NSMB.e.MAGAZINE - Freeride, Extreme and North Shore style Mountain Biking

Cycles Xprezo is a new name in premium bicycle manufacturing, but one with a pedigree worth mentioning. In the late 1980s and early ‘90s Xprezo’s founder Hugo Bardou - engineer and bike enthusiast - co-founded Balfa bicycles. After several years of producing bikes known for their quality and performance, Balfa was bought out by Procycle, the company that purchased Rocky Mountain Bikes in 1997. The changes that followed didn’t sit well with Hugo, and he left Balfa. After a short hiatus from the bicycle world he embarked on a new venture, Cycles Xprezo.

Xprezo offers a full line of bike frames that will likely satisfy your need for a high end two wheeled ride. It has five products, each targeted at different segments of the off-road cycling market. Xprezo's line up starts with two cyclocross options, two cross-country frames and the Raah, which is Xprezo's rendition of an all-mountain frame. This is the one I am putting through its paces.

The Raah, like all the company’s frames, is hand made in Quebec; Hugo is adamant about staying local rather than using Asian production. His goal is to produce around 1,000 frames a year, keeping fabrication limited and quality high. The Raah comes in two sizes, small-medium and medium-large. Head tube angles are fairly slack, ranging from 66.5° to 69.5° depending on the frame and fork combination, while the head tube itself is the standard 1 1/8” size.

The Raah, chilling at the beach before throwing down on Okanagan trails.

When I pulled this frame out of the box, there was a familiarity about it that I couldn’t deny. With its swing arm fixed in place with a double plate system, its looks were similar to its older Quebecois cousins. The Raah frame uses a simple double triangle design with an aluminum front triangle and steel rear end - another familiar combination. Using steel for the rear triangle allows for a light, rigid swing arm that resists bending and breaking. These two frame components are held together through a simple, low-maintenance single pivot. Although this is supposed to be an all-mountain frame, the reinforcement around the head tube suggests the Raah is ready for some serious abuse.

The only shock option, a Fox DHX Air 5.0, guides the rear end through its 159mm of travel. Up front, my Raah is mated to a 150-mm Manitou Travis single-crown fork. Some noteworthy things about building up a Raah: it requires a Shimano E-type front derailleur, and it can only run a 6” rear rotor. There is ample clearance for an 8” rotor, but the shape of the seat stay and chain stay junction prevents an 8” adaptor from being properly mounted.

The Raah’s svelte lines help keep the frame weight at 7.5lbs. including the rear shock. Xprezo suggests the Raah can be built as light as 32lbs., but with a build more suited to a larger DH rig, my Raah is a far cry from that target.

Weighing in at 41lbs., the uphill component of my all-mountain testing will definitely be more of a challenge. But hey, who couldn't use a little extra workout now and again?

My mission: put this bike to every imaginable use. XC, DH, FR and commuting are all on the docket, but my gut tells me the Raah is really going to shine in a more gravity-driven environment. With Silver Star, Kelowna, Salmon Arm and Kamloops all close by, the Raah is going to get one big workout.

I’ve got an inaugural ride under my belt, the build kinks are worked out and the riding season under way, so I'm looking forward to riding the Raah and letting you all know how it goes. Talk to you in a couple of months.

There's nothing quite like a fancy bilingual head badge

The Raah is available in three colors: white, black, and red with an MSRP of CDN$2,680, including the rear shock. Contact the folks at Yodo Distribution to find out where you can pick up a Raah.

Typically Canadian, Devinci Bikes is unapologetically understated and low-key in all regards. They have been around since the early days of the mountain bike (though back in 1987, the handcrafted aluminum bikes were mostly high-end road frames) yet how many of us really know a whole lot about them. Ask this question to our American cousins and the answer would likely be a big zero.

Some of the issues with getting the product name out there surround patent/licensing difficulties and the Specialized-owned Horst Link 4-bar suspension designs that are used on the Devinci squishies. Needless to say, Devinci wants to change this and has set out to increase its network of distribution. Though they are nestled away in the heart of Quebec’s aluminum production region, Devinci is busting out all over North America with their beautiful, durable steeds.

The Devinci Frantik 2 is the mid-point offering of this relatively new category of mountain bike: the Slopestyle/bike park rig. The Frantik 2 came with a dazzling, high sparkle, blue finish that I will punish without apology. Out of the box, the Frantik definitely has the look of a smaller rig. Looks are deceiving, however. This is really the bastard child of a big downhill rig and an all-mountain ride. Lift it with caution as it weighed in at 41.6lbs.; Devinci does not publish a weight spec for this bike. The head tube angle is a rakish 65.1°, so twitchy or overly responsive steering is not likely going to be a concern.

The slightly dirty Frantik 2, chilling on a tree in between Doctor Mark-supervised beat downs...

This package was outfitted with a Marzocchi 66 RV and Fox DHX 3.0 coil shock serving up 180mm and 165mm of plush travel, respectively. Avid’s Juicy 5 stoppers with 203mm rotors will perform anti-gravity duty fore and aft. A full SRAM drivetrain (X-9 rear derailleur, X-7 front, chain, cassette and X-7 trigger shifters) along with an e.13 DRS-guided Race Face Evolve X-type crank and 35/24 dual rings will make the thing go. Maxxis High Roller 2.5s mounted on Mavic EX325’s promise to keep me rolling along.

Canadian retail is $3,399. The Frantik isn't available in the States, so if you're lusting for it, plan a trip across the border.

After rolling out its new line of big-bike components last year under the Gravity moniker, FSA (Full Speed Ahead) is adding to the collection with a new single-ring chainguide. The Gravity guide is a simple piece of hardware that ships with a 7075/T6 aluminum boomerang, an upper and lower guide, mounting hardware, and a clear polycarbonate bashguard. It's intended to be light, tough and the perfect addition to any bike that hits the streets for entertainment or spends more time going down than up.

The Gravity guide installed on a Specialized SX Trail - fewer pieces make for a simple set up

Rather than having a uniformly thick (and heavier) boomerang, FSA made the plate 8mm thick in the lower portion and 4mm in the upper portion to reduce weight without sacrificing strength. The upper guide is highly adjustable, so you can set it up on just about any long-travel bike, while the lower roller moves in and out on two machined grooves to make it easy to line up with the bashguard. The lower roller is glass fibre-reinforced and impregnated with teflon, and rolls on replaceable cartridge bearings.

Setting up the guide involves using a series of included thick and thin spacers behind the guide to line up the bottom roller with the chainring. It may take a few tries, but new-style cranks that are easy to remove ensure the process is relatively painless.

FSA really kept compatibility in mind with this guide. You can run it with 68, 73, 83 or 100mm bottom bracket shells, as well as with FSA MegaEXO or other external bottom bracket systems and ISIS bottom brackets.

I've got the guide set up on an FSA Gravity crankset and MegaEXO BB and a 3mm DH 32T ring, all attached to a 2006 Specialized SX Trail. There were no issues with installation, and I'm able to make full use of the 12-34 cassette in the rear with only minimal rubbing.

The guide will work with 32-36 tooth 3mm DH and single-speed rings, so be prepared to make that switch to your crankset if need be. Gravity guides are available for ISCG and ISCG '05 mounting standards and weigh in at 218 grams. MSRP is US$119.99, with Canadian retail about $150.

Guide plus bashguard make for a clean and complete package

Want to talk about the gear? Share your love of all things Quebecois? Here's the place to do it.