Reader's Ride
Dave O'Neill's Deviate Highlander 150
Why the Deviate? What set it apart from other high pivot bikes for you?
Dave O'Neill - The short answer is that it was an impulse buy. I saw the press release last March, thought it was a fantastic looking bike, mulled it over for the weekend and then pulled the trigger. I texted my wife “I might have just bought a bike” after the deed was done. She’s awesome and is actually the one usually pressuring me to buy another bike so she was actually pretty happy I didn’t obsess over the decision for months like I usually do.
The long answer is that I’ve had a bit of a love affair with high pivot bikes going back 20 years. It started with a 2001 Balfa BB7. After straying briefly to other bikes I came back to a 2004/2005 BB7 and then on to an Appalache Real and finally a Zerode G1. There was just something special about how well the suspension worked and how effortlessly fast you could go on them. As we moved away from pedalling 40+ pound DH bikes up the local hills, I had to give up on high pivot bikes. So needless to say, I was really excited to see them starting to make a comeback in recent years. When the Deviate Guide came out I briefly considered it but didn’t want to do the gearbox thing again. I’d had a couple in the past and they are great for the right application but I didn’t feel it was right for what I was looking for in a daily driver. I had a serious look at the Forbidden Druid when it came out but I couldn’t convince myself that I’d be happy with 130mm of travel. Nothing else was on my radar at the time - perhaps that’s because I hadn’t actually been actively looking for a bike.
And tell me about the rear linkage upgrade from 140 to 150
I can’t remember the last time I owned a bike with less than 150mm of rear travel so the upgrade had been on my mind since I found out last summer that Deviate was working on one. The change to the STA was probably what held me off the longest. I was having trouble getting the EXT setup the way I liked and I finally decided to pull the trigger and give it a try. It turned out to be a great decision which I’ll talk about in the next section. The STA change turned out to not be an issue and if I’m honest, my fitness plays more into impact on climbing than a 1 degree change in STA.
Tell me a little about the choice to go with the EXT suspension. Was it tunability or damper feel? Can you share your settings?
This isn’t a short story so bear with me. I ordered the bike with a Fox DPX2 and had an Ohlins RXF 36 m.2 on the front. This was a bike I wanted to try some new things on and the Ohlins was one of those things. Suspension setup has honestly been the longest part of the journey to get this bike working the way I wanted. Both ends of the bike had problems I needed to work through.
This initial setup was pretty good in the rear but didn’t match my memories of the bump-eating performance of my old DH bikes. It was, of course, completely unfair of me to expect a 140mm bike would feel like a 200mm+ DH bike. The high pivot characteristics were there but were more muted. I hadn’t run a coil shock in over a decade and had been getting coil-curious recently so started thinking about an upgrade. I wasn’t sure what to try. Steve @vorsprung had been super helpful about a year and a half ago when I’d randomly emailed him about some suspension problems I was having at the time. I was in Whistler this summer and thought I’d stop by and thank him again. I took the opportunity to ask him what he might recommend and he mentioned the EXT and that Alba distributed in Canada. I had no idea there was a local distributor so that pretty much locked my decision. This bike was about trying new things and the EXT seemed like a perfect match.
I got the shock on the bike and it felt pretty good after a few setup rides but I was getting a harsh bottom out at unexpected times. I swapped the DPX2 back onto the bike to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. The harsh bottom out went away but so did the supple feel of the shock. Ben @alba was awesome helping me get things tuned and was confident we could get the bottom out issue sorted. Around this time I decided to just give the 150mm linkage a try. While that was on order, I continued to play around with the suspension and ended up with a decent setup via a heavier spring and less sag (25%). When the 150mm linkage showed up, I was able to go back to 30% sag and things were magic. All the traction and suppleness I expected was there without any hard bottom out. I finally landed on a 550 spring, -8 HSC, -10 LSC, and +4 rebound.
The Ohlins was my next problem. At the recommended setup, the mid-stroke support was great but I struggled badly with traction in the corners and it absolutely destroyed my hands. James @suspensionwerx helped me get things setup better (and also put me onto the RevGrips). At the end of the day though, it was a compromised setup. To get the comfort and traction I was looking for, I sacrificed all that great mid-stroke support. I should note that I have carpal tunnel and other issues in my left hand which definitely played a big factor here. While I’m sure the fork was great, it just didn’t work with my hand issues. I decided I needed to try something else but wasn’t sure what to do. I was a little gun-shy about trying another fork I had no experience with. I haven’t had great luck with Fox for similar reasons as the Ohlins. Rockshox had been my go to in the past but after having experienced proper mid-stroke support I felt I’d end up in the same spot as the Ohlins. Of course I was curious about the EXT Era. There wasn’t much info on them yet other than initial impressions but it felt like there was something special here. I emailed Ben to get his opinion and he gave me some really good advice that suspension probably isn’t the best way to address my hand problems. But he also had really positive things to say about the Era and in reality I’d probably already made up my mind to give it a try. I know I said I didn’t want to risk another unknown setup but I couldn’t resist.
