I picked this up on Friday in an attempt to achieve the impossible equation of N-1. As a proponent of N+1 over the years I thought this would be worth a try.
So I culled my fleet down by selling my Intense Spider 29 and my Intense Carbine 27.5 hoping that the Norco could be the bike that is capable on roughish terrain but also pedals well enough to do XC style riding with.
I bought the bike from a shop that I didn't even know existed because they were the only people who had stock in my size, apparently Norco brought in very few units and they sold almost immediately. The shop build on the bike was shit, no grease on anything and the cockpit/cable setup is a fucking birds nest. I shouldn't expect better but I would have thought they'd take a bit more care.
The setup is currently stock except for 54T star ratchet, tubeless, seat and XTR pedals. I haven't put it on the scales but I'm guessing the wrong side of 13kg which is a bit of a shock coming off 11kg bikes
Anyway, I took it for it's maiden voyage last night for a very quick run up some fire trails behind my house - about 5km of steep climbing and descending. I've got the rear sag at 25% and although the traction is great it's certainly does not pedal well. I am comparing this to my two Intense bikes which are both lighter and have carbon wheels, so it's probably not fair but I know why they spec such a small chain ring on this thing. In comparison my Spider 29 ran 34T up front and 46T cassette and I seldom used the lowest gear, the Norco runs 30T/51T and it was certainly required. Descending is a different matter though and even though it's only got 125mm travel on the back it really is a very capable thing, not as poppy as my Carbine was but it jumps really well and is very stable. It's also not very quiet which I'm none too happy about but I'll have to spend a bit more time on the setup to identify what the rattle is.
I was initially sceptical about the Pike Ultimate thinking that it was a thin veneer of silver paint and a thick coating of marketing bullshit, but it's a pretty nice fork. Maybe not as nice as my custom tuned DVO Diamonds but the settings are literally set in the middle of the range so with tuning I'm sure they'll be impressive. I don't like the lack of a QR axle though, who uses a fucking 6mm anyway!
The XTR 12 speed is currently not my favourite with the shifter not working correctly, so I'll refrain from shit canning it until I work out what the fuck is going wrong. After riding for a minute or so in the middle of the cassette the lever fails to pull the cable and just goes to the end of its stroke so you end up pumping it (just like XTR brakes) to get some action.
The spec is strange on this bike, XTR drivetrain, E13 carbon cranks (no other E13 parts on the bike?), shitty X-Fusion dropper, shitty grips, shitty seat but Race Face carbon bars.
On the things to do list:
Norco Optic C1 Medium - Carbon front/alloy rear
XTR Drivetrain
XTR Brakes (not any more)
X-Fusion Manic dropper 150mm
Race Face carbon bars
Norco branded stem
Specialized (eeew) Phenom carbon seat
Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35 Rear
Schwalbe Magic Mary 2.35 Front
Stans Flow rims on DT350's
E13 Carbon cranks
Pike Ultimate
Rockshox insert too many superlatives here rear shock
So I culled my fleet down by selling my Intense Spider 29 and my Intense Carbine 27.5 hoping that the Norco could be the bike that is capable on roughish terrain but also pedals well enough to do XC style riding with.
I bought the bike from a shop that I didn't even know existed because they were the only people who had stock in my size, apparently Norco brought in very few units and they sold almost immediately. The shop build on the bike was shit, no grease on anything and the cockpit/cable setup is a fucking birds nest. I shouldn't expect better but I would have thought they'd take a bit more care.
The setup is currently stock except for 54T star ratchet, tubeless, seat and XTR pedals. I haven't put it on the scales but I'm guessing the wrong side of 13kg which is a bit of a shock coming off 11kg bikes
Anyway, I took it for it's maiden voyage last night for a very quick run up some fire trails behind my house - about 5km of steep climbing and descending. I've got the rear sag at 25% and although the traction is great it's certainly does not pedal well. I am comparing this to my two Intense bikes which are both lighter and have carbon wheels, so it's probably not fair but I know why they spec such a small chain ring on this thing. In comparison my Spider 29 ran 34T up front and 46T cassette and I seldom used the lowest gear, the Norco runs 30T/51T and it was certainly required. Descending is a different matter though and even though it's only got 125mm travel on the back it really is a very capable thing, not as poppy as my Carbine was but it jumps really well and is very stable. It's also not very quiet which I'm none too happy about but I'll have to spend a bit more time on the setup to identify what the rattle is.
I was initially sceptical about the Pike Ultimate thinking that it was a thin veneer of silver paint and a thick coating of marketing bullshit, but it's a pretty nice fork. Maybe not as nice as my custom tuned DVO Diamonds but the settings are literally set in the middle of the range so with tuning I'm sure they'll be impressive. I don't like the lack of a QR axle though, who uses a fucking 6mm anyway!
The XTR 12 speed is currently not my favourite with the shifter not working correctly, so I'll refrain from shit canning it until I work out what the fuck is going wrong. After riding for a minute or so in the middle of the cassette the lever fails to pull the cable and just goes to the end of its stroke so you end up pumping it (just like XTR brakes) to get some action.
The spec is strange on this bike, XTR drivetrain, E13 carbon cranks (no other E13 parts on the bike?), shitty X-Fusion dropper, shitty grips, shitty seat but Race Face carbon bars.
On the things to do list:
- Carbon wheels
- Fit my Hope brakes - XTR brakes don't excite me (or stop for that matter)
- Bike Yoke dropper or transfer my Magura Vyron over
- Better grips
Norco Optic C1 Medium - Carbon front/alloy rear
XTR Drivetrain
XTR Brakes (not any more)
X-Fusion Manic dropper 150mm
Race Face carbon bars
Norco branded stem
Specialized (eeew) Phenom carbon seat
Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35 Rear
Schwalbe Magic Mary 2.35 Front
Stans Flow rims on DT350's
E13 Carbon cranks
Pike Ultimate
Rockshox insert too many superlatives here rear shock
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