Devinci’s Spartan first raced at the infamously pedally South African round of the Downhill World Cup and it’s been impressively ripping up the Enduro World Series scene. Is it totally race focused or a trail all-rounder?
The Spartan comes in alloy and carbon versions but with the latter frame saving a claimed 750g without breaking the bank in the process it seems the smart option. You’re still getting a solid, stiff frame with alloy chainstays for damage resistance, internal cable routing, geometry changing ‘flip chips’ and ISCG chain guide mounts.
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The top-spec Monarch Plus shock makes up for a few compromises elsewhere
The XP is the cheapest complete build option but you still get RockShox’s Pike RC Dual Position Air fork, tunable Monarch Plus RC3 rear damper and Reverb Stealth dropper post. The Jalco rimmed wheels, Super Gravity spec Schwalbe treads and Devinci/Race Face cockpit are suitably heavy duty for bike park and big mountain work but weigh heavily when climbing. The cost of the carbon frame is reflected in the choice of Shimano Deore and SRAM X5 stop and go kit but it works OK. A chain guide or single thick/thin chainring upgrade is recommended, because we regularly lost the chain off the SRAM double ring and front derailleur setup when things got lairy. The Shimano left-hand shifter and Reverb dropper remote don’t sync well either.
There’s a lot going on with the Split Pivot suspension – as we discovered recently with the Spartan's Trail Bike of the Year cousin, the Troy – and it took a while to figure out the optimum balance of pressure and rebound settings for the piggyback RockShox damper. It’s made more awkward because while there are hiccups in the suspension character, they happen occasionally so it takes a while to track them down.
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