First Ride Review: Devinci Spartan
Pricing is very reasonable with builds ranging between $4300 for the XP build up to $7000 for the top of the line RR that we rode (click to enlarge).
We rode the Devinci Troy a couple years ago at Outerbike in Moab, Utah, and really liked it. So when news of the Spartan broke, we were excited to find out how it compared. That chance came at Interbike.
This is Devinci’s 165mm enduro machine with a Dave Weagle designed split pivot rear suspension. Beyond that, Devinci really has its act together when it comes to aesthetics with neon yellow accents on flat black paint and nice clean lines. The angle of the sloping top tube flows into the chain stay which drives the laid down Monarch Plus Debonair shock into the downtube via a sleek U-shaped “Control” link.
This allows for a nice long 8.5″ shock and low leverage ratio and lateral rigidity, but no accommodation for a water bottle mount inside the front triangle. That’s not a big deal for me because I always wear a pack, but for some of the bottle-carrying enduro crowd it may be a deal-breaker.
This particular RockShox Pike was the epitome of sweetness. Mmmm. Very buttery good. Julia Childs would’ve approved (click to enlarge).
Other features of note include a carbon main frame and seat stays, aluminum seat stays, Pike RTC3 Fork, internal cable routing with large ports for easy set up and maintenance, DT Swiss E1900 Spline 27.5″ wheels, and RockShox Reverb Stealth adjustable seat post.
So with fresh legs and no shuttle running we started our climb. My test partner Nate rode this bike most of the way up, but we did switch back and forth a few times on tricky tech sections so we could see how the Spartan handled. Nate felt the Spartan squat some into its travel on climbs and with its higher bar, described it as a bit “choppered out.”
The seat tube angle is slightly slack at 72.4 degrees in the low setting, but can be steepened up to 73 degrees with a switch to the Hi setting. This also steepens the head angle to 66.4 degrees. The switch from Hi to Lo is accomplished by simply flipping an eccentric insert at the rear shock mount.
Continue to page 2 for more of our Devinci Spartan First Ride Review »
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