Price: $6,000.00
Weight: 2.35kg (frame)
Components: Shimano XTR, Deore XT, Easton, Selle Italia
Frame and Fork: Optimum Cross-Country Suspension 6061-T6 Aluminum, Fox Float (rear), RockShox SID team 80mm
Geometry: 70/73.5 (head/seat)
Sizes: 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 (18 tested)
Comments: Prepare to rip””it has a need for speed!
www.devinci.com
If you’re looking for a bike to define your ride, look no further than Devinci’s Moonracer. Throw your leg over this sweet machine and you’re a citizen of the Country of Cross “” go get your passport! If you have any doubts, just check out the Moonracer’s sleek frame: “cross-country” is tattooed right onto the top tube. Hell, “racer” is in its name!
The Moonracer is all about speed and control, and Devinci has put a lot of R&D time and money into making sure that it delivers both. The cross-country-specific 6061-T6 aluminum frame, designed by Devinci and made by U.S.’s Worth Applied Products, boasts a number of design features that ensure strength and durability at a low weight.
The main triangle tapers to oversized, and is oval toward the head tube to handle front-end stresses. Sticking with its multinational theme, Devinci incorporates German-made INA inner rings in the needle-bearing pivots that make up the heart of the four-bar compact linkage design in the rear triangle. Devinci claims that the needle-bearing pivots are three times stronger than ball bearings of the same diameter and are about seven times lighter.
The high main-pivot placement on the seat tube and the use of a Fox Float RL with ProPedal damping ensure as bob-free a ride as you can get with today’s technology. The Moonracer’s rocker arm allows the Fox Float to be adjusted between 75mm and 85mm (depending on your mood), while up front a RockShox SID team, with climb-it control, offers 80mm of travel to complement the rear.
The Moonracer comes well-dressed with a heaping amount of Shimano XTR and Deore XT, which comprises most of the component package. Easton makes appearances in the form of a stem, seatpost, and flat handlebar. The hot Shimano Deore XT M765 wheelset is wrapped in a pair of tubeless Michelin Comp S lights and garnished with a pair of Shimano Deore XT M765 6″ hydraulic brakes. Devinci’s industrial acrylic coating process and electrostatic paint process are showcased by some very cool graphics and a classy white, black, and silver colour scheme. Combine that with the iridescent glow of the XTR gruppo and the eye-catching prismatic glimmer of the wheel decals, and you have a bike that looks fast before it even starts to move.
I couldn’t wait to get the Moonracer out on the trails, and once I did, I wasn’t disappointed. The Devinci was a speed demon, and had no problem carving its way through the tight singletrack of the North Shore trails. The relatively sharp seat angle kept my riding position well over the bottom bracket and the flatbar on the front end provided good aerodynamic positioning. Whether the Fox Float was locked out or not, there was very little bob when sprinting out of the saddle. I even locked out the front end and left the rear active to see if I could get movement, but there was very little. Once onto terrain, though, the suspension was smooth and kept the bike well-tamed over the rough bits. The brakes, although not as solid in feel as XTR, provided good control and allowed for well-modulated descents.
Even though the Moonracer is a dualie, you get excellent feedback from the trail. It almost feels like a hardtail until you nail a rock garden or root field. The bike climbs well thanks to the rear suspension, light weight, and forward rider position, but you do have to keep over the front end a bit on the very steep sections to keep the nose from trail sniffing. Reverse that for the descents or you will be over the bars!
The Moonracer is a purebred cross-country race machine, plain and simple. If you have aspirations of kicking butt on the local race circuit and you want to do it on the comfort of a dualie, then this bike is for you.