Deviate Highlander 140 Review
In this Deviate Highlander 140 Review article, we take a close look at the high-pivot trail bike and see how the Scottish dream bike performs out on the trails and whether the engineering behind has paid off.
If you don’t know who Deviate is, well your about to find out. Deviate started out in 2017 with the 27.5, 160mm, Gearboxed enduro bike called the Guide. Now in 2020, they have branched out into the high pivot trail bike market with a 140mm bike called the Highlander, and this is the Deviate Highlander Review.
If you have been watching the Downhill world cups in recent years you may have seen Commencal using a high pivot suspension design on their downhill bikes and we’ve seen how much of a rocket ship they are. Now we are seeing the high pivot trickle down into the trail bike market with the likes of the Forbidden Druid and now the Deviate Highlander.
With 140 mm of rear-wheel travel, the 29er Deviate Highlander sits right in between short travel trail bikes and the longer travel trail bikes, the Highlander looking at the geometry should be able to haul its way down any trail you point it down and climb back up with ease. Whereas the Deviate Guide was a bike that was very boutique and different, the new Deviate Highlander will be a bike that appeals to a much bigger audience given its trail bike placement.
Geometry
Let’s take a look at the Highlanders geometry. The Highlander is available in three sizes from medium to extra-large, The sizes cater to people from 5`5” all the way up to 6`5” and each has a very generous reach which is very common in modern-day geometry for bikes. The long chainstays of 441mm make this bike a very stable platform with the added reach of the top tube. The balanced nature continues to the aggressive side a little with the 65.5-degree head angle but still keeps it within the realms of a trail bike. The geometry chart looks all very common with most of the top trail bikes on the market so I’m not expecting too much of a difference when it comes to riding the Highlander.
”The Deviate Highlander makes any obstacle or technical trail feel tameable to the point where you won't just ride it but you will attack it!
Will Brett-AtkinOTM Mag
What is a High-Pivot and does it make a difference?
Well, the Deviate highlander features a very progressive leverage ratio, ranging from 2.7:1 to 2:1 which should provide good support and bottom-out control when the going gets rough. The main focus of the Deviate Highlander is certainly that high pivot suspension design with the main pivot located unusually high up on the seat tube. But what is the benefit of using a high pivot over the tried and tested low pivot suspension design? A high main pivot point allows the rear axle and rear wheel to rotate up in an arc but with a rearward axle path, meaning that when the rear wheel makes contact with an obstacle, the rear end goes backwards and upwards instead of the traditional upwards and forwards motion that you get on most low-pivot suspension designs. Put simply, when you’re riding down the trail and you impact an obstacle, generally you want to drive the suspension parallel in the direction of travel, so backwards away from the obstacle and not upwards, this, therefore, exerts more leverage on the rearward axle path resulting in an increase in sensitivity and responsiveness from the rear end of the bike which in turn helps propel you forward. The rear end of the Deviate Highlander moves a whopping 25 mm through the whole of its 140mm travel.
Is there a bad point to the high pivot design? Yes, when the rear axle moves in the backwards motion the distance between the front chainring and rear axle grows quite a lot and therefore the chain would restrict you and you get what’s called kickback. Kickback is where you can feel the chain pulling at your cranks and can restrict the suspension’s performance and in some cases even cause damage to your drivetrain. However, to combat kickback Deviate added an idler gear very close to the high pivot. What this does, in turn, is equalises the length to the rear pivot as the suspension moves through its travel thus eliminating pedal kickback. The other bonus to having an idler is that it also gives far more control over the anti-squat when turning the cranks up the steepest of climbs.
Riding the Deviate Highlander
The Highlander we were supplied with was a medium and was built up with a fairly typical light trail setup with a pair of Fox 36 factory forks with the grip 2 damper accompanied with a Cane Creek double barrel outback. Braking was covered by some two pot Shimano Xt’s and a Shimano 11 speed drivetrain. Tyres were the Maxxis Assegai upfront and a High Roller on the back which provided plenty of grip on the chalky surfaces of the south downs. We headed to a trail centre in Hampshire which provided some steep technical descents, as well as some wide open rough goodness too, climbing wise, it was all fire roads with some added steep technical climbs with some tight corners to really test the bike’s length.
Deviate Highlander 140 Review
My first impression of the Highlander was of how aesthetically pleasing to the eye it is. The smooth lines, as well as that high pivot, just made the Highlander look the part. Swinging my leg over for the first time I was shocked at how low the stand over was which was really nice for me. It feels Deviate has gotten the geometry absolutely spot on. Everything feels like it’s in the optimum position to ride trails hard and fast, which is where this bike is so capable!
I headed off on my first ride and decided to warm up on the Blue climb which provided a nice gentle meander through the woods but with some tight steep corners to really get the heart rate going. I found the bike climbed really well with hardly pedal bob which shows the anti-squat is working well. I did, however, notice how long this bike really is when I got to the tight turns I had to take a wider and longer approach to navigate my way through. When I say long, I mean it feels longer than other trail bikes with similar travel and it is more akin to an enduro bike, long low, and slack.
Now to the fun part, the descents. I found that the Highlander really handled the steeper descents exceptionally well and gave a fun planted feel and once you let off the anchors the Highlander picks up so much speed that the XT 2 pot brakes had their work cut out to slow it down again. The Highlander tracks like no other. It seems to have endless grip and can make the roughest of terrain feel smooth and buttery.
When it comes to the rough stuff, Deviate has really made a great bike in the Highlander, it certainly does punch above its weight in the travel category and handles the rough stuff a lot more like a longer travel bike would, and with that high pivot design with the rear axle traveling away from the objects you got the sense of acceleration from the bike but also a very stable feel, something you don’t get from a lower pivot bike.
Since riding the Deviate Highlander I have been completely sold on high-pivot bikes so watch this space for the coming months!
Deviate currently does not make a small frame and I feel that if they produced a small with a 430mm reach then they would be on to a winner for those riders that love a smaller chuckable bike.
Deviate Highlander Summary
Overall I found the Highlander a very stable, planted trail bike that would accelerate you down the roughest and steepest of trails with that feeling of do you really need more travel? It climbs extremely well and makes any obstacle or technical trail feel tameable to the point where you won’t just ride it but you will attack it!
The high pivot design really does work as intended and gives you a feeling of riding on a cloud on the roughest of trails. I feel this bike is much better suited to the riding found in wales or more to the north of the UK where the Steeper, rougher trails are to be found but you will still have endless fun on less intimidating trails too.
What do you think of Deviate’s Highlander? Have you ridden a high-pivot bike? What’s your favourite trail bike? Let us know in the comments below.
If you want to take a closer and look and perhaps purchase a Highlander click here
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