A Closer Look at Devinci's Experimental High Pivot Wilson

Dec 23, 2020
by Daniel Sapp  
Dakotah Norton s prototype high pivot Devinci.

There's always a lot of tech floating around World Cup pits, since brands use their top riders to test ideas and validate concepts, proving whether a design change truly makes a bike better in some way.

This iteration of Devinci's prototype high pivot DH bike first made an appearance at the races in October, during the 2020 World Championships in Leogang, Austria, but details were scarce.

The Big Bang...Devinci's first high pivot DH bike.


According to Devinci, the concept first came to light over 20 years ago with a bike Devinci made called the Big Bang - a high pivot DH bike in the early 2000's. Devinci are always experimenting with different designs and projects, although they holds an advantage over some brands due to the fact that they have their own factory, in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada. For a deeper dive into Devinci's factory, read Ross Bell's article on Inside Devinci, or his From the Top, with Devinci's Félix Gauthier.


Devinci calls this prototype DH race bike the Wilson HP, and it's merely a test mule the brand never planned on making it to production - the goal was simply to test some ideas and concepts in race conditions. Devinci riders Dakotah Norton and Jure Žabjek both spent time riding and racing the bike this past season.

After some initial testing in Tennessee in February with Dakotah, the bike showed promise. Dakotah claimed the bike helped him maintain a faster pace while taking less risk. He was also riding more consistently on a bike he just got on, which was impressive. Dakotah named the bike "the hovercraft" as it allowed him to just plow through everything and it felt as if he was almost floating above the track.



At this point, only two frames have been produced. One is sized XL and the other is a L - both, made by hand in Devinci's Canadian factory. According to Devinci, the project brought a lot of pride to the team at the factory, especially having Dakotah ending up on the podium at the first Lousa World Cup this past October.

Big result from the ever stylish Dakotah Norton. Eighth in a very wet qualie.
Dakotah Norton took the prototype frame to 8th in very muddy Maribor qualifications.
Dakotah Norton putting down watts as he races to the finish. Twelfth with more left in the tank for Sunday.
And 12th in finals at the first race of that weekend.

Huge result for Dakotah Norton landing himself on the podium. It s been a long time coming since his last top five finish in Losinj. Well deserved.
A top-five result in Lousa.

Where does the Wilson HP go from here? Who knows, but Devinci have been clear that this really is just a prototype designed to look into the HP concept matched with the Split Pivot system, and that it's "not the next Wilson." We're curious to see what may show up at the start of next season, whenever and wherever that may be.



Posted In:
Reviews and Tech First Looks DH Bikes Devinci Devinci Wilson


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113 Comments

  • 55 6
 Is it really deserving of the Wilson name without a concentric lower pivot that creaks like crazy after two rides?
  • 21 0
 yeah but that rear suspension tho! Every single day I regret selling my Wilson. I've had a bunch of bikes since, and none hold a candle to it.
  • 11 0
 @Brasher: that must really melt your snowman
  • 7 0
 @Brasher: the only bike I ever had that felt better then the Wilson was my Commencal Supreme DH 4.2.

