For the 2010 model year, Norco axed the popular Six from its lineup of mountain bikes, and that decision made perfect sense when one considered the bikes that Norco had in its catalog at the time. The Six overlapped with the 2010 Fluid LT, which was meant to be used as a rider's all-day and all-mountain ride, and with the 2010 Shore, which was intended to cover a rider's park / shuttle / freeride needs.
For 2011, BC-based Norco didn't simply reintroduce the Six; instead its designers developed the 2011 Range, which is a bike that retains the climbing capabilities of the Fluid LT (which it replaces) while stepping it up a notch (or three) when the bike is pointed downhill. I recently picked up a demo 2011 Norco Range 1 to ride for a week, and I immediately made plans to ride a bunch of local favourites while traveling later in the week to sample some of the fantastic alpine singletrack that British Columbia has to offer.
Detailed Range 1 impressions inside,
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| An early morning ride on the 2011 Norco Range 1. The Range is an all-round trail ripper that slots nicely into the six-inch-travel category. |
Prior to picking up the sample from my local shop, I'd
read and heard plenty of good things about the Range from people who had spent a little bit of time on it, with comments ranging from flat out "Amazing" to "It's got more travel than I need, but it's an awesome bike nonetheless". I can confirm that, in person, the Range is a stunner with a solid, well-thought-out workhorse build kit that complements its supermodel good looks.
ART: Advanced Ride Technology. The Range features an optimized FSR suspension system that Norco has dubbed 'ART', or Advanced Ride Technology. By altering the pivot point location,
Norco claims that ART improves on its predecessor by providing better compliance over square edge hits (revised axle path), increasing pedaling efficiency (anti-squat), and a revised leverage curve (bottomless feeling travel).
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| Q: Is that a tapered headtube? A: Heck yeah. |
. There are absolutely no doubts about the standards that Norco's designers employed when creating the Range. The bike's tapered 1 1/8"-1.5" headtube is a prominent feature on the frame and it combines the stiffness and low-stack-height benefits of a 1.5" lower with the conformity (for stem choice) and weight savings (arguably) of a 1.175" upper.
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| The Syntace X-12 rear axle cleans things up at the back of the bike while the ART-influenced Horst link defines the frame's suspension action. |
Similarly, the easy-to-use 142mm x 12mm
Syntace X-12 rear axle system increases rear end rigidity while maintaining the ease of installation that typifies most 135mm quick release hubs. The Range utilizes a 6" post mount for the rear brake, which eliminates the need for an adapter unless you run a 7" or 8" rotor.
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| The Norco Range 1 cockpit features bits from Race Face, Shimano, Avid, and Truvativ. |
. The build kit on the Range 1 is made up of quality parts from established manufacturers, including rims and hubs from DT Swiss, a SixC handlebar from Race Face, a Silverado saddle from WTB, a flipped 65mm stem from Truvativ, and Elixir R brakes from Avid (8" rotors). The Range also marks Norco's move into the ten speed arena as the bike features
Shimano's Deore XT ten speed DynaSys drivetrain. Suspension duties are taken care of by the 2011 Fox 36 TALAS fork with FIT cartridge and the Fox RP23 rear shock with Boost Valve. The demo bike came fitted with 2.35" Kenda Nevegals (with downhill casings!) which is a little out of tune with the build on the rest of the bike, but entirely in tune with a demo that gets passed around for half a season or more, so I'm letting the tire choice slide here.
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| Shimano's DynaSys Deore XT drivetrain comes in with ten speeds and uses an 11-36 rear cassette with a long cage derailleur. |
After going over all of the details on the bike, I weighed it (33.5lbs with pedals), made appropriate adjustments to the suspension, rolled the bars forward a little, and 'adjusted' the saddle before cruising down the road to my local riding spot.
The Ride: General impressions Climbing. The Range is a slack bike, so I always reduced the fork's travel to steepen up the angles before climbing and, during easy climbs up logging roads and non-technical singletrack, I regularly engaged the ProPedal on the rear shock and activated the lockout on the fork to minimize suspension movement. On more technical terrain, I'd disengage the ProPedal on the rear shock and the Range settled into its travel easily, where it stayed until I rode over rough ground or stood up and hammered through a tough climb. Overall, the pedaling action of the Range felt neutral in a way that didn't sacrifice plushness for efficiency (and vice versa).
Thanks to the ten-speed drivetrain, I cruised in my middle ring for longer than usual, but I almost always bailed into the 22T when things got steep because I value the long-term functionality of my knees and the shift indicators told me that I had the gears to spare.
Descending. The Range is a slack bike, so it was obvious to me that the bike's real strengths would shine on the way down. Combined with nice, controlled action from the rear shock and suspension linkage, the Range 1's wide bars, big brake rotors, and burly fork helped make the bike feel stable and planted during descents. Long stretches of trail filled with babyhead-sized rocks disappeared under the bike and steep, technical terrain proved to be less of a problem than on steeper rigs.
Evaluating the Norco Range The brief test period came to a crashing halt after I bailed trying to avoid a dog in a fast section of singletrack, but even with my plans of riding the bike in some alpine dashed, I walked away from the demo thoroughly impressed by the Norco Range. As tested, the bike was a little heavy, so I suffered a little during ascents, but the Range still handled everything I normally climb and, once I was at the top of the mountain, the bike morphed into a trail-shredding rocket as soon as it was pointed downhill.
You shouldn't have to change too much when you purchase a $5000 bike and the Range has a solid spec that doesn't need many (if any) aftermarket revisions. I would have liked to see a dual-ring chainguide and I'd also prefer a medium cage derailleur instead of the long cage that came spec'd on the bike. The Kenda Nevegals were fine on the descents, but they also boosted the overall weight of the bike and felt like boat anchors during climbs, so I'd either run a lighter wheelset in the summer or swap out the tires based on current riding conditions.
Video: Not a helmet cam:
MSRP: $4850 (USD) / $5000 (CAD)
Manufacturer's website: www.norco.com
Special thanks to Experience Cycling in Maple Ridge for arranging the demo for the week. Thanks to Lee Lau for the video.
dumb mistake lol