Norco Range C1 High Pivot MTB Review - From Despair to Redemption

After several months of testing the high pivot Norco Range on everything from bike park downhill trails, jump lines and longer pedals on flat, mellow trails, we think we’ve nailed down just who the ideal consumer of this beast of a mountain bike is. If you caught our initial ride report, the stoke was high after one day of riding on the lower mountain trails at the local bike park. Things weren’t butterflies and rainbows however as we quickly began to grow disheartened by the Norco Range and spent months handing it around to other testers and swapping spring rates before we reached back out to Norco. After a few Zoom meetings and a final attempt at installing a new shock on the chance ours had a bad bleed, or incorrect tune, we discovered the shock extension link had a seized bearing. With a new shock and link installed, we began to rejoice as each rider’s opinion began to change ride after ride. Sometimes reviews aren’t as easy as we hope, and this was certainly one of them. We’re happy to report however, that we finally got this bike feeling as good as everyone else has been telling us it is.

THE DIRT
Let’s first get the hiccup out of the way. We spent a couple of months riding the bike, going back and forth with shock tuning, spring rates and swapping parts like wheels and handlebars in hopes of getting the bike to stop beating the crap out of us. We kept seeing glowing review after rave review dropping from other media outlets and felt like Mr. Mugatu in Zoolander, taking crazy pills. After exhausting ourselves we connected with Norco once again and brought up the fact that perhaps the shock was blown and they asked if we’d be interested in holding off on publishing our review until we tried one more shock. When we began the time-consuming process of pulling the shock out, we discovered there was a seized bearing deep in the lower shock mount’s extension link. We quickly emailed Norco asking if they’d also send a new link along with the shock and they gladly did.

Long story short, we replaced the shock and link, and the bike turned our frowns upside down. It was clear instantly that the issue was gone, and we could now tackle the rough and chunky downhill trails we love without the abusive ride we had at first. We wanted to bring this up in case there are other riders out there who own or have ridden this bike and maybe feel they can’t get the shock to feel right, or perhaps it’s a bit harsher than they’d expect. If so, pull that lower shock link and check it out as our bike only had a couple rides on it before it started feeling stiff and harsh.

Once we had the bike sorted, we could restart our testing process. One thing that didn’t change dramatically was how the Norco Range climbed. Comfort was never an issue and Norco’s size-specific geo seems to be pretty dialed on this ride, but what we didn’t love was the somewhat squished down feel on long climbs. Especially mid-grade climbs where you’re seated and just grinding away. The pulley and extra chain length may not be that big of a deal from a mechanical drag perspective but try telling your brain and legs that in the middle of a long climb as your friends creep away from you. Another issue we had with the Range’s climbing was the low rocker link. When climbing over downed trees, or large rocks, we clipped it a couple of times. We never hit it on the downhills or when moving at speed, but it seemed to be an issue at slower paces.

Once it was time to point the Norco Range down the mountain however, it would be the other riders getting peeled off the back. Without sounding too predictable, if you could imagine what riding a single-crown 170mm downhill bike would feel like, that’s what it’s like to stand over the Range as it charges down the trail. The bike is dead silent, offering only a muted thud of the tires as they pound the terrain beneath. This of course instills more confidence and urges you to stay off the brakes because, if the bike’s not even making any noise, surely it’s not working that hard. Of course, then our nerves came into play…which is about the only thing that slows the Range down.

...[cont'd on the website]

Full Review: https://theloamwolf.com/2022/03/23/review-norco-range-c1/
Visit Norco's Website: https://www.norco.com/bikes/mountain/enduro/

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