The new 2019 Norco Fluid FS1

PB Forum :: Norco
The new 2019 Norco Fluid FS1
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flag StevieJB
Posted: Oct 6, 2018 at 12:08 Quote
I've just seen the new fluid and really like the look of it short travel, very well thought out cable routing, smoothed welds geo, it looks spot on for a do it all bike if you don't live in the mountains and most riding is on quite tame terrain. Looks like it would sit nicely in the garage between a hardcore hard tail and an enduro bike. Anyone ridden one or had a close up look in the flesh?
flag j-t-g
O+ FL
Posted: Oct 15, 2018 at 11:12 Quote
I think we will be getting one to replace my girlfriend's current 2015 range c7. We'll probably grab the blue ladies one and pimp out the parts specs a bunch. Im incredibly impressed with the fluid, both in climbs and descents. Geo is super dialed, pedaling platform is fantastic, no need for a lockout. The stock bikes (and frames too, perhaps?) Are a bit on the heavy side, but hopefully with the finished build it will be pretty nice.


People were going nuts for it at the launch event, even beside the ultra nice carbon sights and ranges. Fluid was the most impressive for what it is.
flag Indiana
Posted: Feb 3, 2019 at 15:16 Quote
Any updates on the new 2019 Norco Fluid FS1? I am seriously looking at one too.
flag j-t-g
O+ FL
Posted: Feb 3, 2019 at 19:01 Quote
What would you like to know? My girlfriend just got a fluid 2 FS women's and I'm in the process of taking all the parts off.
flag StevieJB
Posted: Feb 4, 2019 at 12:11 Quote
I actually had been contemplating the woman’s FS1 as I like the gray and the 650b.
flag j-t-g
O+ FL
Posted: Feb 4, 2019 at 14:06 Quote
The unisex fluids should all be available in both wheel sizes in medium and up?
flag StevieJB
Posted: Feb 4, 2019 at 14:08 Quote
When I looked at the uk supplier the men’s medium & large were 29” and the small & woman’s medium 650b.
flag Indiana
Posted: Feb 4, 2019 at 14:21 Quote
j-t-g wrote:
What would you like to know? My girlfriend just got a fluid 2 FS women's and I'm in the process of taking all the parts off.

Overall impression and how is the ride with the new geometry? Thanks!
flag j-t-g
O+ FL
Posted: Feb 4, 2019 at 17:58 Quote
StevieJB wrote:
When I looked at the uk supplier the men’s medium & large were 29” and the small & woman’s medium 650b.

Hmm, weird, the medium should be available in both wheel sizes


Indiana wrote:
j-t-g wrote:
What would you like to know? My girlfriend just got a fluid 2 FS women's and I'm in the process of taking all the parts off.

Overall impression and how is the ride with the new geometry? Thanks!


Well she hasn't ridden it herself yet as we're rebuilding her FS 2 to get quite a few parts nicer than the FS 1 (the blue colourway was important) but I did get a chance to swing a leg over in the fall. IMO they are what the Optic should have been. Fantastic pedaling platform and slack enough that you can still ride them aggressively. You will run out of travel pretty fast on some hairier trails if you aren't careful but for what we want to ride it's pretty perfect. It's the most impressive thing in Norco's 2019 lineup IMO excluding the Aurum HSP. Not BETTER strictly than a $9000 dollar range but the performance of the fluid at every single one of it's pricepoints are pretty insane.

The finish on the frame is crazy nice for the cost of the frame. Integrated headset and threaded BB are nice touches for the home mechanic. Smart cable routing and extremely nice welds (far nicer than many more expensive alloy bikes, including most other Norcos) make it a very attractive frame. Overall builds all end up a little on the heavy side thanks to the stock wheels and drivetrains they are all getting, but I dont think you can ask these bikes to be crazy light for the pricepoint. The previous generation fluids were pretty light for their price but it came at the expense of being pretty flexy and somewhat flimsy. New fluid fixed those issues. It honestly deserves a new name because it's about as far as you could get from the old fluid while still remaining it it's travel bracket.
flag Indiana
Posted: Feb 4, 2019 at 18:13 Quote
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Smile
flag caltife
O+
Posted: May 5, 2019 at 2:14 Quote
A few thoughts about the Fluid FS3 29er:

I've seen a lot of reviews calling the new Fluid an "entry level" bike. Not true. Yes it would be an awesome upgrade for a beginner, but it is a seriously capable short/mid travel trail bike.

I got an FS3 at a heavy discount, and installed some better parts (140mm Fox 34 Performance Elite with short offset, Zee brakes, Hollowtech BB and cranks). Factory spec is OK for the price though - Tektro brakes and NX are perfectly functional.

Anyway, the bike is bloody fun to ride. Shock tune is firm - I believe two spacers are preinstalled. I was unsure about the lack of lockout, but it's an efficient pedaller even without. Sensitive enough on small bumps, and takes a decent hit to bottom out. Basically, it's poppy as hell.

Geometry is spot on too. I'm 170cm/5'7 and the medium frame is perfect - reach is roomy without being ridiculous, and stack height is low. ~66 head angle and wheelbase are stable enough to manage pretty rough descents (2.6 tyres also help planted feel) but it's still nimble and responsive. Stock wheels are heavyyyyy though.

