A story of creation, YYZ’s roots hearken back to the late ’80s when Devinci was an infant brand bench-making aluminum frames at its headquarters in Chicoutimi, Canada. The mountain bike scene was similarly milk-fed back then, in the process of meandering from Marin County, California to Vancouver’s rugged North Shore. The geographical gear-shift spurred big changes to bike designs in general.
In the late ’80s, the XYZ was a cutting-edge prototype with the kind of artistry you’d appreciate while ogling it through your bitchin’ Oakley Blades. Today’s YYZ is the party-on incarnation, representing decades of team- and trail-driven innovations.
“One of our long-lost designers came up with the original XYZ mountain bike design,” says Steve Mitchell, renowned bike collector and Devinci’s B.C. sales rep. “It was kinda like this ugly-duckling of ridiculousness. With no one to explain it to us, we decided to bring it back and interrogate it for secrets. That’s how the YYZ was born.”