TESTED - Devinci Ewoc FS Kids Mountain Bike Review 7

It seems like every time we review a mountain bike made for kids, all we can exclaim is, "what a great time it is to be a grom!" Prepare to hear it again after a spring-and-summer beating on Devinci's Ewoc FS, the brand's entry into the youth full-suspension mountain bike game. Our pint-sized punter has not been easy on the 24-inch-wheeled machine, and the made-in-Canada bike continues to ask for more. As the kids these days say, "let's go!"

Devinci Ewoc FS Highlights

• 125mm rear travel, 140mm front
• Frame made in Canada
• Lifetime warranty
• Modern geometry
• Compatible with 24'' and 26'' Wheels
• Split Pivot suspension platform
• Dedicated Lightweight rider suspension kinematics
• Boost hub spacing
• 155m crank length
• Short-reach brake levers
• Threaded BB
• 2.4-inch rear tire clearance
• Enduro double-lip sealed bearings
• 28t to 30t chainring
• External cable routing
• $2,099 USD
• 32 pounds with pedals (tested)

It's that time in mountain biking when lifetime riders have children who are now old enough to get out on the trails and put the screws to their loved ones. With limitless energy, blissful ignorance to coming up short on gap jumps and no care for fashion sense, today's young mountain bikers have access to terrain their back-in-my-day-story-telling-elders could only dream of. While full-suspension bikes are hardly necessary to enjoy this modern MTB terrain, a little bit of squish can go a long way for any bike with smaller wheels on big trails. Enter our 24-inch-wheeled, $2,099 Devinci Ewoc FS with 125mm of Split Pivot rear suspension and a claimed 140mm X-Fusion fork. 

Build Kit and Geometry - Grow with the Grom

$2,099 is nothing to sneeze at for a kid's bike. Most parents think $500 is a lot of money for a bike, so those unfamiliar with mountain biking may not be ready for a purchase like this. Those who are ready will see the spec on the Ewoc is solid with some fully *adult* components blended with kid-specific parts. $2,099 is in the middle of the ballpark for a bike in this segment. There are more expensive bikes, and there are cheaper bikes, but the spec on the Ewoc isn't bad for the price when considering Devinci's dealer network and support.

The SRAM SX Eagle 12-speed drivetrain mounted to a burly alloy frame with Enduro bearings plays just like the adults do. Cranks (at 155mm in length), two-piston Promax hydraulic disc brakes (nicely furnished with a 180mm front rotor) and X-Fusion suspension components are all aimed at kid weights and strengths to customize the ride. X-Fusion's 170x35mm O2Pro RL shock and Velvet RL fork have rebound adjustments and lock-out levers. Why lockout levers are spec'd these days will always be a mystery to us, but kids sure love shiny blue things that swivel, and there was no shortage of switch-flipping during the test just because it could be done. A no-frills wheelset that isn't tubeless-ready wears 24x2.4-inch Kenda Amrak tires which are also not tubeless compatible.

One of the most compelling features of the Ewoc FS is that the bike is ready to roll on 24- or 26-inch wheels. In the 24-inch setup (tested), the rear end of the bike looks long, but 10-year-olds don't hop on bike nerd forums to banter about chainstay length. They get outside, shred and adapt. Slapping on 26-inch wheels would mean a higher BB as there are no adjustments, but again...kids will rip anything.

Looking online, a new set of wheels and tires could be had for about $200-300, so squeezing an extra season or two out the Ewoc just by upgrading wheels is something worth considering. Maybe the real play is to go 26 up front and roll 24 out back with a mini-mullet setup. Looking at the hub details, however, keep in mind that the rear end is 12x148 Boost spacing, while the fork spacing 15x100, NOT Boost (which is 15x110mm).   

Devinci recommends the Ewoc for rider heights 4'4" to 4'11" (133cm to 150cm). Our test rider at 4'7" fell right into the sweet spot with the bike fitting nicely. Rear shock sag was set to about 30% and was a nice place to be throughout the test. Fork air pressure was pumped up to recommend settings for rider weight (50psi for an 80-pound rider), which proved to be too firm. It was decreased down to 42psi, feeling good for our tester. Despite that, even when Dad tried to bottom out the fork, only about 120mm of travel was measured at the O-ring. It was a quality-feeling suspension travel, but not the 140mm claimed.

