The Reverend
Likes Bikes and Dirt
How does this one start?
Ok, I bought the Highlander in Feb 2021 and whilst I found the descending absolutely astounding, I seemed to struggle with the climbing. This of course was not what the majority of owners were finding which was infuriating and frustrating me too.
Two higher spring rates and an air Kitsuma shock later I still couldn't get it feeling how I wanted.
I went from 170mm to 160mm forks too.
I contacted Deviate, they were very helpful and keen to listen + make suggestions. The only thing that got it behaving close to the way I wanted was running a light trail duty / XC carbon wheels. Better, but not what other riders were describing.
I scratched my head and then just stopped riding it. Deviate believed that the seals were the problem (I was dubious) and I'd been waiting to have these installed for months. I'd decided on letting the distributor do it and with lockdown at the time it was not going to happen quickly given our distance. The bare frame sat in the stand looking stunning but annoying me at the same time.
The other frame I'd thought of at the time was the Forbidden Dreadnought, and I'd decided against it for a few reasons (chief among them was concern for the huge chainstays on XL) but it stayed on my mind for a long time.
Got chatting to a fellow enabler doing the Lord's work here whose build on the same frame was the stuff of dreams.
Anyway, I wander into Summit Cycles and they've got an XL built up. Seems rude not to at least sit on it.
They say "ride it around the street", and I do. Bearing in mind it's not set up for me I expect it to be a wallowing, mushy mess. And it's the complete opposite. Spry on the pedals and no sagging or bobbing. I stare at and touch all three frame finishes, take photos and leave before I do something I'll regret.
I get home, talk to Mrs Reverend about it, show her the photos and she says "what colour is that one?"
"Nerds, it's a bit bright" I say,
She says, "that's the one. When can you get it?"
"It's in the store now in my size"
"And you didn't get it?"
"No...I wasn't sure"
"Did you ride it?"
"Yep"
"Was it any good?"
"Excellent, as far as I can tell in the streets"
"Get it and then sell the Highlander.." she says..
I'm still umming and ahhing about it then decided to do it.
I stripped the Highlander.
Bought some additional bits and pieces to freshen it up and put it together when it arrived. Had to wait for them to receive and apply the frame protection as I wasn't doing that again.
So here it is.
XL Nerds Forbidden Dreadnought with Performance Elite X2
RideWrap frame protection
Rockshox Lyrik 170mm with Push HC97 damper
Shimano XT 11speed
Shimano XT four piston brakeset
Shimano XT 170mm cranks
Shimano XT 30t direct mount chainring
Shimano XT BB
One Up Components dropper post 210mm
Ergon SM saddle
One Up Components 35/35/800 bars
Ergon GA2 Fat grips
Burgtec stem spacers
Hope headset
Raceface Turbine R 35/42 stem
Hope Fortus 30 wheelset Pro 4 hubs
Shimano XT pedals
Shimano XT chain
Sunrace 11-50 cassette
Maxxis Minion DHF 2.5 front and rear.
Hope Bar ends
How does it ride and compare?
My previous high water mark for bikes was my V2 Banshee Prime.
Balanced, composed, a great climber and descending was fun on it too.
This just feels to me like a bigger, better climbing version that's fits me better, especially on stack and STA for my height.
Interestingly, what gets highlighted and focussed on with high pivot bikes is how plush and smooth they are, but that's not the defining characteristic of this bike. I find it's the cornering. It just feels balanced, composed and so much fun.
You'd expect it to ride like a plow / pig until at decent speeds however it's very well mannered.
It's hard to compare the descending to the Highlander as that had a coil vs air on the Dreadnought. They're both excellent at that.
On any given day I jump from prefering the Forbidden to the Deviate. I was massively concerned new bike stoke fever was skewing my perspective but after several rides it seems the real deal. The paint is truly stunning, I wasn't sure before seeing it in reality but once in daylight if you like colours it's a real head turner. Don't expect to get anywhere without having to talk about it though.
I've done my usual thing and played around with fork travel, suspension settings and cockpit but have landed in a really nice spot.
What I've now noticed is that the longer rear centre is so nice and natural feeling that my other bikes can feel too short at the rear.
Edit.
So as you've probably read in my other thread, the folks at Deviate sorted out the Highlander.
The seals were both the incorrect specification, and incorrectly installed. This induced too much friction and kept the bike sagged = poor climbing.
They'd suggested that once fixed it would outclimb the Dreadnought, which I was cynical of.
So, it's fixed. The Highlander and the Dreadnought are both excellent, stunning to ride.
I hear you ask "But Rev', you've got two ~150mm travel HSP 29" bike. Isn't there too much overlap?"
You'd think so but they actually ride VERY differently.
Yes they're both super smooth, comfortable and plush. They both pedal really well and the handling is excellent.
The Highlander is just like a trail bike with an extra margin of error / capability.
It takes no time to get used to in terms of handling. With the seals and suspension performing the way it's meant to, it probably climbs a touch better. I have it set at 150mm front and rear.
The Dreadnought takes a moment to adjust to given the slack HTA and length. I'm probably faster on it and when the trails are really chunky it's imperious.
That said, on placid trails it has wonderful trail manners.
Mrs Reverend
"How's the Highlander now the seals are changed?"
"Awesome, really like it."
"Compared to the Dreadnought?"
"Hard to tell, they're both great!"
"Are you going to keep them both then?"
"I think I will actually, and sell the Prime"
"But you love the Prime?"
"Yep, I know..."
"See if the Prime sells, glad you finally got them sorted"
Heresy I know to consider selling a Banshee, but I neither ride frequently nor hard enough to warrant 3 FS bikes.
