Rasatouche
Likes Bikes
Having picked up a cheap truax in the recent Grays Online sale, New Norcos = awesome In my personally biased opinion (Or IMPBO, as every MTBR review ever should say 
). They look badass with the hydroforming, are insanely stiff (I've felt no flex anywhere and that's with my 120kg fat arse on it), the syntace system is wicked once you work out how to line it up properly when changing a flat, never need a new hanger, just a cheap $2 bolt that you store in the frame so you never 'forget' it on that ride when you do need it. You know, how you always do with tubes and pumps and your multi-tool. Bike feels nice to jump, easy to move about in the air, feels very nimble, coming from a reign X0 to this as my 'do it all trailbike' I couldn't be more impressed. Spec on it was a bit rubbish...but it was properly cheap ($1500 for a 7/7 bike with totems...and it was brand new). The 'ART' suspension (Ok Norco marketing, come on now, it's just FSR with some albeit, wicked tweaks) is good, it's got that nice 'lively' feel I suppose like specialized bikes, only a bit less bobby when you're cranking it hard. My only bike i've been able to compare it to is an old demo 9 so I can't comment how it compares to the newer specialized bikes.
But what impressed me most, is that after you bomb a trail, it's actually a bike you can pedal back up the hill. Sure it's not going to do technical rock climbs anytime soon, but riding back up a road, my fitness runs out before I get to a slope where the front end gets all washy and I feel I need to dismount. It's a 16 - 17 kg freeride bike where you just raise the post, get nice leg extension, and just spin up to the top. Doesn't feel like the bike is just chewing all my energy on the way up either. Did I also mention it's stiff? Like, Stiffer than a priest in a pre-school stiff :tape:.
So if the Aurum is a nicer, slacker, racier ride like the truax, i'd pick it in a hearbeat over a glory. Not to mention if you want a size other than a medium, the norco gives you 'correct' geometry with their whole crazy we keep everything in proportion on different sized bikes deal. Or 'gravity tune' as their over-exuberant marketing department have called it. Besides (Dons Flame Suit), the BB on the glory puts you up so high it's like riding on stilts and the head angle is so steep you feel like you're going to go over the bars when you roll down your driveway . I kid, I kid. But seriously, norco = new product, so still a bit unknown atm, but it's sex (integrated bumpers, integrated seatpost clamp, etc etc), wheras 2012 glory = 2010 glory without the option to buy one stock with 40's and saint groupo if that matters. For similar money, i'd go the norco .
). They look badass with the hydroforming, are insanely stiff (I've felt no flex anywhere and that's with my 120kg fat arse on it), the syntace system is wicked once you work out how to line it up properly when changing a flat, never need a new hanger, just a cheap $2 bolt that you store in the frame so you never 'forget' it on that ride when you do need it. You know, how you always do with tubes and pumps and your multi-tool. Bike feels nice to jump, easy to move about in the air, feels very nimble, coming from a reign X0 to this as my 'do it all trailbike' I couldn't be more impressed. Spec on it was a bit rubbish...but it was properly cheap ($1500 for a 7/7 bike with totems...and it was brand new). The 'ART' suspension (Ok Norco marketing, come on now, it's just FSR with some albeit, wicked tweaks) is good, it's got that nice 'lively' feel I suppose like specialized bikes, only a bit less bobby when you're cranking it hard. My only bike i've been able to compare it to is an old demo 9 so I can't comment how it compares to the newer specialized bikes. But what impressed me most, is that after you bomb a trail, it's actually a bike you can pedal back up the hill. Sure it's not going to do technical rock climbs anytime soon, but riding back up a road, my fitness runs out before I get to a slope where the front end gets all washy and I feel I need to dismount. It's a 16 - 17 kg freeride bike where you just raise the post, get nice leg extension, and just spin up to the top. Doesn't feel like the bike is just chewing all my energy on the way up either. Did I also mention it's stiff? Like, Stiffer than a priest in a pre-school stiff :tape:.
So if the Aurum is a nicer, slacker, racier ride like the truax, i'd pick it in a hearbeat over a glory. Not to mention if you want a size other than a medium, the norco gives you 'correct' geometry with their whole crazy we keep everything in proportion on different sized bikes deal. Or 'gravity tune' as their over-exuberant marketing department have called it
. Besides (Dons Flame Suit), the BB on the glory puts you up so high it's like riding on stilts and the head angle is so steep you feel like you're going to go over the bars when you roll down your driveway . I kid, I kid. But seriously, norco = new product, so still a bit unknown atm, but it's sex (integrated bumpers, integrated seatpost clamp, etc etc), wheras 2012 glory = 2010 glory without the option to buy one stock with 40's and saint groupo if that matters. For similar money, i'd go the norco .
Last edited:
