This weekend is the start of the 2010 event season for Norco at The Seattle Bike Expo. This is an annual event hosted by the Cascade Bicycle Club in Seattle, Washington. The show should draw in excess of 200 exhibitors and thousands of consumers over the course of two days.
If you are in the Seattle area over March 13th – 14th, head on down to the Seattle Cruise Ship terminal and say hello. Norco will be there showing off 2010 bikes, giving away a Norco Hades Bike and Factory Team rider Ryan Leech will be conducting Trials Demonstrations throughout the day.
The concept of training wheels as a learning tool is on its way out… The Runner is the new way to learn how to ride a bike. The Runner is a kids bike that has no pedals, no cranks and no BB. It is a bike that a child can use to push themselves around and learn balance at an extremely young age. Being able to sit down and touch the ground gives the safety of training wheels with the freedom and valuable skill of balance a full on bicycle offers. Kids as young as 2 years old can jump on a runner and will never look back!
If this was around when I was a kid, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten to know the rose bushes so well???
Norco full suspension bikes have featured adjustable travel for quite some time. In fact, VPS stands for Variable Point Suspension, referring to the adjustable travel. The travel is adjusted by moving the shock position between points A and B. For all 2010 Norco bikes with adjustable travel Point A is the long travel position and Point B is the short travel position. In the 2010 lineup there are several bike that offer this adjustability such as the LT series, Fluid series, Faze 2 and 3 and the Phena. Each of these bikes has two travel options as listed below.
LT 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 – 137mm – 158mm
Fluid SE, 1, 2, 3 – 116mm – 143mm
Faze 2, 3 – 100mm-120mm
Phena – 116mm – 143mm
When adjusting travel between settings on many bikes there are adverse affects that can reduce ride quality or decrease performance. Not on a Norco though… when you change the travel on any of these mentioned bikes the head angle, and BB height remain constant. The only difference is the change in travel and a more or less progressive shock stroke. I.E. The long travel mode has a lower leverage ratio and more progressive stroke. The result – short travel is a linear, more XC type ride while long travel is a more active, agressive setup.
Thanks to Steve Bown for asking to learn more on the matter
Today marks one full year since the launch of the Norco Blog. That is right, 365 days have passed since that first post on January 5th 2009. The year has had some great events, incredible rides and even some technical training along the way. In my biased oppinion, these were the top 10 events of the year through the eyes of the blog
Day 6 of the California Road trip was riding with friends from Bike Magazine and Bicycle Retailer. Nothing like Southern California in the dead of winter.
The 2010 Norco Product Launch was held in Vancouver British Columbia. A select few from around the world were chosen to have the first look at the new bikes.
14 Norco employees participated in a Cyclebetes Spinathon held in West Vancouver. The event raised $110,000 towards finding a cure for Juvenile Diabetes.
I was given the opportunity to ride in Whitehorse this past year with Ride Guide TV. I didn’t know what to expect going in and was blown away with the riding, the people and the scenery!
The bicycle chain is a staple and a standard for the bicycle. It has been nearly commoditised with its genericy and now, could it become obsolete? Don’t get me wrong there is something to be said about a quality chain but really, it is pretty boring. Isn’t there another choice?
The chain has evolved over the past few decades, it has become, stronger, lighter, narrower and longer lasting but really there has not been a major technological breakthrough since the early 80s. Comparing something like suspension technology to that of the chain is like comparing a Large Hadron Collider with cavemen using tools… both had their 15 minutes of fame but one is slightly more impressive than the other.
I have recently been given the opportunity to try out a 2010 Norco Judan which is using the Gates Carbon Drive system. The idea of a 29er singlespeed bike using a belt is to say the least – a little bit of a foreign concept. I thru in the towel on hardtails the better part of a decade ago and thought I would never go back. Well, I am, and I am kind of excited about it. The idea of a singlespeed 29er entices me. It will be fast, it will be quiet, and it should be pretty much maintenance free – after all there isn’t really anything to go wrong.
I am a couple of rides into my testing so far and I must say, I am starting to like it. At first I was a little bit detered by the gear ratio. Some of those hills were a little intense for my liking and I was tempted to walk up a couple of steep bits. But, I pushed through and had a blast on the descents. The big wheels can seemingly roll over anything, the frame has the comfort of steel and the belt has been flawless. Only time will tell though if this is the new flavour for 2010. The belt is the first viable option to a traditional chain. There are a few limitations but only time will tell how far it will go.
More Updates Soon… What do you think of the belt? Good Idea? Bad Idea?
