Traveling to Whistler for Crankworx was one of the highlights of the Bikemag.com summer, but it wouldn’t have been complete without some sweet new ’08 product to drool over. The crew at Norco invited us to check out their headquarters in Port Coquitlam, B.C. for a tour as well as stroll on up to Whistler for a few days preceding slopestyle finals in effort to get acquainted with their new ’08 wares.
The Dirtmaster was the first full-suspension bike built by Norco for the BMX market in 1973
There are lots of changes in the Norco lineup this year, probably too many to mention, but one constant remains the same: suspension design. Norco has stood by the Horst Link FSR rear suspension since almost day one, remaining steadfast proponents of the design that’s neutral under pedaling and braking, easy to service, lightweight and with a vertical axle path—all good things.
DH/Park Series: Team DH - $6099, Aline Park - $4099, Aline - $3349, Atomic - $2779
This series includes bikes for downhill racing and extreme freeriding, shuttling and park riding. These bikes all feature 8-9 inches of travel, low standover height, adjustable head tube angle and BB height, forged head tubes, 150mm clamped rear thru axles, new forged link arms, large sealed bearing pivots with dual crown forks, single front rings/guides and rear coil shocks. The Team DH and Atomic are built light for racing while the Aline and Park are built more durable. Our tip is check out that Atomic model for the hot ticket on a budget factory racer. For $2775 you’ll be ready to race on a bike with last year’s team frame.
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The Aline Park and Aline were specifically built to handle the rigors of the Whistler bike park.
Shore Series: Shore 1 - $4549, Shore 2 - $3099, Shore 3 - $2519
As you can probably guess from the name, this series of bikes is built for riding hardcore technical North Shore-like trails including gaps, jumps and wall rides. These bikes have 7" of travel with a lower standover and center of gravity on a stiff frame. You’ll also find 150mm thru axles, 1.5" headtubes, a new light forged yoke and hydroformed mainframe tubing with 7"single crown forks, coil rear shocks and 8" brake rotors.
The new hydroformed Shore frame attracted lots of attention while we were riding her.
Six Series: Six 1 - $4449, Six 2 - $3449, Six 3 - $2349
The six series include three technical trail bikes that are ideal for smooth flowy freeride lines and slopestyle. This is a do-it-all bike that can cross over from freeride to hardcore all-mountain riding. These bikes have 6" of travel, 135mm Maxle rear axles, 1.125" headtubes, ISCG 05 and older chain guide mounts, increased tires clearance compared to ’07 and a new hydroformed mainframe similar to the Shore models. Sixes are equipped with 2.35" tires, air forks and shocks on the 1 and 2 models, 8? front and 7" rear rotors and dual chainrings. Norco was especially stoked when their factory rider, Ben Boyko, went on to win the Crankworx slopestyle contest on a Norco Six bike.
From the Crankworx slopestyle course to your backroads all-mountian epic the Six can handle it.
Fluid LT: Fluid LT 1 - $5879, Fluid LT 2 - $3700, Fluid LT 3 - $2349
Brand new for ’08, the Fluid LT fits in between the Fluid and Six models as it’s intended for light freeride, all mountain trails, backcountry adventure and hardcore singletrack. Fluid LTs feature coil over air shocks, taller bottom brackets and slacker head angles than Fluids. The full-length seat tube allows for easy saddle drops while 6.3" of travel, 20mm thru axle forks, triple chainrings and 7" rotors define an all-mountain build.
The Fluid LT is an all-new model for '08 and should satisfy many looking for an epic all-mountain bike from the Norco crew.
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