Norco Sight/ Giant Trance vs Norco Range/ Giant Reign

[s14]

Hey guys,

I currently ride a 2012 Anthem X 29er 0 and am looking at upgrading.

I often ride Appin, Kentlyn, The Oaks, Lake Parramatta, Wylde Mountain bike park, Yellowmundee and ride Mt Stromlo once a year when i can make it down there.

I often bottom out the travel on my Anthem and feel like i need something with a bit more travel.

Im tossing up between a 2015 Norco Sight 7.1 and Norco Range 7.1.

Also very interested in the Giant Trance and Giant Reign.

Are the Sight and Trance more than enough bike for the Trails I ride or should i go with the 160mm bikes?

 

[redline316]

Hey guys,

I currently ride a 2012 Anthem X 29er 0 and am looking at upgrading.

I often ride Appin, Kentlyn, The Oaks, Lake Parramatta, Wylde Mountain bike park, Yellowmundee and ride Mt Stromlo once a year when i can make it down there.

I often bottom out the travel on my Anthem and feel like i need something with a bit more travel.

Im tossing up between a 2015 Norco Sight 7.1 and Norco Range 7.1.

Also very interested in the Giant Trance and Giant Reign.

Are the Sight and Trance more than enough bike for the Trails I ride or should i go with the 160mm bikes?

I've got the 2015 giant trance I pretty much ride the same trails that your riding and i find that its more than enough travel to get the job done imo.

 

[marc.r]

for those trails i'd go a trance or a sight.. 160mm is overkill unless you are pushin it on rowdy downhills or planning to use your trail bike for downhill/bikepark style riding or often doing gravity enduro events.

 

[Clyde Dave]

May as well go the whole hog and get the Range I reckon. I know a bloke that owns one and he is the fussiest person I know in regards to bike performance.
He is wrapped in how it climbs and descends. He is no slouch in either department!
Also, he works at a MTB magazine so pretty much has his pick of bikes and chose the Range, so I guess that says something!

 

[s14]

The Range seems like a lot of bike for what i'll be using it for at the moment, but I don't want to get the Sight and in 6 months time regret it when i'm hitting the downs a lot harder which is what happened when i got the Anthem.

I also don't want to be struggling riding up the causeway at Glenbrook at the end of the Oaks. I dont at the moment with the Anthem.

 

[JTmofo]

Gotta agree with Marc above. The trails you mentioned have very little need for a 160mm AM/Enduro rig.
If you foresee yourself riding some more gnarly trails, then a longer travel and slacker bike might suit, but you'll enjoy a fast rolling and efficient climbing trail bike more for the trails your riding at the moment.
I ride a slack 160mm AM bike, but I ride rough DH and enduro trails as well as single track and Fire road stuff. If I had the wedge, I'd buy a 120-140mm 29er for the smoother trail riding as the 160mm can be hard work grinding up climbs.

My mate has a Trek Fuel EX 9 29er and its one of the best all rounders I've ridden, fast, fun and efficient.

 

[Mattydv]

Regardless of what brand you choose, stick to 140mm mate. 160 is absolute overkill - line choice and a bit of extra practice will easily make up for the 20mm difference in travel and you won't be sacrificing any responsiveness.

 

[s14]

Thanks for the replies. I talked to the LBS this arvo and he told me the 2016 norco's should start coming out juneish.
He'll grab me a demo of both Sight and Range and ill see which one I like more. Im in no hurry anyway.

 

[Werewolph]

The Range is suprisingly good at the climbs, taking the travel into consideration. It's definitely the best of both worlds, between the Sight and the Aurum. I picked up my 7.3 this arvo. I'd say that you would be better off with the test ride, just to see what your personal preference would be.

