10/06/2008

Devinci Bicycles has been flying under a lot of people's radar for nearly a decade, making quality bikes for just about every category from triathlon to DH in its Quebec factory. Devincis are relatively unique, in that all bikes except the very high-end road bikes and the price-point hardtails were made in Canada rather than Asia. The design work and R&D is done in-house in an industrial area in the Saguenay region of eastern Quebec, as is the frame building, stress testing, CNC machining for custom frame parts and the house-brand Daredevil components, frame welding, painting, and final assembly. The end result is a bike that commands attention wherever you go.

The 2006 Devinci Ollie, trying to squeeze in one last run before the sun sets

Last year, nsmb tested a Wilson, Devinci's top-end downhill bike. We wanted to switch things up in '06, and ended up spending several months beating on an Ollie, the company's premier freeride bike. The Ollie saw time all over the Shore, shuttling in Squamish, and the Whistler Bike Park, and it was ridden hard. Here's the verdict.

The bits and pieces
The Ollie is similar to many other big hit bikes out there these days, in some general respects. It's got a beefy and heavily manipulated tubeset, fairly slack angles, a double-crown fork, big rubber, and a component spec that is designed for abuse. There are a few significant differences between the Ollie and other bikes, though.

One - it uses a OnePointFive head tube rather than the more-common 1 1/8" headtube. The larger head tube provides more welding surface, making for a stronger weld and tube junction. A number of smaller manufacturers have already embraced OnePointFive and more will jump on board now, especially with the introduction of RockShox's new Totem and Domain forks, which come in both 1 1/8" and OnePointFive steerers.

Two - the bike uses needle bearings on the pivots instead of cartridge bearings. Needle bearings are roughly twice as wide as the cartridge bearings used by most manufacturers, providing a larger surface area for the pivot to rotate around. Loads through the pivots are better dispersed, so the needle bearings also stand up better to the wear and tear associated with freeriding.

Three - there's a grease port on the main bottom bracket pivot. There's a lot of force transmitted through the BB pivot and it's susceptible to contamination from the elements, so the ability to change the grease regularly ensures things continue to move smoothly.

Four - the rear triangle. Devinci uses Specialized's patented four-bar Horst Link suspension design, with the rear-most pivot on the chainstay. That in and of itself isn't unique, but the one-piece drop-out is. The drop-out connects the seat tube with the chainstay, and at 10mm thick, also takes the place of a replaceable derailleur hanger. This special dropout facilitates a number of really interesting rear wheel and axle options. Changing from a 26" wheel to a 24" wheel is as simple as moving the rear axle from one hole to the other. Riders can also use a Saint rear axle, a standard through-axle, or a quick release. A Maxle version (RockShox's quick release thru-axle system) is also in the works. Riders are able to adjust rear travel from 180mm to 215mm by moving the rear shock mounting bolt, but the 215mm setting was a better match for the 200mm fork, so I left it there for the duration of the test.

There are lots of rear wheel adjustment options on the Ollie

Five - the uninterrupted seat tube. Most four-bar linkage bikes (think Specialized or Norco) have interrupted seat tubes, necessitating a telescoping seatpost if you want to run a long post for climbing. It's possible to run a standard seatpost on the Devinci, which simplifies the process of adjusting saddle height for extended climbs.

Build quality on the Ollie is excellent. All of the welds are clean, and the beads are very similar if not the same in size. The paint is evenly applied and held up very well during the test period. It's virtually impossible to find fault with the product as it left the factory.

Parts spec is, in some respects, what you'd expect for a top-of-the-line freeride bike. A Marzocchi 888 RC2 fork with 200mm of travel and a Fox DHX4.0 rear shock handle the suspension duties. Most drivetrain parts are Shimano Saint: front and rear shifters, front and rear derailleurs, chain, and cassette. Brakes are Saint, and include real Saint levers, but come with six-bolt rotors rather than Center-Loc. Devinci chose to go with Race Face Diabolus crankset and bottom bracket, and included an e.13 DRS double-ring chainguide so you can pedal uphill as well as down. Wheel choice consisted of Michelin DH Comp 32 26x2.8" and DH Comp 24.1 26x2.5" rubber on Mavic EX325 rims.

Adjustments on the Fox shock were easy to reach, and the linkage even included a handy zip tie attachment point

Devinci completed the spec with its house-brand Daredevil components. You get Daredevil bar, stem, saddle, seatpost, seatpost quick release, flat pedals, 20mm front hub, and thru-axle rear hub on your Ollie. Most have a plain aluminum finish, while some are red anodized. All bear the Daredevil name.

