Deviate Highlanders show yourselves

Title says it all to be fair   I think ive yet to find a Highlander owner than seems disappointed with thier purchase. Ive questioned one for a while and a chat at the Ard rock almost parted me with my money  . It would be a version 1 as they has a few 140mm models in stock left  in the Blue :)    Numbers on paper seem right on the money for my type of heavy trail riding  as I know the Claymore would be way overbiked as I have something similar at the moment.

I used to have a Highlander 1, had it for a couple of years and only got rid of it to get a Claymore. Absolutely brilliant bike – my Highlander coped very well with all sorts of lumpy riding in the Lakes and The Alps. I think I prefer the Claymore for control in the steeps, but as an all rounder the Highlander is hard to beat.

Disclaimer – I do a bit of photography and design work for Deviate, but that only came about after I started riding my Highlander and got to know the guys. I was lucky enough to take one of the prototype Highlanders on a ride up Helvellyn and on getting back to the carpark I was already starting to think about how I could get my hands on one properly.

Im not an owner but demoed a highlander 1 for a weekend. I was in two minds. The suspension design works well, very, very composed. Jumping is a weird feeling though as the rear centre grows compressing into a lip. Didnt notice the idler drag really.

That said, the geo wasn’t for me, the head angle is too steep for my liking and held the bike back, and the reach is on the short side. With the long rear centre it led to a feeling of imbalance. Maybe something I’d have gotten used too, maybe not.

Ended up with a stumpy evo fwiw, but now the highlander 2 is out that looks to address the issues I had personally.

Yes some bits of the v1 geo seemed at odds with the intent of the bike, 66 head angle with a 150 fork (so 65.5ish with 160), 444 reach on a medium, 473 on a large.

Of course none of that held up McTrail rider. Spent many hours looking at that sky blue top tube.

As above Andy never seemed slowed down by one did he . The xl numbers look right for me 495 reach is magical   low stand over hight   short ish chainstay and not stupidly over long like my current barge .

heavy trail riding

Ideal terrain for a Highlander in my experience.

I had a v1 140, briefly. Not disappointed with it in the slightest other than the geometry and sizing – as I alluded to in my Readers’ Rides recently on here, I found the XL reach too short and HA too steep (I fixed that with a -1deg angleset although made reach ever worse for me). During the time I had it it was everything I expected from a 150/140 trail bike with a focus on rowdier stuff. Brilliant traction when climbing, soaked up much more than normal for 140mm rear. As mentioned above, the v2 appears to go some way to addressing the issues I had personally.

Another disclaimer: not exactly impartial as I’ve ridden on and off with Ben @ Deviate since he was a teen in the local bike club. Also, another  regular riding buddy (Ben’s old school teacher) is a Deviate disciple and retailer. I had to explain myself to Ben on a ride recently when he knew I was selling my Highlander! Mrs a11y still has her own v1 Highlander and loves it, and I’d really hoped one would work for me too.

My short-lived v1 140:

Had one for 2 years.

Descended brilliantly, but I just couldn’t get on with it. It felt so sluggish on the climbs.

Friend had similar issue and returned his. Cant comment on the Highlander 2.

Shame as I so wanted to love the bike. Support and aftersales were superb. They are a great company to deal with.

If the geometry works for you, then it’s probably a reasonable choice. I’m a high pivot fan & from experience (Claymore) the shorter chainstays on the larger bikes & relatively low stack height just made it feel weird. I really didn’t get on with it as a bike.

I’ve ridden the Highlander 2 & it’s essentially a shorter travel Claymore, so the same issue applied.

The V2 Druid is a better bike.

I have had my Highlander V1 for 4 years now. Absolutely love it. Got 160mm MRP coil up front and an EXT Storia. Mine is a medium and fits me perfectly, never had idler drag or felt it sluggish on the ups in the slightest.

It’s been all over Scotland. Main riding is Dunkeld, Ballo the Borders and it’s never missed a beat. Really can’t fault it at all.

