A winter on the 2006 Norco 4xxxx and a brief look at the 2007 changes

May 17, 2007
by Tyler Maine  
I had the chance to try out a 2006 Norco 4xxxx for a few months during the winter, getting a feel for it and riding it as hard as I could. There are not a lot of bikes out there that can do it all-DJ, Street, Slopestyle and trails. I wanted a Bike that I could do everything on, I thought it would be a fun challenge seeing as it's a race/trail bike so I wanted to see how it could handle on the trails, but I also wanted to see how it could handle against jump and slopestyle elements.FRAME: 2006 Norco 4xxxx

COMPONENTS: Stock Build

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This nimble, fast machine comes stock with a Fox Float R which is a great rear shock that suits the bike for what is needed to be done. The rear shock has adjustable rebound control and you can change the spring rate with an air pump. Changing the spring rate on air shocks is so easy and it allows for easy set ups when dealing with varieing terrain and different size riders. I found this to work awesome while riding either hard packed or loose trails. Also on the jumps I could easily set up the shock to run super stiff so I could keep my speed up and not have to worry about getting bucked. I didn’t have any problems with this frame bottoming out and it absolutely loves to get low and shred corners. The only times I seemed to have troubles were when riding super rocky sections the suspension would tend to ramp up a little but you’ll find that with most small, short travel suspension bikes.

The SRAM drive train cannot be beat. This was my first time on a bike that I rode constantly with SRAM bits and the shifting felt so crisp and clean for the duration that I had the bike. No matter what kind of riding you’re doing or what kind of bike you’re looking for, getting on the SRAM program is a definite bonus. The 4xxxx comes complete with SRAM X-7 shifter and derailleur combo and Truvativ Hussefelt cranks.

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I spent a majority of my time on the bike on some of our local dirt jumps so I switched the Syncros low rise/nearly flat bar to a taller rise bar, which made the bike feel a lot better and more responsive for tricks. After I raised the front end the bike was super easy to manual and had a great balance point. Perfect length for being flickable, but at the same time you could totally rail the corners. While on the trails the bike responded really well and continued to impress me. Something I would definitely change though (which Norco has for the 2007 version) is the Marzocchi Dirt Jumper. For a bike as rad as this, the front suspension didn’t perform up to par compared to the rest of the bike, which was a complaint of mine.

Norco did some major upgrading for the 07 model and gave it an awesome revamp. Upgrades include Juicy 3 brakes, Pivotal seat and post, Alex DM24 wheels, and a Marzocchi 4X fork. Norco has also been a great company to deal with and listens to what riders want. If you’re looking to get into 4X/Dual racing, or you want to have an all around light travel bike that can take a beating, this would definitely be a bike to put on the short list!

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Thanks to Mark Schmidt and Tyler at Pinkbike.com for the support with the Norco.

Thanks again to Marty and Ryan at Marty’s MTN Cycle for keeping all these bikes running!

Author Info:
brule avatar

Member since Mar 27, 2001
3,581 articles

3 Comments
  • 0 0
 OMG...sasquatch sighting in pic.
  • 0 0
 Nice review shrew....props!
  • 0 0
 sweet review dude.i just wish for more reviews on pink bike







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