2018 Devinci Spartan - First Look
The original Spartan hit the scene in 2014—a descendant of the bike that debuted beneath Steve Smith at the 2013 DH World Championships—which is saying a lot, right there, about the Spartan’s strong suit: Going downhill, fast. You’re looking at Spartan Version 2.0, which officially hits the streets today. In a nutshell, this is a lighter, stiffer and better pedaling flavor of Spartan. Here’s a first look at the Spartan and few quick impressions on how it all adds up on the dirt.
DETAILS
• Intended use: enduro
• Wheel size: 27.5"
• Front-suspension travel: 170mm
• Rear-wheel travel: 165mm
• 65º or 65.4º head angle via a flip chip
• 4 carbon models/2 aluminum models
• Complete weight (X01 Eagle): 29.25 pounds
• MSRP: $3,359 to $9,069 (complete bikes)
• www.devinci.com
WHAT'S NEW?
The most obvious departure from the Spartan of yore is the suspension layout. The new Spartan adopts a vertical shock mounting arrangement. Devinci contends that there are several benefits here. For starters, you can now fit a full-size (24-ounce) water bottle in the front triangle on every Spartan—including the size small. Moreover, the new arrangement led to higher seatstays, which creates a more open rear triangle and improves lateral stiffness.
Here's how the old (grey) and new (red) Spartan frames stack up against one another.
Though no one was slagging the Spartan for being a flexy flier in the past, “stiffer” is invariably a design goal. To that end, Devinci also upped the stiff factor by ditching the aluminum chainstays found on the first-generation carbon Spartans in favor of full-carbon chainstays. That move to carbon also netted Devinci about half of the 310-gram weight reduction on this new model. The company shaved 160 grams with the shorter, carbon chainstays and trimmed another 150 grams worth of nips and tucks elsewhere on the chassis. A carbon Spartan frame now tips the scales at 7.14 pounds (3,240 grams). Our size large Spartan X01 Eagle test bike weighs a very respectable 29.25 pounds, sans pedals. At left, you can see how the new (red) and old (gray) frames stack up against one another. The new frame features a lower seat mast; accordingly, Medium, Large and Extra-Large carbon frames are all compatible with 170-millimeter dropper posts.
What else is new? It's a Boost world these days and the Spartan rocks the wider fork and rear end (110 and 148, respectively). Devinci kept the rear travel at 165 millimeter, but opted to go with a 170-millimeter fork this time around; they feel it gives a more balanced feel and just flat out makes sense given an evolution of enduro courses, which continues to trend towards the aggro. That vertically-mounted rear shock is a metric-flavored RockShox Super Deluxe RC3. Going with the trunnion-mount shock, says Devinci, helped them maintain a low standover height on all their models. Always a good thing. Devinci also notes that their new suspension layout and link better isolate the rear shock from side loads than the previous configuration, which should help extend its lifespan. Speaking of shocks, the Spartan frame also plays nice with coil-sprung shocks.
The past three years have seen bikes grow longer, lower and, yes, slacker. Same drill here. Reach on the Spartan grows by about 30 millimeters and the overall wheelbase stretches about 40 millimeters, as the head angle is a tad slacker than before. Rear center is actually shorter, as Devinci was able to trim two millimeters from those chainstays.
The Spartan, like many other Devinci's, features a flip chip. In the past, most people simply ran the bikes in the Low setting. Given the new, slacker geometry, some people might actually find themselves opting for that High flip-chip setting this time around--at least, that is, if they are clipping pedals all the time. In the High setting, the head angle sits at 65.4 degrees, which is still relaxed enough for high-speed descents on lumpy-as-hell trails.
The Spartan, like many other Devinci's, features a flip chip. In the past, most people simply ran the bikes in the Low setting. Given the new, slacker geometry, some people might actually find themselves opting for that High flip-chip setting this time around--at least, that is, if they are clipping pedals all the time. In the High setting, the head angle sits at 65.4 degrees, which is still relaxed enough for high-speed descents on lumpy-as-hell trails.
Insert motorcycle sounds here, or the theme from the Dukes of Hazzard or whatever floats your particular boat.
SIX MODELS & A WIDE PRICE RANGE
Here's the part of the article where people get pissed off about the price. The top-shelf models do, in fact, cost a pretty penny. There are two roughly-equivalent models (one with an XT Di2/XT brake spec and the other wearing X01 Eagle and Guide RSC's) that are up there in the stratosphere. That said, there are two lower-priced, carbon-framed models wearing the same frame and Super Deluxe RC3 rear shock.