This is mine dressed up for last year’s Megavalanche.

It’s a v1 150 Highlander & I love it. I’ve never ridden a bike that carries so much speed over rough terrain. The high pivot works very well; I have an Ohlins ttx22m coil fitted, which suits it very well.

I do not think the head angle feels in any way too steep, but I guess it can boil down to personal preference.

My other bike is a Raaw Madonna v2.2, and I can’t tell the difference in head angle – the taller stack of the Raaw is the most noticeable difference.

I don’t notice any drag from the idler either.

Deviate were great to deal with and when I got a mystery creak they were very patient helping me work out where it was originating.

I have never heard a bad word said about the guys  Ben, Tom ect  which speaks volumes.   For me the all mountain appeal  mopre so than the  hauling the mill coming down(which isnt a bad thing )  is why ive been drawn to one ..   @ Lowey  stunning   @Ally we did speak about your frame a few weeks back  Shame I didnt jump then as the Mango is stunning ,

Another long term owner here (and the Guide that came before it) mines a V1 140mm, with a 160mm fork. It’s a brilliant all rounder, but definitely better on the downs, just feels like it’s got 20mm more travel when going through rough stuff. I haven’t noticed any issues when climbing, but I don’t do a massive amount of technical climbing. Originally ran mine with a fox X2, but swapped that out for an EXT Storia. The X2 wasn’t bad, just fancied a change.

+1 for no idler issues, & Chris and Ben have always been super helpful on a whole myriad of questions I had.

Seeing as everyone else is posting pics…

obvs not a standard colour, but if you buy from JMJ designs, he’ll do you a discount on a new paint job. He’s very good

Nice Tom .   Technical question  Deviates need 4.5mm spcaing for Dub bb shells and boost chain lines  ive read . They say a 2mm space on the drive shell and 2.5 behind the chain ring .    would a 4.5 mm space behind the ring have the same affect ?

Mine will look a bit like this. Soon I hope. With different tyres.

would a 4.5 mm space behind the ring have the same affect ?

might throw the alignment between the ring and the idler out? Drop deviate a mail, they’ll help

@Ally we did speak about your frame a few weeks back  Shame I didnt jump then as the Mango is stunning ,

@stevedoc, the guy who bought my v1 frame has it up for sale already on a popular auction site, for a fair bit less than I sold it to him for…

@phil5556 good to hear you went for one!

@a11y Yes I have, not through your mate unfortunately because he doesn’t do Cycle to Work. It’s coming straight from Deviate and currently being built.

I’ve been hovering over the buy button for a few days on the highlander 2, it looks very nice indeed and I’ve been getting an itch for a different bike. One quite specific question I had regarding the ridewrap for it. Does anyone know if the matte wrap will look fine? I’m not huge into glossy stuff so wanted to check that it wouldn’t look bad.

I caved and ended up getting a frame to build up! Ridewrap update – I got the matte and it looks great, pretty straightforward to put on if you’re patient like me, just took a while.

Hopefully the rest of the bits and pieces for the bike will be arriving in the next couple of days so I can build it all up, exciting!

Nice one @tetrode

I Invisiframed mine in a bit of a rush so that I could ride it the next day, there’s a couple of little bits that aren’t perfect.

Mine’s had a couple of outings and I’m enjoying it so far :-)

Ohlins suspension is taking a bit longer than I’m used to setting it up but it’s nearly there.

I’ve done a lot of climbing on it and initial impressions are that it climbs really well and it’s quick on the way down.

I saw an absolutely stunning Deviate at 10 Under last year – bright yellow with Lion Rampant on the seat tube – it looked utterly stunning.
Just everything about it was right – the look, the colour and the graphics.

These look great. Some good footage of them on YouTube at the moment if you look for BKXC and the Singletrack Sampler. They’ve been riding a pair of them whilst on a Scottish trip they’ve been doing with DMBiS. The whole thing has come across really well if anyone is interested – the bikes, the company and the people from DMBiS. It’s all made me really want a Claymore. And to live in Scotland.