Deviate Cycles Announces the Claymore MX

Mar 27, 2024
by Deviate Cycles  
Claymore MX in Rowan Red - launch image

PRESS RELEASE: Deviate Cycles

Mixed Wheels, Maximum Fun
Carve the way up front, let loose at the back with the all new Deviate Claymore MX.

Inspired by the medieval Scottish two-handed great sword, known for its strength and symbolism of the rugged Highlands, the Claymore embodies this legacy - crafted to conquer the world's most challenging terrains. 

This long-travel high-pivot enduro bike has been given an injection of added playfulness with a reworked rear triangle, designed to accommodate a 27.5” wheel out back.

The Claymore MX is the first mullet to be added to our range, with the Highlander II MX launching in the coming months.

Claymore MX in Moss Green angled profile
Claymore MX in Rowan Red angled profile
Photos by James Vincent

Rear Triangle vs Link Approach
Deviate Cycles lead-engineer and co-owner Chris Deverson explains why we have opted for a rear triangle rather than link solution:

bigquotesWe’ve found a balanced geometry for our bikes and keeping this consistent was fundamental to our approach. A link design puts the rear wheel in a different portion of the wheel path - therefore outside of the bounds of the optimal anti-squat - whilst a rear triangle switch allows us to keep the consistency whilst providing the added playfulness and manoeuvrability for those inside lines.- Chris Deverson


Claymore MX Geometry

Watch the Claymore MX in Action


Customers can reserve an MX frame with an initial 20% upfront payment, with the remaining balance due before shipment at the end of May/early June 2024. Full or partial builds are also available by contacting the team directly.

Pricing :  £2999 GBP (inc VAT) / $3,200 USD / €3,499.00 EUR / 4500 CAD / 3,200 CHF
- Sizes available: Medium, Large, X-Large
- Colours: Moss Green, Rowan Red
- UDH
- Worldwide shipping
- Lifetime frame warranty 

