Preview: Norco’s 2010 Bike Lineup

Vancouver, BC, is ramping up to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, but the coastal city also has one of the most vibrant cycling communities in Canada—a perfect backdrop for locally-based Norco Performance Bikes to debut its 2010 lineup. The city offers access to the whole gamut of riding—from urban assault to full-on freeride, and everything in between. Over the course of two packed days, Norco walked its dealers and members of the cycling press through its complete lineup, and to give the new bikes some context, the company also led a slew of rides around the city to show off exactly what they’ve been up to.

The 2010 lineup is highlighted by a few new additions. First off is the all-new, full-carbon Team hardtail. Mimicking some of the same carbon technology present in Norco’s 2010 road bikes, this new hardtail features an integrated seatmast and sports a full SRAM XX kit. The target weight for production models is sub 20-pounds, making this the lightest mountain bike ever produced by Norco.

Last season, the big news for riders of the fairer sex was the debut of Norco’s “Forma” women’s line, and this year Norco has expanded the segment with bikes like the 5-inch travel Phena. With a suggested retail price of $1,775 the Phena is based on Norco’s popular Fluid series, and offers adjustable travel from 112 to 132 millimeters. Also, Darcy Turenne’s signature freeride bike, the Vixa, sees minor geometry adjustments for its second year, with the chainstays being shortened by 5 millimeters. A modest price tag of $2800 should ensure that the Vixa remains a popular model among female freeriders.

Norco is also offering a belt-drive model next year. The 29-inch wheel Judan sports Reynolds 525 chromoly tubing with a clever rear dropout system that makes belt tensioning and installation a breeze.

After a walk-through of the range of bikes we got down to business. And since we’re talking about Norco and Vancouver that meant saddling up for an afternoon on the North Shore for test-riding revised DH and Shore models on Mount Seymour in North Vancouver.

My personal choice for the day was the Norco Team DH. A relaxed 64-degree headtube angle, along with a lowered bottom bracket height of 358 millimeters, complemented the low stack height on the bars, courtesy of an integrated 1.5-inch headset. The long-travel and low-and-slack geometry is fixed this year—last year’s bike had adjustable travel between 199 and 227 millimeter of travel with an optional degree-steeper headtube and slightly higher bottom bracket in the shorter travel setting.

Aesthetically, the new Shore and DH bikes have lost the sweeping formed tubes and beachcruiser-esque lines found in the ‘09 lineup, and now have a cleaner-looking hydroformed front triangle. The new Team DH not only looked the part of a true race bike, but rode like one too.

With four models in the DH series, prices will start at $2,630 for the Atomik, and move up to $4,750 for the Team bike. Price-wise, that’s nearly $2,000 less for the top-shelf model than last year’s Team DH. Some smart spec picks help shave down MSRPs—a theme Norco is applying to its whole line to make the bikes more attractive in a tough economy.

Day Two started of with an urban ride around downtown Vancouver led by Ryan Leach and Dylan Korba. During a rolling photo shoot/street session, we had the pleasure of watching the two Vancouver locals put their Manifesto trials bikes to the test.

Later that day we rolled over to Burnaby Mountain to check out the new all-mountain and trail bike offerings. Just stones throw away from downtown, Burnaby Mountain is home to an extensive trail network that offers everything from cross-country and freeride trails to a full-fledged skills park. Steep descents followed by grueling climbs make the Fluid LT an ideal choice for this type of terrain. Next year’s Fluid LT gets a few key revisions, the most notable of which is its new tapered headtube/steerer tube. The bike also gets ISCG tabs to allow it to work with TruVativ’s Hammerschmidt. Models in the Fluid series start at $2,340, but expect to pay $4,500 for the versatile spec on the LT 6.1.

Expect the new range of 2010 bikes from Norco to start trickling into dealers shortly after the New Year.

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