Starting price for a complete carbon Spartan? $4,539. While I'm not suggesting that I have four and a half grand in pocket change beneath my couch cushions, it is a fairly competitive bid for a complete carbon bike. For my money, the GX Eagle version of the Spartan presents the best value in the carbon line-up (it also wears a Lyrik, Reverb dropper and isn't smuggling a weak widget anywhere on bike.
Starting price for a complete carbon Spartan? $4,539. While I'm not suggesting that I have four and a half grand in pocket change beneath my couch cushions, it is a fairly competitive bid for a complete carbon bike. For my money, the GX Eagle version of the Spartan presents the best value in the carbon line-up (it also wears a Lyrik, Reverb dropper and isn't smuggling a weak widget anywhere on bike.
The Spartan is also available in two all-aluminum models.
Not feeling the carbon thing? There are also two made-in-Canada, aluminum-framed Spartans. Aluminum models start at $3,359. You can check out the full specs below.
I’ve had the very subtle, purple and green Spartan Eagle X01 model in the house for the past couple months. A long-term review is in the works. This being a “First Look” article, here’s a few preliminary thoughts on the new Spartan….
Our maiden voyage was a tour through Bellingham's Chuckanut mountains. None of us was feeling particularly spunky, so we started the day with a shuttle—it’s the kind of ride where you shuttle and still log a solid 2,000 feet of climbing on the “descent.” I mean, there is plenty of descending, but there also long sections that you spend hunched over on the nose of your saddle, grunting and thinking to yourself, “Dammit….why are we climbing this much on the downhill?” Anyhoo, the point here is that the ride is a mix of big, root-laced rock sections, some tight and awkward corners, a few sphincter puckering steeps and the aforementioned bit of grunting and cursing the climbs.
For starters, I was always impressed with how deep and controlled the old Spartan felt. If anything, the new Spartan only gets better in that regard. On sections of trail where I am normally death gripping the bars, I found myself, instead, letting go of the brakes altogether and just plowing through at speed. Stupid levels of fun ensue.
On climbs, the bike has a few things going for it. For starters, it’s pretty damn light for a bike in this class. That always helps. But it also pedals well—at least, a whole lot better than I expected it would. Yes, things get better when you select the middle compression damping setting on that Super Deluxe, but you don't absolutely need to add that mid-range compression damping to stop it from squatting every time you pedal. The anti-squat is pretty well dialed in here. On the other hand, the bike does sit a bit higher in its travel when you flick the switch, and on a bike this slack and long you can use the slightly steeper head angle to help with tight switchback climbs.
Okay, I better stop right here, because I’m about to go into full blown review mode…and that’s going to have to wait for another day. But, yeah, such a review is definitely in the works because every time I walk into the shop, the Spartan has called my name. Deadlines have suffered in the process, though that's not necessarily a bad thing.
In short, full review coming soon. Until then.
MENTIONS: @devinci
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There are a few but it is definitely against the trend at the moment. It is probably the next phase in geometry now we have got to sensible reach numbers and suitably slack head angles.
That is another wonky geo thing that need to go though.....make seattubes short enough that people can chose a size either way. Lets people run a longer dropper too. There are alot of brands where i would ride a small just because the ST is too long on a medium.
Now.... seat tube angles *sigh* a longer reach needs a steeper seat tube angle, it seems common sense. Just looking at the nex XXL Santa Cruz gives me a bad back and a wandering front end.
I think Specialized has started something like this with their latest Demo. But it's a bit less important on a DH bike I believe.
You can't just make the front longer without making the rear longer as it will throw out the balance. Companies like Nicolai and Pole get this. I don't think any others do yet.
You can't increase front centre and do nothing to the rear centre. Any vehicle dynamics guy outside of the mountain bike marketing world will tell you that. Centre the mass, even out the spring rates and tire pressures and then things start getting truly predictable/fast.
Balance may brother...balance
+ Turner RFX
In all seriousness, I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking this way.
The result is that people jump on a bike with a stretched out front end but short CS, high BB and a slack SA and immediately complain that the bike can't climb or corner properly. They then blame the front end length... Like I say, the new Santa Cruz looks like you'd struggle to reach the bars when climbing, let alone weight the front wheel.