Every other bike simply felt slower and clunkier.
  • 49 1
 We are aware of a creacking issue when pivots are dry and needs to be regreased. Simple maintenance from time to time with a slight layer of grease will make you last for longer without creaks. Too much grease will attract dirt and dust and will result in more creaking. Hope this will help!
  • 2 0
 @Caiokv: Which by coincidence is high single pivot design.
Have you ever tried spec demo or SC V10?
  • 1 0
 @EnduroKW: I rode a 2014 V10, so it's hard to compare.
  • 43 4
 A high pivot wilson is rad but what we all really want is a high pivot spartan...
  • 1 0
 What a genius idea !!
  • 2 0
 I would buy that for sure, c'mon @cyclesdevinci
  • 1 0
 Let's see what Devinci has in the pipe for next season before we start jumping to conclusions.
  • 1 0
 That would never happen
  • 16 0
 dakota was peakless or podium on that bike, looks sick and im all for more high pivot downhill race bikes. cant say enough good things about my supreme 29 and more options is always a bonus
  • 16 0
 Looks good to me ! Canadian made with Canadian materials !
  • 15 0
 Man, dem’ Balfa QC’ers from back in the day were onto something. High pivots so hot right now.
  • 6 0
 BALFA!!! I wonder if they would be a success in the current market?? High pivot, front carbon(?!) and chromoly rear?? Any takers??
  • 4 0
 wish I had held onto my bb7 for nostalgia sake, what an incredible bike!
  • 7 0
 @cdnmtbkr: yup still own and ride 3 of them and would be back on board with Jerome and crew in a second. Those guys and bikes were legit!!
  • 12 1
 nothing to do with the bike but I have met Dak before and he's a SUPER Rad dude!
  • 5 0
 Yeah totally agree! And super FAST on anything he rides.
  • 3 0
 @droppindown: I remember when he jumped out of that tunnel at Leogang and landed on the berm/wall ride thing. Totally awesome!
  • 8 0
 wow, that looks like a sweet machine. It's so rad that Devinci has its own factory. It would be wicked if some of these concepts made their way to the new Spartan... in a similar fashion that the new Enduro borrowed the suspension schematics of the Demo.
  • 8 2
 I always found it wild that Devinci is based where it is. That’s the middle of nowhere Quebec where it’s winter 6 months of the year.
  • 18 0
 Might be wild for certain people but we are proud to be where we are! The winter is tough here and it's forging our people!
  • 24 0
 And not to mention the facts that Chicoutimi is part of the Quebec's Aluminum industry valley, the Saguenay area is North America's largest Aluminum producer and it's less than a mile away from our factory, the aluminum expertise in the area is huge thanks to the Chicoutimi University.
  • 7 0
 @cyclesdevinci: Color me informed! Right on!
  • 3 0
 Not to mention one of the most legendary World Cups tracks of all time being down the road. Alongside with Bromont and a Quebec government that supports sport much more than the rest of Canada.
  • 9 1
 Imagine if Steve had this as his ride. Untouchable
  • 3 0
 Keep up the awesome work Devinci!! I absolutely LOVE my new 2021 Troy LTD, especially in the Purple!! Still LOVE my Spartan 29 and cannot wait to see arrival of the Marshall for my little shredder. Support Canadian aluminum, Canadian Manufacturing and Canadian small business!!! #LONGLIVECHAINSAW
  • 1 0
 I have a Klein Mantra in my "museum", and want to remind everyone that if you push that pivot too high (time for a Grim Donut remake with high pivot and gearbox drivetrain?) You end up shortening the wheelbase when the front brake is applied. The opposite of what a DH rig needs.
  • 2 0
 Happens every time I hit the brakes on my hardtail. I’m still alive to tell the story...
  • 1 0
 The axle path is vertical at full compression on the commencal.
  • 14 14
 Devinci used to be a cool brand, but that changed in the last few years. I was so close to getting an alloy Spartan, but they have weird warranty practices (can't use another dropper post than the stock one without voiding the warranty?!) and they never replied the emails and contact forms I've sent since May. The rumor goes that they've dropped their world cup dh riders for 2021 so hopefully it's just a rumor and that the DH team stays for next season. Hoping that the new bike rides great and they will still produce their alloy frames in Canada.
  • 10 0
 old warranty years back said you couldn't use another saddle... but when the shop i worked at called about warranty issues it was never a problem. new frames or triangles or whatever sent right away
  • 7 4
 You're right. Can't get bearings, a returned phone call, or an email for my friend's bike. Not stoked on them :/ bike is going on the wall.
  • 5 1
 Surprised to hear these reports. They were were excellent on a crash replacement three years ago. Maybe things have changed.
  • 9 1
 Surprised I called them just to ask about sizing and we were on the phone for a long time. Really friendly and helpful.
  • 11 1
 @yurtletheturtle: they may not like USA customers. They wouldn’t even send Dakotah needle bearings.
  • 5 0
 They are probably my favorite brand for bikes, however after 2 bad experiences on two separate new bikes with them in followup support (due to bad QA in the factory) I sadly won't be riding a Devinci for the foreseeable future =\
  • 3 1
 @Torrrx: Well, that proves they don't favor Canadians. hmm maybe we can just hang in there and see what happens.
  • 3 1
 @mtbmaniatv: why would you be contacting the actual company for bearings anyways? Enduro has all of the bearings you'll ever need for any bike.
  • 6 2
 that's just standard Québécois. lol. As someone that used to sell Devinci and had to deal with them on a daily basis, your exerience is actually pretty light in the f*ckery.
  • 4 0
 Sounds like yurtletheturtle is taking up all their time
  • 6 2
 @mtbmaniatv: Not to be a dick...but you know you can get bearings from someone other then Davinci. Never once bought bearings from a bike company. Pull your bearings and check the numbers and Google it. That easy, just saying.
  • 2 3
 @MikeGruhler: Well I'm not the one searching, my friend who works at a bike shop is. As I understand from him, they are unique bearings and can only be obtained through Devinci. Dakotah has expressed the same problem.
  • 5 0
 @MikeGruhler: I've done this but had trouble getting all the sizes from a single supplier in one order - nobody wants to do bearings in multiple gos, plus pulling the bearings first and then ordering seems best done over winter, not during the season. Transition (for example) sells a bike-specific package with all required bearings that was price competative with finding everything myself.
  • 2 3
 @conoat: if you don't speak Quebecois to them (or attempt to) they won't respond to you .
  • 3 1
 @onemind123: right. as an english speaking american, it's pretty silly. I mean, 80% of their bikes go to the US. If I made a product that I almost exclusively sold in Japan, I would be leaning me some Arigato Mr. Robato right f*cking quick!
  • 1 0
 @plyawn: www.enduroforkseals.com/products/rear-suspension/suspension-pivot-bearing-kits Apply the devinci filter. They have full frame bearing kits for Wilson 26, 27.5, Old and new spartans, old troys.
  • 13 3
 Thanks for your feedback, we'll make sure to bring this up to our internal teams. As of your warranty concern, rest assured that this is simply to cover us against people who sometimes install 30,9mm seatpost into their 31,6mm frames an then tight the clamp bolt like crazy...and damage the frame. We've seen this quite surprisingly often.

