New project! Early Devinci MTB "Devinci II"

Guigui58

Old School Hero
I didn’t need another bike, but the retro bike nerd in me couldn’t resist : I had to have this one!

Some of you may have never heard of Devinci, but for most Canadians (especially here in Quebec), it's a well known brand. They are known for their aluminum bikes made in-house since day 1, a tradition that continues to this day.

Over the years, I’ve seen plenty of Devinci bikes from the mid-’90s and especially more recent ones, but this is the first time I’ve come across such an early model. I could find literally no information online about the “Devinci II,” but according to the seller, it’s one of the first models they ever produced. That wouldn’t surprise me : the components date back to around 1989–1990, and the company was founded in 1987 by just two guys building frames one at a time.


Beyond its mysterious history, what really drew me to this bike was the frame itself and all its quirks. The welds are ground down, à la Cannondale. The rear brake is a seatstay-mounted U-brake. It’s mostly equipped with Deore DX parts, except for the brake calipers and front derailleur, which are Deore XT. And it has internal cable routing for the rear brake!

Overall, it needs a complete teardown, but it seems to have been ridden very little. I found no cracks or dents, and the chain is barely stretched. The rim sidewalls and brake pads show minimal wear.

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Quick follow-up on this project!

The complete teardown went very well, nothing was seized and no bad surprise. As I suspected when I wrote the first post, the frame is in great shape without any crack or dent. All cleaned up, the frame is beautiful. The paint aged up quite well, with the exception of a few scuffs here and there.

I also had the chance to have a chat with the previous owner since his wife was the one who handed me the bike. Apparently, he was in the same engineering classes as the two Devinci founders and was friends with them. He bought the bikes directly from them after they founded the company!

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