The Ollie comes in small, medium, and large sizes as a complete bike or frameset only. Frame weight is listed at 8.5lbs., while a stock size large Ollie bike weighs a portly 46.6 lbs. It's not a full-on tank, but it sure isn't a lightweight sled by any standards either. Colour for the bike is a metallic candy apple red, and the price was CDN$4,699. (The Ollie isn't available in the States.)

Riding the Ollie
Looking at the numbers, you get a slightly odd mix that doesn't necessarily follow the norm for big-hit bikes. The slack 64.5° head angle is designed to work well on steeps and keep rider weight back, but it's a bit of a strange match with a 70° seat tube angle that puts the rider over the bottom bracket when seated. Wheelbase on the large Ollie I was testing was a little on the long side at 47.5", while the bottom bracket was a tall 16.4". Top tube length was 24.4", while standover height was 31.5" for all three frame sizes. Seat tube length was 17" for both the medium and large frames. More on that below.

As mentioned, I rode the Ollie in a variety of different terrains, from the Shore to Squamish and the Whistler Bike Park, and over the course of a few months, it proved itself to be a capable steed. Capable, but not outstanding. After some time on the Ollie, it became apparent that the bike handled better on trails that gave the rider a little more room to manoeuvre, more than likely due to the long wheelbase. Where that long wheelbase really shone was in the faster sections of the trail. I felt as though I could just let go of the brakes and hang on, because the bike was capable of flying through or over just about anything. There were days at Whistler where I just wanted to do laps on the DH course, I was having so much fun.

Ripping on a straight stretch of singletrack, letting the Ollie do what it does best || Photo: Denny Byrne

When the trail headed into the trees, onto rolling terrain, and slower technical singletrack the Ollie was out of its element. Steering the bike became more of an effort, and you needed to work to keep it moving. Hauling 47lbs. of bike around on some trails turned into a real workout at times.

Many people notice the sky-high bottom bracket when they're first looking at the Ollie, and I noticed it as well. I was expecting the bike to have a very high centre of gravity and be tippy in tight sections, but thankfully that wasn't the case. After a while, I didn't even think about it any more, and enjoyed the extra clearance.

Both the 888 and Fox 4.0 are perfect complements to the frame, and they were more than able to soak up whatever I threw at them. It took a bit of fiddling with the rear shock to get it set up the way I like it, but once that happened, it was gravy - a healthy amount of sag, fast compression, and rebound set so that the rear end was lively. Landings off drops were smooth and I always stayed with the bike, even when the take-off left something to be desired. And as is the case with four-bar bikes, the Ollie handled the braking bumps and washboards that are commonplace at Whistler very well. I've come to expect solid performance from this fork and shock combination, and they didn't disappoint - particularly on terrain where you could hang it out.

There were a few problems...
Unfortunately, I had a number of issues with the Ollie - some of which were spec-related and one in particular that was design-related. First, the spec.

I started having what I thought were drivetrain issues on the second ride with the bike. The chain was skipping, or moving on its own without being shifted, or wouldn't move very quickly when I was shifting. Eventually, I was able to diagnose the problem - the freehub was toast. After talking to Devinci, I found out that this was a known issue and while bike shops and consumers had been notified I hadn't received the memo. Turns out, the Devinci-brand hub was built using grease that was too thick, and the pawls in the hub were too gummed up to engage. The bike went back to a Devinci dealer, and the rear hub was repacked with lighter-weight grease. Everything worked as intended after that.

The Ollie in the middle of a tight corner, after the rear wheel issue was resolved || Photo: Denny Byrne

The next was the Saint shifters. The Ollie came spec'd with a RapidRise rear derailleur, which meant that you shifted into a higher (harder) gear by pushing on the large shifter button with your thumb. Having to take your thumb off the bars when you're pinning it down a trail, just to shift up a couple of gears, isn't my idea of fun. Sure, you can do it, but I'd rather not. Spec'ing a RapidFire shifter would have eliminated that problem.

And then we come to the Daredevil components. House-brand components can be a good thing - Race Face started out as Rocky Mountain's house brand - but there is a time and place for them. I understand putting unknown and unproven parts on lower-end bikes to cut cost, or throwing in the odd one here and there, but don't put them all over a $4,700 bike designed for hardcore freeriding. My biggest issue was with the bar and stem combo. I would much rather see something from the big names like Race Face, Truvativ, or Easton in my cockpit. To make

The Daredevil bar and stem - not what I wanted to see here

At this point, the Daredevil name is just too much of an unknown. Some Daredevil parts would have been fine, but there were far too many of them, and in the wrong places on a bike at this price level. I realize that spec'ing Daredevil parts is done to offset the cost of the Canadian-made frame, but there has to be some sort of a balance between cost saving, performance, and quality. There's a perceived value that goes along with the component spec, and until the Daredevil name gets better known, Devinci would be better off sticking to proven components on its high-end bikes. The Daredevil parts are fine on lower-end bikes, which are just as likely to get no-name parts from Taiwan.

