Shimano’s 12-speed shifting again impressed with its consistency and forgiving set up. While the four-piston brakes provide tons of power, their on/off feel takes some adjusting to in comparison to, say, SRAM Codes. The drivetrain and brakes both come from Shimano, a mix of XT and budget-saving SLX, but none the worse for it. Its FIT GRIP2 damper can be tuned precisely to preference, with independent high- and low-speed compression and rebound adjustment. Steve Behr / Immediate MediaĪ trunnion-mount Fox Float X2 Performance shock controls the Horst-link rear suspension, while a Fox 36 Performance Elite fork provides 160mm of travel up front. The four-bar linkage rear-end and Fox Float X2 shock give an amazingly supple ride. Thankfully, the chainstays are more wear-resistant alloy, rather than carbon like the rest of the frame. There are rubber protectors on the down tube and driveside chainstay, but on the latter this doesn’t extend far enough forwards to stop the chain chipping away at the cable guide. (I did find the rubber guides on the entry ports had a habit of working loose, though.)Īnother neat feature is the second set of bottle bosses under the top tube, which is ideal for mounting a pump, tube or tool. Cables are routed internally and clamped tight via a zip-tie guide on the underside of the down tube. This attention to detail is followed through into the finer points of the frame. It’s not infallible, but it’s a great starting point. It also has an online set-up guide, where you input your height, weight and skill level, and the algorithm advises on suspension settings and tyre pressures for your bike. Norco uses a geometry system it calls ‘Ride Aligned’, where the front and rear centres (how far the wheel axles sit from the bottom bracket) grow proportionally with frame size, and the seat angle steepens in sync, to maintain a centred ride position. This is a big bike, with a 485mm reach, 440mm chainstays and a slack 64-degree head angle that wouldn’t look out of place on an enduro race bike. So, the 27.5 model sees 150mm travel forks while the 29er gets 140mm travel versions.I’ve been riding the second-from-top-specced carbon 29er, in size large. Both sizes feature forks with 10mm more travel than in the back. Another significant difference between the two wheel sizes is the fact that Norco only offers the 29er in sizes medium through extra-large, where the 27.5 is available in a full range from extra small to extra large. Its head angle is half a degree steeper at 67 degrees, and its reach is longer, but Norco gives the 29er a shorter 50mm stem, effectively placing the handlebars in the exact same place as the 27.5-inch version relative to the bottom bracket. In an effort to make the 29er version of the Sight Carbon feel and handle similar to the 27.5 model, Norco made a few changes to its geometry and shortened its travel to 130mm. ![]() Chainstay length varies by size, getting longer in larger frames, which Norco says makes them proportionally adjusted with the front-center for optimal weight distribution. Seat tube angles steepen between 0.7 to 1 degrees, depending on size, for better climbing. The bike’s geometry also received an update that brings it in line with modern trends: a longer font-center, slacker head angle of 66.5 degrees, and lower bottom bracket, all of which contribute to improved stability at speed and in steeper terrain. Rear axle spacing gets the wider with Boost 148mm sizing on the new Sight, too. ![]() Other benefits of the metric-style shock include increased bushing overlap for less friction and a shorter, more compact overall size. This trunnion mount pivots on bearings instead of bushings for more supple action. Its shock also sees a significant change in the form of the new metric style with trunnion mount. The suspension kinematics have been altered for less chain growth so that it can be more supple and reactive while pedaling. Horst link-style four-bar suspension design, but with a few tweaks. The new Sight Carbon fits in Norco’s lineup between its 130mm-travel Optic and 160mm-travel Range. For the new model year, Norco not only updated the new 140mm travel Sight with a carbon fiber frame and modern geometry, but also adds a new second version with 29-inch wheels and 130mm of travel. While it was a very good bike, evolving category trends and new technology made a refresh necessary for 2017. ![]() When Norco introduced the Sight Killer-B 27.5-inch line of trail bikes, it was one of the first good bikes in the then-budding middle wheel size.
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