Category Archives: Mountain

Cinco de Sombrio Photo Shoot

Post by Darcy Turenne

It was really nice of summer to kick winter in the butt and take spring’s place, wasn’t it?

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I got to ring in the hot May weekend-of-the-century by shooting with my long time friend (and brilliant photographer) Harookz down in Hood River for the Dakine 2014 catalogue.

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Hood River is always one of my favourite places to ride. Post Canyon a flow-haven and Syncline boasts breathtaking views this time of year because the wildflowers are in full swing. Personally, I could ride Post Canyon every day and be happy, but this year we were super lucky to go to a zone across the river on a trail that led us to a giant waterfall. Don’t get to ride by those everyday! That, plus a few days at Post and Syncline gave us the full Hood River experience.photo 2

Like usual, Harookz did an amazing job of getting the shot (or 200 shots!) and making us look good. I think it’s going to be a tradition to now spend every Cinco De Mayo riding bikes and eating fish tacos. Hope your week was equally good!

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-Darcy

Double Gold and a Whole Lot of Fun at the Sea Otter Classic

The Sea Otter Classic is the season opener for cycling in North America. This April event attracts some of the best athletes from around the world through the disciplines of Road, Cyclocross, XC, DH, Slalom, and more. As a kick-off for the year’s racing Sea Otter is a track to show the field what you have brought to the table and forecast how the summer’s race season could stack up.

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Beyond the racing Sea Otter is also a massive draw for cycling enthusiasts for the expo, demo program and of course viewing the world class racing action. Beyond the racing Sea Otter is also a massive draw for cycling enthusiasts for the expo, demo program and of course viewing the world class racing action. This year Norco showed a sneek peek at a Carbon Sight that will be released next year. This is still a prototype model but shows an idea as to where things are going in the years to come.

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With 13 athletes covering 6 disciplines of racing it was a busy week but also a fantastic time to be spending time in California. Representing the downhill side of things was Jill Kintner, Bryn Atkinson, Lee Jackson, Zander Geddes and Casey Brown. Jill, Bryn, Casey and Lee all took their shot at the Dual Slalom in addition to the DH. For XC and short track racing Andrew L’Esperance, Evan McNeeley, and Haley Smith all took to their bikes.  Sam Dueck competed in the Speed and Style, Mislav Mironovic tried the dirt jumps and Ryan Leech was busy with his world famous trials demonstration.

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Sweeping the weekend was Jill Kintner who took the event by storm. Starting off with the Dual Slalom she seemingly coasted through the field of racers taking the victory for yet another year. Following the Slalom Jill’s gears switched to DH where the stacked field showed a fight for the top. After a few training runs Jill was feeling confident on her Norco Sight and ready to race. With a clean run top to bottom Jill again climbed to the top of the podium to be awarded a second gold medal in as many days.

Photo by Jonathan Duncan

Photo by Jonathan Duncan

Jill was not the only racer making moves in California. Racing partner Bryn Atkinson took 8th place in the slalom and 13th spot in the DH. Junior ripper Lee Jackson finished in 6th spot while teammate Zander Geddes took 10th place. For the women Casey Brown crossed the line in 6th for both the Slalom and DH while Sarah Leishman was a shade behind on the downhill course in 7th spot.

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The XC racers had their work cut out for them on a physically demanding course in both the Short Track and Cross Country. The team fought through the heat and finished mid pack among the world’s best racers. Haley Smith, Evan McNeeley and Andrew L’Esperance all had great races leading up to the 2013 season.

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Beyond traditional racing and to the fans’ excitement Ryan Leech was back for another year of Trials Demos. Following a brief hiatus at this event, Leech returned with daily demos and free morning Yoga for the thousands of spectators and athletes in attendance. Through four days Ryan completed 10 trials demonstrations and 3 yoga sessions. As always watching Ryan is an inspirational and aspirational experience!

The Sea Otter Classic is an iconic event that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. If you have every considered making the trip to Laguna Seca perhaps 2014 could be your year to see it all happen?

The Sight Killer B Goes Carbon for 2014

2013_04_SeaOtter-1732At the 2013 Sea Otter Classic Norco bicycles is showing the prototype design for a 2014 Sight Carbon. Taking a similar approach to the alloy version the bike is designed specifically for a 650B/27.5″ wheel but takes on the preferred weight and ride characteristics of carbon fibre. With an estimated 25% frame weight savings over the existing alloy model, this is the lightest 140mm travel bike to date and sets a new precedent in the Trail and All Mountain bike categories. Watch for 3 models to be available in the 2014 model year in addition to the lower priced aluminum models. Prices are estimated to range between $4000 and $7000 for the complete carbon bikes.

The 2014 Sight Carbon carries the flag for Norco’s 27.5”/650B program. Featuring the same dialed frame design as its 2013 predecessor, the 2014 Sight’s short, ultra-stiff rear end, low BB and slack head angle speak to a ride that begs to be ridden fast and inspires the utmost confidence on downs. The brand new proprietary carbon frame delivers the same snappy ride as the celebrated alu version, yet offers significant weight savings and the added strength of carbon. The Sight Carbon destroys technical climbs and absolutely bombs descents, so if you’re ready to be a part of trail riding’s future, step up.