Ok, I bought the Highlander in Feb 2021 and whilst I found the descending absolutely astounding, I seemed to struggle with the climbing. This of course was not what the majority of owners were finding which was infuriating and frustrating me too.
Two higher spring rates and an air Kitsuma shock later I still couldn't get it feeling how I wanted.
I went from 170mm to 160mm forks too.
I contacted Deviate, they were very helpful and keen to listen + make suggestions. The only thing that got it behaving close to the way I wanted was running a light trail duty / XC carbon wheels. Better, but not what other riders were describing.
I scratched my head and then just stopped riding it. Deviate believed that the seals were the problem (I was dubious) and I'd been waiting to have these installed for months. I'd decided on letting the distributor do it and with lockdown at the time it was not going to happen quickly given our distance. The bare frame sat in the stand looking stunning but annoying me at the same time.
The other frame I'd thought of at the time was the Forbidden Dreadnought, and I'd decided against it for a few reasons (chief among them was concern for the huge chainstays on XL) but it stayed on my mind for a long time.
Got chatting to a fellow enabler doing the Lord's work here whose build on the same frame was the stuff of dreams.
Anyway, I wander into Summit Cycles and they've got an XL built up. Seems rude not to at least sit on it.
They say "ride it around the street", and I do. Bearing in mind it's not set up for me I expect it to be a wallowing, mushy mess. And it's the complete opposite. Spry on the pedals and no sagging or bobbing. I stare at and touch all three frame finishes, take photos and leave before I do something I'll regret.
I get home, talk to Mrs Reverend about it, show her the photos and she says "what colour is that one?"
"Nerds, it's a bit bright" I say,
She says, "that's the one. When can you get it?"
"It's in the store now in my size"
"And you didn't get it?"
"No...I wasn't sure"
"Did you ride it?"
"Yep"
"Was it any good?"
"Excellent, as far as I can tell in the streets"
"Get it and then sell the Highlander.." she says..
I'm still umming and ahhing about it then decided to do it.
I stripped the Highlander.
Bought some additional bits and pieces to freshen it up and put it together when it arrived. Had to wait for them to receive and apply the frame protection as I wasn't doing that again.
So here it is.
XL Nerds Forbidden Dreadnought with Performance Elite X2
RideWrap frame protection
Rockshox Lyrik 170mm with Push HC97 damper
Shimano XT 11speed
Shimano XT four piston brakeset
Shimano XT 170mm cranks
Shimano XT 30t direct mount chainring
Shimano XT BB
One Up Components dropper post 210mm
Ergon SM saddle
One Up Components 35/35/800 bars
Ergon GA2 Fat grips
Burgtec stem spacers
Hope headset
Raceface Turbine R 35/42 stem
Hope Fortus 30 wheelset Pro 4 hubs
Shimano XT pedals
Shimano XT chain
Sunrace 11-50 cassette
Maxxis Minion DHF 2.5 front and rear.
Hope Bar ends
How does it ride and compare?
My previous high water mark for bikes was my V2 Banshee Prime.
Balanced, composed, a great climber and descending was fun on it too.
This just feels to me like a bigger, better climbing version that's fits me better, especially on stack and STA for my height.
Interestingly, what gets highlighted and focussed on with high pivot bikes is how plush and smooth they are, but that's not the defining characteristic of this bike. I find it's the cornering. It just feels balanced, composed and so much fun.
You'd expect it to ride like a plow / pig until at decent speeds however it's very well mannered.
It's hard to compare the descending to the Highlander as that had a coil vs air on the Dreadnought. They're both excellent at that.
On any given day I jump from prefering the Forbidden to the Deviate. I was massively concerned new bike stoke fever was skewing my perspective but after several rides it seems the real deal. The paint is truly stunning, I wasn't sure before seeing it in reality but once in daylight if you like colours it's a real head turner. Don't expect to get anywhere without having to talk about it though.
I've done my usual thing and played around with fork travel, suspension settings and cockpit but have landed in a really nice spot.
What I've now noticed is that the longer rear centre is so nice and natural feeling that my other bikes can feel too short at the rear.
Edit.
So as you've probably read in my other thread, the folks at Deviate sorted out the Highlander.
The seals were both the incorrect specification, and incorrectly installed. This induced too much friction and kept the bike sagged = poor climbing.
They'd suggested that once fixed it would outclimb the Dreadnought, which I was cynical of.
So, it's fixed. The Highlander and the Dreadnought are both excellent, stunning to ride.
I hear you ask "But Rev', you've got two ~150mm travel HSP 29" bike. Isn't there too much overlap?"
You'd think so but they actually ride VERY differently.
Yes they're both super smooth, comfortable and plush. They both pedal really well and the handling is excellent.
The Highlander is just like a trail bike with an extra margin of error / capability.
It takes no time to get used to in terms of handling. With the seals and suspension performing the way it's meant to, it probably climbs a touch better. I have it set at 150mm front and rear.
The Dreadnought takes a moment to adjust to given the slack HTA and length. I'm probably faster on it and when the trails are really chunky it's imperious.
That said, on placid trails it has wonderful trail manners.
Mrs Reverend
"How's the Highlander now the seals are changed?"
"Awesome, really like it."
"Compared to the Dreadnought?"
"Hard to tell, they're both great!"
"Are you going to keep them both then?"
"I think I will actually, and sell the Prime"
"But you love the Prime?"
"Yep, I know..."
"See if the Prime sells, glad you finally got them sorted"
Heresy I know to consider selling a Banshee, but I neither ride frequently nor hard enough to warrant 3 FS bikes.
