Below is my review of the 2016 Devinci Troy that I've been riding for the last month. I think it's a pretty fair and non-homer look at the bike. All grades below are based on reviewing it as a trail bike.
Standing pedaling: B-
At 30% sag the bike pedals decently; it bobs some but not enough to make you flick the LSC switch out of open; overall it’s a consistent motion without a wallowy spot.
Seated pedaling: B
The seatpost is sufficiently steep to put you in a good climbing position without forcing you to the front of the saddle. Pedalling isn’t as snappy as some bikes (like my outgoing SB75), but it’s good overall, mostly because the progressive suspension keeps you in the upper part of the travel.
Technical climbing: B+
The rear end is active enough to keep traction over technical terrain easily. The shorter stays can be a liability on some really steep sections where you need to stay seated and pedal up rock faces but that's to be expected.
Tight cornering: A-
Tight corners are a breeze on this bike due to the shorter chainstays. They’re not super short (426mm in slack mode), but short enough to make getting around switchbacks easy when combined with a shortish stem (I’ve been swapping between a 40mm and 45mm) and the 67 degree head angle.
High speed cornering: B (increases to an A with the addition of an angleset to slacken the headangle 1 degree)
The progressive suspension rate makes loading/unloading in and out of berms a blast; you can really pick up speed quick. The rear end is stiff with no traces of flex.
In practice the bike is predictable and stable at high speeds. The SB-75 it’s replacing was a fantasic high speed carver, likely due to the 13.0” bottom bracket and longish 17.4” chainstays. While the front-center of the Devinci is longer than the SB-75, the head angle .5 degrees slacker and the chainstays are .4” shorter, it doesn’t feel like the carving machine the Yeti was, and it’s a trait I find myself missing. I think this comes down to the higher BB (still only 13.3”) combined with the very progressive suspension which keeps the bike higher in it’s travel. Another factor is the best carving position on the bike for me has the meat of the saddle hitting my thigh which limits how far I can lean the bike over while keeping myself upright through off camber sections and flat corners. To be clear, the bike handles high speed cornering well, but it doesn’t give me the same “bobsled” like feeling the Yeti did, which keeps me from giving it a higher grade.
UPDATE: Since I first wrote this I've installed an angleset which has slackened the head angle to 66.1. The results for high speed cornering have been fantastic. Formerly at times the front wheel would feel too tucked up under me. The increased front to center has removed that sensation; combined with the other geometry effects of the angleset I now give the bike a solid A at high speed cornering. The usual climbing trade-offs apply.
Big hits: A
The combination of linkage rate and shock rate on this frame is fantastic. It has quite a bit of progression that comes on very smooth with no trace of hitting a wall. It feels like it can soak up anything. I often forget I’m on a trail bike and think I’m on an old school freeride bike.
Rock gardens: B+
The progressive nature of the suspension means I feel the hits more than on a linear bike, however it keeps up it’s speed better, won't bottom out nearly as easily and isn’t difficult to keep on line.
Jumps: A-
The bike is very poppy and is a ton of fun to boost off every trail feature in sight. It loses a few points for not having the super stable in the bike feel I mentioned in the high speed section, which means it’s not quite as confident feeling on high speed landings (once again, the Yeti set a really high bar in terms of stability for a trail bike).
Notes -
This frame features the best rear suspension rate I've ever come across on a trail bike. As a point of reference on how progressive the rear is - I'm currently running 3 orange volume spacers in the 36 Float up front to match it. One note on the Monarch Debonair - small bump sensitivity is great, but I find myself wanting to be in between two clicks on the rebound. Considering how impressed I am with the Float X2 on my big bike I'll probably put one of those on by summer.
I have the aluminum frame which is exactly the same as the carbon version from a geometry perspective. It's possible to run 2x on the alloy model, however I'm running 1x. I'm not sure on the frame weight; it's not light - but it's solid. Routing for the rear derailleur runs through the chainstay which looks like it should be easy to setup, but unfortunately some material in the stay made it a beotch to install the housing.
Last edited:
