For this weekend’s first World Cup Pro Bike Check, we have the very muddy carbon Devinci Spartan HP bike that Canadian Elly Hoskins rode to a commanding win in Bielsko-Biała today. It’s a relatively short travel bike at just 160mm in the rear. But the high-pivot suspension design seemed to do the trick for the young rider from Canada, keeping the tires stuck to the rocks and slippery roots for a very wet day of enduro racing!
Elly Hoskins’ carbon Devinci Spartan HP enduro race bike
The Devinci Spartan HP enduro has been around for quite some time. We first wrote about it when Devinci moved it to a high single-pivot suspension design with an idler pulley three and half years ago. It’s also a rare carbon model in their line-up these days, from the Quebec bike maker that prides itself on its made-in-Canada aluminum mountain bike frames.
This is the 3rd season for the 21-year-old Hoskins racing on the Spartan, and Devinci just got her the new 2025 Black Dust colorway. You just can’t really see it under all of that mud.
It’s also only the second race for Hoskins as an Elite rider, and already she’s come away with a big World Cup win in Bielsko-Biała, Poland. And it was decisive, with more than 45 seconds over the second-place finisher, then another 6 seconds back for third-place. For comparison, there were 11 Elite Men who finished within 45 seconds of that race’s winner Sławomir Łukasik, and just 8 seconds separating the men’s podium.
2025 Devinci Spartan HP 160mm carbon enduro bike
Back when they introduced it, Devinci described the combination of a high-pivot chainline and their trusted Split-Pivot linkage as effectively separating braking and pedalling forces, while providing excellent small-bump compliance alongside solid pedalling efficiency.
We’re pretty sure Hoskins was running her size Small bike in its High flip-chip position (although with so much mud, we’re not 100% sure) which would give it a 65° head angle, a 77.7° seattube, lengthens Reach to 450mm, and shortens its chainstays to just 421mm for the full 29er.
Bike Build
Hoskins races with a full Shimano XTR mechanical 12-speed groupset, including XTR Enduro pedals, and a Fox Factory suspension setup – X2 in the back, what looks like a 180mm 38 up front, plus a Transfer dropper.
Cast manages her cockpit with an aluminum handlebar and sticky Bamba grips.
She’s sponsored by OneUp components who also kit her out with the EDC pump and multi-tool for emergency trailside fixes, plus their strap to hang a spare tube on her frame.
Wheels are 29″ RaceFace Era’s with SuperBoost hubs, and are wrapped with Schwalbe Tacky Chan tire front & rear for this wet, muddy race day.
What is the best saddle for muddy MTB racing?
Elly Hoskins tops off her Devinci Spartan HP with an unlabeled SDG Bell-Air saddle. I did a quick survey of about 30 riders’ saddles mid-race and post-race, and this is actually one of the cleanest saddles I saw. A lot of cutout saddles were packed full of mud!
What do you think is the best saddle for muddy mountain bike racing? Let us know in the comments.
That’s it for Elly Hoskins’ bike check, besides maybe her nice-looking Lazer Chase KinetiCore full-face helmet.
And we expect we’ll see more of her bike on the World Cup podium for years to come!
