AM Norco Sight A1 29er 2021

Spike-X

Grumpy Old Sarah
Interesting to see how you find they compare riding wise
Ok, first impressions after a couple of different rides:

PROS -

The new model is great on techy climbs. With the steep seat tube angle putting your weight further forward, the front wheel tracks amazingly well; you can actually hold a line, rather than just pointing it in the general direction of where you want it to go and hoping for the best. I was able to get up and over a couple of features I'd not been able to manage previously.

Once you get to the top and point it down through the rough stuff, it blows the bloody doors off. Descending Currawong, I found the 2017 Sight to be at its absolute limit through the more difficult sections. The new one just eats it up and asks for more. It carries speed really well, and remains stable and controllable the whole time. I found myself braking a whole lot less, and absolutely blasting through sections where I'd previously had to be a little more cautious. I have so much more confidence in this bike to get through stuff that the old model struggled with.

CONS -

It's not as (cliche incoming!) 'poppy and playful' as the 2017 model. I'm not able to get it off the ground off small stuff like I could with the old one, but when you do get it in the air over bigger jumps and drops, it feels much more controlled and predictable, so it's worth the small sacrifice of not being able to bounce all over the place like a teenager with a bellyful of Monster.

It really doesn't like 'just riding along'. This is definitely not a bike for your flattish green trails. You need to be going fast through rough stuff* to really get the best out of it, but when you do, it's just amazing. I was grinning like the village idiot touching a boob for the first time after my first descent on this bike, and I don't expect that feeling to go away any time soon.



* Look at those three words together and just think about the English language for a moment.
 
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