If I added an extra 200bhp to my car (I wish), it wouldn't drive or corner properly unless I upgraded the rest of the components to match. Shitty analogy, I know, but it's all about the complete package.
The odds that this is a great bike are rather high. So are the odds that geometron will not make you much faster... it will only make you feel that you made a good purchase. So high are odds that since you can afford Geometron you will sell it in 2 years, cuz too low pivot and you can blow cash at something else. I mean... are you guys really so fkng spoiled? Go ride a hardtail with cantilevers and then come back to me with your 1st world problems...
Everyone, shut up and eat what you have been given. The industry cannot be wrong. Makes sense - they have never done anything to maximize profit and are always concerned more about what is right than what is highest on the marketing priority list.
In all seriousness, can we just agree that people have different wishes of their bike and some like longer chainstays? You Waki sound like a religious nutcase telling everyone how your god is the right one and any other opinion is false.
Funny, I always hang off the back to keep from going over the front...
This is the big problem with carbon. One mold is expensive. Having four or five for a chain stay is not economically possible. Hence everyone gets the same size chain stays.
If I were making carbon bikes I would have a slotted aluminium section at of the CS so people could have their axle where ever they want it. I think Canyon do something similar on the Sender.
@ThomDawson: And still nothing changes.
I'm also a supporter of longer chainstays on larger bikes, I can't speak for short or average height people but at my height and having 430mm chainstays, as soon as I move my weight lower or rearward I feel like the bloody bike is about to break into a manual. It probably annoys me the most in corners when most of my weight pushes the rear tyre causing it to drift. Getting right over the front can help but isn't always an option depending on the trail or situation. To counter the problem I end up running the rear suspension in the firmest compression setting to discourage the rearward weight shift.
I've never had this problem when I was riding a bike with 440 or 450mm chainstays. I can also understand that people under 6 feet tall might have a hard time understanding the problem.
I believe the term your looking for is longitudinal load transfer. And load transfer, as I understand it, does not deal in mass as it does center of gravity. I can tell you right now that the center of gravity of a bike w/ rider is not at the BB. Load transfer can be manipulated with CG location, wheelbase, and damping (not spring rate!). Looking at an F1 car can show you a CG toward the rear of the car. Long front centers do a good job at keeping the rider (main contributor to CG) back further. So, why would that be a bad thing on a bike? I dig my long front center and short CS on my Kona Process. Thing is stable and playful. Turns like a tractor in switchbacks though.
My unwanted two cents,
Stephan
Using an F1 car as analogous to a bicycle is a flawed argument as they have an aerodynamic effect that has vastly more influence on F/R grip levels than mass location. In fact they compromise weight distribution for aerodynamic performance. Look at a MotoGP bike for the epitome of mass centralisation.
I have always ridde ln bikes with fairly long CS and not had issues with front end weight. I rode my bro in laws bike with a good reach and short CS and washed the front out 3 times in a morning ride. I was having to force myself to ride over the front of the bike to compensate which felt very unnatural.
As you note its a complex problem with many variables but the proportions of the bike need to be right to start with before you start messing with bar heights, BB height and suspension setup.
To those who say CS is not important for the overall balance, one question. Why do ski tails not remain the constant length regardless the change in total length with an increase in ski size?
End of story.
That being said I ride for fun. The 414mm stays on my Canfield Riot are so fun. The back end is so fun to just load up and snap into corners. There are downsides/trade offs with every geometry descision. However, where I'm not so concerned with speed as I am just heading out and having a blast, I am super pleased to see these short stays appearing on more bikes.
The entire bike doesn't have contact with the ground, unless you've just crashed..
We all have different techniques to ride and I'm not suggesting that every tall person will dislike short stays but I do think that there are a large number of us who would be happy to spend our hard earned cash on a 450 or 460 mm chainstay bike if there was a manufacturer who had the balls to make one.
I do agree chainstay length should be frame size dependent though and indeed too many companies forget to take proper care. Norco does it (probably because Ben Reid insisted), BTR does so too, but it is too rare.
Personally I would want my chainstay even shorter. Simply because I started to pedal with my midfoot over the pedal axle instead of the ball of my foot. Not sure when exactly, but it was when the Catalyst pedal came out. I love the way it pedals but it negatively affects stability. At about 6ft tall, I could just handle my DMR with 375mm reach and 420mm chainstay. Now that I've moved my feet about 50mm forwards, I basically ended up with a 470mm chainstay and 325mm reach. It is a bit too twitchy on the descends. So yeah, a frame with shorter chainstays and longer reach would set things straight again.
