Weaknesses: weak rear triangle it cracks with lots of abuse I took the bike back to the shop and they replaced the rear top sub frame. A cuple of months later I cracked it again. Bike not to blame the bike it was the 9 ft drops I was doing of a roof to flat lands. I also bent the steer tube on the marzoochi bommer exr forks that are standard so I bacily destroed the bike I also snaped the standard quick realese and bent the new one. The rear fox shock spring is too soft for 60kg rider.
Bottom Line:
The bike is great for some one who is geeting in to mtb or downhill. The is super tuff but my riding is to blame this bike is for use of trials and cross country not downhill and freeride.
Bike Setup: Azonic hot seat, Azonic double wall handle bars, Azonic shorty dh stem, sun single track rims, hayes hfx9 disc brakes, e-thirteen bashguard, fsa pig dh pro headset, crankbrothers 5050xx pedals Marzorcchi jr t forks
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Submitted by
jamie goby
a Weekend Warrior
from guelph ONT CANADA
Date Reviewed: August 27, 2005
Strengths: IT IS A VERY GOOD BIKE WILE RIDING ON EXTREAM TRAILS AND HANDELS GREAT
Weaknesses: THEIR ISN'T ONE
Bottom Line:
ITS IS ONE OF THE BEST BIKES. I AND I HAVE HAD ALOT OF BIKES.
Strengths: thsi bike is amazing, i have never riden a better bike. i have done like 8 foot drops and the suspention has never bottomed out.
Weaknesses: this bike has no weaknesses
Bottom Line:
the bottom line is that if you want a good bike for under 2000 dollars that there is no better bike that you can buy, it is comfortable for riding trails, as well as doing 10ft drops.........so ya this bike is amazing and you can get a better bike for a better price.
Bike Setup: everything is the same as when i bought it
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Submitted by
Shawn
a Downhiller
from Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Date Reviewed: June 21, 2005
Strengths: Everything! The bike is very light considering how much stuff it has, and the suspension. The VPS is amazing. This is a great quality bike. I have taken this baby off of approximately 25' drops (roofs), and I have never bottomed out. I have not broken a single part, and this is extremely amazing considering how hard I ride it.
Weaknesses: NONE
Bottom Line:
Best bike I have ever riden. It has not failed me yet. Great price. When someone wants to race me, they eat my dust...
Bike Setup: Everything stock, except I added 2.36" tires.
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Submitted by
Peter
a Weekend Warrior
from Middletown, CT USA
Date Reviewed: May 22, 2005
Strengths: Bike is very agile, weight is low in the frame, 4 bar fsr back end, how many other '03 trailbikes have 68 degree head angles?
Weaknesses: Some of the stock components-big deal-just change them out. The stock rear shock prevented the rear suspension from working as well as it should-see below
Bottom Line:
Now that I modified the rear suspension I can truly say this bike rocks. The stock 6.75 x 1.75 shock mounts near the top of the swinglink, and the travel increases as the mount moves downward in the holes, so I drilled a new hole at the centerpoint of the link. This also increases the leverage ratio which makes the back much plusher. The new Risse also has a slightly longer i2i and a longer stroke which also increases travel and bottom bracket height, I maybe lost one degree of head angle in the process, but I can spare it on a 68 degree trailbike. Most importantly the back end is now incredibly plush for my 180 pounds, yet has compression damping from the midpoint on, and I can get the back tire to almost rub the seat mast at full compression, compared to the old shock bottoming out long before the linkages ever did. This setup feels bottomless. I know I easily have over 6" of travel with this setup. It will also most likely void any frame warranty. Contact me if you have any questions.
Bike Setup: Psylo fork, Risse Jupiter 5R rear shock (7" x 2" x 600# spring)A piggyback reservoir won't clear the frame-get a remote reservoir. I also painted the frame-the black and white didn't work for me.
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Submitted by
the Sock
a Downhiller
from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, eh?
Date Reviewed: April 5, 2005
Strengths: Frame is burley, crankset is of good quality, Fox Vanilla R has worked with no worries
Weaknesses: Brakes calipers are not that great, most Norco no name components have left the building
Bottom Line:
Ah...my first real bike. Alas, I must say good bye to her, I am getting my 2005 Norco Six. I've trashed this bike on and off the trails, and have even used it in a skate park. She's handled drops up to 5 feet, technical and flowy trails and she can do quite a bit of urban. It's a nice bike that can fill the gap between freeride and xc that won't kill your wallet, but you will need to replace parts.
Parts I highly recommend to change:
1. Fork - get a 5" travel fork...did I say now? I meant RIGHT NOW 2. Better brakes, I'd recommend Avid mechanicals, 8" of course 3. A BASH GUARD, the frame has a low BB height 4. Stem and handlebars, they were the reason for my crash 5. Seatpost and saddle, get the Titec Scoper telescopic seatpost, the Titec is key because of the odd 30mm diameter seat tube and you don't have to screw around with cutting the seat post
Overall, she held up fairly well for my riding, but I have to change because of my evolving riding style. Good all around bike.
