Store Blog: General

2011 Norco Product Launch!

Jul 15.10   Posted in category: Reviews

There is already a lot of great coverage cruising around from Norco's 2011 product launch (NSMB, Pinkbike, MTBR, etc), so rather then try and reinvent the wheel we figured on sharing the bikes and features that really spoke to us.

The DB crew was fortunate enough to get a close up view of the new bikes and to meet a lot of new friends, locally and from the mother ship, out on the trail.

We will also be following up with a more detailed, multi-ride, review of the new Norco Range, series of bikes in the next few weeks.

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Speaking personally for the moment (as everyone had a personal favourit and I am the one writing this), Norco's bike of the year for 2011 is definitely the new Storm. Yeah, yeah, it isn't a game changer like the Shinobi (29'er All Mountain bike) or the, super-capable, Range series but it is a $760 trail ready hardtail with a lightweight aluminum frame, hydraulic disc brakes, Shimano's Alivio drivetrain and an oil damped Rockshox fork.

Easily the sweetest rig I have come across under 1k and definitely a tool-of-choice for the beginer rider in sizes right down to 12.5" for your tween ripper (or the vertically challenged amongst us).

2011 Norco Storm: really nice $760 entry level Mountain Bike / Photo: Drew@NV

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The bikes getting the most attention from minute-one were the new 2011 Range (replacing the Fluid LT series) and the fully redesigned Vixa.

Both bikes, based on very similar framesets, are featuring Syntace's very sleek (x-12) thru-axle system for increased stiffness, a new axle-path that improves climbing performance and keeps the suspension more active under hard braking, and slacker headangles (66.5 degree) for improved downhill performance.

I was, speaking personally again, most impressed with the new one piece alloy rocker link (which in addition to looking WAY better then previous efforts should be much stiffer) and very cleanly applied tapered headtube. The one piece postmount disc tab/gusset is also a very thought-out piece.

The clean new graphics were definitely a hit as well.

The backend of the Range: Slick disc mount, new Syntance thru-axle, quality hardware, clean graphics / Photo: Drew@NV

2011 Range: One-piece Rocker Link. YUM! / Photo: Drew@NV

Can't get enough of the new Rocker Link. Here it is in Vixa dress. Those are indeed finger holes on the bottom of the linkage for your next hike-a-bike adventure / Photo: Drew@NV

New headtube. Vixa looks WAY better in person then my crappy photos / Photo: Drew@NV

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The new Shinobi 29'er is also very cool and definitely the bike I was most excited to throw a leg over. It uses a 140mm Reba up front with 120mm of rear travel. Geometry feels dialed. Rear end is SUPER STIFF thanks to the new linkage and the Syntance X-12 rear axle system. The chainstay lenght was also very reasonable for a 2-9'er dualie.

The 29'er Reba and I have never gotten along in the past; however, their 2011 offering feels very smooth. The 10-speed shifting from Shimano was flawless and the wider 11-36t gear range out back helps get the big wheels up the steep-and-tech.

Worst. Photo. Ever. Cool bike though: The new Shinobi / Photo: Drew@NV

Shinobi being put through the paces by our friends at Bay Cycle / Photo: Drew@NV

Shinobi being put through the paces by our friend Morgan at Bikeland / Photo: Drew@NV

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Norco also has a new 4" Travel XC bike in their stable this year called the Fazer. We were more interested to see the Faze bumped up to 120mm of travel (and the Fluid bumped to 140mm and slackened a degree at the headtube angle) but our new friends from Ontario were definitely stoked.

If you are in the market for a new singletrack slayer or affordable race rig this may be your ticket as well.

If you recognize this shop jersey fire me an e-mail: the new Fazer / Photo: Drew@NV

Our friends at Bikeland rip the new Fazer / Photo: Drew@NV

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Thanks to Norco for the chance to explore their new rigs. We were very stoked for the chance to share our backyard with riders from across the country.

Regrouping on the XC Ride / Photo: Drew@NV

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Okay, one more. In the spirit of a good end-troduction; is anyone else stoked on the idea of grom-sized commuter/city bikes?

Grom sized city/commuter bikes. AWESOME / Photo: Drew@NV

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Questions? Plain, inane, insane, or regular; answered here: info@differentbikes.ca

-Drew@NV

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We Ride - 2010 Kona Cadabra

Jul 07.10   Posted in category: Travel

As usual we have a pretty sweet stable of bikes under staff and owners this season. One of the standouts so far has been the new “Magic Link” bike from Kona – the Cadabra, and its higher-spec brother the AbraCadabra.

