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Norco Revolver Full Suspension Prototype

Norco Revolver Prototype at Mont Sainte Anne World Cup
Evan Guthrie on his Norco Revolver prototype (Photo: ckstenburg.com)
Evan Guthrie on his Norco Revolver prototype (Photo: ckstenburg.com)

Norco’s roster of cross-country racers are all ditching their hardtails in favour of a new bike labeled “Norco Race Development.” A full suspension race bike available in both a 650B and 29er wheel size, the new Revolver dually was first shown off at the 2015 Sea Otter Classic. However, members of the Norco team have been testing and aiding in development of the bike since early 2014.

As the team prepared for the 2015 Mont Sainte Anne World Cup, team riders Evan Guthrie, Haley Smith and Andrew L’Esperance detailed what makes the new bike so special. Each of the team riders has been able to offer feedback to the designers to help make the new Revolver the default choice for nearly every member of the team.

“I’ve ridden the hardtail a few times on racecourses this year, but mostly I find I’m choosing the dually a lot,” said Smith. “It’s super fun, and it makes up for mistakes you make when you’re fatigued. I can’t help but smile when I ride it, so it’s really fun to race it.”

2015 Canadian XCO U23 champion Haley Smith with her Revolver prototype (Photo: Dean Campbell)
2015 Canadian XCO U23 champion Haley Smith with her Revolver prototype (Photo: Dean Campbell)

“The smaller wheel size on tighter racecourses it works well, and on courses where you accelerate and decelerate it works well,” said L’Esperance. “On the downhills, you can relax a little more and get a little more recovery. It really shines on the bumpy pedalling stuff. You can stay seated and pedal smoothly and gain speed.

“Overall it’s a really light package, which is always going to help going uphill. Since I am on the 650B dually and the 29” hardtail, my bikes are about the same weight, so that really helps my decision with which bike to go with.”

(Photo: Dean Campbell)
(Photo: Dean Campbell)

“I’ve been riding it since December. Having a lot of time on it in the spring at home and in California and then into the race season has been really good,” said Guthrie. “We can give a lot of feedback to the engineers at Norco. I haven’t ridden my hardtail since May, which sort of tells you how good this new bike is.”

Evan Guthrie riding an early prototype. (Photo: Chris Vezina)
Evan Guthrie riding an early prototype. (Photo: Chris Vezina)

The development of the bike has seen multiple generations of the frame as engineers fine tuned the design. Early models were white, but now most bikes are red, except for L’Esperance’s orange bike, affectionately called “pumpkin.”

Andrew L'Esperance and his 650B Norco Revolver prototype (Photo: Dean Campbell)
Andrew L’Esperance and his 650B Norco Revolver prototype (Photo: Dean Campbell)

The development process has allowed the team riders to get a week or more with the prototypes, and then provide feedback to the designers at Norco. With a roster of six riders spread across the country, the designers have a good breadth and depth of feedback to work with.

“There’s been a prototype dually for a while, and because Norco is a smaller Canadian company, it’s more intimate and they can really use the advantage of our input,” said Smith. “It’s really good to be involved in the process and to see this race development bike that will be similar to the final product and to know we had a hand in it is pretty special.”

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“Norco has really worked to be an athlete centred company, and part of that is getting us really involved in these kind of projects,” said Guthrie. “We get to be in direct contact with the engineers which is really special. I can’t talk in engineering terms but they can certainly dummy it down to speak my language.”

As an engineer himself, L’Esperance offered up some details about key aspects of the bike’s design.

“For one we have the ART (Advanced Ride Technology) rear suspension, which is a modified four bar linkage. It’s really smooth,” said L’Esperance. “One of the things I noticed is that the bike has a rearward axle path in the back, so when you hit a bump, the wheel moves up and back so you’re always able to move forward.

“It also actually lengthens the distance between the crank and rear axle as it moves back, thus tightening the chain so in those bumpy sections it helps keep the chain on the bike.”

(Photo: Dean Campbell)
(Photo: Dean Campbell)

“I also really like the integration of the Monarch rear shock,” said L’Esperance. “Where the lockout comes into the shock, it’s completely hidden, which is really nice and clean, especially with the internal routing to that. The Gizmo internal routing in the frame which is unique to Norco which makes changing cables really easy, but keeps the bike clean.”

(Photo: Dean Campbell)
(Photo: Dean Campbell)

Firm details on release dates are not yet available. And as you might expect of a prototype, facts including overall weight are not yet available. However, note that L’Esperance’s 29er hardtail and 650B dually are only about half a pound different in weight.

The choice for the team has been simple, and the public will probably find the same true when full details on the Revolver are released.

Norco Revolver Prototype at Mont Sainte Anne World Cup
(Photo: Dean Campbell)
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