As of the customer service delays, sorry we missed your emails. As you all know 2020 has been crazy for us and all bike brands. Our customer service agents were swamped and really did a great job considering the amount of requests and emails that kept coming all year long. They were also dealing with limited staff. If you need imediate assistance, we'll always be available by phone or you can turn to your local Devinci Dealer who should have all the information you might need.

Concerning the DH team, we'll be soon making an annoucement about our racing plans for 2021, so stay tuned. Thanks @windowsill
  • 7 3
 @mtbmaniatv: We like our USA customers just equal as any customers, rest assured! As of Dakotah not having any bearing on hand, that must have been during a period these specific bearing went BO in the summer. We always make sure our athletes have everyting they need to service their bikes.
  • 11 2
 @onemind123: this statement is false. All our customer service agents, sales representatives, sales agents, social media manager and marketing staff are 100% bilingual and proud to be serving our english speaking customers in their language.
  • 5 2
 Hey @Torrrx, thanks for your comment and bringing up your concerns. Please get in touch with us by email at service@devinci.com. We hope to be able to resolve your issue if it's not too late.
  • 3 3
 @Phazz470: They dont have the shock bolt needle bearings. Local Devinci dealers have left multiple phone messages that haven't been returned. Personal emails have not been returned. Bold claim to say customer service has done a "really great job."
  • 4 2
 @cyclesdevinci: Also how come it took 3 months to get a rear axle to my local shop 2 years ago? You guys dodged the shop owners calls and emails. Insane.
  • 1 1
 @cyclesdevinci: That statement was maybe a bit (or very) sarcastic. Merry Christmas.
  • 1 0
 Time to explore a new line of SP/HP for the other sleds in the stable, or at least on the Spartan as suggested by others. A Chainsaw edition rig featuring split pivot/high pivot combo would be epic.
  • 3 0
 Devinci Wilson is an absolute beast of a bike, And their customer service is fantastic in my experience
  • 4 1
 i need to see how the rear Sus Squishessss .....
  • 2 0
 I've always loved the look of the Wilson frames and this is still there! I would love to own a Wilson one day
  • 2 1
 I was never a fan of how the Wilson chainstays and seatstays looked... But this is much nicer in my opinion tup
I hope it reaches production.
  • 3 0
 I'm waitimg for a high pivot 160mm/170mm bike
  • 2 0
 Commencal did the sx but only for a year or 2
  • 6 0
 If only there was another Canadian brand that did something like that.....
  • 1 0
 @jazzawil: have one and love it. By far the fastest bike I've owned. The "hovercraft" description of a high pivot bike is bang on. Also have a 100mm carbon whunderbike for everything else the sx sucks at.
  • 1 0
 @Afterschoolsports: so far, not that impressed with the shore from what I've seen.
  • 1 0
 @ATXZJ: stock tune and a climb switch
  • 1 0
 @DHhack: not sure what you're getting at. Say again?
  • 1 0
 @ATXZJ: the stock shock tune isn’t really set up for ultimate traction, more for keeping some pop and support instead. I would go with a custom tune on a shock with a climb switch if I owned the bike.
  • 1 0
 @DHhack: ah, the norco. The whole bike seems to be a little confused as to what it's supposed to be doing. Why bother with a high pivot if it's not going to be completely plush. Also thier mid pivot horst design ala GT fury etc doesn't have much rearward axle path. Been better off saving a couple of pounds and just having a traditional suspension platform. That's just my crap 2c though.
  • 1 0
 @DHhack: Someone didn't read Shore's review carefully, it comes with no climb switch.
It's interesting though, so far I haven't seen any suspension analysis of a high-pivot 4-bar suspension bike (like shore or gt fury). Would be great to see what are the anti-squat and anti-rise numbers compared to traditional 4-bar(usually low anti-rise, active suspension during braking) and high single pivot (usually magic carpet ride, but completely different story while braking hard). I expected shore to have the best of both worlds, yet it did 4th timed lap during PB filed test.
  • 1 0
 @EnduroKW: you can’t read. Try again.
  • 6 7
 I'm surprised companies are investing so much development time in DH bikes considering they make up a very small percentage of their overall sales. Probably better putting that development time into Enduro or Trail bikes will get more reward from it.
