If you're walking into Curbside you'll see a ton of steel bikes. Why? Steel is strong, lasts forever, and tends to do well when locked to metal poles. So, what is the advantage of an aluminum bike? Well, aluminum is super-light, has a zippy feel, and also will never rust. These are good things!

However, the problem with aluminum is not the material itself but the assumptions bike manufacturers make when forming it. The bike industry in North America is largely based in Los Angeles, and if they knew people were riding in the city and not just recreational paths - and locking these bikes all day to galvanized metal poles - they would go back to the drawing board pretty quick. Most mainstream aluminum frames are as thin as a beer can, designed to be light for the sake of lightweight only. Great for locking in a three car garage, not so great when locked to a pole. 

Luckily Devinci isn't from Los Angeles. No, they are from Chicoutimi, Quebec, of all places! Already, they are beginning to sound like a bit of an outlier - which is why we like them.  Devinci makes a bike that may be 2% heavier than its competition, but that 2% is adding 90% more longevity to the frame. We see very few frame warranties with Devinci, and our team has experience carrying Specialized, Trek, Rocky Mountain, Marin, and Cannondale. 

R&D FOR EVERYONE

Designed in Canada means made for everyone

Who do you trust? California or Chicoutimi? 

We live in a world where very few companies have R&D departments, instead they go to the big Taipei show in Taiwan and find something they can slap their decal onto. Not Devinci. The Devinci story is a story of relentless R&D. We remember Devinci once attended a trade show with a bicycle and human rider covered in electrodes so they could measure stress, weight, and comfort points. And this was not a racing bike, this was a hybrid. Devinci's target customer is not someone who lives in LA, it's someone who lives in Montreal, who rides over potholed streets in frigid weather, locks their bikes to a pole all day, and wants a bike that can tour on Le Route Verte and can tear down the Lachine Canal at mach speed. In other words, its not just a recreational bike, it's also made for the city. 

This R&D work applies to all Devinci bikes, whether it's made in their Canadian factory or overseas. And, that's another thing that makes Devinci special. They are truly "the last company standing" when it comes to North American production. No other company - and we say it again, no other company - produces their bikes in North America. Everyone has moved overseas. The only companies still producing bikes in North America are custom frame builders, and they only produce bespoke one-offs. 

ALUMINUM VALLEY 

Homegrown alloy

Bixi bikes being made in the Devinci factory

So, how does a company from Chicoutimi produce frames in Quebec? The answer lies in Chicoutimi's location. Chicoutimi is nestled in Canada's "aluminum valley." Made from Bauxite, the real raw-material that aluminum requires for production is electricity, and Chicoutimi is smack dab in the middle of a whole lot of hydro-electric dams. The cost of shipping Canadian aluminum to Taiwan to become a bike and get shipped right back is pretty high. The cost of labour in Canada is high, but Devinci can basically walk across to block to Alcan and pallet-jack over all the aluminum they need. That ends up coming out to the same cost (we wish all Devinci bikes could be made in Canada but apparently that would require financing a very big factory). Their Chicoutimi factory produces some leading-edge product as well as all of the BIXI bikeshare bikes used worldwide from London, England to New York City. Amazing stuff. 

It also means that the huge R&D department is constantly tweaking the bikes they make overseas - and that's important. They can produce prototypes in their own factory and with their own people. That gives them an element of control rarely seen these days in the bike industry. 

RETHINKING THE HYBRID BIKE

Bettering the breed. 

Bikes that clear your head

Devinci can also lay claim to having invented the performance hybrid bike. The hybrid bike was designed as a response to 1990's mountain bikes and 1980's road-racing bike, an in-between position that wasn't either/or. However, most hybrids either leaned too much towards a mountain bike or too much towards a road bike - and none ever considered city riding in the design. The Devinci hybrids fit right in between and were perfect in the city. That's because the average Montreal cyclist needed a city bike for the potholes of Montreal, a bike for the network of gravel trails that encircle the province, and something fast for the weekend. It wasn't one or the other, it was all of the above. 

In 2018, Devinci decided take a fresh look at their hybrids. They knew there were customers who were just as much about commutes in the bike lane as they were about ripping about on gravel roads while camping or recreational bike paths in the city. They knew there were customers who commuted in the bike lane but wanted a fast fitness bike that leaned towards paved country roads on the weekend. And, they knew there were customers who wanted something that was more tweaked towards the city side of things but still wanted the option of recreational riding. These new-gen Devinci hybrids are a little more upright and comfortable for the city while still being thoroughbred recreational bikes, with light frames and zippy handling.

DO-IT-ALL RECREATIONAL HYBRIDS

Great in the city too!

