Deviate Cycles Highlander 150 | Dissected | High Pivot MTB

Deviate has responded to the requests of many customers who were looking to add further downhill charging capabilities to their Highlander 140 model, by offering a new linkage that boosts the travel to 150mm; slackens the head angle a touch to 65 degrees; and increases the end-stroke progression to produce an all-round more capable package. This new linkage makes the Highlander 150 coil-friendly, further adding to the High Pivot Point’s terrain-ironing ride characteristics.

Deviate was careful to ensure this bolstered downhill performance would not come at the expense of the all-round nature of the bike, which they claim to still provide a happy platform on which to pedal all day.

THE WOLF’S FIRST IMPRESSION
Deviate’s Highlander was in such high demand at the time of filming this video, that they were only able to lend a bike out for two days, during which we filmed the Dissected video. This left minimal time to get the Highlander set up perfectly and become accustomed to the ride, so the take-aways are far from a final and definitive verdict.

One thing that’s for sure is the Highlander 150 tested was a comfortable machine to climb. The angles are not ultra-progressive, with a 75-degree seat angle that required the seat to be pushed forward on the rails. The size Large’s 467mm reach was slightly shorter than our 6’2” tester Rob would have preferred, with the XL’s 491mm figure perhaps being a more suitable figure in hindsight, but it did little to detract from the comfort on the way up the hill. The relatively long 443mm chainstays, which grow to around 455mm at SAG, offset the slightly slack seat tube angle and help to keep weight on the front wheel on the steeper sections of climb, giving the Highlander reasonable capability to winch up steep technical climbs.

On the way down the hill, the Highlander 150 proved to be a comfortable machine to hop onto and ride hard from the get-go, providing a stable ride with a suspension action that really took the sting off the rough sections of trail. The pedaling performance on flatter sprints was impressive, with a real feeling of disconnect between the bump-eating and pedaling sides of its character. Hitting square edges whilst pedaling, the Highlander did an impressive job of maintaining momentum without the “hook-up” you’d usually expect, yet it didn’t wallow all over the place when laying down the watts on smoother terrain either. The rear wheel was impressively free to conform to the terrain and iron out the chatter, but still provided a good level of trail feel and control. The extending wheelbase throughout the travel encouraged hard charging, with impressive composure on the bigger hits for a bike with 150mm travel. It wasn’t a particularly playful bike, requiring a little more speed and “yank” than many bikes in its class to get airborne. This isn’t to say you couldn’t still have fun hitting side hits and natural trail gaps, just that it’s a bike that is keen to take the racier lines.

With only a weekend under my belt on board the Highlander 150, I wasn’t able to fully develop my opinions and play with the setup at all in order to give a final verdict to the performance and durability of the bike, but if the first impressions are anything to go by then it’s clear that Deviate has made something special with this All Mountain machine, and I’ll be crossing my fingers that Deviate will be able to find a spare bike kicking about for me to put some time into to produce a long term review.

Check out the full story here:
https://theloamwolf.com/2021/08/23/dissected-deviate-highlander-150/

Visit Deviate Cycles to order your Highlander:
https://www.deviatecycles.com/

Get your Loam Wolf gear here:
https://store.theloamwolf.com
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