Devinci Troy Carbon XT 12S LTD review

Devinci’s all-mountain Troy is touted as a versatile quiver killer; that is to say it’s supposed to be one bike to rule them all, adept at taking on all-day epics and flowing trails while tackling hardcore descents without missing a beat.

Now in its fourth generation, Devinci’s refined the Troy with more tyre clearance, a less chunky-looking rear end and improved the geometry, making it slacker, longer, and lower.

The Canadian brand has stuck with 140mm of rear wheel travel, and on the range-topping Carbon XT 12S LTD bike I tested this is matched to Fox’s 36 fork.

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Devinci Troy Carbon XT 12S LTD frame and suspension details

The 29in wheel, full-carbon frame features 140mm of rear wheel travel driven by Dave Weagle’s Split Pivot system, where the chainstay and seatstay pivot rotates concentrically around the rear wheel’s axle, and has enough room for a 2.6in wide rear tyre thanks to Devinci’s use of the 157mm Super Boost hub standard.

Devinci has specced a 73mm BSA threaded bottom bracket rather than a push fit alternative.

Elsewhere, Devinci has shortened the linkages that run on double-row sealed bearings and thinned-down the chainstays and seatstays.

It has full internal cable routing front to back and integrated chainstay and seatstay chainslap protectors. The underside of the down tube also has a rock strike protector. On the non-driveside chainstay there’s a heel rub protector, too.

Along with the full carbon frame, the Troy is also available in all-aluminium and carbon/aluminium split models.

Devinci Troy Carbon XT 12S LTD geometry

For an all-mountain bike the Troy’s geometry is modern, even entering enduro bike territory.

It has a flip chip on the lower shock mount that permits two geometry settings: high and low. The size large I tested in the low setting has a long 480mm reach and a 1,244mm wheelbase, along with a size-specific 440mm chainstay length.

There’s a fairly steep 76.9-degree effective seat-tube angle and a relatively slack 65-degree head-tube angle. The Troy’s figures are at the progressive end of the spectrum and should make for well-rounded performance.

Devinci Troy Carbon XT 12S LTD specifications

The Troy Carbon XT 12S LTD is Devinci’s top of the range model and is littered with parts worthy of its price tag.

It has a 160mm travel Fox 36 Performance Elite GRIP2 fork with high- and low-speed compression and rebound adjustment, and a Fox Float X2 Performance Elite rear shock with a lockout lever, high- and low-speed compression adjustment, and low-speed rebound adjustment.

There’s a full Shimano XT 12-speed groupset with matching XT brakes on 203mm rotors.

Finishing kit sees the bike decked out with Race Face components, including ARC35 wheels, Vault hubs, a Next R35 bar and Turbine R35 40mm stem.

The SDG Tellis dropper post has 170mm travel with a SDG Tellis 1x lever, and there's an SDG Belair 3.0 saddle.

Impressively, for an all-mountain bike, the rims are wrapped in Maxxis Minion DHF and DHR II rubber front and rear with Double Down casing and MaxxGrip 3C compound. Chapeau Devinci, I approve.

Without pedals, my size large bike weighed 14.46kg/31.87lb.

Devinci Troy Carbon XT 12S LTD ride impressions

I wanted to see whether the Troy was as versatile as Devinci’s claims, so took to Scotland's Tweed Valley with its expansive and demanding trail network around Glentress and Innerleithen (both hosts to Enduro World Series tracks) to put it through its paces.

Setup was a breeze thanks to Fox’s brilliant suspension. I inflated the forks to my preferred pressure – 96psi – and installed two air spring volume tokens. I set the compression and rebound damping to fully open.

The rear shock was set to 25 per cent sag – with roughly 185psi in the air spring – with the stock 0.3in-cubed volume spacer, but all rebound and compression settings were set to fully open.

The tyres were inflated to my preferred pressures, too.

Devinci Troy Carbon XT 12S LTD climbing performance

The Troy’s uphill demeanour was mostly calm and composed, particularly when sat down pedalling. The suspension didn’t bob excessively or sap precious energy on longer ascents. It remained fairly active, even with a stiffer downhill-focused setup, which helped keep comfort high.

Once standing up and pedalling hard, and with the X2 shock’s lockout set to open, there was a fair amount of bob. Flicking the lockout switch to closed neutralised this movement, however it did sacrifice some traction and comfort over very rough terrain.

I personally preferred to leave the shock in its open mode the whole time, relying on the frame's anti-squat to provide the support, of which there was plenty to make sufficient progress when pedalling seated.