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NSMB’s First Take on the Dorado Equipped Aurum

2013 Norco Aurum 1 Dorado

Testing Norco’s Sleek DH Racer

Words by Morgan Taylor Photos by Morgan Taylor
March 25th, 2013

Norco did it right for the 2012 model year when they introduced a DH bike that both looked fast and went fast by modern standards. For 2013 the platform sees minor revisions and an updated spec range. Pricing structure has been updated, expanding the available models to five options from a previous three, with the Aurum 1 coming in either a Boxxer / DHX RC2 or Dorado / Double Barrel as seen on our test bike.

As soon as I jumped on the 2013 Norco Aurum 1 Dorado, the reason for this bike’s popularity was evident; generous top tubes and solid out-of-box spec make for confidence-inspiring gravity sled. Connor Macleod did a great job of covering the Aurum’s heritage in his initial overview last year and wrapped up its riding characteristics in the long term review – both with photos from Derek Dix. Using those articles as a backbone, this one can stay short and sweet.

Through the photo set below I will detail the Aurum’s changes for the 2013 model year and give my thoughts on a few months with the low slung racer. Click in to the first photo to enlarge and advance through using the arrow keys…

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The 2013 Norco Aurum 1 Dorado. The Aurum’s geometry numbers are as follows: 25″ top tube on the Large frame lines up with a lot of other companies’ XL size, but surprisingly the bike doesn’t feel too big. At 6 feet even, I am running the stem all the way forward in the 55mm setting with a 780mm bar. Low, slack, and fast like the graphics indicate. Riding photo by Jason Lucas.

Read more at nsmb.com

The China Experience

anthillThe passion of cycling spans the globe. No matter the culture, language, country or gender cycling is a common bond among us all. Norco Factory Team rider Darcy Turenne made a trip to China with a number of fellow Shimano athletes to coach a camp and see the emerging mountain biking scene in China. The filming team at Anthill Films was there to document the experience and show the world that China is a part of our global cycling culture.

Read the full article at pinkbike.com

Breaking Down Walls on Pinkbike

The Norco Sight is a Perfect 10!

MBR Magazine took a swing at reviewing the 2013 Norco SIght 2. After an exhaustive testing process plotting the Sight against the fiercest of competition it came out on top as the shootout winner and a perfect 10 out of 10. Have a look at the full review here or better yet pick up a subscription to Mountain Bike Rider magazine.

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The Norco Sight 2 is fun and flattering, combining efficiency with strong handling and playfulness. The geometry is near perfect for trail riding, and the component package is well thought through, with powerful brakes and a dropper post as standard, without being any heavier or more expensive than the competition.
To sum up, the Norco’s colour-scheme and graphics look modern, it’s the cheapest bike on test, and the overall ride performance has that secret ingredient — it makes you want to go fast and mess about — which is an irresistible quality in any bike.

Norco-Sight-2-MBR2013FebDownload the PDF

My First Weekend Of December!

This first week of December here is Whistler was not much different then all the others I have a had in the past. The mountain was open for skiing, snow on the ground, and the sun was shinning. Yet in Pemberton there was little too none snow on the ground to cover our DH and XC trails. So myself and Jack Iles a good friend of mine decided to head out to Pemby on the Saturday for a day of DH shuttling. Jack’s dad volunteered to shuttle us for the day. The day was all time the dirt was perfect sun was shinning and we were having a great time shredding on our bikes.

View from the look out on Grumpy Grouse.

 

The Sunday of this unreal weekend we planned to ride some XC. So Jack and I got out our XC rigs and drove out to Pemby for another day of riding in the sun. We parked the truck at the bottom of Happy Trail and made it up to Nimby and all the way to Bob Gnarly for a rad decent. We cut off before the bottom section on Bob Gnarly then road back up Happy Trail to a favorite of mine Blood Sweat and Fear to finish off our rad weekend of riding in Pemberton. I Cant wait to get out there again and have another awesome weekend of riding.

Zander

Our weekend of riding put into one.

 

Bike Mag Putting the Shinobi to the test.

The Norco Shinobi is an All Mountain 29er that packs a punch. It’s neutral geometry and do-all attitude make it the perfect choice for any rider that is looking for a bike that can take on anything thrown at it. You don’t have to take it from us though. The team at Bike Magazine recently gave their two cents and published a review. Have a read and tell us what you think!
Post from BikeMag.com

Norco Shinobi 2. Note: The wheels pictured are different than the stock wheels, which are Sun Ringle’s Inferno 25

Review: Norco Shinobi 2
By Ryan LaBar

Norco’s Shinobi is designed for all-day all-mountain riding with big climbs and big descents. Its frame is packed with well-thought-out features including post-style disc brake mounts, Syntace’s 142×12 axle system, a spare derailleur hanger bolt (that threads into the frame by the bottom bracket for storage), and a headtube that is extra short in order to keep the front end from feeling a mile high with the long legged 140-millimeter fork and 29-inch wheels.