Granted, this would work with really steep seat posts, with posts as slack as they are today, lengthening the chainstays is a must, since guys like me (seat posts at full extension) have our asses over the rear axle anyway.
So the ctux of the matter is that i want an actual 75° or more seat-mount angle, however that gets achieved.
Btw, DHR2 is a very good front tire. DHF is also a very good rear tire, but it simply does not brake (we all know that braking is for pussies, so this is not a problem)
I've been to my hometwn though and I can recommend it for real Enduroing. You can get your ass kicked properly. There is a trail center (pedal powered) a set of fkng sketchy trails on another side of town from the trail centet (also edal powered) and a Gondola accessed 3 tracks which are OZOM. Bielsko Biala the townis called. PMme if interested
BB is OZOM but the lift is heavily accessed by tourists on sat/sun, every second gondola has a bike mount and what is most important, the gondola staff hates bikers, you can see it in their eyes
Also it went well with "boarding" on Szyndzielnia
Bleeding is not enough. Cause they have 4 pistons, you have to make sure, they are running alltogether. If dont, take out the pads, squeeze brake lever and clean them one by one... It make wonders.
In my case I took the leap to Zee s, all the power and modulation as good as I can wish for.
Also they totally changed the rear suspension design on the Spartan! Big news I think.
23 years later, we are paying for 3,499€ for a frame only (I can't get the website to change to dollar, help?) and the top model is a little over $9,000
This is no doubt an absurd amount of money, but I fail to see how the price of bikes is rising so quickly. If anything, we are paying about the same but getting way more bike for our buck.
Not only are high end bike prices not rising that quickly. The quality of bikes in the 1-2 grand range is rising exponentially. People just love to bitch about things that they can't afford.
20 years ago was a long time but except for geometry, people tend to overestimate the progress that was made during the last 10 years.
1 - one advantage of a Trunion mount is the ability to run a shorter eye-to-eye. However, a Trunion-mount on a rocker-link means the shock mass actually rises in the chassis. There is plenty of room beneath the lower eye to move the shock weight down in the bike, albeit some nifty engineering would be necessary. Perhaps a consideration on the next version.
2 - I know people have already suggested a short CS on XL frames is a bad thing, and I don't disagree. Rather, I'd like to see companies start offering rear-end geometry that mimics the front-end; short CS on Small frames, long CS on Large/XL frames. A 6'3" rider is going to experience a 430mm CS on an XL frame a LOT differently than a 5'7" rider on a small.
3 - It's nice to see the 165mm travel. Even though I'm not an Enduro racer, I think it's an appropriate amount given the bike's intended purpose, especially in a sea of bikes that range from 140-170mm.
I have yet to see one comment regarding the chain growth (lengthening rear center) due to the split pivot.
This makes it necessary to have short chain stays and makes all those comments irrelevent.
All I had to do was a SixC bar, Turbine Cinch, Ghetto Tubes and the DTSwiss E1900's.
All in all, wrapped me up $4200 bran new.
soooOOooOOOo wat gives guys?
Btw I will ride my 2016/15 Spartan for awhile longer because it's a rad bike and not super far off the current model.
And I just slapped on fresh #longlivechiansaw stickers
I think it's a nice detail.
Big riders are going to pedal on the rear axle, again, also with those 430mm cs.
I'd love to try before speculating, but I don't see how this can add up positively.
mrblackmorescorner.blogspot.com.es/2017/11/devinci-spartan-2018-vs-lapierre-spicy.html
maybe we see something on the next wilson frame, but i hope not.
#longlivechainsaw
Devinci on the left vs YT on the right
- sells through bike shops vs direct sales (which isn't a bad thing either)
- lifetime warranty vs just 3 years
- known for strong and stiff frames vs lots of problems with broken carbon ones
- has the current axle and suspension standards vs doesn't has those current standards
- up to date geomtery vs out dated geometry
(Just because I like to ride without backpack, fits a bottelcage vs doesn't fit one)
www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2225185
I would think that if you already ride a Spartan on regular basis, that you may be ahead of the game when switching over to the 2018 Spartan, but if you haven't, the ride could be a bit....uhhh harsh?