Two engineering students from Chicoutimi, Quebec, founded Devinci Bikes in 1987. Road biking entrepreneur, Felix Gauthier, purchased the company in 1990, moving the brand into its contemporary role as an international player in both road and mountain bike manufacturing. Under Gauthier the brand has grown its U.S. and international distribution channels. Gauthier has since taken over full ownership of the business. In 1994, Gauthier founded Devinci's Research and Development Division. This led to the creation of Optimum frames, Ollie Freeride bikes, the Cx, and instrumented bikes. In 2001, the firm moved from its 800-sq.-foot space to a larger, modernized plant. Over the next five years it built dual-suspension bikes with needle bearings, Cx road bikes with carbon monocoque frames, and introduced its Cyclocross product line. In 2004, the firm's Ollie model won 26 Magazine's "Freeride Bike of the Year" award. In 2007, the firm introduced new models to its mountain bike collection, including the MoonRacer, Desperado, Remix, Hectik, Frantik, and District. The same year it launched the Leo, a high-modulus carbon road frame. One year later, it unveiled the dual-suspension Wilson lineup. It followed this with the creation of a new downhill racing squad, using Devinci bikes on the World Cup circuit. In 2009 the Bixi public rental bike hit the streets of Montreal, performance hybrid bikes saw the addition of carbon frames, and Leo frames were redesigned. In July 2010, Barclays Cycle Hire commenced operations with 5,000 bicycles and 315 docking stations distributed across the City of London area. There are now 10,000 Bixi rental bikes in use in London, now operated under the name Santander Cycles. In May 2012, Devinci Global Racing team member, Steve Smith, pedaled to first place at the US Grand Prix in Port Angeles, WA, on Devinci's Wilson dual-suspension downhill model.
Factory/Production
Devinci has been manufacturing aluminum bicycles in various incarnations of its Chicoutimi, Que., factories since 1987. The current factory encompasses 100,000 square feet and employs 75 to 125 workers, depending on production cycles. Bicycle manufacturing begins in Devinci's R&D department. This is where Dave Weagle's patented Split Pivot suspension engineering is merged with Devinci bike frame design. Before production, an instrumented test bike is created. This technology is proprietary to Devinci and is used to measure real-world forces on a bike combined with computer CAD simulations.
Devinci Global Racing Team
Devinci Global Racing was launched in 2010, spearheaded by factory Team Manager, Gabe Fox. According to Fox, the move was designed to galvanize Devinci's commitment to World Cup downhill mountain bike racing, as well as drive in-house technological advancement of its Wilson bikes in conjunction with their core Split Pivot suspension systems. The DGR team was led by Steve "Chainsaw" Smith, a Vancouver Island native. In May 2012, Smith captured his first win of the season in round No. 1 of the US Grand Prix in Port Angeles, WA. In 2011, Smith piloted his Split Pivot Wilson to six top-ten World Cup finishes, and secured a top-five placing in Overall Standings. He also took first place at the Canadian Open in Whistler, B.C., and second at the US Open at Vernon, New Jersey. Smith won silver at the 2010 World Championships. Stevie Smith is the most successful Canadian downhill racer in history.
Devinci and Bixi
In 2009, Canada Economic Development allocated funding to help Cycles Devinci acquire equipment and reorganize its plant to produce Bixi bicycles for Stationnement de Montréal and the Société de vélo en libre-service. Bixi combines the words "bicycle" and "taxi" and is the name of Montreal's public bike system. Similar to European public bike-share models, the move was a first for Canada. In 2009, Devinci manufactured 3,000 bicycles available for rental at 300 stations across three boroughs: Ville-Marie, Plateau Mont-Royal, and Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie. The Montreal program has grown to include 5,000 bikes and 400 stations for 2012. The bikes can also be found in cities with similar bike-share programs such as Washington D.C., London, Melbourne, and Minneapolis.
