Thinking of purchasing! Need advise from California

[bhudzallmighty]

Hi! My brother and brother in law just got some new ebikes but I cannot afford a new one right now! Saw a 2019 kenevo expert for a decent price but it has been ridden 1500miles . How is the 1.3 motor reliability wise? I read the 2.1 motor had a lot of issues which they extended the warranty to 4 years

thank you!

 

[Zimmerframe]

As a quick recap ... there was the 1.2 motor .. this had some issues with over heating at full power. So they made the 1.2e motor. This had reduced torque, but was generally reliable and for most riding/riders the power drop wasn't that noticeable. At the same time they made the 1.3. This was basically a 1.2 but with many upgraded parts to solve the heating/power problems. Initially this was released with a 16a maximum current draw but part way through 2019 there was a firmware upgrade which upped the power to 20a.

The 2.1 was a new motor. It's had some reliability problems, but not actually that much more than average for e-bikes. There's just a lot of them out there ! Some people have more problems than others due to riding style/terrain - unknown ! The 4 year warranty affects 2019/2020 bikes but not the newer bikes with the 2.1 motor. Firmware updates addressed some issues which were most likely causing some of the reliability problems and so far, seem to have helped.

Personally, I think the 2019 Kenevo Expert is a great bike. .. but nearly everyone thinks their bike is great, because on the whole, they're all good !

Drying off after a winter wash ....

I have about 2500miles on mine now and it's been faultless. It gets absolutely hammered.

Ultimately, any motor can break, no matter which one you choose. One advantage with Specialized is that there is also "Assisted Purchase" outside of warranty for upto 5 years on a sliding scale over time. So if your motor does fail and you are out of warranty, the replacement cost will be subsidised to a degree. There should be information on this on the Specialized warranty web page for your country.

Just don't pressure wash them !

 

[bhudzallmighty]

As a quick recap ... there was the 1.2 motor .. this had some issues with over heating at full power. So they made the 1.2e motor. This had reduced torque, but was generally reliable and for most riding/riders the power drop wasn't that noticeable. At the same time they made the 1.3. This was basically a 1.2 but with many upgraded parts to solve the heating/power problems. Initially this was released with a 16a maximum current draw but part way through 2019 there was a firmware upgrade which upped the power to 20a.

The 2.1 was a new motor. It's had some reliability problems, but not actually that much more than average for e-bikes. There's just a lot of them out there ! Some people have more problems than others due to riding style/terrain - unknown ! The 4 year warranty affects 2019/2020 bikes but not the newer bikes with the 2.1 motor. Firmware updates addressed some issues which were most likely causing some of the reliability problems and so far, seem to have helped.

Personally, I think the 2019 Kenevo Expert is a great bike. .. but nearly everyone thinks their bike is great, because on the whole, they're all good !

Drying off after a winter wash ....

View attachment 50501

I have about 2500miles on mine now and it's been faultless. It gets absolutely hammered.

Ultimately, any motor can break, no matter which one you choose. One advantage with Specialized is that there is also "Assisted Purchase" outside of warranty for upto 5 years on a sliding scale over time. So if your motor does fail and you are out of warranty, the replacement cost will be subsidised to a degree. There should be information on this on the Specialized warranty web page for your country.

Just don't pressure wash them !

thank you so much for such a detailed reply! I was doing my best to do my research. This thread here from specialized team member addressed the 2.1 motor issues and the extended warranty but only for 2019-2020 levo and 2020 kenevo?

Levo Gen 2 - Warranty extension & Firmware Update for all 2019/20 Levo/Kenevo with 2.1 motors

To all owners of 2019/20 Turbo Levo & 2020 Kenevo featuring the Specialized 2.1 motor, here's a letter to you from Mike Sinyard - our founder and CEO. Thanks for all of your support & feedback on this forum. We'll keep a close eye on this thread and do our best to answer any questions.

www.emtbforums.com

What should I look for when I check out the bike? Noise? Vibration? Roughness?
Thank you again!

 

[Zimmerframe]

thank you so much for such a detailed reply! I was doing my best to do my research. This thread here from specialized team member addressed the 2.1 motor issues and the extended warranty but only for 2019-2020 levo and 2020 kenevo?

Yes, that's correct. Theoretically any of the bikes sold after that will have come from the factory with the firmware updates so shouldn't have any of the problems previous motors might have had. The extended warranty is really a good will gesture just to put existing owners minds at ease. I don't think they extended it for the 1.3 bikes as they didn't have the same issue as the 2.1 bikes - would have been nice though

What should I look for when I check out the bike? Noise? Vibration? Roughness?