  • 5 0
 Oops wrong comment - Cant delete
  • 4 0
 DH is a marketing exercise these days. Sadly that is why. It's a less weight sensitive type of riding too, which lends itself to new development.
  • 16 2
 I just bought a new downhill bike, so I can ride downhill, no enduro or trail bike comes close. Who needs enduro bikes when you can ride a hardtail anyway?
  • 8 2
 @jimmythehat: To be fair that is an extremely good point. I bought a rowdy Hardtail this year and I am enjoying riding it so much more than my full suspension Enduro rig. Even better when it over takes Ebikers on climbs!
  • 4 15
flag mcozzy (Dec 24, 2020 at 5:02) (Below Threshold)
 Im surprised they put any effort into anything but ebikes to be honest, seeing as they are the future. This looks pretty nice though
  • 6 5
 @mcozzy: I hope not. Although I have ridden a few ebikes and loved them to me it just isn't mountain biking its cheating. I certainly didn't appreciate following a massively overweight ebiker up a hill while he was smoking a cigarette.
  • 2 0
 @jimmythehat: different strokes for diff folks, eh? bike parks and big climbing/big descending days in Western Canada definitely benefit from high capabilty enduro and trail rigs where you're pushing a DH bike up or over your head on the way down on your HT. Can't we all just agree that the best bike is either the one you're riding or one of each?
  • 8 0
 @mcozzy: We are putting efforts on all our bikes rest assured! Wink
  • 3 0
 The format of DH racing makes a great test platform for new applications of designs. It's such a concise and data driven discipline. The repetition of the same tracks over a race weekend is really valuable to developers
  • 1 0
 @cyclesdevinci: Good to hear. Always been a fan of your rigs. Never owned one but one day!
  • 1 0
 @MattP76: “while smoking a cigarette. “That’s fantastic! And I am laughing and saying that very sarcasticly.
  • 1 0
 I hope DH bikes don't go away. If your only riding trails, yeah I see why you say that they are pointless. If don't care about "earning it", your riding big mountain features, bike parks, freeride hits, tricks ect nothing compares to a DH bike. They are like bike squishy forgiving dirt jumpers. Its seems most companies only make DH bikes for racing now which kinda sucks.
  • 2 0
 @luckynugget: As long as there’s dh there will be dh bikes, I think people who question the relevance can’t of ever ridden one? You don’t enter a horse race on a donkey.
  • 1 0
 Was hoping it was near production, looks very well thought out. Pivot isnt too high, so many idler designs over do it and wind up with wacky weight transfer.
  • 2 0
 Would be more relevant if they had a DH team.
  • 2 0
 So this is a high-pivot Split-Pivot design???
  • 1 0
 Yes
  • 1 0
 It would be nice to see other manufacturer's make bikes in North America. With current pricing it should be possible.
  • 1 0
 Strange they didn’t ask you to ride this one
  • 2 0
 I want one
  • 4 7
 Devinci please bring back the Frantik. Ditch the dropper post. Keep all the cables out side where mechanic s like them to be. Hell use this frame but please just a bit of anti squat. I don't care how it climbs. Throw in a climb switch for the rear shock. Call it a Free Ride bike. Nice to see Aluminum frame welded in Canada!
  • 3 3
 UCI law states that a bike that is used for racing must be available for sale to the public within a year.
  • 8 0
 If they intend to keep using it. Many prototype bikes that didn't come to market have hit a season on the world Cup and never made it to market. The Cannondale high pivot bike last year was a good example.
  • 1 0
 True, but that rule have never been enforced, at least in the last few years
  • 2 0
 Grim Donut "du"
  • 1 0
 if i was stuck on an deserted island , i'd prefer that Wilson
  • 1 0
 If de Vinci could do the bike in small I would definitely bye it
  • 1 1
 Hopefully they make better sizing on this model They need to be longer
  • 1 0
 According to Devinci, this design was never intended to be released to the public and is only a testbed to see what could be. So i wouldn´t hold my breath for it.
  • 1 0
 @Loki87: I hope they do make it , the current Wilson’s a great bike . Been around for a bit . But the sizing is off
  • 1 1
 I really hope they scrap this. All high pivot bikes look like dog shit.
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