“Wow” is all I can say about the Era. Maybe I’ve just had bad setups on past forks or maybe my mind is convincing me that I have to love this fork because it cost an embarrassing amount of money but… wow. I set it up with the recommended settings for my weight and it just worked. Really well. So well that I haven’t bothered with any other tuning. On the first ride I thought I’d need to lower my cockpit because I wasn’t used to a fork sitting so high in its travel. But all that mid-stroke support didn’t compromise traction or comfort. Maybe it’s all just a placebo effect but if so, it’s not showing any signs of wearing off.
The cockpit setup is quite unique too. SQLabs grips and Fasst Flexx bars. You must favor compliance over weight reduction. Have you noticed much improvement over non suspension cockpit controls?
My hand issues necessitate that I prioritize compliance. I didn’t deal with my hand issues early enough and now I’m paying the price. While I’m dealing with it medically, I’m also much more conscious of ensuring I have a setup that will keep me riding for many years to come. My journey started with OneUp bars. I didn’t think they made much of a difference until I took them off one day. They promptly went back on the bike. RevGrips came next. The combination of the OneUp bars and RevGrips was a big improvement over a more traditional setup but it still wasn’t where I hoped to get. I finally decided to take the plunge on the Fasst Flexx bars. I’m running them with some SQLabs 711 grips. I’ve only had two rides on them so far but they are a very noticeable improvement over the OneUp/RevGrips setup. I may try putting the RevGrips back on at some point but I’m not sure they’ll be necessary.
Don't think I didn't notice the SRAM derailleur with the Shimano cassette and chain. How do you like the shifting?
As you might have guessed by now, this has been a bit of a project bike. It ended up in a very different place than I originally planned. I’d read great things about the Shimano 12-speed so I started with a full Shimano setup. While it didn’t blow me away, it was fine. Similar to many choices on the bike, I think the pandemic played a bigger part in the decision making process than anything else. I certainly didn’t need AXS but it was undeniably cool and since vacation travel was on hold, I had more opportunity to upgrade my bike. Thankfully mixing and matching wasn’t a problem. I read tons of reviews about it and the conclusion I came to was that it was great stuff but the shift quality wasn’t any better than a traditional setup so I was mostly expecting the value to be maintenance reduction and vanity. Maybe I have horrible shifting technique but it blew me away in terms of shifting performance. It is always fast and precise. A big unanticipated bonus.
Any inserts in the tires? What pressure do you run?
I put Tannus Tubeless in recently. I haven’t historically run inserts as I’m not generally hard on wheels and rarely flat. A double-down casing or equivalent in the rear has generally been good enough. As I struggled with my left hand, I started looking at anything that might help. I’d read of the damping characteristics of inserts so decided it give them a try. I wasn’t convinced I wanted to add the weight of a CushCore and after reading Cam’s article on the Tannus a half dozen times I finally convinced myself they seemed like a good compromise between comfort, traction and weight. I really like them so far. I don’t think they helped with my hand but the traction increase was tangible - most noticeable for me on the technical climbs and in the corners on a descent. I tried them initially at 16 psi (rear) and 14 psi (front) based on Cam’s article and they were surprisingly good in this wet weather. Lately I’ve been running closer to 18/16. We’ll see where I land in drier weather. Pre-inserts I’d typically run 23/21.
Has this build been a speed increasing or comfort increasing one for you?
I didn’t come into it with either in mind. I think fun would be the main reason - both fun in building it up and fun riding it. I’m nowhere near the bike nerd that I know many folks on NSMB are but I do love to try new and interesting things and so much of the joy of this bike has been iterating through different setups and parts to see what I could get to. It’s definitely been more of a max-maxing exercise that a min-maxing one but it’s been a fun journey and I’m super happy with where it’s at now.
On the bike, comfort and fun are pretty entwined for me. While comfort wasn’t an initial focus, it’s proven increasingly necessary to focus on. If I’m dealing with pain on a ride, I’m not having fun. But fun and speed are also related. Strava tells me this bike hasn’t made me any faster but I definitely feel faster - and that sensation of speed is much more important to me than the actual speed.
Anything you'd like to change in the setup?
Not today. But maybe I’ll have an idea tomorrow. That sort of how it’s gone so far. It’s taken a long time but I’m really happy with how it rides now. Anything I change going forward will likely be just to try something new and interesting.
I’ve never spent so much time tuning and upgrading and playing with a bike as I have with this one. It’s been a lot of fun but it’s also required me to interact with more people in the bike industry than I usually do. I’m just some random guy who likes bikes and I have been struck by how awesome and helpful people have been and am very thankful for that. Ben and Chris @deviate, Ben @alba, Steve @vorsprung, James @suspensionwerx and I can’t forget Lou @obsessionbikes.