To find out more, head to deviatecycles.com

Posted In:
Reviews and Tech Press Releases Enduro Bikes Deviate Deviate Claymore


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90 Comments
  • 19 0
 Claymore vs Dreadnought??
  • 9 0
 Claymore winning the price battle so far… if the Druid pricing is any indication that is. $3800 for the Druid frame is steep IMO. Dread will be same or more? Sheesh.
  • 1 0
 @bikerdre: The new dread frameset will be 4299, same price as the supernought frame.
  • 1 9
flag shredddr (Mar 27, 2024 at 21:26) (Below Threshold)
 @bikerdre: isn’t this a 3 year old FT with a new RT? If so those molds are pretty well depreciated.
  • 3 0
 @bikerdre: at the same time if the dread rides like the druid there's no competition, the only better thing of the claymore is the less noisy idler
  • 2 0
 @shredddr: Amortised?
  • 1 0
 @shredddr: The Claymore came out mid 2022, not even 2 years old yet, you surely can't be suggesting its due a bigger update or are you saying the rear triangle molds have made enough by now, but they will still be using the 29er ones.
  • 1 0
 @booostin: seriously? Steep. I love Forbidden bikes, I'm on my second one, but the prices are getting a bit high IMO!
  • 1 0
 @bikerdre: Unfortunately it is. The base complete build will be 6499. I still have a hard time justifying that price, plan on building a dread v2, but it will probably be my last forbidden bike for a while, or last brand new one at least
  • 3 0
 @booostin: especially if you get that SHIT select suspension, that have no place on high end mtbs, plain ridiculousness
  • 2 0
 @nicoenduro: It will be the vivid ultimate, not sure if the coil or air, but frameset will have the ultimate shock thank god. Base complete build will have a select though
  • 2 0
 @booostin: indeed, ridiculous, more than 6k and you give me select stuff, it belongs to the low end giant and big box bikes, not on a forbidden.
  • 3 0
 @nicoenduro: I agree, that's why I'm doing a frame up build. Should come in right at or below $7k and it will have factory suspension, carbon wheels etc. With Forbiddens current pricing model maybe I will have to consider a Deviate next haha
  • 2 0
 Claymore, Lifelong warranty, far better all around performance while being great descender, Rear end performance much better. Tlked to some tuner, one of rhwm owns the claymore and changed over from the dreadnought. Good sealings for bearings, last longer. Besides frame is cheaper. Use a used good air shock and let it custom for the claymore. Talk to M- Suspensiontech. He will help you out
  • 6 0
 So if I understand this they only changed the rear triangle to adjust to the mullet setup. Does that mean I just need to buy a MX rear triangle and I could have the best of both worlds?
  • 38 0
 Correct! Get in touch if interested in a rear triangle only option for existing frames!
  • 2 0
 @deviatecycles: How bad would the kinematics be if you slap a 27.5 wheel into the original 29" rear triangle? I do precisely that on a 29er Cotic RocketMax, and it makes for a great park bike. The key is starting with a relatively steep HTA & STA, since the smaller wheel will slacken the bike by 1 degree. The only downside is lowering your BB height by ~10mm, but you can remedy that with 155mm cranks to achieve the same pedal clearance.
  • 8 0
 @fentoncrackshell:Hey! Fair question. We explored these options but by doing these sorts of adjustments it impacts the front end geometry and there are no options to combat this. This in essence creates an unbalanced ride that we believe doesn’t deliver the benefits that should come with a mullet setup. Hope that helps answer it but more than happy to chat through it more if you pop us an email info@deviatecycles.com
  • 6 1
 I want it so bad. I dont care about the price. The colors, the name, the design. Its actually motivated me to study harder for the SAT, because if I score a 1550+ in my state, I become eligible for free college, and ill be able to spend my college fund on this. @deviatecycles got me into college.
  • 12 7
 cool bike, needs more sizes. This reach gap creates a huge missed opportunity.
  • 24 0
 I just bought a Highlander precisely because they size their large frames based on someone 6 feet tall. Sizing on virtually every other brand places six footers between sizes.
  • 3 0
 @polarflux: Yeah, this sizing makes more sense to me. At 5'10" I usually fall between sizes as well. A medium usually feels a little small, but a large feels a little too long. The geometry numbers on the medium Claymore seem spot on for me.
  • 7 2
 Reach means nothing without stack. Pretty low stack height at 630mm for L, so in reality depending on how many steerer spacers you run the actual reach will be shorter than the charts.

I'm 5'10", 460mm is too short for my riding style with such low stack. 490 would be pushing it (if stack were super high), but I could probably get away with it on this frame and some extra spacers. Which is exactly what I do on my size L Process X (490mm reach at only 637mm stack).

L RAAW Madonna v3 is 480mm reach at 664mm stack. Not going to do the exact math but probably pretty close to the same "real world" reach as this if you run the bars at the same height via steerer spacers, maybe even shorter.
  • 2 0
 ETT is not that far off
  • 11 0
 @robotdave: Yep, not a lot of people realize this. At a head angle of 64 degrees for every 10mm you add in spacers, it shrinks your effective reach by 5mm. So a couple 10mm spacers gives this large bike an effective reach of 480 and takes the stack to 640.

Bikes with a low stack and long reach give you the most options for riders to tailor to their needs. Like it long and low = leave it alone. Want a shorter reach and higher stack = add spacers. Want all the reach but higher stack = use a high rise bar (doesn't alter effective reach). Mix and match the above to get where you want to be.

Then you can also bring stem length into this, but some people prefer a certain length for position and ride feel.

Bikes that start out with a high stack leave you a bit stuck if the geo isn't already perfect for you.
  • 4 0
 @islandforlife: I totally agree with all of this! But yeah, I’ve been arguing for years that stem length isn’t a fitting tool, it’s for desired steering characteristics.
  • 1 0
 @robotdave: I'm 5'10" and ride a size large Devinci Spartan. Stack is 649, reach is 465. I run 3 spacers, I put on slightly higher rise bars that are rolled back a bit and the bike STILL feels just a bit long for me. Yeah, it feels more stable than when I was riding a medium sized frame. But I miss the "flickability" factor. Which is why I don't get all these people wanting these looooong ass bikes. Kills some of the fun factor for me personally. But, everyone has their own preference on "bike feel" I suppose. Different strokes for different folks.
  • 2 0
 @tmwjr777: haha yup. Reach, stack, and riding style. I have two "enduro" bikes for this very reason. One is more park focused, way heavier parts, smaller geo overall.