Rebound in both fork and shock had a nice range of adjustment. The shock had 10 clicks with all but the slowest being usable. After turning past 20 clicks of rebound on the fork, we lost count. It has to be near 30 clicks. While way too many, there were zones within the 30 that effectively impacted the feel of the fork. So we'll say 1-10 is fast, 10-20 is where we settled (at 16 specifically), and 20-30 is probably too slow for kid air pressures. Within each of those 10-click windows, there were hardly noticeable changes to the fork's feel.

Lever reach adjustment of the Promax brakes was great. The levers were comfortably reached and squeezed by the grubby little mitts of the tester with just a few turns of a 2mm hex bolt. SRAM's SX shift levers and the TransX dropper lever have ergonomics and lever throws better suited to adult riders, but with some exaggerated pilot movements, shifting gears and dropping the saddle never proved to be troublesome.

On the Trail

Over the months, our Ewoc test bike was subjected to everything from lift-assisted bike park laps, trail rides, urban hucking and old-fashioned sketchy ramps made out of scrap wood found in the garage. Riding full pace into neighorhood curbs was a favorite method for testing component durability. One curb smash yielded a double pinch flat to the rear tire. A tubeless setup would have probably survived and reinforced our wishes for stock tubeless wheels and tires on the Ewoc.

Kenda's Amrak tires are a decent all-around tire for handling a little bit of everything the young rider will encounter. They're not the most robust for aggressive cornering or hard descending, but considering the bike's weight, the low rolling resistance made uphilling a bit more rewarding. On the topic of tires, stoppies (riding really fast then honking on the front brake for a brake-assisted nose wheelie) became the preferred trick on the Ewoc. We were pleasantly surprised to see how much the front tire actually wore down as a result. We say pleasantly because stoppies are always fun to watch, and there must have been a lot of them performed for this much tire wear. Skids and stoppies ain't cheap though when you're spending $30-60 on new tires for a real mountain bike, so set aside some budget if your young one loves the front wheel.

Riding downhill laps at The Basin Gravity Park, the Ewoc shined. The weight, the long wheelbase, slack head angle and suspension kinematics kept the bike stable and planted in the loose conditions. Following our lil' ripper, we witnessed the bike swiftly recover from poor line choices as our tester unintentionally smashed through rogue piles of off-line debris. Additionally when a jump lip would present itself, the youthful mindset to just send it took over, regardless of what may be on the other side. Smooth backsides stomped but an equal number of hefty cases were filed in trail court. The Ewoc just shrugged them off and kept on chugging. We've checked all fasteners and connections and nothing has come loose as the bike remains generally quiet.

Trail rides were a bit of chore on the Ewoc thanks to its heft, but it was never a detriment to the experience of just being out on a ride. The SRAM SX Eagle drivetrain on the Ewoc provides the full 11-50t cassette range out back, mated with a 30t chainring on kid-friendly 155mm cranks. That gear combo with a 24-inch rear wheel is pretty low, rendering the 50t is almost unnecessary. There is significant weight in the cassette, so it's a bit of a double-whammy of heft and usability. Let's not forget that kids love having granny gear races, so possible bonus points for the fun department could be awarded here. Again, nerd stuff adults may obsess over are non-existent problems for a grom exploring the world on a bicycle.

What's the Bottom Line?

Three months of hard-charging testing later, the Devinci Ewoc FS rides and feels like it did when it arrived. Whether ripping gravity-fed bike park laps, being subjected to poorly built jump experiments or exploring the local surroundings, the Ewoc was capable, stable and worry-free. A lot of us know that adult mountain bikes for two or four times the price of the Ewoc aren't problem free under such abuse, so it's good to know that a loved one willing to spend two grand on their up-and-coming pinner will be spending the money wisely. The frame and components have held up well, and the Ewoc's ability to accept 26-inch wheels to add an extra year or two of service makes this investment in childhood riding that much more sound. Ignore the scrutinies an over-thinking mountain bike forum poster may point out with the Ewoc. It's not the lightest, the fork may not be perfect and it comes with tubes instead of tubeless, but guess what? The young rider on the Ewoc who's roosting you in the corners never thought twice about those things. Vital MTB recommends the Devinci Ewoc FS as a solid, dependable kid's mountain bike.

Learn more about the Ewoc FS youth MTB at Devinci.com

View key specs, compare bikes, and rate the new Devinci Ewoc FS in the Vital MTB Product Guide.