2022 Norco Fluid Review - Full Mountain Bike Performance Breakdown #mtb #loamwolf #budgetbike

#mtb #loamwolf #budgetbike Are you looking for an affordable mountain bike that doesn't skimp on tech, geometry or performance? Norco’s new Fluid mountain bike line seeks to bring features, ride quality and geometry-driven safety normally found exclusively on high end bikes to a more accessible price point. Come along for another Dissected series episode where we learn about how and what makes the new Norco Fluid one of the most rewarding, challenging, and fun projects the Norco engineer and design team have had in recent years.

It may sound a bit gimmicky or like we’re reciting a sales pitch, but something came through time and again during our meetings leading up to the filming of this Dissected, was the genuineness and passion behind the crew at Norco involved in creating the bike. It’s not hard for a brand to exhaust all their efforts and contacts to build the best bike they know how. Well, I say that loosely. When you know a bike is going to retail for 8,10, even 13,000 dollars, pulling out all the stops to feature things like size-specific geometry molds, custom tuned suspension and different tube thickness is expected. To try and offer these same features on a bike that starts under $3,000? That’s where the passion and challenge take over.

Now, we’re lucky here as brands often send us their flagship model bikes. It’s what people want to lust after, and it shows the pinnacle of what engineering and componentry are capable of. The reality is most riders, us included, spend more time evaluating how nice of a bike we can get to fit within our budget. Compromise has long come in the form of components and geometry, with suspension tuning following behind. Norco is seeking to raise the bar when it comes to what an affordable, dual suspension mountain bike is capable of with their new Fluid, and first impressions tell us they have delivered.

THE EXTRA MILE
Like all of Norco’s high-end dual suspension mountain bikes, the new Norco Fluid had two teams working on bringing it to what you see here.

We met with David Cox who oversees the engineering team, which handles R&D, conceptualizing the bike, testing and tuning it. It’s then handed off to the industrial and commercial design team, where the bike gets refined. Here it starts to smooth out, take shape and look more like the finished product.

Along that process, the Fluid spends lots of time with Norco’s suspension tuning team, led by Colin Ryan. And here again is where the passion shone through. It’s not uncommon to see brands spend time working with Fox or RockShox to customize tunes on high-end bikes, but when Norco’s product manager Paul Burnett told us that they spent a ton of time working with X-Fusion, going over dyno data and fine tuning the performance of the shock to best suit the bike at the $2700 price point, it was clear to see this wasn’t just a sales pitch. Norco was looking to challenge themselves and give riders the best experience possible – riders of all budgets and abilities can benefit from good suspension after all.

GEOMETRY IS FREE
This was a big takeaway from our conversations with the Norco Bicycles team. For decades cheap bikes have had outdated – dare we say dangerous – geometry that we’ve long left behind in the high-end bike world. Short reach numbers, high centers of gravity and steep, twitchy head tube angles have been accepted for too long and as Norco pointed out, a mold is a mold, and if you’re going to make a new mold for a budget-focused bike, there’s no reason not to give it capable geometry! Geometry is free at this point, and Norco learned what works and how it improves confidence and safety to riders, especially those who are new to our sport.

[This is just an excerpt of our full-length dissected write-up, which can be found on the website]

Write up: https://theloamwolf.com/2022/07/28/di...

Fluid FS A1 Price: $4,449
Website: https://www.norco.com/

What we are wearing:
Kit: https://royalracing.com/
Helmet: https://7idp.com/collections/helmets/...
Protection: https://7idp.com/collections/knee-pads

Get your Loam Wolf gear here:
store.theloamwolf.com

#mountainbike #mountainbiking #trailbike #singletrack #flowtrail #norcobikes #norcofluid
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