Spotted - New Norco Range

If you were in the market for a long travel Norco trail bike, you've probably been wondering why the carbon variants of the Sight and Range vanished from the Norco website. 

Not long after the 140mm Sight and 160mm travel Range carbon models disappeared from the lineup, Norco released the following videos. These clips confirm that something new is about to be released with a January release for the all-mountain bike (Sight) and February for enduro bike (Range).

Sight Teaser:

Range Teaser:

 Neither video offers a decent look at the new bikes and Bryn Atkinson is clearly on the older Range carbon in the ‘enduro’ clip. Dig a little deeper and you’ll notice that Norco’s pro downhiller, Sam Blenkinsop, has been riding a new bike—it keeps popping up in his Instagram feed - see this recent video for example.

The frame appears to be carbon with similar lines to the new Optic, but it’s clearly a bigger, burlier bike. Sam actually won a NZ national round in Christchurch aboard this mystery bike.

Judging by the proportions (Sam is pretty tall) we suspect this longer travel rig is a 29er. This would be consistent with the Optic, which also comes in 27.5 and 29-inch, both with near identical geometry.

Looking at the somewhat blury takes from Instagram, it appears that the ‘Art’ suspension has followed the changes introduced with their Optic and Revolver models. The rear horst-link pivot doesn’t appear to sit as low while the front pivot is in a similar location. If this is the case, the new Range and Sight will suspension will be more active under heavy pedalling loads, something that brings both pros and cons; there’s sure to be less pedal kickback when hitting bumps but maybe a softer suspension feel when climbing—time will tell if it pans out that way.

We’d also have to guess that the geometry is updated too, with a moderately long reach and front centre like the new Norco Optic.

All will be revealed in 2017 but in the meantime keep an eye on Blenki’s Instagram feed for more teasers.