2022 Devinci Spartan HP 14

We've had quite a few Devinci mountain bikes come through our Vital Test Offices in the last year. From the short-travel trail slugging Django and the All-Mountain champ, the Troy, to the made in Canada alloy Marshall and Kobain, we've enjoyed them all. Devinci's Split Pivot design has used a traditional rocker arm to achieve a bottomless feel for bikes that seem to ride like they have more travel than numbers indicate. Those same bikes are also happy scaling the nastiest climbs. Devinci has another trick up its sleeve for the all-new Spartan HP - a high pivot, idler pulley has been added to the Split Pivot design. Devinci states that with this new design, they've taken the Split Pivot and unleashed a monstrous descending machine with an appetite for speed.

Highlights

• Full carbon frame
• 29-inch wheels only
• 170mm (6.6-inches) or 180mm (7-inches) LTD model front travel
• 160mm (6.3-inches) rear travel
• Split Pivot, High Pivot (HP) suspension system
• Threaded bottom bracket with 2-bolt ISCG tabs
• Partially guided internal cable routing
• Geo-adjust flip chip
• Coil shock compatible
• SRAM Universal Derailleur Hanger
• Polyurethane protection for chainstay, seatstay, bb/downtube, and shuttle zone
• Size-specific chainstays
• Super Boost 157 with 12mm through axle
• Weight - 35-pounds (15.8kg) (size medium, no pedals)
• MSRP - $6,149 (as tested)

What's New

Over the last three years, mountain bikes have been making small steps, moving forward just a bit each year. Over that course of time, those small steps have added up. However, Devinci decided against another marginal step forward. They are pushing all their chips to the center of the table with the Spartan HP. Devinci knows they have a winner with Split Pivot but they felt they could get more from it with the implementation of a high pivot system.

Mountain biking has seen a rush of high-pivot bikes as of late and each seems to take a somewhat different approach. Devinci is flexing on its design's ability to isolate braking forces and keep the suspension active as racers careen through bomb holes into corners. The high-pivot idler setup should take the already efficient Split Pivot to a whole new level. That's a good thing because our Spartan HP test bike comes in at 35-pounds.

The Spartan HP is not Devinci's first endeavor with a high-pivot design though. We all recall the Big Bang, right? Leapfrog a few years and we'll definitely recall Dakotah Norton's prototype Wilson High Pivot. That project may have been shelved but it helped get the Spartan HP off the ground. In exhaustive testing, Devinci's race teams all found themselves much more comfortable with a high-pivot design. When the clock was introduced, riders turned faster times and felt more in control and at ease with the high-pivot bikes. For Devinci, it was time to the take things out of the concept field and start developing a real-world bike.

Devinci takes durability seriously. If the Ronnie Coleman inspired frame lines are any indication (along with our own testing) a Devinci bike is built to last. Adding an idler pulley to an existing Split Pivot design complicates things and adds areas of increased maintenance. Extensive testing and development went into the idler pulley found on the Spartan HP. In brief, Devinci states that riders will go through three chainrings before needing to replace the steel idler, which rolls on a massive bearing and is masked by a thermoplastic shield. Additionally, Devinci incorporated a lower guide to increase chain wrap on the front ring. This offers more breathing room in chain tension and keeps it consistent while improving retention and reducing wear on drivetrain components.

Speaking of wear, will this design wear out riders? To start, the Spartan HP still uses a standard 126-link chain. During development testing, Devinci used lab measurements and found that the drag coefficient of the idler system fell below a 2% variance, which is within the margin of error on this particular system. In short, the tests could not report any additional drag. We've only had our Spartan HP on a few trails, all lift-assisted, so we cannot report any findings of how the system feels in this regard beyond some small sprints and short climbs.

Suspension

Like your aunt's lasagna recipe, Devinci is not giving up the secret sauce that comprises the nitty-gritty of their suspension (leverage rates, anti-squat, etc.) since a chart can only tell so much of the story anyway. Regardless of the graphs, the entire system pivots on Enduro double-lip sealed bearings.

The Spartan HP is coil compatible, so it's safe to say there's some decent progressivity. Devinci ships the FOX X2 rear shocks with a 0.3V spacer installed. Recommended sag is 25% and is achieved by running the rider's body weight in air pressure. Our recommended base setting from Devinci was as follows: low-speed rebound - 9 clicks, high-speed rebound - 5 clicks, low-speed compression - 12 clicks, and high-speed compression - 5 clicks. All clicks are counted from fully closed.