David's Deviate Highlander 150 Specs
Brand/Model | Deviate Highlander 140 with a 150 link upgrade | None |
Frame: | Size Large | None |
Shock: | EXT Storia V3 550lbs spring | None |
Fork: | EXT ERA 160mm | None |
Brakes: | Shimano XTR 9210 | None |
Wheels: | NOBL TR 37 w/ Industry Nine Hydra Hubs | None |
Tires: | Maxxis Assegai Maxxgrip Exo+ / Maxxis DHR II Maxxterra Exo+ | None |
Drivetrain: | Shimano XT Cassette and chain / Sram XO1 AXS Derailleur | None |
Cranks: | Cane Creek EEWINGS Titanium 170mm | None |
Chainguide: | None | None |
Bar & Stem: | Fasst Flexx Bars 12deg sweep | None |
Grips: | SQLabbs 711 | None |
Pedals: | One Up Alloy | None |
Seatpost: | One up 180mm | None |
Saddle: | None | None |
Extras: | None | None |
Weight: | does it matter? | None |
Comments
RNAYEL
2 years, 3 months ago
That is a gorgeous build, well done Dave. The type of build that looks like an Andrew Major Max-Max wet dream.
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khai
2 years, 3 months ago
eeWings/EXT/XTR/Eagle/FastFlexx... more like a MAXX build! The only areas where he didn't go super high end were the wheels (something like Zipp may actually have a negative impact on his carpal tunnel), stem, headset, and bearings. I guess he could have gone with a flashier dropper/saddle...
That custom RideWrap went unmentioned but is a beaty job as well.
Sick build!
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Deniz Merdano
2 years, 3 months ago
I couldn't say if the Zipp wheels would be less comfortable but they sure do have a unique trail feel.
The wrap is Invisiwrap as far as i know and Deviate ships the frames pre wrapped
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khai
2 years, 3 months ago
Frames shipping pre-wrapped from the factory is a really nice value-add!
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ufodone
2 years, 3 months ago
I was excited about it coming pre-wrapped too but in these crazy times the person who wrapped their frames at the time got COVID so I had the option to wait a few extra weeks or get the bike now and I was impatient. I was able to bribe an experienced friend to wrap it for me and he did a great job.
As for the wheels, I (foolishly perhaps) didn't put a lot of thought into the impact they would have on my hands. I was mostly wanting something durable and reasonably light weight. Ironically, I probably ended up with something heavier overall after adding things like the Flexx bars to manage my hands.
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khai
2 years, 3 months ago
I sure as hell wouldn't try to wrap my own frame. Lots of people say it's pretty straightforward but I know the limitations of my skillset...
Mammal
2 years, 3 months ago
I'd be interested in knowing the approximate "purchase price" of that ride, after all that. $15K... $20K [edit]?
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Deniz Merdano
2 years, 3 months ago
All those numbers sound about right..
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ufodone
2 years, 3 months ago
I didn't add it up and TBH, it got to the point where I was getting a bit embarrassed about the whole thing so I tried not to think about it. Stock bikes are pretty amazing these days and so it had been about a decade since I'd built a bike up from a frame and so this one just sort of got away from me.
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Mammal
2 years, 3 months ago
If you've got the means, I completely understand how it would end up this way. It's pretty damned dialed. I'm just always interested in seeing the extremes of custom build cost, from either end of the spectrum.
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khai
2 years, 3 months ago
To some degree at least, many of us have found ourselves in this same situation. It's a damned nice build - I hope you enjoy the hell out of it for a long time!
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el_jefe
2 years, 3 months ago
Great custom options! I've a bunch of the same - AXTR drivetrain; Tannus Tubeless as the lighter insert option. I've got the 12 degree Flexx bars and Rev Grips and it has been amazing! Really want those Eewings....
Super sick build.
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4Runner1
2 years, 3 months ago
Super clean build. I too have been focusing on comfort lately. My latest ride was built with comfort at the forefront. It has paid off - I’m having more fun and feel less fatigued.
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Deniz Merdano
2 years, 3 months ago
I couldn't agree more. When you are comfortable, going fast is easier ..
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Moritz Haager
2 years, 3 months ago
I'm curious if Deniz got a chance to ride it, and how it compares to his Druid.
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ufodone
2 years, 3 months ago
He's welcome to try but he'll probably need to gain about 40 pounds and and grow a few inches.
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Deniz Merdano
2 years, 3 months ago
Ask me next week about the pounds.. the height will be tough though.
I would love to test a Highlander if the opportunity rose. We just need the NSMB boss to make it happen.
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Justin White
2 years, 3 months ago
re: the tire pressures & inserts:
Are those pressures with the inserts also still with a reinforced casing like DD in the back, or just EXO+-ish (that I'm assuming you run up front)? I'd be looking to ditch the almost-DH casing tire (BLKDMND usually for me) on the rear if I added an insert, and those pressures also closely line up with my own preferences and wants.
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Justin White
2 years, 3 months ago
Never mind, just had to read some photo captions. EXO+ front and rear with Tannus, nice!
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Brian Tuulos
2 years, 3 months ago
No need to ever fuss about 1 degree of STA. Saddle fore-aft adjustment will eat that up. I like that blue
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Nolakers
1 year, 5 months ago
A trailbuilders at the bikepark i used to work at is building some of the coolest carbon components on the market.
He claims that his bar and stem combo is segnificantly more compliant than vibracore bars, while being some of the lightrst on the market. I have no experience as I never got to try them, but they sure sound awesome.
https://correntcomponents.com/product/handlebars/
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