Submitted by
madebahr
a Weekend Warrior
from Vic, Australia
Date Reviewed: November 18, 2011
Strengths: Strong frame, good brakes, and Awesome tires, (good grip and only got one flat in the whole 2 years of riding!)
Weaknesses: Norco saved money by replacing metal with plastic, resulting in problems with headset, forks, de-railer, de-railer brackets, peddles. The bike is also very heavy!
Bottom Line:
The Norco Katmandu could be a great bike if the company had bothered with fitting the bike with quality parts, instead of fitting it with flimsy plastic parts that break too easy! The Norco Wolverine is the better choice than the Norco Katmandu!
Bike Setup: Replaced the headset, peddles, de-railer and got a custom de-railer bracket
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Submitted by
Flippy1993
a Weekend Warrior
from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: September 25, 2011
Strengths: -huge frame that is unbreakable!
-huge tires
Weaknesses: - relatively cheap parts
- bit heavy (due to su
Bottom Line:
This was my first real mountain bike. I bought it 2 years ago brand new and beat it every day in the summer on moderate trails and especially on weekends on hard trails. The bike is a bit on the heavier side so jumps are out of the questions but its fantastic for downhill/trail riding. I found the gear ratio to be very good and switching gears was always smooth
However, falling on this bike is bad news for everyone. I fell once (not very hard) and the read tire bent. Next time I fell, the front tire bent. I was a bit dissapointed since the tires are heavy-duty and shouldn't have bent that easily. I spent $100/tire to get new ones
So, is it a hard core mountain bike? NO, but its great for the cost. Its not a $2000 mountain bike that will survive a 10ft drop but its good enough for 5ft drops and good hard riding.
Similar Products Used: I have 25 year-old TREK 7000 that has never had this much down time.
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Submitted by
duckman902
a Cross Country Rider
from halifax
Date Reviewed: April 14, 2011
Strengths: well considering i bought just the frame and ive rebuilt from the ground up it dont run bad
im still driving it but not on rough trails id have to have better forks then jetts
Weaknesses: well other then the forks and the frame being a size 14 or 15 inch frame and im 6'2 i havent found anything wrong with it yet mind ya i have had way better
Bottom Line:
well cant say how good it is from the store but as for the frame that seems strong so far great around the city
Similar Products Used: gt agressor khs alite 300 fully redone to my specs kona lavadome race light my new bike giant warp ds1 redone to my specs ironhorse worrier comp norco nx1000,screamer,bush pilot,bigfoot specialized hardrock old skool with u brakes underneath and suntour parts kona stuff being built
Bike Setup: old rapidfire shifters 7speed wolber at20 rims french made with deore hubs not sure of model of them deore crankarms with 2 oval biopace chain rings bottom bracket mount front axera derailer rock shox jett forks bottom half of the
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Submitted by
Callum
a Weekend Warrior
from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Date Reviewed: September 20, 2010
Strengths: sturdy frame, good geometry for all round riding
Weaknesses: parts it comes with. have almost replaced every aspect of the bike aside from front wheel
Bottom Line:
not a bad bike to begin with, but if you look to doing anything more than riding now or then, i suggest you either need to be willing to fork out alot in upgrades or look for a more upmarket model
Submitted by
plichhayy
a Weekend Warrior
from Canada, Nova Scotia
Date Reviewed: September 8, 2010
Strengths: just really started using the bike hard, i changed the crank..forks..handlebars..rims and tires and the back durailler..also upgraded the hubs
Weaknesses: i found the xct suntour front suspension to be a bit lacking..and also the angle in wich the frame seams to be weird, and the seat will refuse to stay tight haha , but other than that overal i find the bike great, and im using it for seriouse dirt jumpin...but i also have landings for all my gaps jumps and drops so when you land right you can jump any bike pretty much as big as you want, i find the handling extremely well and the bike is very easy to get use to.
Bottom Line:
nice bike for the price, can usually pick up a second hand one from between 2-300 and build yourself quite the nice little bike if your into them things, and for the bike you build i think i spent all together 450 on mine and i find it amazing werks perfecnt and i put it threw its paces for sure, so far so good , i would recommend if your willing to chance a couple components
Bike Setup: 07 Katmandu with kona pedals,shimano deore derailleur
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Submitted by
lavergnn
a Weekend Warrior
from peaceriver
Date Reviewed: July 14, 2010
Strengths: everything but the gears
Weaknesses: gears got screwed up first day I rode it
Bottom Line:
buy its a good bike just get different derailer and gears and a fork with more travel would be nice its light at 34lbs =) also get stronger rims if you want to go off BIG drops other than that its an awsome bike =)
Bike Setup: Norco Katmandu frame, 100mm Dart 2 forks, Shimano XT rear derailer, Shimano alivio front derailer, Stock Gary Fisher handle bars, Tioga 2.3 tires, Bontrager seat, Disc brakes.
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Submitted by
youngbush25
a Downhiller
from vancouver,bc
Date Reviewed: June 1, 2009
Strengths: frame
Weaknesses: shifter and fork
Bottom Line:
good bike for jum i think as long as you have a landing..i did a couple of drops and not to good scare to crak the frame... pretty good bike for the price i paid its amazing!!
Strengths: Good looking bike, good hayes disc brakes, good shifters, easy to ride, lightweight.
Weaknesses: Brake cables wore away some paint on the frame, plastic pedals broke fast, but I replaced them with metal ones and it's great.
Bottom Line:
Good bike, only thing I recommend to replace are the pedals, and maybe the fork if you are going off larger drops. Great bike for beginner/intermediate riders, at a great price, :)
Bike Setup: The seat that came with my bike is actually off of the Norco Wolverine, and I have red (I forget what brand) metal pedals, everything else is stock.
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Submitted by
pikits
a Weekend Warrior
from nova scotia
Date Reviewed: October 4, 2008
Strengths: frame is pretty good, better than bad rims, pedals are pretty good compared to most plastic ones
Weaknesses: the forks and the bars suk real bad
Bottom Line:
if u upgrade the fork and bars this is a sick bike
Hey guys I am thinking of buying the Norco Katmandu and am wondering if it is a good bike to start mountain biking What do you think about the Suntour forks? I have never heard of Read More »
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I've been riding a Devinci Chili Pepper for 10 years now, some years harder than Read More »