One is my "trail" bike. Funny enough, both are size large 160/170ish mm bikes, marketed in the same "enduro" category in 2021/2022.
  • 1 0
 @polarflux: 6 feet here too... had it for decades this issue.. can PB please make a poll to see the masses are between sizes or not
  • 2 2
 people complaining about 5 mm like they’re Wade Simmons
  • 1 0
 @PauRexs: Data?
  • 2 0
 To me, 30 mm is just about the maximum gap in reach that is reasonable. I can ride anything between a 35 and 50 mm stem, so that cuts the reach gap by half.
  • 2 0
 @tmwjr777: I think the divide in preferances comes from what trails you mostly ride, the pinkbike comments have a huge range of worldwide riders, i think i'm swaying back towards shorter reach just becuase all the tight local Scottish trails suit that but when i go to a bike park hitting huge berms at mach 10 i could totally see myself riding a whole size bigger no problem.
  • 1 0
 @islandforlife: too low can leave you stuck as well - there's only so many spacers you can add, and high rise bars are very limiting.

there are not many options for high rise bars > 30mm, and the price to try something is high.

XL bikes often don't have enough stack IMO.

I had an XL 2018 (Gen 4?) Trek Fuel Ex at one point with a stack of 610mm. way too low at that size.
  • 1 0
 @maglor: I think that can definitely be a factor. I live in Arizona, where I ride everything from fast n flowy in the trees, to steep and technical rocky stuff. Plus I take summer trips to bike parks as well. I ride one bike for everything. And yes, the stability of the size large 29er feels great pointed straight down stuff. But I think I just have more fun in general on something a little more nimble. Especially now that I'm getting older, it's more about having fun than all out speed. For me personally, at 5-10 and 160lbs, a size large 29er is a lot of bike to throw around.
  • 1 0
 It seems measuring off the front axle only would give you a good idea of where you're at in the bike where as separately can be a bit confusing for some. With this bike since the geo is the same as the 29er it's most likely at the front axle.
  • 1 0
 Would like to have more real world data on whether the optional chain guide (w/ pulley) is needed to avoid dropped chains. I’ve anecdotally heard some negative things about the drag from adding yet another pulley but OTOH the increased chain wrap seems beneficial. Feels like I keep coming close to buying a HP bike but swerve away for drivetrain reasons.
  • 3 2
 Replaceable dropouts would be such an easier way to switch and much less cost.
  • 2 2
 People are too obsessed with UDH and sram transmission (even though sliding dropouts exist for UDH) for companies to design around different dropouts.
  • 7 0
 @TheSlayer99: UDH should have always been a thing. Should be a piece you can get at your lbs when it breaks, not one you have to get from a manufacturer directly.
  • 2 0
 @mtnjamscott: definitely, I remember spending ages working out what wheels manufacturing hanger was compatible with my Kona shred (first MTB) after going through 3 stock crap cast aluminium silver ones. Only thing is, for budget frames that are massively unlikely to ever get a direct mount drivetrain there should be a cheaper version that's qr compatible, having one for all the more basic bikes would make things so much simpler for beginner riders.
  • 2 0
 Cool but I want a black one.
  • 5 0
 We know a guy…. Check out JMJ’s custom painted Deviates - stunning doesn’t cut it!
  • 5 0
 @deviatecycles: Hot looking bike. Ice cold video. Dam that looked cold.