Although Devinci claims the effective seat-tube angle is 76.9 degrees, it feels like it could be steeper still.

I found it necessary to angle the saddle’s nose down and push it as far forward in the rails as possible, to help get my hips further forwards on the bike and more central over the bottom bracket. Once set like this, seated climbing comfort improved.

On steeper climbs I didn’t feel like the front end was wandering around, and steering accuracy was good. Equally, the top tube length meant there was plenty of space to move about on the bike to search for traction and balance.

However, the Troy didn’t have a particularly stretched forward position, like some more trail-focused bikes with the same amount of travel, such as Specialized’s Stumpjumper with a 475mm reach, 632mm top tube and 55mm stem.

And that’s where this model of the Troy – with its DoubleDown casing Maxxis tyres front and back and 160mm travel forks – differentiates itself in a packed market, because it tries (and succeeds – more on that shortly) to bridge the gap between all-mountain and enduro.

This means it climbs more like an enduro bike than a trail bike, but I was never frustrated or disappointed with its trail centre and bridleway bashing performance. However, I was very grateful for the added heft once I was pointing downhill.

If you don’t have a downhill bias to your trail riding, there are other models of Troy available with thinner casing EXO or EXO+ tyres and shorter travel forks, so don’t let this model's descent-focus put you off considering one.

Devinci Troy Carbon XT 12S LTD descending performance

The Troy came alive on the descents. Its long reach figure, generous wheelbase and size-specific chainstays (440mm for the large), when coupled with a relatively slack 65-degree head-tube angle, meant that it was impressively calm, composed and neutral over successive harsh hits, even at speed – normally a shorter travel bike’s undoing.

Its controlled ride was emphasised by the suspension’s progressivity, which helped to keep the chassis stable and neutral. The rear end didn’t blow through its travel too easily and there was always some squish left in the tank for when things got especially raucous.

There were no harsh bottom outs, either, even when pushing hard over terrain that would better suit full-blown enduro bikes.

It felt like it ‘padded’ over bumps rather than sucking into every hole and getting chopped around by the terrain. This made the rear end feel like it had more travel than the 140mm on tap.

The ramp-up wasn’t limited to the end of the shock’s stroke. There was plenty of impressive support mid-way through its travel, which meant that smashing through corners was fun and responsive, and the Troy felt exhilarating to chop and change direction on.

Compressions and holes could be used to create speed and grip without overwhelming the chassis, further increasing how much fun it was riding the Troy on most terrain, bar the most extreme and rough downhill bike-specific runs.

Devinci’s done a great job with silencing the Troy, too. Chainslap noise was non-existent and the frame’s internal cable routing didn’t rattle either. This helped create an impression of calm at speed, adding another string to the Troy’s bow.

The Race Face finishing kit worked well, and the wheels resisted dents or buckles during the testing process.

The Shimano XT brakes didn’t suffer from the well-documented varying bite point and the XT drivetrain worked proficiently and reliably while providing more than enough gears to scale steep ascents.

SDG’s Tellis dropper post was light to actuate, both up and down, and had more than enough travel to descend out of the way while extending to my preferred climbing height without the need for manual adjustment.

The 1x style thumb remote was comfortable to use, well shaped and directly mounted to the brake levers using Shimano’s I-Spec system.

I was most impressed with the Maxxis DoubleDown casing Minion DHF and DHRII tyres and they provided predictable and consistent grip with a nice damped feel.

The casing meant I didn’t need to worry about punctures even on really extreme terrain, which was a great feeling in a world of enduro bikes that frequently come supplied with EXO style casing tyres.

The location of the Troy’s shock linkage meant it hit the inside of my knees on the first few rides before I’d got used to it.

The link is quite wide and could cause discomfort if you don’t like to wear knee pads or if you ride knees in.

The frame protector on the non-driveside chainstay did a great job of stopping paint rub, and the finish on the Troy remained undamaged during the test period.

The payoff for this was that when my heel and foot contacted the protector, it emitted a squeaking sound.

Devinci Troy Carbon XT 12S LTD bottom line

This model of Troy is a true downhiller’s trail bike. Its composed handling and magnificently calm suspension make it easy to push hard over tricky terrain and it only breaks a sweat once the going gets really, extremely tough.

The seat-tube angle could be steeper, but the Troy’s still impressively capable at climbing and Devinci’s varying spec choices and frame material options mean there’s likely to be a Troy for most types of rider and most budgets.

Does it achieve the Canadian brand’s aims of being one bike to rule them all? I think it’s about as close as you can get and is well worth considering if you’re looking for a one bike quiver.