Main point of comparison is an SBG Smuggler. The Smuggler is better suited to hard descending - it's kind of a "mini enduro" bike - but for me it felt too unweildly a lot of the time, heavy and loooong front centre. 2019 Fluid is more neutral, what it loses in descending power it gains in pure FUN. In other words, exactly what I want from a 120mm 29er.
flag Dome78
Posted: Jun 1, 2019 at 10:19 Quote
Got an FS3 27.5 for the misses. Not ridden yet but wanted to share a couple notes. The bike spec seems to have been upgraded to lighter Forekaster tires (EXO, dual compound, no doubt after reviewers complained about the weight of the originally spec'd WTBs). Despite the leading picture on Norco's page showing an X-Fusion shock, the bike came with a RockShox Deluxe R (good!).

FS 3 Small (27.5), weight after converting to tubeless, installing a Box 11-46t cassette, swapping Tektro brakes for Guide Ts is 14.8 kg or 32.6 pds, so it's still a bit porky.

Tubeless conversion took just 20 min, a record for me. There was no rim strip was preinstalled on the WTB i29 rims, so remember you'd need to supply your own tape and tubeless valves. Forekaster tires went on with just a normal pump.

Needed a touch more B screw for the 11-46t, chain length sufficient for the 46t out of the box and shifts very well.

Internal cable routing is limited to the downtube and is not sleeved. The openings are huge and covered by a nice plastic piece. There are tools to fish cables through, but due to the generous openings I was able to do without them.

The bottom bracket is of the internal threaded variety. Kind of a bummer, as external threaded would not have cost much more and I will need to get yet another tool to service this. The outward BB areas is faced, so installing an external BB is possible and likely the more expensive Fluids will come equipped with such.

Overall, a solid bike for around ~$2k. Wife is especially happy with the color (concrete). Price has dropped from initially $2200 to $2050 since Norco switched to their new distribution model.
flag Cmorrisey17
Posted: Jun 7, 2019 at 18:08 Quote
I’m 192cm tall and rode and extra large, I demoed it on twisty single track that was relatively flat but had some long point and shoot downhills then similar climbs back up. When I first swung a leg over the geo felt spot on, not too big and long on the twistys but not twitchy and nervous on the downhills (granted not as aggressive as the sight), I was disappointed in the suspension however, i had just ridden the Norco Sight right before and the fluid fs1 just felt over damped and sluggish, it felt very heavy and cumbersome when getting up to speed and once at speed it was very difficult to keep at speed. On the downhills it was perfectly acceptable for a beginner or novice however as I had just came from clips and rode flats (granted I’ve ridden flats forever and just started riding clips) I felt that it blew my feet of the pedal with a significant ramp up at the end of the stroke. Climbing on the fluid felt again very sluggish but with no significant bob, I ended up turning the rebound up quite a few clicks which remedied the over damped feeling a bit but when there was another biker coming down the trail I was more than happy to hop off the fluid and walk the rest of the climb (I do enjoy climbing and cleaning new techy climbs). In short, with more time, a shock pump, and some patience the fluid fs 1 is a perfectly acceptable trail bike. If you don’t particularly enjoy rushing up climbs and nabbing your local kom, the bike is good upgradable chassis and perfect for a beginner or novice rider, as well as a more advanced rider looking for a bike to improve handling skills or line choice.
flag silverstanktions
O+
Posted: Jul 10, 2019 at 19:30 Quote
I've had the FS1 for a month now. I've upgraded the wheels to DT Swiss E1500, 54 point ratchet and tubeless 2.4" tires which made it seem lighter and more responsive. Getting the rear suspension setup was easy and I'm no longer instinctively reaching for the non-existent lockout.

I'm on the fence about the Revelation fork. Supposedly it has the Charger 2 damper, but it doesn't say "Charger" on it like you'd expect. I'm not sure why yet, but I like the Manitou Magnum on my hard tail better so far.

I honestly feel like this is a better bike than the Optic or Sight. I ready to pull the trigger on a Sight, but then demo'd both the FS1 and the Sight in the same day and decided the FS1 was better for me and cheaper even when factoring in a wheel upgrade.

For the price this is an amazing bike. I won't upgrade anything else until things break or wear out.
flag j-t-g
O+ FL
Posted: Jul 10, 2019 at 20:29 Quote
aciddrop wrote:
I've had the FS1 for a month now. I've upgraded the wheels to DT Swiss E1500, 54 point ratchet and tubeless 2.4" tires which made it seem lighter and more responsive. Getting the rear suspension setup was easy and I'm no longer instinctively reaching for the non-existent lockout.

I'm on the fence about the Revelation fork. Supposedly it has the Charger 2 damper, but it doesn't say "Charger" on it like you'd expect. I'm not sure why yet, but I like the Manitou Magnum on my hard tail better so far.

I honestly feel like this is a better bike than the Optic or Sight. I ready to pull the trigger on a Sight, but then demo'd both the FS1 and the Sight in the same day and decided the FS1 was better for me and cheaper even when factoring in a wheel upgrade.

For the price this is an amazing bike. I won't upgrade anything else until things break or wear out.

Uhh, the revelation absolutely does not have the charger 2 damper or any charger damper for that matter. You can drop a charger 2 in to make it a pike but right now it has motion control or something.


The fluid is quite a bit more up to date as far as geometry goes compared to the sight and especially the optic. It's slacker than the Sight too! Other than travel differences, sights and optics are a bit higher end in the sense that their frames are a fair bit lighter in the alloy versions.
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