Norco last September was well on its way to finalizing its 2013 mountain bikes—a line that didn’t include a single 650b (aka 27.5-inch) model. But then the Vancouver-based company got wind that RockShox and Fox would likely produce forks for the wheel size and that a few other wheel and tire brands would also soon have components ready.
So the company’s engineers, designers and product managers did a quick 180 and ramped up two models with 27.5-inch wheels: The 140mm-travel Sight trail bike and the 160mm-travel Range all-mountain rig. The company offered a sneak peek of the bikes in April, but invited the media to test ride them this week near the company’s headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The decision was easy, says Norco engineering manager P.J. Hunton, who is an avowed fan of 29ers. The wheel size allowed Norco to shorten the chainstays and adjust suspension kinematics to get the ride feel of a 26-inch bike, but with some of the benefits of a 29er, like increasing the tire’s contact patch and improving the wheel’s ability to roll over obstacles. Compared to last year’s 26-inch models, the new bikes have shorter chainstays, lower bottom brackets and increased standover.
Norco's 650b bikes are ideal for British Columbia's steep, technical terrain--as well as its smoother trails.
Both bikes feature Norco’s ART suspension, which adapts Specialized’s Horst-Link design by shifting the axle path rearward by an additional six millimeters. “It’s a small difference, but it makes a huge difference on the trail,” Hunton said. Specifically, he says the design rolls easier over square-edge bumps.
Norco also focused on increasing frame stiffness, durability and making the bikes user friendly. Both 650b models have hollow-forged links at the main pivot that increase rear-end rigidity. The pivots themselves use tapered axles, with conical washers inside the bearing races to reduce play and increase bearing life. The frames also feature what Norco calls Smooth Pass welds—essentially a second welding pass that smoothes out the beads, and creates a stronger bond between frame tubes. Both bikes come with tapered headtubes, cable routing for dropper posts and use Syntace’s X12 142x12 rear thru-axle with a bolt that is easily replaced if broken on the trail (Norco even includes a spare bolt on each frame tucked in front of the bottom bracket).
It only has 140mm of travel, but the Sight rides like it has way more suspension.
The 160mm-travel Range is geared toward all-mountain riding and enduro racing. Norco will offer three 27.5-inch versions that will cost between $2,900 and $5,850. The two higher-end models come with Fox 34 Talas forks and high-volume rear shocks. The lower cost option has X-Fusion suspension. All three come with a 2x10 drivetrain and 180mm rotors. The top model has a RockShox Reverb dropper post.
The 140mm-Travel Sight comes in three models, ranging between $2,700 and $5,400. The company will also offer an extra-small size that it says it couldn’t execute in a 120mm 29er bike. The top two models feature RockShox’s Revelation fork with a 15mm thru-axle, Shimano’s Shadow Plus clutch-driven rear derailleur and a nifty Bionicon chain guide that attaches to the chainstay. Norco will also continue selling a 26-inch version of the Sight.
We spent a few hours test riding the Sight on some fast and flowing North Shore trails. We were immediately struck by how capable the bike felt. It floated over drops and gobbled up roots like a bike with 160mm of travel. The faster we descended, the better the bike felt. It also cornered well, close enough to a 26-inch bike that we couldn’t really tell the difference on our short loops—and that’s perhaps the point. The Sight felt relatively nimble—more so than any long-travel 29er we’ve tested—but still proved more capable than most 140mm-travel 26-inch bikes.
The bike climbed smoothly up gravely roads on Fromme mountain, but we did notice some bobbing when we stood on the pedals, even with the shock’s platform damping turned on. And the bike isn’t light—at least not compared to some flyweight 26-inch models. Despite those imperfections, the Sight proves the 27.5-inch wheel size has merit, and it left us eager for a longer-term test. For a full review of bike, be sure to pick up the December issue of Bicycling magazine.
Norco team rider Angie Hohenwarter gets sideways on her Sight.