Norco uses Syntaces X12 through axle and derailleur-hanger system.

While having a bike frame that’s loaded with fancy, smart details is nice, the important thing is how it rides.

Climbing is a strong point for the Norco. It scoots up steep rough climbs without losing traction and pedals efficiently when settling in on longer grinders. However, while not a pig by any means, the bike’s ~30-pound heft could be felt a bit after a day full of climbs. Then again, at this build level and spec, you aren’t going to find a much lighter package.

continue reading at bikemag.com

Striking Gold with the Aurum – A Dirt Rag Review

Words by DirtRag/Jon Pratt

From my first run at our local gravity park, the Aurum just felt right. I always struggle with sizing; I’m 5’10″ and often fit right in between a medium and a large frame size. This time I chose to run a slightly bigger frame and went with a large, where I’ve always tended to pick a smaller gravity rig in the past. It didn’t seem to matter. The Aurum felt balanced and responsive underneath me. The X-Fusion Vector paired up with Norco’s 4-bar A.R.T. (Advanced Ride Technology) suspension felt responsive during my forays into baby-head-strewn rock gardens, and the axle path allowed the rear wheel to move backwards as the Aurum went through its travel. all the while maintaining active suspension, even through hard braking.

One of the most radical design features of the Aurum is what Norco calls Gravity Tune. Gravity Tune addresses uneven weight distribution of the rider as the frame size grows or shrinks. In traditional bike design the rear-center length of a bike stays constant, adjustments for rider size are handled with top tube length and / or seat angle, leaving taller folks hanging out over the rear wheel, and shorter folks too biased towards the front of the bike. To combat this problem orca developed different bottom bracket forgings for each of the Aurum’s frame sizes. As the bike size increases, this assembly lengthens the rear-center length by varying the location of the bottom bracket* and main pivot, keeping the riders weight more centered between the wheels.

Maybe it’s just a marketing trick, or maybe it’s a stroke of genius. I can say that I felt extremely comfortable on the Aurum. My body’s neutral position made for a very intuitive feeling ride, allowing me to attack the trail from the start with almost no time needed to adapt to a new bike. In other words, the bike did what I wanted with little fuss, tackling all types of trails from fast and smooth to steep and rocky. Up front, the RockShox Boxxer did a fairly good job at handling the biggest hits I wanted to take. I noticed that the low-speed compression damping adjustment on the Boxxer really didn’t feel like it did anything. I ended up just turning it full soft. I had a similar experience with my 2011 Boxxer Team, so I chalk this up to factory tuning of the fork. After sending my 2011 Boxer to Kevin at Suspension Experts in Asheville, North Carolina, the harshness was gone, and plushness had taken its place. A custom fork tune is one of the few upgrades I would recommend for the Aurum, or any DH bike really.

Another possible upgrade would be to the brakes. The Avid Elixir 5 brakes seemed to do well in normal operation, where I was doing a run, hanging out at the bottom with my friends, and then taking the lift back up for another go. However, during the Chomolungma Challenge I experienced significant fade in my brakes. For the 2013 Aurum 2, Norco has gone with the new Shimano Zee brakes, so my experiences with the Elixirs may be a thing of the past.

View the original article here

* Correction from the article. Gravity Tune is achieved through the altering of the bottom bracket and lower main pivot within the forging changing the theoretical chainstay length between sizes.

Not Riding? Give Trail Building A Try.

Espresso Trail Day - I collect Rocks

When the rain falls it can be a mental and physical challenge to muster up the courage and go for a mountain bike ride. We all have our reasons, but in everyone’s defense most trails don’t handle water well and riding in a river is a recipe for a cold and wet ride.

What is the solution to this dilemma? Don’t trade in your mountain bike for a trainer just yet! The first part of the solution is to join your local trails association and lend a hand at making your trails a better place to ride. With your trail building effort you can improve the trails year round and keep fit at the same time. Don’t think this is just a rainy day activity either. Trail Building can be done any time of the year.

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Many mountain biking trails were made long ago without the anticipation of weather and large amounts of traffic. Because of this the base of which the trails are built on can not support continued use and do not follow lines in the forest that are sustainable. Trails need to wind, traverse, flow and avoid low-spots that pool water. Trails need to have a solid base of which to build on and allow drainage over and under the riding surface.

This all sounds mighty complicated but luckily there are many clubs, associations and courses offered that can get you involved and on track to becoming a trail building expert. If you would like to learn more about how to become involved check with your local bike shop and they can get you in touch with the right people.

Some examples of extremely successful programs are the NSMBA’s TAP Program and The Arc’teryx Builder’s Acadamy. Also, the Capilano University Mountain Biking Operations Certificate is a great resource for trail building courses taught by non other than Norco’s Jay Hoots.

Pick up a shovel and get involved!

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