The seat tube length isn't an issue going down, but it's a big one if you're taller and trying to pedal up

And now we come to that issue with the seat tube length...

Perhaps the largest issue I had with the bike was the sizing. I'm a tall rider at 6'4", so I generally ride a size large bike, and that's the size of Ollie I was on. According to the Devinci site, a large frame / bike will fit riders up to 6'7". But that's simply not possible. Why? Tall riders won't be able to get the seat high enough to pedal properly - even with the post raised above the minimum insertion level.

Not surprisingly, a 17" seat tube just doesn't cut it for tall riders, and trying to muscle a 47lb. bike uphill when you're not able to get full leg extension isn't fun at all. Even if you were able to find super-long 31.6 seatpost, the short seat tube doesn't allow tall and very tall riders to get proper leg extension. And that, to me, is a major design fault on this bike. If you're going to the trouble of spec'ing a front derailleur and a DRS guide, at least build a frame that allows people to use them. If the bike isn't meant for climbing, then don't spec it like it is.

Looking ahead to 2007
The end of 2006 is upon us, and Devinci has been receiving feedback on these bikes for a number of months now. So, did they address any of the issues I raised above? Well, you still get the full compliment of Devinci parts. All of them. Thankfully, the shifters have changed to standard RapidFire, rather than RapidRise. The most disappointing thing, however, is that the seat tube didn't get any longer. This seems like such a glaring shortcoming that I don't know how it was overlooked. The spec says the bike is intended to be used one way but the build says another, and that just doesn't make sense. Hopefully, those issues will be addressed in the '08 Ollie.

Overall impressions
This was a tough test for me. I really wanted to like the Ollie. It had good looks, the spec seemed promising, it combined a four-bar linkage with an uninterrupted seat tube, and it was Canadian-made. But in the end, I came away feeling underwhelmed.

There is no question that the Ollie is a tough bike. One look at the tubeset used in the construction of the frame will tell you that. It will take a hell of a beating without complaining, and it has done just that under Mike Kinrade for the last several years. I'm hard on a lot of equipment, and the Ollie was able to take everything I could dish out without any complaints at all. But big isn't always the answer, now more than ever. Many riders aren't going quite as huge as they once did. They're starting to look for lighter-weight bikes that are still capable of big hits but aren't such a freaking workout on the trail.

The Ollie's weight was within the acceptable range for a bike like this, but it really became noticeable when the bike wasn't pointed downhill - particularly when combined with the longer wheelbase. Sometimes a bit of heft can be a reassuring thing. This wasn't one of those times. The Ollie felt as though it needed to be coaxed through slower, more technical terrain rather than floating through it, and it was easy to lose your flow if you weren't working to keep the bike moving forward. That may not be a big deal if you're riding the lift all day, but it did get tiresome on the Shore.

Component selection is also a big part of making the ride experience enjoyable, and the Ollie came up short in that area. The heavy use of Daredevil parts was disappointing, and I hope that future versions of the bike will mix in other recognized component brands in the key contact areas - at least until the Daredevil name earns some recognition and respect. Although the bike performed well and was fun to ride in some situations, that wasn't the case across the board. It liked the bike park, it liked the steeps and the rough stuff, and it handled well at speed. But it was ungainly when the going got tight, and it was virtually impossible for me to pedal uphill. Average-height or shorter riders may not have the same problems, but tall riders should definitely look elsewhere if they want a bike that can be ridden up and down. The same holds true if you want a bike with multi-dimensional riding characteristics.

Drops like this went virtually unnoticed on the Ollie || Photo: Denny Byrne

The last thing - price. Riders will pay a premium for a Canadian-made bike, regardless of who makes them. There's no question about that. It will always be cheaper to make bikes in Asia. So be it. Whether they want to pay more for a Canadian bike with down-spec'd parts than for another 8-and-8 four-bar freeride bike with better parts will probably come down to the amount of maple syrup in their veins.

Performance: 3.5  Quality: 4 Design: 2.5  Price: 3  Overall: 3

Pros: Cons: - Quality construction - Rides very well in some    situations - Capable of taking a serious    beating - Seat tube far too short - Too many house-brand parts - Long wheelbase made it a    handful in tight terrain - Expensive, considering spec

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- Stuart Kernaghan