The Return of Deviate

When Deviate Cycles closed their doors at the back end of last year, we were genuinely gutted, not just as a business but as riders.

We’d just taken delivery of a few more for the shop and a couple for customers after a hugely successful demo day at Whinlatter Forest in October. Interest was high, the feedback was flawless, and everything looked promising for the niche Scottish brand known for its high pivot, idler equipped trail and enduro bikes.

Then late 2025 marked the liquidation of the company as we knew it. And it hurt.

Half of us own the bikes too, a mix of Claymore and Highlander. Not because we were a dealer, but because there’s just something about them that hits different.

Maybe it’s the design philosophy rooted in Scottish terrain. The kind of terrain that, in many ways, mirrors what we ride here in the Lakes; steep, rough, unforgiving and technical.

Maybe it’s the thoughtful features like grease ported linkages. Real-world solutions for real-world riding!

Take Craig’s bike. He’s been on his for over 18 months and is still running the original bearings with zero signs of wear. For a bike that gets absolutely hammered around here, that’s unheard of, that alone tells you something. These bikes have a durability and refinement that’s hard to explain until you’ve lived with one.

If we’re honest, the first reaction was a little selfish.

“What do we do when we need parts?”

It wasn’t just us either, that question echoed through the close knit Deviate owners community online.

After the initial shock of the liquidation news, we started to steady ourselves. The “what ifs” slowly turned into practical thinking.

The reality?

These bikes use standard bearings. Standard seals. Serviceable components. From a mechanical standpoint, there wasn’t actually a ticking time bomb. Craig’s example proved that even after 18 months of heavy riding, everything was still running sweet and let’s be honest, if you smash a carbon frame these days, it can usually be repaired and the panic slowly faded.

You’d be hard pressed to prise our Deviates off us, once you’ve ridden one, you get it.

No chain rattle. No unnecessary noise. Just the sound of tyres clawing at the trail. that’s it.

There’s something surreal about descending on one, and that’s from an owner who has owned some of the most planted bikes on the market. Planted, composed, absurdly confident, for me at least, they don’t just handle rough trails, they thrive in them.

And even with the uncertainty hanging over the brand at the time, none of us even considered moving ours on.

That probably says everything.

Anyway, it’s now the middle of February and the announcement that Deviate Cycles are officially back in business has genuinely got us excited.

Not just in a, “that’s good news for the industry” kind of way. Properly excited!

Because nobody wants to see another independent brand disappear, certainly not one so close to home. The bike industry has taken its fair share of hits over the past couple of years, and when a company built on innovation and rider first thinking goes under, it leaves a noticeable gap.

It isn’t a faceless takeover or a quiet asset purchase. It’s a return driven by passion by people who clearly believe in the product and, more importantly, believe and back the riders who chose to invest in it.

The new company hasn’t just revived the name, they’ve upheld the warranty, and that speaks volumes.

Those intrusive thoughts we all had early on, the “what happens if…?” scenarios have finally been put to bed. Frame issues. Linkages. Long-term support. All the stuff that lingers in the back of your mind when a brand disappears overnight, Gone.

For the existing community that reassurance means everything, It tells us we weren’t left behind. It reinforces the idea that Deviate isn’t just a product it’s a group of riders, engineers, and believers who weren’t willing to let something special fade.

And selfishly? It means we can keep riding ours without that tiny shadow hanging over them.

It means future demo days
It means new customers getting to experience that first descent.
It means fresh bikes on the fells that were built for them.

Most importantly, it means the story continues.

And for us as riders first and a business second that’s what matters most.