If you've not had an emtb before it will be difficult for you to pick up on anything which is wrong. Even if there is, it might only show up in certain circumstances. For whatever reasons some motors are slightly noisier than others - if it's making any really horrible sounds though - it's probably got something wrong with it.

If he has the bike connected to Mission control - Specialised software for android/iphone - he can show you the mileage. You'll also be able to see battery charge - ie, 100% for full .. battery health - what % of the original battery charge the battery can now hold. It might be 90% for instance.

You'll also be able to see charge cycles. So on something like a Kenevo, that might be 100 charges for 1500 miles if he got 15 miles a charge on average. That's not necessarily how many times he's charged it, it's how many full cycles of charge the battery has been full. So if he used 20% 5 times, that would be 1 charge cycle - no matter how many times he charged it in those 5 times. It might be a lot less, but quite often Kenevo's will be used to climb so you'll use more power. If he's got 200 charge cycles for 1500 miles, I'd be suspicious of the distance, unless the battery health is really low or he rides only in Turbo and up very steep hills at a low cadence.

If it's just been charged, when you turn it on, it will probably be in Turbo by default. So press the "-" button twice before you ride it. So it's in Eco .. you can press it 10 times if you like, once it's in eco it won't beep anymore and won't go any lower than eco. If it's not just been charged, it will be in whatever mode it was last used in.

 

[cappuccino34]

My neighbour has one and he's had quite a few problems but, to Specialized's credit, they have sorted everything super quick and fuss free. Like, next day quick.
In contrast, Giant took two months to send a battery out for the wife's bike.

 

[bhudzallmighty]

Yes, that's correct. Theoretically any of the bikes sold after that will have come from the factory with the firmware updates so shouldn't have any of the problems previous motors might have had. The extended warranty is really a good will gesture just to put existing owners minds at ease. I don't think they extended it for the 1.3 bikes as they didn't have the same issue as the 2.1 bikes - would have been nice though



If you've not had an emtb before it will be difficult for you to pick up on anything which is wrong. Even if there is, it might only show up in certain circumstances. For whatever reasons some motors are slightly noisier than others - if it's making any really horrible sounds though - it's probably got something wrong with it.

If he has the bike connected to Mission control - Specialised software for android/iphone - he can show you the mileage. You'll also be able to see battery charge - ie, 100% for full .. battery health - what % of the original battery charge the battery can now hold. It might be 90% for instance.

You'll also be able to see charge cycles. So on something like a Kenevo, that might be 100 charges for 1500 miles if he got 15 miles a charge on average. That's not necessarily how many times he's charged it, it's how many full cycles of charge the battery has been full. So if he used 20% 5 times, that would be 1 charge cycle - no matter how many times he charged it in those 5 times. It might be a lot less, but quite often Kenevo's will be used to climb so you'll use more power. If he's got 200 charge cycles for 1500 miles, I'd be suspicious of the distance, unless the battery health is really low or he rides only in Turbo and up very steep hills at a low cadence.

If it's just been charged, when you turn it on, it will probably be in Turbo by default. So press the "-" button twice before you ride it. So it's in Eco .. you can press it 10 times if you like, once it's in eco it won't beep anymore and won't go any lower than eco. If it's not just been charged, it will be in whatever mode it was last used in.

Again thank you! I will go check it out and see ?

 

[Zimmerframe]

I can't remember where he's based exactly, but there's a guy who comes and goes on here called @Al Boneta who works at a cali bike shop. Super helpful, knowledgeable. You could try PM'ing him if you need any help or you're not sure. He might be able to source you a bike if you're not sure on the Kenevo. I've no idea what the situation is over there at the moment with supply demand. He might get notified on PM's.

Top guy.

 

[Al Boneta]

I can't remember where he's based exactly, but there's a guy who comes and goes on here called @Al Boneta who works at a cali bike shop. Super helpful, knowledgeable. You could try PM'ing him if you need any help or you're not sure. He might be able to source you a bike if you're not sure on the Kenevo. I've no idea what the situation is over there at the moment with supply demand. He might get notified on PM's.

Top guy.

All of my incoming bikes are already sold.

 

[NOS_emtb’r]

Hello to all,

coming to u guys from San Francisco. Just picked up a 2021 Orbea Rise. Shout out to the great guys at Woodside Bikes, Redwood City. Will do my first ride Super Bowl Sunday on my local trails.