The 2020 Specialized Turbo Kenevo is a downhill smashing, uphill shuttling monster of an e-bike and it makes us pretty damn excited. With looks to emulate the Turbo Levo the 180mm Kenevo has gone down in weight, up in aggression and up in power too from a magnesium bodied motor. Piqued your interest now, have we? Read on....

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The new Kenevo gets a pretty radical makeover, its longer, slacker (of course), more powerful, smoother, quieter, gets a stiffer frame and, Specialized says, it gets better suspension kinematics too with a more rearward axle path to prevent the rear wheel 'hanging up' so much over the rough stuff. 

The Frame

The Kenevo now gets a frame reminiscent of the new Levo with that asymmetrical design which Specialized says increases stiffness, minimising frame flex so handling is more precise. In terms of weight, the frame has shed 1kg from the frame and 400g from the new 2.1 motor over the old 1.3 motor previously seen in the older models of Kenevo. It's a 27.5" bike fitted with 2.6" tyres but it will fit 3.0" tyres too although they admit clearance with larger tyres is tight. 

Geometry

The new bike keeps its 180mm of travel but gets much more aggressive geometry. Specialized have adopted the S2, S3, S4 etc route of naming their sizes as seen on the Stumpy Evo and the new Enduro. The 2020 Kenevo is a degree slacker at the head angle, it gets a longer reach across all sizes and has shortened seat tubes to allow for longer dropper posts and enables riders to have a choice of the bike size they ride depending on the reach they prefer. Lastly, the seat tube angle is steepened, improving weight distribution when seated. For example's sake the S3 Kenevo gets a 470mm reach, a 64 degree head tube angle, a 77 degree seat tube angle, a seat tube length of 420mm a 1263 wheelbase and chainstays of 454mm, its a decent sized medium/large that's for sure! 

The Motor and Battery

The new bike gets a Specialized 2.1 motor which is lighter and smaller than the last iteration, it has a magnesium body and is directly mounted to the frame. At peak assistance, the motor amplifies your power by 410%, up to 560 watts of pedal assistance.

The Kenevo gets a 700w/h battery (in the Expert model) which increases capacity by 40% which means more miles per ride. Of course, it all depends on rider weight, terrain, the hills and the mode you use but 60kg of Rach has used a 700w/h battery in a Levo in a variety of modes, mostly Eco and ridden for 4 hours, done 55km and 1,500m of climbing. 

As with the current Levo you get access to the Mission Control App where you can easily customise the motor modes, monitor power, set ride length to ensure you have battery power for the whole ride or set it int Shuttle Mode to give maximum power on the climbs. 

The Models

There are just two models of Kenevo, the Expert at £6,999 and the Comp at £4,999, both with alloy frames. The Expert gets that 700w/h battery, a dual crown Rockshox Boxxer Select RC fork, a Rockshox Super Deluxe coil shock, Sram Code R brakes, SRAM GX drivetrain, Roval wheels, Butcher BLC DMND tyres and a Command post (size-specific length).

The Comp gets a single crown fork in the shape of a Marzocchi Bomber Z1 and a Marzocchi Bomber CR coil shock. It gets a SRAM NX drivetrain and the same Code R brakes. This bike gets a 500w/h battery but the larger one will also fit if you want to upgrade. 

For more information check out - www.specialized.com

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