After an impressive first ride on a demo bike provided by Kona back in November, we decided to pick one up for a longer season of testing. The DB Cadabra has now logged around 100 hours of riding on the North Shore, Sunshine Coast, Squamish, Burnaby mountain and more.

Kona’s first version of the magic link suspension design debuted in 2009 on a tweaked version of the CoilAir platform. An interesting idea, using a double linkage that connects the rear air shock to a secondary spring in order to provide additional travel as well as geometry changes throughout the travel.  This first version was promising but had its issues. For 2010, Kona heavily revised and updated the magic link concept, best represented on the all-new Cadabra series of bikes.

The Cadabra is a trail bike designed to do a wide range of riding surprisingly well. It has a deceptively light scandium frameset, heavily formed, and with some smooth and modern lines. The bike has 150 mm of front and rear travel, but also an XC and climbing oriented head tube and seat tube geometry.  It essentially rides like a long travel XC bike, until you point it downhill, where the magic link starts to work, slackening the head angle and providing lots of confidence.

One of the things that impressed us most on both versions was the high quality parts spec, which combined with a light frameset and a reasonable price delivers one of the best values we have seen for an all purpose FS bike in a while. The Cadabra comes with a Fox 32 150mm fork, with a 15mm axle, Foc RP32 rear shock, Mavic Crossride wheelset, SLX/Deore/XT shifters, brakes and cranks and has a retail price just over $3000! The Abracadabra has the same light frame but has upgrades across nearly all parts for only around $1500 more.  Note: remaining stock of both of these bikes is on sale right now at DB – until the end of July, making them an even better value - see www.differentbikes.ca under latest deals!.

The Ride:

While not a bike that is ready to catch big air or hit the gnarliest steep trails on the shore, this bike has impressed us with its versatility and performance. One of the most noticeable strengths is climbing – the magic link action keeps the suspension active and supple and the bike absolutely  grabs the trail on the uphills, surprising us by cleaning many uphill lines that are often hard to hit. The light weight helps here, but we think it is mostly down to the suspension.  The Cadabra is also a very capable descender, but it takes some getting used to and some trust in the bike. With an XC-oriented geometry and a relatively high BB,  it does not immediately inspire confidence on the steeper technical descents the north shore and squamish have to offer. But point it downhill, get the rear end into the travel and the bike slackens out and seems to eat the trail with its 150mm of travel. It essentially feels like a short travel cross country bike except seems to roll through things that would likely lead to disaster on a short travel bike.

Issues – not many. We found the factory cable routing led to lots of frame rub and interference with the feet and legs. Ziptying the cables to the main upper linkage solved this. The Magic link works well, although getting the shock pressure and spring rate set right is a bit fidgety, and takes some trial and error. Once dialled, you’ll love it. More technical lines could expose a little flex in the rear end, but some of this was probably asking more of the bike than it was designed for. The magic link suspension action takes a little getting used to, especially on big compressions or short g-outs, as the geometry change from steep to slack and back is not something everyone may be used to. Once familiar, you can start to play with this feature, lean back when things get steep and rough and let the bike work.

Summary:

Very well executed package, proving the potential of an interesting new suspension design.  Nice looking bike, clean modern lines, with an awesome parts spec.  Light weight, incredible value, versatile bike for everything from casual XC racing to technical and epic trail riding. A little quirky at moments until you are used to it but will outclimb and out descend many similar “trail bikes” costing 50% more money.  Ironically – buy one as designed as your “one do it all bike” and have enough left over to consider another bike!

More details: http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=cadabra

Get Rev El’ Stoked in Revelstoke, July 11th, 2k10

Jun 24.10   Posted in category: Events

Our friends, the "Sweet Single Track Beverage Loving Racer Types at Skookum Cycle," in awesome Revelstoke  <<insert plug for different bikes Blooming Photo competition with photo of beautiful Revelstoke here>> are hosting the Stoked to Get Spanked Mountain Bike Race in (you guessed it) Revelstoke on the 11th of July.

The main event features "35km of sweet relentless single track and logging road" and included in your fee is racing fuel, sweet single track, and your first post race Mt. Begbie beer (you bring the positive attitude and pain threshold).

There will also be a 12km U17/U15 race and a "Lil' Spankies" race for kids 3+, both of which score a T-shirt in edition to the experience.

The whole event is capped off with prizes, beer and BBQ.

If you love single track and beverages (and can at least sufferably tolerate a bit of racing) definitely make the trip!

For more information check out www.skookumcycle.com. If you still have questions after that fire an e-mail to tom-at-skookumcycle.com, just give him some time to respond as everything is busy in the shop this time of year.

-db