Our story
The evolution of Deviate
Deviate was established in Scotland in 2016, founded by Chris Deverson and Ben Jones on a shared belief that better mountain bikes were possible.
Rather than follow established suspension design conventions, the goal from the outset was to challenge accepted thinking and create something genuinely different — to deviate from the norm. The name followed naturally.
In the years that followed, this mindset shaped the early engineering direction of the brand and laid the foundations for the bikes riders know today.
Our vision
To accelerate the evolution of mountain bike design, for and with riders.
Built on shared trails and bigger ideas
A strong partnership formed between complementary strengths: deep engineering curiosity on one side, and commercial drive and organisational focus on the other.
Years spent riding and guiding across some of the most demanding mountain terrain exposed a recurring problem — bikes that simply weren't built for the realities of sustained hard use. Repeated breakages within guiding fleets and among customers made it clear that something better was needed.
Early exposure to high-pivot, gearbox-driven designs pointed toward a different direction: greater durability, consistency and control. Deviate was first conceived in the Cairngorms National Park, on a guided trip in the Scottish Highlands — the landscape that continues to shape the brand today.
The first production bike: the Guide
The earliest prototypes were far from refined, but each iteration clarified the direction. Gearbox, derailleur and even shaft drive were explored, alongside fundamental questions of materials. At small volumes, aluminium tooling cost about the same as carbon moulding, so carbon became the natural starting point.
After a decade of riding across the UK, the Alps and New Zealand, Deviate unveiled the Guide. It removed the derailleur with a gearbox, centralised mass to reduce unsprung weight, and paired a high-pivot layout with an idler for a uniquely controlled ride — standing apart through its commitment to durability, composure and real-world performance.
Moving with the times
The Guide showed that a gearbox and high pivot together were too different for most riders. Development turned to a non-gearbox, high-pivot range: the Highlander and the Claymore.
The shift paid off. The Claymore was voted Pinkbike's Enduro Race Bike of Choice in its 2022 field test and nominated for Mountain Bike of the Year. To mark the milestone, we worked with local artist Douglas Roulston on a one-off Artist Edition Claymore inspired by the Cairngorms.
The Highlander
Listening to a growing community of riders, the next chapter was a trail bike that built on the Guide's reputation while expanding its versatility. The Highlander kept carbon construction and a refined high-pivot layout with an idler, tuned for trail riding, and moved to a conventional derailleur after back-to-back testing showed it better suited the bike's fast, agile character.
The result was a trail bike defined by speed, composure and unmistakable intent — and a cornerstone of the Deviate line-up.