 

[marc.r]

interesting read on norcos on pinkbike today. a bit of discussion about the ranges climbing ability being the result of good amount of antisquat. after reading a bit on the linkage design blog about the norco sight it seems it has really high antisquat too. any riders noticing the rear end really firming up under strong pedaling uphill? while this is a really desirable trait on smooth climbs do you ever feel its a negative on techy climbs or bumpy slight uphills?

 

[Klips]

After seeing someone send the road gap at Stromlo on a trance, that should answer the question for there. The reign/range would suck for the climbs for minimal extra benefit. Can't vouch for the other trails.

 

[StuartO]

Get the 160mm with adjustable pikes. That way you have the 160mm travel when you need it. I went through the 140 v 160mm when i got mine. Everyone says 140 is enough but i find i can bottom my 160. Only because im seeking bigger drops and bombing faster downhill then i would have on a 140.

If you feel adventurous get the 160. If you want to ride faster then your mates get the 140.

 

[Werewolph]

The Range is extremely plush when you need it to be, but on the up hills, I barely noticed the rear, and tried using the lockout on the front, and went a few tubes uphill without the lockout. While on, it's definitely less effort to go uphill, but it wasn't a massive struggle without it.

 

[ducky1988]

After seeing someone send the road gap at Stromlo on a trance, that should answer the question for there. The reign/range would suck for the climbs for minimal extra benefit. Can't vouch for the other trails.

Was it to flat? I hate it when people use jumps as an example of the bikes strength. A bmx can handle a road gap if the landings good enough.

My friend cracked the seat tube on his trance, now has a reign and loves it.

 

[Paldini]

Trance

In January I was going through a similar thought process. Trance vs sight vs trek remedy vs specialised stumpjumper evo. 4k budget.

Test rode them all (incl both wheel sizes of the remedy) except the norco sight (because I couldn't find a test rig or demo day). I wanted the stumpy to be the best because I liked the look of it the most, but for me the trance won easily. I ride the northern beaches damn, red hill and oxford falls and I found it handled the rocky ledge climbs really well no the slack 67 degree head made the descents a blast.

I bought the trance 1. Alu frame carbon wheels. Love it.

My only regret is that is doesn't look as cool as the sight!

 

[Axelnose]

I have the Range 7.1 alloy 2015 and prior to this I have owned a fair few bikes but this is my first 650b.
I wanted a bie to replace my downhill bike (status 2) and my 2012 enduro. I sold both and after so much research I bit the bullet and bought the new Range. I'm 6'1 and chose the large frame and tbh I sometimes feel like it's a bit too long in the corners and I don't think it's the frame as much as I think it's the 650 wheels. I love the way they roll over rocks and roots but found the enduro and my 2011 nomad killed the Range in the turns.
On the other hand, one of my mates has a 2015sight carbon and the other had a 2015reign alloy (as a demo) and ended buying a carbon 2015 Trance instead. He said the new reign was just too slack for gaining speed out of corners comparing to his old bike (2012 Reign) which shares the same geo specs as the 2015 trance he ended up buying.
As for the Sight owner... He loves his bike but ended up buying a DH rig as we'll because he didn't want to destroy the Sight on DH trails.
Where as me...I have taken my Range everywhere. We all went to my Buller and whilst they both took two bikes I only took one. I was ever so slightly slower on the abomb and copperhead but when we did the epic I couldn't keep up with the sight (much fitter rider than me) but was neck and neck w the trance (on par fitness wise).
I do find I have to concentrate a lot on climbs as the front end lifts up a lot due to the head angle but tbh I rather not be as fast to the top of the hill as everyone will wait for you regardless haha but I rather not have to worry if my bike will break on the way down as it will be using all it's travel all the time.
I only wish I was my Range was a 26er as I think it would be a lot more fun to ride. Oh, it's only downfall IMO is small bump sensitivity is lacking somewhat comparing to the giant and my old enduro.

I don't think i helped did I. :/

 

[s14]

In January I was going through a similar thought process. Trance vs sight vs trek remedy vs specialised stumpjumper evo. 4k budget.

