Left image: Long Live Chainsaw. Stevie is sorely missed by all inside and outside of Devinci. Right image: The office walls in their Chicoutimi base are filled with past memorabilia with the likes of the 'BigBang' on show.

Some of the first step in the birth of a new model. The Devinci R&D team were (quite rightly) pretty keen to keep a lot of what they work on under wraps.

It started with a bike crash, a big accident in 1988. I had to get stitches in the face, and I broke my leg. I was recovering and I was telling my friend I wanted to buy a new aluminium frame. He told me that there was someone making aluminium bikes in town and that I should look him up. So I met the local guy and bought one from him. Two years later I lost my parents and got a small inheritance. The frame builder came to me, he was looking for a partner. I got involved not really knowing what I was getting into. He had zero employees and zero customers, and I realised that he had several frames waiting on warranty repairs. I asked myself, ‘What should I do?’ — Felix Gauthier

Devinci's hometown of Chicoutimi also happens to be one of Canada's biggest aluminium producers meaning there's plenty of readily available raw material and aluminium expertise at their disposal.

Holes being drilled in an individual frame section before moving onto the welders.

Each frame that leaves the factory is proudly stamped 'Made in Canada'.

Welding jigs of various models waiting for their turn on the welding table, these are also made in the factory.

The majority of Devinci's alloy frames are still lovingly made in house in Chicoutimi.

Several of our employees have been here since almost day one. People at Devinci are extremely passionate. They ride during their lunch breaks, they travel for bike trips, and they build bike trails out here in our backyard. The company has a family vibe. We’re all working under the same roof and most of the staff live here in town. We often ride together, which helps solidify the bonds. — Felix Gauthier

Once welded each section is placed onto a rack before heading to be heat treated.

Too hot to touch!

It was the need for a new oven that nearly stopped Devinci in its early days, they have since upgraded their original 'homemade' oven.

Front triangles of the legendary Devinci Wilson.

Trial and error and the search for answers to problems is really how it all started. And as we evolved we learned how to limit the error part. How? With great minds and great employees, and by partnering with universities and a local aluminium smelter to improve the process. All these elements enable us to thoroughly prototype and test products, but with very limited error because we know what we’re doing. It was fine to be ‘trial and error’ in the 90s, but now it’s so competitive you really need to have your shit figured out. — Felix Gauthier

The heat treatment process is a controlled series of warming and cooling of the aluminium frames, something which Devinci's early founder struggled to master before Felix took the reigns.

Once the frames have finished their heat treatment process they are straightened and aligned on this table. Pictured is Bryan Dery AKA The Red Hammer.

The frame torture room.

This test bed applies similar forces to what the frame will find on the trail, simulating years of use in a matter of minutes or hours.

The frames are painted yellow so any possible cracks are easier to identify.

As mountain bikers it would be easy to overlook Devinci's involvement in a City Bike program , but they have produced over 60,000 bikes in 26 cities across the world. Not one has come back for warranty in their 11 years of involvement in the program.

Well, we can never sleep because it's always changing. But we’re well positioned because we have a great, forward-thinking team. This includes our passionate in- house staff, but it also extends to our athletes and ambassadors around the world. These guys are out there racing and riding everyday. They’re really tuned to the latest trends, and the feedback they provide keeps us in-step, or even a step ahead of what’s happening. — Felix Gauthier

The carbon frames are manufactured in Asia under Devinci's own supervision and quality control before being shipped to Canada to be assembled.

The result of all the hard work put in by everyone at the Chicoutimi factory.

Devinci's story was almost stopped in its tracks before it had even got going. In 1990, Felix Gauthier took the plunge and invested into a little known bike manufacturer called Da Vinci who were fabricating aluminium bike frames in his home city of Chicoutimi. It only took a few months for Felix to realise the road ahead was going to be a rough ride. Hundreds frames hung over his head for warranty thanks to a fault in their manufacturing methods. To remedy it would require a costly investment in an oven to perfect the heat treatment on their frames, which they simply could not afford.The only route forward was to build their own oven which was still by no means cost effective for a company still to find its feet but with the right infrastructure and processes nailed, they could at the very least finally start chipping away at the warranty pile. “In 1993 I was replacing more frames than I was selling” Felix admits.Fast forward to the present and Devinci is still working out of Chicoutimi with Felix at the helm, still proudly stamping ‘"Made in Canada" into each aluminium frame welded in the Factory. Of course things are now plain sailing compared to the first footsteps that Devinci took in the market, but that doesn't mean Felix and his team are taking a back seat approach as he reminds me: “we can never sleep, the market is always changing.”Walking through the factory is like walking through Devinci's history. There are memories of the late Stevie Smith dotted throughout, he is sorely missed by everyone both inside and outside of Devinci. Trophies from World Cup wins and EWS success are proudly on show with old relics like the 'BigBang' now retired to shelves above office desks. Somewhere round the back you'll even come across the old oven that has since been decommissioned after playing a pivotal roll in the early years. There's a loyalty and proudness that runs deep inside the walls here. @rossbellphoto @devinci