The Milano line: recreational multitaskers that take potholes seriously

The Milano collection represents the recreational line. These are terrific bikes for people who want something that can do a bit of everything. You can see this in the wider tires that can easily switch from street to trails, and the triple chainring that offers a gear for every terrain. These bikes are a bit more upright than the competition because they assume the rider isn't trying to set any speed or distance records.

In short, these are great do-everything bikes. At the price we find they make great city bikes although they lack the low maintenance gearing and clothing protection found on higher-priced internally geared bikes. If you want something that favours the climbing side of the gear range go for the Milano Altus. If you want more speed and distance capability, the Milano Acera builds-out more gears on the speedy side. For reliable stopping power no matter the weather, choose the Milano Acera Disc. And if you plan on doing lightweight bikepacking on the weekend, the Milano Alivio Disc's carbon forks shave off weight for long rides from sun-up to sundown.

CITY + SPEED & DISTANCE

A swiss army knife for the commuter and fitness rider

The Hex: speed when you want it, strength all the time

The Hex series is the new fitness series tuned for those who want a single platform that can handle the city and longer distance (mostly asphalt) rides when you have spare time. These bikes are lighter than the recreational series and are a little more purpose-oriented in the narrower tires and double chainring up front. You don't get the same range of gears as the recreational series but instead you get the gears you actually need, lowering weight and reducing complication. These bikes also come equipped with disc-brakes, since faster speeds in the city require more braking power.

These Hex series are terrific bikes for longer rides, especially light touring. All Hex bikes use a carbon fibre fork that lightens up the front end but also makes a long ride far more comfortable, since carbon fibre is a remarkably compliant material (it's also very strong). As you move up the series the parts get lighter and better. You move from mushier cable-activated brakes to hydraulic brakes, and the gears become more fine-tuned so they can adjust perfectly to your pedalling RPM's. But the frames are strong and so are the wheels - these are fast hybrid bikes still made for the city. 

CITY BIKES THAT MULTI-TASK

Serious transportation that still knows how to have a good time. 

The Cartier, one of the most intelligent commuter bikes we've seen

Then there's the Cartier series, the first time Devinci has really made a bike that really pivots towards the city cyclist without minimizing recreational fun. Unlike riding on a path or a country road, the city is made of constant starts-and-stops, lefts-and-rights, and potholes. This makes the wheels the most important aspect of the bike. The Cartier borrows the new industry standard 27.5" wheels used on mountain bikes. These wheels have better acceleration than the larger wheels found on the Hex and Recreational series but still maintain a good top speed for the city. These bikes also feature new tire technology that gives you a wider tire without any loss of speed, basically a high volume (wide) but also high pressure (low drag), so you get stability and efficiency without compromise. 

Like the Hex series these bikes feature disc brakes, largely because these bikes might be ridden through the winter (disc brakes keep their performance when things get wet). As another nod to city cycling and recent advancements in gear technology, these bikes use only one chainring up front and build the range in the back by using massively wide cog-sets. This lowers maintenance by 50% in the gears while still providing you with all the gears you'll actually need.

Are these bikes good for recreation? Of course! While they may lack the same sort of speed-and-distance discipline that the Hex rider may desire, they can go far, and with their wider tires they can be ridden off-road, like the Recreational series. As you move up the range you move from cable activated disc brakes to hydraulic, and the gears move from wide range to even wider range until finally you get to the top-end Nexus bike which uses an internal gear hub, lowering maintenance while increasing year-round commuting capability. The Nexus model is one of the finest city bikes we've ever seen (we confess: we helped consult on the design!)

WHY DEVINCI?

Cause in a world of similar bikes, these stand out. 

Choose your own adventure

But, back to the bikes. The Devinci you buy will not only have a better frame than its competition, it will also have better wheels - and ride-quality. Again, most companies are only concerned with weight, and this is because they're from LA and would never ride a bike in the city. The whole bike industry right now is trying to save a lot of weight in the wheels by reducing the number of spokes or lacing them in questionable ways. Again, this is great if you only ride on paths, but terrible if you ride over potholes or streetcar tracks to get to those paths. Devinci makes their wheels strong, and if they're 1% heavier than the competition, then fine - they last. In a market where many companies have simply missed the mark, Devinci has their priorities straight. 

In sum, you could say Devinci is a Canadian company. They don't build their bikes for some person in southern California for whom a bike ride means using a car rack first, they're built for the path and the city. And not just any city, but a Northeastern city: salt, snow, steel poles. They're one of the few products out there actually designed for Canada. And, that's probably why the Americans love Devinci too (they're a cult product down there), because they're known to be remarkably durable. And that's why we carry them. They're not just another aluminum bike with a decal on it - that decal actually stands for something.