Submitted by
Renato
a Racer
from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Date Reviewed: October 16, 2002
Strengths: Everything except rims, rear tyre (Nokian) and the chain guide!!
Weaknesses: Rims (got flat spots after 3 days of riding) The chain guide doesn't work well. The chain is always slipping and bloody noisy once its been set up right! I'm not a large fan of nokian tyres. Lots of pinch flats! Different seat angle, makes it hard to pedle and its also really heavy.
Bottom Line:
Awsome bike to ride. Takes pretty much everything you give it! There are a few problems with it though. I suggest getting new rims as the Sun Singlewide are weak as piss! I'm using Mavic D321 which are pretty much dee max with a different paint job. I've been doing drop after drop on them and they are still true. The axiom chain guide that you get with it is crap! no matter how you set it, the chain still finds a way to come off. The head angle isn't the best for downhilling. If you can, buy a rocker which you attach to your rear shock. this makes a huge difference to your head angle and you get about 8.85" travel with it on aswell. once you get all these small bugs out of it it is a friken wicked bike to race. By the way, unless you're about 6 foot 2 don't consider any other size than a small. I'm 6 foot and i was stupid enough to buy a medium. It is huge. Its really hard to throw around especially in technical bits.
Similar Products Used: specialized bighit. Giant DH comp.
Bike Setup: Marzocchi Shiver WC,Fox Vanilla RC, Race Face DH 44T 170 mm, Shimano XTR, Sram Rocket 8 speed shorty, Easton EA70 Bar, Hayes 8"hydraulic, Intense DH tyres, Mavic D321 rims and V8 pedles.
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Submitted by
Scott Watterson
a Downhiller
from Mammoth Lakes, CA
Date Reviewed: August 6, 2002
Strengths: Sturdy frame, built well for big drops and balance. Looks good, reasonable price, and good stock components.
Weaknesses: Weak rims, differnt seat position than most DH rigs. You sit more upright and knees are close to the headset. Hard to pedal on flats and a little heavy.
Bottom Line:
I've ridden this thing hard up here in mammoth and the only problem i had was destroying my single wide rims. I can huck myself off anything on this bike and carry more speed on rocky trails like Bullet DH. It is a greta bike for any rider, you just have to get use to the different seat position.
Bike Setup: Stock 2001 Norco VPS Team DH w/doublewide rims
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Submitted by
John Anderson
a Downhiller
from Sydney, NSW, Australia
Date Reviewed: February 3, 2002
Strengths: Shiver forks, Fox Vanilla RC, Hadley hubs and more. The SRAM 8 speed grip shift is perfect (I wasn't sure to begin with). This machine is built for strength, which is good for a 100kg (220#) Clydesdale rider.
Weaknesses: Chain guard, Head set, Frame holes and maybe the rims. The chain guard gets caught up on logs, I’ve changed guards. The headset is super strong but will rust, the sealed unit doesn’t seal properly. The drain/breather hole in frame tends to allow water in but not out. The Sun S/W rims have very strong side walls but can flat spot due to the lack of rim depth.
Bottom Line:
This is an awesome ride that installs confidence in all riding. With this machine I’m jumping higher, going faster and braking later. It’s the type of Bike that all your mates want to borrow. I would aim this bike at the Clyesdale DH that likes big drops and speed.
Strengths: Very strongly built bike D/W rims are a must
Weaknesses: 4 Pivot system I have all ready had to replace them
Bottom Line:
This is a very excleent bike i ride it all the time and it is so cushy it fells like ring a recliner. All though it is heavy it is sweet ridiny downhill. It is better than my last bike the G-spot Cove
Strengths: extremely stable, eats up big drops, very plush thanks to the fox rc/shiver combo 8" hayes rock! price can't be beat
Weaknesses: gripshift -what is up with this crap, norco? singlewides flatspot easily ovalized the headtube -recurring problem with vps'
Bottom Line:
the best bike for the buck, by far. makes you go bigger, faster, brake later than you ever thought possible. Don't buy one unless you are fairly tall though. I'm 6'1" and i can barely stand over it without touching my crotch. The rear suspension is easily adjustable and more than adequate for my weight (175), however, the stock shiver springs are designed for light riders, and it bottoms on big airs, even with the preload cranked all the way up. can't really complain much though, the bike rides like a dream... if only norco could solve the headtube issue...
Bike Setup: Mostly stock, replaced 44t cog with 34, ditched the chainguide, added a granny ring, swapped jr gazzi for a 3.0 in the front,
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Submitted by
PHILIPPE BASQUE
a Downhiller
from MONCTON , N-B CANADA!
Date Reviewed: September 1, 2001
Strengths: Stock parts was good for the price ,
Weaknesses: the fffrrrrrrrraaaaaaaammmmmeeeeee............(bended after 2 weeks of riding, and craked after 2 other weeks.) the Fork , blowed after 1 month and a few drop ... EVERYTHING BUT THE COMPONENTS
Bottom Line:
nEED A FRAME WITH MORE GUSSET OR NO MORE MONOCOQUE.
Similar Products Used: SUPER 8, SPECIALIZED FSR (PALMER EDITION), BULLIT , kONA STAB DELUXE 99, SCHWINN STRAIGHT 6...
Bike Setup: GOOD EXCEPT SEAT HEIGHT
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Submitted by
Shane Spencer
a Downhiller
from Terrace B.C
Date Reviewed: August 2, 2001
Strengths: The parts line up is unbeatable for the price. It loves high speed and big hits. It's nice to see that Norco fixed the junk truck noise problem.
Weaknesses: Heavy, and I not keen on the Shiver for root infested techincal slow speed stuff. The super high seat is not the greatest for steep trail riding
Bottom Line:
If your looking for a cheap race bike or a decent freerider with great parts for cheap this in the ticket. If you have more money and you want to race buy a GT DHi if you wanna huck buy a super 8
Similar Products Used: Super 8, DHi, Bullet, and the Shore
Bike Setup: I built a set of wheels for freeriding. Double wide 26 in the front,24 in the back. This gets the back end down a bit for steep stuff. Also I got rid of the suck-a-lotis and put Maxxis, high rollers on. PS there was a recall on the rear stay, they beefed it up for the 8" disc's
Strengths: The parts alone on this bike wpould add up to almost the price of the full thing, plush forks, hydrolic disks, fox RC, sun single wide rims, hadley bolt on rear hub
Weaknesses: skinny rear triangle, i recomend taking off the 8inch roter and going for a 6inch so as not to snap the weld like i did
Bottom Line:
cool bike great value pitty about the weak rear end
ps: if my swing arm snaps again im going to change my review seeing as i only weigh 65kg
Strengths: Everything! The fork the shock the frame!!! You can't go wrong with this rig. The Shiver is soooo plush and so is the Fox RC shock. It pedals uphill farily well too.
Weaknesses: The chain ring protector is a bit of a turd but I'm getting that fixed. Other than that NOTHING!!!
Bottom Line:
If you are looking for a killer deal and a great bike Norco is the way to go. This thing floats over everything I throw at it. If you are looking for attention get this rig! I've had about a million people all over it since I got it a few weeks ago. Anyways, its an awsome bike and awsome deal so how can you go wrong?
