A weekend in Whistler with my 2005 Norco Shore

Jan 27, 2006

Hey all you riders out there! My name is Eric Pauwels and I am 15 years old and my local shredding area is Chilliwack BC and anywhere else that I can catch a ride too. Through out the summer I’ve had the pleasure of riding the 2005 Norco Shore out here in Chilliwack B.C. on my local trails. As luck would have it, I even managed to get out to Whistler with my buddy Kyle for a trip. Here’s a little story on our trip and a lot of info on the sweet ride known as the Norco Shore.

This past summer, my buddy Kyle and I spent the weekend at the motocross track up near Pemberton. Kyle was racing motocross, wicked rider he got first in every race he joined and he's only 13 years old. Since we were staying at the track, some guys thought it would be cool if I jumped one of the gaps. So I had like five guys building me a lip and I got a tow into it. I hit it and it was like butter- SO SWEET! The landing was nice and the lip was perfect-the gap was about 43 feet making it big and nice. The whole time that I have been riding the Norco Shore, I can't stop talking about how much I love that bike. It's just so plush. We spent one of the days shredding Whistler too, it’s such a wicked place, and I love it.

Enough about our camping spot, because we’re here to ride Whistler. We mostly hit A-line and Dirt Merchant-two knarly trails. Since it was not my first time in the Whistler bike park, as I’ve managed to pull in 8 or 9 days there now, it was Kyle's first time. I swear that kid has the best riding spirit he just needs to ride more that's all. When we were at Whistler we rode from ten o'clock in the morning till eight o'clock at night. All day I had been taking it easy with Kyle on A-line, but near the end of the day I took a few runs by myself to really let loose.



The trail was called Fantastic and it was fantastic! It is a blue trail and it is fast and flowy. I would come up to the berms and I'd have to lock up my brakes and skid right into the corner and then I would pedal hard and come around the next berm sideways-it was insane. That bike has nice traction and grips really well. I especially liked the way the bike handled when I pushed it to my limits.


I can't wait to get back up to Whistler again. I'd like to ride with
more experienced riders than me so I can improve and learn from them.
Next time I'll bring a camera so I can show all you people (that haven’t been) out there just how great Whistler and the Norco Shore are.

The fact that my Shore came spec’d so well really makes the $4400 CDN price tag easier to swallow. I can say that the parts are worth more then what you pay for.



My Marzocchi 888R kept tracking well all year and never let me down in a bad way from any gaps I found. Having my chain stay on was a big change in itself too this year, as I’ve always ran ghetto chain devices that I threw together, but the Race Face Diabolus Cranks that were paired up to the E-13 Mountain X single ring guide never let me down once. This was my first time running a SRAM shifter, rear derailleur combo and well once again I came away happy. Crisp shifting all year was my reward for keeping up on changing the cables as needed. The rest of my bike is well spec’d with Race Face seat post, Syncros rims and headset. The Hayes brakes are still pulling strong and stopping me when needed. To go with the stopping I have to say the Kenda tire set up of Blue Groove in the Front and Nevegal in the back is one of the best set ups for all around and aggressive riding.


I hear that the 2006 model has seen some pretty big changes, which can only mean its gotten better. Here are a few major changes that I see from the Norco(link) site. They have gone away from the Monocoque frame design in favor of the style of the Six line up with aluminum tube frames. Also there will be 3 models of Shore for 2006-the Shore One, Shore Two and Shore Three. The One and Two are now being spec’d with long travel single crown forks to make them more versatile for riders that want more front end mobility. The parts all still look to be top notch again too.

If you are in the market for a new Freeride rig, I would definitely point you to give the Shore line of bikes from Norco a look.


Editor's note: Rumor has it that both Jay Hoots and Gareth Dyer have chosen the 2006 as their factory ride of choice.