Favorite Trail: Fish Creek, Don Valley, the City of Toronto
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Bike Setup: 2004 Marzocci Z1 Drop-Off I, Truvativ crankset, Rhyno Lite rims on Formula DH hubs, Easton bar and stem, Deore FD and RD, Hayes HMX-1 6" mechanical disk brakes.
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Submitted by
ping pong
a Weekend Warrior
from north shore
Date Reviewed: February 11, 2005
Strengths: great bike for the frerider or beginner dh'er.great cranks, and fox vanilla shock
Weaknesses: the stem,the brakes,the tires, and forks. It tends to start to malfunction after the first year or so
Bottom Line:
I would recomend this bike to anybody who tackles the hills every weekend. also great for dj,fr, or dh
Bike Setup: wtb 2.5' tires,serfa grips, marzocchi forx,
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Submitted by
Scott Lawrence
a Downhiller
from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: January 1, 2005
Strengths: Really amazing value, this is my first full suspension bike I have ver owned, and it is amazing. The frame is bullit proof, excellet and top quality components...Hayes Disc Brakes, Marzocchi Fork, Fox Vanilla rear shock... as the french would say "PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE"
Weaknesses: It is a heavy frame, but that is why it's so bullit proof. My seat post sucked...it might have just been how i had it in the tube...but my seat post got bent when it was in the seatpost tube, and it took two people to pull it out so i could saw it off and continue to use it... but over-all everything else is great.
Bottom Line:
This is a great all around Bike, its bullit proof, and can be used for mose anything...its a little heavy for XC...heavier than most, and a little lighter suspension that a DH bike, but it sits in the middle. I use it for both, ive taken 6, 7, and 8ft hucks with this bike and it worked just fine *only 4 inches of front travel* I would deffinitly suggest this bike to any begginer lookign to get into DH, but still have omthing he can pedal around town
Bike Setup: Hayes 8" mech disc breaks, Marzocchi EXR 03, Fox Vanilla R 6.75" i2i, Sun Rim CR-18 double walls, Ninja Vee-Rubber 2.35" DH tires, Truvative Hussefelt Crank Set
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Submitted by
Heartless
a Cross Country Rider
from Stoney Creek , Ont
Date Reviewed: October 18, 2004
Strengths: This bike is the ultimate compromise for recreational riders, long travel, brand name component mix, tried and true 4 bar linkage in the rear, sturdy frame and disc brakes! Good standover height and a bullet proof frame. VALUE PLUS!
Weaknesses: The seat post is to short for x-country riding, but to be fair a longer post would not be ok for freeriding because of the rear suspension setup. Just a little heavy.
Bottom Line:
This bike is the best value "All MOUNTAIN" on the market. Yes there are better lighter bikes on the market (Trek Liquid, Cannondale Jekyl, Giant AC) but they are about $1500 to $2000 Cdn more than the Fluid 3. This Norco does everything it is intended for very well, but will not be the best bike for any one trail or condition and the manufacturer states this very clearly in their write up, it is everything they claim it to be. Congratulations NORCO! I have ridden my Fluid all over various trail types in Southern Ontario and raced in the Squeezer and the bike has performed exceptionaly well.
Bike Setup: The bike is stock except for a 400mm seatpost.
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Submitted by
rasheed gonzales
a Weekend Warrior
from toronto, ontario, canada
Date Reviewed: September 29, 2004
Strengths: same as mentioned in my first review below. opinions on the bike's strengths hasn't changed much since i first posted. nice, strong frame (dunno how people say this is a xc bike weighing in at 36 lbs stock). makes a good, light freeride rig.
Weaknesses: same as first review: would've liked longer travel non-xc fork, hydro brakes, wider tires. weaknesses were kind of fixed for '04, but for '05 the fluid 3.0's gone (don't really mind though. i think the 05 fluids are kind of ugly). experienced some chain suck - chipped pain on the chainstays as a result, but no biggie.
Bottom Line:
other than the tacoed front wheel, the broken arch on the exr and the crappy hayes mechs, the fluid 3’s an awesome bike. it’s a bit heavy weighing in at around 36lbs stock, but the bike can definitely take some punishment which kind of makes up for the weight.
with the new upgrades i’ve made to the bike, it absolutely rocks for the type of riding i do – and there’s a couple more sure upgrades in the future – i’ve got some parts that i’ve yet to put on: holzfeller cranks, xt shifters & derailluers. the bike does just about everything – light freeriding, light urban... even dirt jumping. i haven’t done anything “huge” on it yet, but that’s more due to my lack of skills than any weaknesses in the bike’s capabilities – i’m sure it can handle more than what i’ve thrown at it thus far. it’s an awesome trail/all-mountain bike and a great value (even without the upgrades i’ve made).
bottom line is it’s a dope bike... although for 2005 they’ve gotten rid of the fluid 3.0 – not that i think it matters though. i think the ’05 fluids are kind of ugly.