Link for the people!
www.jmjdesigns.co.uk/custombuilddeviate
  • 4 1
 435cs, no thanks
  • 4 0
 grows under compression mate
  • 2 0
 Does it have tie down points to strap it to a kayak?
  • 1 0
 @deviatecycles, two questions - What’s the BB height with MX version? And which shock comes with the frame?
  • 4 3
 I want the shexy one with the coil from the vid Smile
  • 2 1
 Go hit up deviate cycles Spain insta account!
  • 3 2
 Not enough 24 rear 29 front mullet bikes around.
  • 3 0
 20" x 29" or nothing! Pennyfarthings for Life!!! lol
  • 4 4
 435mm chainstay on Large and XL... When will companies learn that mullets need a longer Chainstay and not shorter?
  • 6 2
 High pivot
  • 2 0
 The non mx version has 441mm so it makes no sense why this version is shorter ‍♂️
  • 4 0
 Thats static. They grow to about 445 under sag and 455 at full compression
  • 2 3
 @rich-2000: Its still too short. Should be at least 440 on Large and 445 on the XL
  • 2 1
 @Jordmackay: you're argueing over 5-10mm, it's literally 1-2% and as others have pointed out, if comparing to low pivot bikes, add around 10mm for equivelant at sag, the whole sales pitch of the MX is playful, so shorter chainstays makes sense, if you want fast and stable buy the full 29er which has 6mm longer chainstays.
  • 1 5
flag Jordmackay (Mar 28, 2024 at 7:10) (Below Threshold)
 @maglor: You clearly aren't tall you don't understand. The 27.5 makes it playful, no point ruining balance and stability by making the CS short too. A bike with over 500 reach should never have a CS less than 445 High pivot or not. For me, a 450 CS with a 27.5 wheel is perfect.
  • 1 0
 @Jordmackay: I get you, and i do think in an ideal world chainstays should increase with reach and lots of bikes chainstays are a bit short for tall riders, but i reckon the Claymore is in the upper end of CS lengths when you cosider even the MX is going to be around 445mm at sag, only 5mm off your ideal.
  • 2 0
 when will 90smtbenjoyer learn that manuals are fun
  • 1 1
 @maglor: Yeah but it's marketing BS. Bigger wheels have a larger contact path and thus more grip and the reverse is true. MX with shorter chainstay and smaller wheel will give less rear wheel traction and less front end grip too. It's a lose-loose situation!
  • 2 0
 @tralebuilder: well, except its more fun.
  • 1 0
 @rich-2000: But is it really? Having the front end want to washout on you on flat corners doesn't sound like fun to me. A balanced bike which give you better control is more fun in my opinion.
  • 1 0
 @tralebuilder: good job there is the choice then, eah!

Front end washout is easily controlled on a mullet. I find I can ride ‘on the edge’ of control a lot easier. Its more fun in the corners and on very steep and twisty trails. Easier to rear wheel steer, and chuck into catch berms.

Yea its not as fast and stable, but I ride for hoots rather than to be the fastest
  • 1 0
 @rich-2000: I find long chainstays to be best for drifting the back around with the front end staying planted.
  • 1 0
 external head cup at front and put on a 27.5 fork.
  • 1 1
 Nice but less than 10 years ago Cannondale had a long travel Claymore and you're already stealing their name?
  • 1 0
 @deviatecycles to confirm, frame only does not include a shock? Thanks
  • 7 8
 Is 30mm of BB drop for the front or rear wheel?
  • 1 2
 draw a straight line between the axles.
  • 5 5
 @rusty-spokes: that’s a terrible way to measure that, and it would be different on each size.
  • 3 1
 @rusty-spokes: see here for how most brands display it with both front and rear measurements.
www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-US/bikes/nomad
  • 4 0
 I don't think that this is a bad question. a 30mm bb drop makes more sense with a 29 in wheel.

Edit: Looking at the website, 30mm is the bb drop for the standard 29 version.
  • 3 1
 @MarcusBrody: I agree, was just wanting to confirm.
  • 1 1
 @plustiresaintdead: not if they just make it 30mm drop from the line between the axles on each size. It's not that hard to figure out.
  • 3 1
 @rusty-spokes: that would be a dumb measurement because literally no other brand does it that way and would make comparison pointless unless you’re willing to do a bunch of trigonometry. But you’re right they could design a bike around that completely inane and pointless measurement.
  • 1 0
 If its says anything over 15mm than its usually measured from the front axle. Some companies will have both like "30/12.5mm Drop" but I think it would be best if they all put the BBH relative to the ground at least.
  • 1 0
 30mm is definitely from the front axle. then the bb drop from the rear axle must be something like 11mm
  • 2 4
 if only I could justify the price
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