Category Archives: Bikes

In case you haven’t heard. The 2012 Norco lineup is bringing some new models to the table that blow the old bikes out of the water. One recent post by bikerumor.com ran through some of the top mountain bikes for 2012.

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Norco introduced four new full suspension mountain bike platforms for 2012. All carry the same flowing hydroformed tube shapes and graphic design, which gives them a nice family resemblance. Up top is the all-new Aurum, which replaces the Team DH as Norco’s pro-level downhill mountain bike. Before we dive into the details, we’ll cover some of the sweeping changes that affect the entire lineup.

All of Norco’s full sussers now use their ART suspension that was introduced on last year’s bikes. It’s their proprietary version of an FSR design. The main difference versus what they’ve used in the past are the pivot placements, particularly the rear Horst pivot – the one just below and in front of the dropout. By dropping it lower, it creates a more rearward axle path and gives the new bikes a more progressive leverage curve. At the beginning of the stroke, the rear wheel has a lot of leverage over the shock, which gives it a supple feel over the little stuff for good traction. Hit something a little bigger and Norco says the design allows the suspension to move with and around square edge bumps like rocks, logs and curbs. Go even bigger and the ART suspension ramps up toward the end of the stroke to provide a “bottomless” feel. In addition to all that, ART claims to keep the suspension very active under braking.

Read More at bikerumor.com