Bike Setup: bunch of upgrades made: fork: '03/'04 marzocchi z1 fr (2003 w/2004 parts) pedals: truvative holzfellers bar: specialized bighit dh oversized stem: truvative holzfeller 40mm brakes: hayes hfx-9 hd wheelset: xt/sun singletracks (silver), dt spokes tires: tioga factory dh 2.3 saddle: fi’z:ik nisene seatpost: truvativ xr single clamp grips: odi rouge lock ons
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Submitted by
The Sock
a Weekend Warrior
from Etobicoke, Ontario
Date Reviewed: July 23, 2004
Strengths: Light and strong frame, good components for price, looks SEXY and it says "Norco".
Weaknesses: Paint starting to chip (meh, it's only cosmetic...the frame is burley), fork is still pissing me off and linkage is very very very (insert more very) loose with one axel.
Bottom Line:
Just a follow up from my previous review. The only bad thing of my bike is that the axel of the rear linkage is so loose that on a good hard trail ride, I have to tighten it up several times. I have no idea why it is doing this, so I'm going to see the Norco Rep to see what he says (I have total faith with him, my buddies have had very good experiences with him). I've moved to Toronto for school (I miss Calgary and the mountains) and I've been starting to ride in a total different area. In Calgary, it was pure trails, but in Toronto, there is only one good trail unless you want to drive a bit out of the city. But I've started to use the bike for light urban riding, and I'm fairly suprised to see that it's holding up. Of course it ain't no Six or 4x4, so I keep in control and only do light urban riding, like stairs, drops no bigger than 2' and some dirt jumps (I was suprised to see it do that...almost wants me to get a 4x4). Of course the damn fork is not up to the task of my riding style, but it's holding up very very very well (damn fine Marzocchi product...they got me hooked for life). Nice to see that Norco bikes are built better than what they're ment for, Norco has me buying their bikes for life. Next on the list is a Norco VPS Six for my freeriding/downhill/urban needs. Oh, everybody I meet says, "what a nice bike". I reply, "touching is $20 extra".
Favorite Trail: Fish Creek Park (Calgary) and Don Valley Park (Toronto)
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Similar Products Used: 2004 Norco VSP Fluid 1 (damn my roommate), 2003 Ironhorse Sinister DX (crap crap crap) and 2002 Nakamura Grinder (hahaha...it was only a transit bike, but it was light as a feather).
Bike Setup: Stock (still waiting for a part to fail...that's what you get when you buy a quality bike!).
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Submitted by
The Sock
a Weekend Warrior
from Calgary, Alberta
Date Reviewed: June 1, 2004
Strengths: VPS frame, rear linkage (by Specalized), smooth trail and all mountain rig.
Weaknesses: Needs a better fork, perhaps could use gussets on the frame and the '04 Fluids have hydraulic breaks while the '03 have mechanical.
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the all mountain riding. It's more geared towards XC than freeride ('02 Fluid), but I can't complain because it fits the bike I need. Great on the small drops, pretty good climb (needs lockout to be better) and is a dream going down steeps parts (only complaint is the BB is higher than DH bikes, so it's a bit wierd at times). If you want to use a Fluid frame for "freeride", I'd recommend getting the Fluid 1, the frame is beefier and better gusseted and welded. But I love my Fluid 3.0!
Weaknesses: Insufficient fork travel and quality, brakes, stem, XC wheelset, no XL size (L is still a bit small for a 6 ft 4 guy), stem too long (100mm?!?!)
Bottom Line:
This is a good frame and drivetrain, but the stock fork was too short for the rest of the bike and the brakes weak. The seatpost was also far too short and made the bike hard to climb.
Other upgrades were just favoured parts and crash/breakage replacement.
I was surprised the largest size was stil quite small though. They need to introduce an XL and spec a longer (350mm) seatpost.
Bought for 20% off retail in the Alpine sale last year.
If you want a proper fr ride, don't buy this, but if you want to ride technical trails with some stunts, drops etc, this is a good bike - just be prepared to replace the fork and brakes ASAP.
Bike Setup: Stock except Fox Vanilla RL fork, RF DH bars, Forge stem, Hope brakes, RF Daibolus seatpin
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Submitted by
Jhon Dakalaman
a
from calgary,alberta,canada
Date Reviewed: April 17, 2004
Strengths: Its a strong bike for people who want 2 be able 2 do decent things on a bike......i did a 13 foot drop on it and nothin snapped yet. you have 2 be fairly strong in the arms 2 use it
Weaknesses: the brakes are uptight if u press them 2 hard right over the handlebars u go! and as i said its hard 2 control but if u have strong arms ull b fine
Bottom Line:
Its a good bike if ur a good rider but if ur really hardcore this isnt the bike 4 u.
I was wondering if anyone had a chance to ride the 04' Fluid 3 yet? I got a quote for $1400 CAN for one and am almost ready to pull the trigger. How heavy is it? Is the geometry Read More »
