As per my previous reports, I’ve got the fork set up well now and everything is settled in so time for a more fulsome ride report.
First a little context - this is my only bike so it needs to do everything ‘well enough’. My focus in definitely on the downs and I enjoy doing shuttles at places like Mt Buller and Bright so basically, as long as the bike rips on the chunky down hills, I can put up with it feeling a little bored on the more mellow trails.
That said, the more fun it is in every situation the better right?
I took a bit of a chance on a plucky young German because it seemed a good chance to offer what I was after. As I’ve mentioned before, the Sentinel fit me perfectly and the geo was great. The Mega was VERY similar in fit and geo and I was instantly comfortable on it and having fun.
So with insurance money burning a hole in my pocket and numerous options calling my name, I took a punt on the Kavenz as it has very similar sizing and geo in all the key areas. Reach is 500 (Sentinel 500 and Mega 495), stack is 652 (635/648), head angle 64 degrees (64/64) and effective seat tube angle 77.5 degrees (75.8/78).
One measurement that is a little different is the chainstay. At first glance the Kavenz seems ultra short at 425mm. But thanks to the high pivot, that grows to 436mm at sag and keeps going to about 440mm two-thirds of the way into its travel (dynamic sag) before coming back to about 436mm again at full compression.
For comparison, the Sentinel is 435mm and the Mega 440mm. Both frames would have very little growth to sag (just a couple of mm) then move in a steady arc or come back a little to shorten the chain stay.
All three bikes use a Horst link suspension design but the Kavenz goes for a mid-high pivot that promises very good anti-squat and a good, consistent level of anti-rise. All sounds good in theory but marketing is the devil’s work and it can all come unstuck in the real world.
The good news is - it lives up to the hype. It’s not all perfect and I’ll get to that but for now, and without hyperbole, I’ll say that the Kavenz pedals even better than I could have hoped, delivers a supportive but deep feeling rear end and in the few rides I’ve had on a steep and technical trail, the rear maintained the ability to brake and absorb obstacles giving good grip all the way. Seems like the design goals were achieved.
A lot of the great ‘feel’ on this bike is achieved by the excellent EXT suspension. I’ve gone on enough about both the fork and the shock so I wont say much more here.
What I will say though is it’s hard to tell where the effect of the high pivot and rearward axle path stop and where the suspension begins. It’s a little like eating a great chicken parmigiana. It’s not just the chicken OR the toppings that make it great - it’s a combination of the two. The high pivot and EXT coil combo is a damn tasty parma.
While the on-paper short chainstays actually end up being very similar to the Sentinel and the Mega, one area that is proving to make a very real change in character and feel is the ‘actual’ seat angle. The Kavenz has an effective angle of 77.5 and an actual angle of 75.5. The Mega is 78 effective but that drops to an actual angle of 71.5. The Sentinel didn’t list the actual angle but given it was 75.5 effective and has similar kink in the seat tube as the mega, I’m guessing it dips just below 70 degree actual.
I’m a tall rider and therefore running a fair bit of post so the actual seat tube angle has a pretty big impact when I’m at full extension and climbing.
The result is interesting. In general I would say it contributes to the Kavenz climbing better than the other bikes but it also makes the cockpit a little shorter than I anticipated and can be almost uncomfortable when riding bike paths/flat terrain.
I’ve had to get my head around it a bit and have gone from a 35mm stem to a 40mm. I’ll end up at 45mm (Giacomo from Kavenz/77-designs is a champ and helped me out to go from 35mm to 45mm on one of his very sexy one-piece stems).
I also swapped out the kinda hard and narrow 77 Designz grips for some thicker and softer Deathgrips. The combined changes feel more comfortable on flatter trails but it’s still not quite as comfy as where I was at on the other bikes.
The pay off comes one you start heading up a climb as it seems to keep weight on the front wheel better and the combination of geo and rear suspension kinematics makes pretty light work of awkward tight switchbacks. So far it’s a change and a compromise that seems to have more positives than negatives. I’m not even using lock out on the shock.
In terms of frame details, it’s pretty sorted for a first attempt by a small company. I’m not a huge fan of internal routing for the rear brake and even less a fan of routing it through the chain stays. That said, it was pretty easy to run through the frame and once it’s in there I hopefully won’t have to mess with it again.
The idler is pretty easy to set up with the provided spacers and the chain guide is also easy and is a nice and neat solution.
I’ll be interested to see if the routing of the cables into the side of the headtube causes any rubbing on the steerer. If it does, I’ll just put some frame protection tape on the steerer.
Frame alignment was absolutely perfect and the shock slipped in beautifully. All the pivots are smooth and helping the suspension feel buttery.
Things that could be improved? As much as I love the colour, the application of the powder coat isn’t amazing. It doesn’t get a clear coat on it so it seems to mark and scratch easily. I’ve ended up adding gloss frame protection to about 90% of the frame.
The width of the chainstays is pretty chunky too and on the non-drive side in particular, I’m finding I clip my heel on the frame a bit. Not really a problem but I’ve had to put some frame protection on there too - otherwise I would have worn the paint off already I reckon.
There are some really nice touches like the consistent single bearing size used throughout all pivots and the use of only two standards for all bolts and fittings - a t25 Torx or 6mm hex. I think I’ve mentioned it before but the added bonus is that the rear axle level can detach and be used as both a t25 or 6mm hex tool. Smart move.
So far it is definitely meeting the brief as one bike to rule them all. In fact, it’s working so well that now it is time to mess with it and see if I can fuck it up by going mullet. Looking forward to that change magically giving me the skills of Phil Atwill so I can slap these turns like nobody’s business