Test rode them all (incl both wheel sizes of the remedy) except the norco sight (because I couldn't find a test rig or demo day). I wanted the stumpy to be the best because I liked the look of it the most, but for me the trance won easily. I ride the northern beaches damn, red hill and oxford falls and I found it handled the rocky ledge climbs really well no the slack 67 degree head made the descents a blast.

I bought the trance 1. Alu frame carbon wheels. Love it.

My only regret is that is doesn't look as cool as the sight!

I'm off to check out all these bikes on Monday. The Remedy and stumpy look good. The Trance looks good too, but I kinda wanna try another brand as all I've owned are giants.

I do think I'll stick to the 140mm travel bikes.

 

[caad9]

See if you can find a Kona Process 134 or Lapierre Zesty to ride.
The Zesty is a pretty impressive bike, as is the Process.

Just spent 3-4 days on the Process 134 around Bright/Beauty/Falls Creek and loved it.
Geometry is really good and it was more fun to ride than the much more expensive Sight we also had with us.

If the Process interests you at all, there's a carbon one dropping very soon, this will be a massive hit

 

[ducky1988]

I have the Range 7.1 alloy 2015 and prior to this I have owned a fair few bikes but this is my first 650b.
I wanted a bie to replace my downhill bike (status 2) and my 2012 enduro. I sold both and after so much research I bit the bullet and bought the new Range. I'm 6'1 and chose the large frame and tbh I sometimes feel like it's a bit too long in the corners and I don't think it's the frame as much as I think it's the 650 wheels. I love the way they roll over rocks and roots but found the enduro and my 2011 nomad killed the Range in the turns.
On the other hand, one of my mates has a 2015sight carbon and the other had a 2015reign alloy (as a demo) and ended buying a carbon 2015 Trance instead. He said the new reign was just too slack for gaining speed out of corners comparing to his old bike (2012 Reign) which shares the same geo specs as the 2015 trance he ended up buying.
As for the Sight owner... He loves his bike but ended up buying a DH rig as we'll because he didn't want to destroy the Sight on DH trails.
Where as me...I have taken my Range everywhere. We all went to my Buller and whilst they both took two bikes I only took one. I was ever so slightly slower on the abomb and copperhead but when we did the epic I couldn't keep up with the sight (much fitter rider than me) but was neck and neck w the trance (on par fitness wise).
I do find I have to concentrate a lot on climbs as the front end lifts up a lot due to the head angle but tbh I rather not be as fast to the top of the hill as everyone will wait for you regardless haha but I rather not have to worry if my bike will break on the way down as it will be using all it's travel all the time.
I only wish I was my Range was a 26er as I think it would be a lot more fun to ride. Oh, it's only downfall IMO is small bump sensitivity is lacking somewhat comparing to the giant and my old enduro.

I don't think i helped did I. :/

Have you put the spacers in the forks yet? have you considered a volume reducer in the shock?
I put one spacer and am putting a spacer in the rear to allow for more ramp up in the shock. I rode my friends alloy with a monarch plus in the rear and it's a completely different bike. The only thing that lets min down at the butter wheels, bad fox shock and shallow bolt heads.

As for the cornering, I found that you can be a shit tonne more aggressive in the turns without it letting go.

I tested a trance carbon before buying my range. I found that when under power on downhills the rear suspension just feels ugly because of its climbing orientation. It was a fun bike to throw around on smaller jumps but I reckon it would be broken now if I got that. The dual air suspension was useless at the front because every time you lowered it you would be clipping pedals.

 

[s14]

So after throwing a leg over both the trance and reign (only parking lot which isnt a great indication), i decided i'd be happy with either.

There are no more Giant reign 2's left in australia in small, which is what i wanted, but I was able to get a Reign Advanced 1 for heaps cheaper than rrp.

So I put a deposit on the advanced 1 and am waiting for it to be built at the LBS.

Cant wait for the weekend!