Deviate is about to launch its first ever e-bike, called the Kurgan it gets 165mm travel via a high pivot idler suspension design, Bosch CX motor with the new display, and two builds from £7,999.

And while the bike hasn’t officially launched yet, Deviate was hiding the two models in plain sight at its Ard Rock stand. Just as an aside, this is one of the things I love best about Ard Rock, the ability to sniff out new bikes in their natural environment, and away from those austere bike show halls.

Deviate uses its famous high pivot and idler design on the new Kurgan e-bike

Devite Kurgan need to know

• 165mm e-bike with mullet wheels and a 180mm fork
• Two builds are listed on the site, starting at £7,999
• Powered by the new Bosch CX motor with 750W power
• Uses Devite’s signature high pivot idler suspension design

The website doesn’t give away much information about the new Deviate Kurgan, but it seems to come in two builds. This is the Fox Elite version in a colour called Shiel Teal at £7,999; and there’s also a posher Factory Fox build in Cairn Grey at £9,999.

Deviate’s Kurgan is a mullet-wheeled 165mm high-pivot e-bike that sets you back £8k in this Fox Performance Elite guise

The Kurgan joins a handful of new e-bikes using high pivot suspension designs. Earlier this year Forbidden launched the new Druid Core with its DJI Avinox motor, while the Velduro Rogue was spotted at the China bike show in the spring.

The Deviate Kurgan gets more travel than both those, and – judging by the website – burlier components including coil suspension, and more aggressive geometry. That makes sense given this is a bike designed in Scotland and for use on properly gnarly tracks.

Deviate Kurgan e-bike geometry chart

The Bosch CX powered Kurgan comes with 165mm rear travel with the brand’s signature high pivot layout. It comes in three sizes, where reach spans between 455mm in the short position in size Medium, up to 510mm in the long position in Large. With a 180mm fork, the head angle is 63.5° and the seat angle a steep 78°.

As it stands, Deviate is still just taking preorders on the new bike, drop £100 and you can secure one of the bikes.

The Kurgan is optimised for a coil shock

Here’s what I’ve sussed out from running an eye over the bike then. First up it’s a mullet-wheeled bike, where that rear wheel is controlled by Fox’s latest DHX2 coil shock.

There’s no sign of a flip chip so I’m thinking travel and geometry are fixed on the Kurgan and the upper mount looks non-adjustable

The front triangle is full carbon with internal routing. There’s also a reach-adjust headset solution in there that’ll grow or shrink the reach, it means the headtube looks a little fatter than normal to accommodate it. Bosch’s latest display is neatly integrated and you can see the reach-adjust headset cups here.

Idlers cause extra drag, but when you’ve got 750W of power to play with perhaps it’s no big deal

The 18t idler wheel has a central grease port to keep things running smoothly, while the lower idler keeps the chain stable and should also help the rear suspension feel even plusher. In fact, the short upper link is part of Deviate’s VPP suspension design and all pivot points come with grease ports to keep things smooth.

The downtube has multiple mounts on it, which is great because you could add a range extender and up to two water bottles.