Geometry

Just as they didn't mess around with the suspension update, Devinci didn't tiptoe with geometry. The front end of the new Spartan HP is darn long. Our size medium test bike has a 465mm reach in the LO setting. That number bumps up to 470mm in the HI setting. The static chainstay length is 425mm but that grows by about 10mm to 435mm when at sag. Size large and x-large chainstays grow by 5mm each, respectively.

Devinci didn't go wild with the head angle on the Spartan, only 64.5-degrees in the lower setting, 65-degrees in HI. A 77-degree seat angle keeps riders upright for the climbs. The overall wheelbase is 1232mm on our medium, at sag it presumably extends to 1242mm which is right in the mix of other long-travel 29ers we've been covering.

Models

The new Spartan HP comes in three builds, all of them operate on the same carbon frame that gets 160mm of travel. Each build features Maxxis Double Down MaxxGrip tires, FOX 38 fork, and a FOX X2 rear shock. You can compare full specifications and prices side by side in our Product Guide.

Our test bike is the Spartan HP GX 12S. As one could easily surmise, it makes use of SRAM's 12-speed GX Eagle drivetrain. Brakes are SRAM Code R with 200mm rotors front and rear. A FOX 38 Performance Grip fork and Fox X2 Performance Elite shock are on suspension duties. Race Face AR30 wheels round out the highlights. An SDG Tellis dropper, SDG seat, and some Race Face bits take care of the cockpit. Colors are Gloss Secret Blue and Gloss Skyscraper Silver

MSRP: $6,149 USD // 6,999$ CAD // 6,249 EUR

Devinci's mid-level build is the Spartan XT 12S LTD. We're used to seeing Devinci's LTD offering in other lines, generally denoting more travel and some burlier parts (tires). Because the rest of the Spartan HP line is already burley, the LTD just nets riders a 180mm FOX 38 Performance Elite fork. Shimano takes care of the drivetrain and brakes with a full XT build and 203mm rotors. Race Face ARC30 wheels make the Spartan roll. SDG remains on dropper and seat duty, as does Race Face for the Next R35 bar/stem combo. Colors are Gloss Secret Blue and Gloss Skyscraper Silver

MSRP: $6,999 USD // 8,249$ CAD // 7,299 EUR

At the top of the pecking order is the Spartan HP XTR 12S. Free donuts to those that guess the build spec here. A full XTR build takes care of everything from the drivetrain to the brakes, complete with 203mm rotors. The lone exception being the Race Face Next R cranks. A 170mm travel FOX Factory 38 leads the charge with a FOX Factory X2 taking up the rear. Race Face Turbine R30 hoops do the rolling. FOX does dropper detail with its Factory Transfer Seatpost with Race Face rounding out the cockpit parts. We'll just add that we love the non-color-matched FOX fork here. Available only in Gloss Skyscraper Silver.

MSRP: $8,999 // 10,499 CAD // 8,819 EUR

On the Trail

Devinci's Spartan HP is our sixth and final bike to be included in our September Enduro Test Session, kicking off right away. In managing all the madness that has been going on globally and prepping all the other bikes, we've managed to get out on the Spartan HP for some laps. The very short version: we are really excited to get this bike into its element.

Standing and pedaling/sprinting the Spartan HP is almost surreal. The 160mm enduro monster delivers an incredibly efficient feel from the cranks to the rear wheel. Our small amount of climbing over rocky terrain hints at a bike that also has plenty of traction when you need it.

As expected, the Spartan HP punishes rocks on the downhills. Our initial shakedown laps had us feeling this is a "point-and-shoot" type of bike with not a lot of intention for goofing around. The Spartan HP does have a more planted feel but given a proper ramp, it will get skyward just fine. Our one-word impression of the Spartan HP is "grip." All the grip a rider could ask for, all the time. This bike deserves nothing less than the burly tires Devinci specced it with, and for that, we salute them.

Stay tuned as we get the Spartan HP under our four Test Session riders and run it into every rock we can find. Until then, head to Devinci.com to learn more about the Spartan HP.