one!
Zed. (Justin is short)
Well-known member
MagisterBibendi
Member
With flip chip low + mullet, the front end feels more planted during climbing IMO, which I account to the longer chainstay. I personally wouldn’t go back to flip chip high even from the ascending point of view. I have only ever ridden the bike with 155 mm cranks. I would say it works OK with the mullet + flip chip low combo with techy, rocky, rooty climbs. Occasional pedal strikes here and there, but I don’t really actively stress about them. Wouldn’t want my cranks any longer though.
D
Deleted member 19064
Guest
I wonder if you are the lighter side if you don't experience peddle strikes as I've found it common in rock gardens. Mandatory to run stiff setup to keep it up in the stroke. That's an interesting front end you have on there. Looks choppered out, but must be a bobsled downhill?
D
Deleted member 19064
Guest
Good to know regarding the front end. I find the front ends wants to wander on steep and slow climbs. Need to carry momentum and really weigh the front end I find.
I’m 52kg and generally run 1-2 spring rates higher than recommended so it makes sense I’m getting less pedal strikes!
Interesting you picked up on how slack that front end is, it was a bit too much so I swapped the crowns for ones with a different offset to steepen it closer to stock geo and it’s spot on now. The forks are set to 180mm so only 10mm up from stock. It’s unbelievably good downhill, on par with any of my downhill bikes (Spesh Demo, Commie FRS, Intense M1), and actually jumps far better than the high-pivot Intense. It carries speed through chunk better than the Demo so I’ve added 2kg to that to make it the same weight as the KSL.
I’ve not had any issues with pedal strikes because I tend not to ride uphill through janky rock gardens, around here most of the climb is on fire roads.
It rides very well with zebs/mullet, it’s very quick and planted, the front end is incredibly precise through rocks and it screams ‘faster’ like you’ve got the devil on both shoulders. I still haven’t ridden anything as quick as the ksl, I’d like to compare to a demo.
Thanks, very kind but s3 is a touch small for me. Mine has had a lot of use at BPW, usually by mates who needed a bike
all of them loved it too. How do you get on with the ohlins coil on the ksl?
Bit of a long shot on anyone being as short as I amThanks, very kind but s3 is a touch small for me. Mine has had a lot of use at BPW, usually by mates who needed a bike
How do you get on with the ohlins coil on the ksl?
. The Ohlins coil was great until it decided to throw its toys out of the pram and came out of the van like this one day.
My OH and Mark at the BPW workshop (who is a gem) managed to fix it but the damper is now making a horrible noise on compression so it’s in the corner waiting to go back to JTech.
The Ohlins stock tune on it was useless for someone my size/weight (5ft5/52kg), I was running everything fully open and it was OK but there was no room to adjust anything. I had JTech do a custom tune on it and that made it brilliant.
We had a spare Fox DHX2 in the house so that’s on my KSL at the moment and I actually like it with its stock tune way more than the Ohlins with a custom tune. It’s more poppy and playful while also being much more predictable, the trade off is that the bike feels a little more active through long rock gardens (like Rim Dinger) but I can live with that with how good it feels everywhere else! If I was just riding tech or racing I’d pick the Ohlins, but for jumps and general bike park hooliganism the Fox is (imo) a better choice.
I do also have an EXT E-Storia off being revalved that’ll eventually go on one of my KSLs so I’m looking forward to seeing how that rides.
Evilkenevil
Member
Hi all, I’ve got a bit of an issue with my bike. Basically it won’t turn on or accept charge, if I disconnect the tcu and plug it back in again it the works. But it keeps happening. Has anyone else experienced this?
Teoslav
Member
has anyone had this issue?
wired00
New Member
- Mar 21, 2026
- 2
- 1
My first post, hi!
Random question I am quite late to the party. Got a 2nd hand kenevo SL (v1) in good nick for a decent price. Came with some nice upgrades like carbon wheels and i9 hubs, X2 shock, better bike yolk dropper etc. I ride quite wild and steep rocky stuff. I also have an ibis ribmo AF.
Been loving the bike so far. Just regarding range extender. I have a offgrid camping setup in my car, including a 120AH lithium battery + inverter + solar + fridge etc. Which works to charge my bike (if needed). So theoretically I could ride for 15-20kms or so on a range extender (with setting to flatten it first). Then when I pass by my car, plug in the range extender and continue riding on main battery. Whenever needed again I could return to car for water, snacks etc, pickup fully charged range extended and keep going? Would this work?
Random question I am quite late to the party. Got a 2nd hand kenevo SL (v1) in good nick for a decent price. Came with some nice upgrades like carbon wheels and i9 hubs, X2 shock, better bike yolk dropper etc. I ride quite wild and steep rocky stuff. I also have an ibis ribmo AF.
Been loving the bike so far. Just regarding range extender. I have a offgrid camping setup in my car, including a 120AH lithium battery + inverter + solar + fridge etc. Which works to charge my bike (if needed). So theoretically I could ride for 15-20kms or so on a range extender (with setting to flatten it first). Then when I pass by my car, plug in the range extender and continue riding on main battery. Whenever needed again I could return to car for water, snacks etc, pickup fully charged range extended and keep going? Would this work?
Last edited:
sethimus
😠 Donald Duck 😠
had something similar with my vado sl this winter, changing the y-cable between tcu and light was the culprit
Yup, that would work.
When using the ‘flatten range extender first’, the bike may stop assisting when the range extender is flat. If it does, unplug it and assist will return.
George_KSL
Active member
It will work as long as you set it to empty range extender first mode as Dax above mentions, but I found that mode to work very poorly as the bike started lowering assistance rather early as it is nearing the emptying of RE. So when the RE is on last 20perc. the bike becomes almost non-assistance. So the 160W RE is more like 130W only when using that mode.
It's funny Specialized couldn't bother to fix this mode by allowing it to automatically switch mode so that it would draw enough voltage from main battery when that happens.
It's funny Specialized couldn't bother to fix this mode by allowing it to automatically switch mode so that it would draw enough voltage from main battery when that happens.
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