The Devinci Spartan 29 promises “bottomless stoke” and we would like some of that

Enduro shred-sled goes big for 2019

Published: September 28, 2018 at 1:00 pm

Canadian bike maker Devinci has launched a 29er version of its Spartan enduro racer. Called, unsurprisingly, the Spartan 29, it’s available in both carbon and aluminium flavours, all promising “bottomless stoke”.

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Much like the 27.5in version, the Spartan 29 and Carbon 29 get 165mm of rear travel and a 170mm fork. The bike features the same hi-lo adjustable geometry system found on other Devincis, which lets the rider choose between a slightly lower and slacker setup, or a taller, steeper one with a little more reach.

Flipping that pivot tweaks the geometry

Devinci

Swapping between the two involves flipping a set of pivots upside down.

Spartan Carbon 29 — enduro everyday

The top spec SRAM XO1 Eagle build looks fabulous, but it’ll cost you

Devinci

The Spartan Carbon 29 gets a full-carbon frameset with a split-pivot suspension setup that’s sized for trunnion mount metric shocks. The rear end runs a wide Super Boost 157 axle and the drive-side chainstay is dropped for clearance. There’s room for 2.5in tyres in there, as well as chainrings up to 38t if you’ve got the legs. Pleasingly, the bottom bracket shell is threaded. Thank you, Devinci.

Threads in a bottom bracket? Whatever next?

Devinci

Devinci’s geometry numbers are pretty on point for a big, bouncy race bike. In “lo” mode, a medium has a 65 degree head angle, 76 degree seat angle, 445mm of reach and 639mm of stack. Switch to “hi” changes those numbers to 65.6 degrees, 76.5 degrees, 453mm and 644mm respectively.

Is red and black more your speed?

Devinci

Spartan Carbon 29 builds start at $4,539 / CAD$5,399 / €4,799 for a bike with SRAM NX Eagle, a Rockshox Yari Charger RC Debonair fork and Super Deluxe RC3 DB shock. A frameset costs $3,369 / CAD$3,999 / €3,499. UK pricing and availability is to be confirmed.

Spartan 29 — same feature, more metal

This GX Eagle spec alloy Spartan 29 looks bang on

Devinci

The everyman aluminium Spartan 29 gets all the same headline features, just with an all-alloy frameset. The geometry is identical and it’s adjustable in exactly the same way.

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Builds for the Spartan 29 start at $3,339 / CAD$3,999 / €3,599 for an NX Eagle build along the same lines as the Carbon 29 version. A frameset costs $2,169 / CAD$2,599 / €2,299. Once again, the UK situation is to be confirmed.

Matthew Loveridge

Contributor

Matthew Loveridge (formerly Allen) is BikeRadar's former senior writer, an experienced mechanic, and an expert on bike tech who appreciates practical, beautifully-engineered things. Originally a roadie, he likes bikes and kit of every type, including gravel bikes and mountain bikes, and he's tested a huge variety of all three over the years for BikeRadar, Cycling Plus, Cyclist.co.uk and others. He looks like he should be better at cycling than he actually is, and he's ok with that.