New From Norco

Using the massive Crankworx mountain bike festival in Whistler, B.C. as a backdrop, Canadian-based Norco Bikes launched its 2012 product line. Fourteen of its bike platforms are either brand new or have seen significant upgrades from previous models. On the mountain bike side, there’s a continued push toward 29ers with a new value-based full-suspension bike line, as well as new 26″ mountain bikes and a new downhill platform. Though Norco is definitely better known for its off-road bikes than on, there’s still plenty of development happening for those with a preference for pavement with a new endurance platform for long-distance riders, a new top-end race bike and a carbon cyclocross bike.

MOUNTAIN BIKE

Revolver

Brand new for 2012, the Revolver is a 100 mm travel 29er trail bike designed for long trail rides or marathon racing. There are three build levels ranging from $2,350 up to $5,285. All use the same hydroformed aluminum frame matched to 15mm axle front forks (all with lockouts). Norco is spec’ing 3×10 drivetrains on all three Revolver models.

Shinobi

Though it was introduced last year, the Shinobi 120 mm rear, 140 mm front 29er trail bike, gets two new models with higher-end builds. All three have 29er-specific 2×10 drivetrains, wider trail bars, short stems and guides for height-adjustable seat posts.

Sight

The Sight is a 140 mm travel trail bike available in a wide range of options from a sub 24-pound LE build ($9,400) down to a well-spec’ed entry-level build at $2,700. The ART (Advanced Ride Technology) FSR suspension design has the front derailleur mounted to the chainstay to follow a more natural path as the suspension compresses. There’s also a Sight Forma women’s version in two levels with slightly different geometry, a lower standover height and women’s-specific saddles.

Truax

First launched late last year, the Truax is a 180 mm travel freeride bike. Ideal for bike parks like Whistler, the Truax continues where the old Norco Shore bikes left off. They range in price from $3,550 up to $6,899 and have hydroformed tubes, slack geometry, coil shocks and are meant to handle any abuse you can throw at them.

Aurum

For the downhill crowd, the Aurum is a new downhill racing platform. It has 200 mm of travel in an updated ART (Advanced Ride Technology) FSR Suspension design. For a big-hit bike, it’s surprisingly lightweight and also features a slick integrated seat post clamp and integrated fork bump stops. This is definitely a DH-racing focused bike with a 63.5-degree head angle highlighting the size-specific geometry.

ROAD

Valence Carbon/Alloy

A new endurance road bike, the Valence Carbon is available in four builds ranging from the Shimano 105-based Valence Carbon 3 at $1,825 up to the $5,750 Di2 model. The bike was built to be comfortable on long rides with a tall headtube, but still able to handle fast riding with oversized tubes meant to improve power transfer. The seatstays are curved downward so they’ll flex to take the sharp edge off road chatter. Norco says the ideal rider for the Valence will be someone who does longer charity rides or GranFondos, but still wants a high-performance bike. Sizes range from 45 to 60 cm, and there’s also an alloy Valence lineup with bikes starting at $819. The three aluminum models are available as women’s-specific bikes under Norco’s Forma line.

CRR LE

Norco’s top-end race bike remains mostly unchanged, but there’s now an LE model, which uses Norco’s Super SL High-Modulus carbon, dropping the frame weight down to under 950 g for a 56 cm size. All models in the CRR lineup are now using a 31.6 seatpost for added stiffness and BB30.