SPECIALIZED S-WORKS TURBO KENEVO SL

Could this be the bike that converts the e-MTB haters?

Once you’ve seen the price and scraped your jaw off the floor, it’s hard to ignore just how stunning the Kenevo SL is. And yes, despite its silhouette, it’s an e-bike. Like Specialized’s Levo SL, the Kenevo SL is designed to be more like a regular bike than a full-on e-MTB, with a smaller battery and less torque.

THE FRAME

The Kenevo SL looks almost identical to Specialized’s non-electric Enduro. At its heart is the brand’s lightweight SL 1.1 motor, which delivers up to 35Nm of torque and 200 per cent max assistance, powered by an integrated 320Wh battery. The three motor modes (‘Eco’, ‘Trail’ and ‘Turbo’) can be easily toggled and tuned via the bar-mounted remote, and the Mission Control app is intuitive, too. An LED console in the top tube gives on-the-fly info, including speed and battery life.

The Kenevo uses a six-bar linkage and Fox Float X2 Factory to deliver its 170mm (6.7in) of rear wheel travel. Geometry can be adjusted, using angled headset cups, which alter the head angle from a slack 64.5 degrees to a super-slack 62.5 degrees in onedegree increments, and a flip-chip in the Horst-link chainstay pivot. This changes the BB height by 6mm and reach and chainstay lengths by 5mm. Our S3-size frame (low position, middle headset cup) had a 460mm reach, 348mm BB height, 63.3-degree head angle and an effective seat tube angle of just over 76 degrees.

THE KIT

SRAM’s XX1 Eagle AXS wireless drivetrain and RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post boost the bling factor – as you’d expect for the price – and you also get their top-tier Code RSC brakes. Fox supply their highly-adjustable 38 Factory fork as well as the rear shock. Roval Traverse SL carbon rims are shod with Specialized’s Butcher 2.3in tyres. The only thing we’d change is the 50mm Deity stem, for a 40mm version.

THE RIDE

The Kenevo SL’s assistance does feel subtle. In Turbo it’ll double your power, but it lacks the grunt to keep up with full-blown e-MTBs, some of which offer twice as much help. Battery capacity is limited, too, although you can buy a 160Wh range extender that fits in the bottle cage. Trail mode ekes out more miles – in this setting, we managed 38km and 1,600m of climbing.

As for its ride character, you’re in for a treat. The dimensions feel spot on, leaving you really well-positioned

between the wheels, whether seated or out of the saddle. The long front centre, lengthy back end (in the low setting) and reasonably steep effective seat tube angle help create a really composed climber, and even when it was super-steep we never struggled with the front wheel lifting.

Power delivery is smooth and predictable, so the Kenevo never becomes a handful on intricate, slow-speed technical climbs. Heading downhill, it rides like a big, burly bike that’s ready to rumble, just like the Enduro. But this is no runaway train – far from it. We were instantly struck by just how agile and easy to control it is. Yes, it’s heavier than an ‘analogue’ bike, but that weight is nice and low in the frame, and helps keep the wheels glued to the trail through the turns.

There is a chink in the Kenevo’s armour, though. The seatpost insertion depth on the S3 size wasn’t long enough for our 5ft 8in tester to get the bike’s 150mm-travel dropper post sufficiently far into the frame, meaning that at full extension, the saddle was about 5mm too high. A post with a lower stack height would solve this, but it’s irritating on such a pricey bike. Longer-legged riders wanting to run a post with more travel are likely to face the same problem.

The Kenevo SL may not have the sheer grunt of a regular e-MTB, but its lively ride feel, impressive proportions and well-balanced suspension make it ideal for riders looking to venture a bit further afield, without losing the handling characteristics of a nonelectric bike. We’re already massive fans. The cost is seriously prohibitive, but if you can justify spending the equivalent of a nice secondhand van or even a house deposit, you’re in for a real treat. ROB

VERDICT

Very, very expensive, but bridges the gap between a regular bike and a full-blown e-MTB brilliantly