[Kulharin]

Coming from Giant to Norco I am interested in making the switch.... but Norco seems to be A LOT more expensive... I can't afford both a carbon frame and carbon wheelset

 

[eh steve]

Does any brand match Giant on price? I was at a local spesh/giant dealer. Sales guy said something along the lines of, "You could go with a Giant and get more components for your money, but pretty much no one does."

I think that shop all the mtbers rode specialized (a lot of SJs, 2019s to be specific).

 

[Thaumaturge]

PM sent.

I figured that an aluminum bike with WeAreOne Agents would be the cat's pajamas without spending a heap of money, but I ended up putting the bike up for sale before fulfilling that plan.

 

[eh steve]

Are you thinking of buying an alloy build then adding carbon rims or were you thinking of building up an alloy? I'm not even sure they sell alloy frames. I was asking about whether I could do an alloy with their DVO shock build (from their online builder) and it was a big nope. The alloys are built up overseas. They custom package the carbon builds (hence being able to do a la carte).

That being said, I didn't ask if buying just an alloy frame was an option.

I love my A9.1, but there are a few parts I change:

-hubs are meh (DT 370 are better than novatec, but still meh)
-cassette is NX (so the freehub is HG instead of XD.. which means a new hub to move up to a GX cassette)
-Shifter is NX as well (probably going to upgrade that to X01 at some point)
-Chain is NX, but that's a cheap fix


Other than that I'm pretty happy with the build. DPX2 is nice, Pike is fine (don't know why they didn't put a fox on front too). Dropper is functional and no issues. Might upgrade the bar to carbon. Saddle and grips were changed out by day 2.

I went with alloy over carbon due to not liking the lowend carbon drivetrain build (and next step up was a huge jump in $$). Of course now 2019 custom builds are 20% off.. so that would have made a difference. They are out of DVO shock kits though. That seemed like a really good bang for the buck.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Are you thinking of buying an alloy build then adding carbon rims or were you thinking of building up an alloy? I'm not even sure they sell alloy frames. I was asking about whether I could do an alloy with their DVO shock build (from their online builder) and it was a big nope. The alloys are built up overseas. They custom package the carbon builds (hence being able to do a la carte).

That being said, I didn't ask if buying just an alloy frame was an option.

I love my A9.1, but there are a few parts I change:

-hubs are meh (DT 370 are better than novatec, but still meh)
-cassette is NX (so the freehub is HG instead of XD.. which means a new hub to move up to a GX cassette)
-Shifter is NX as well (probably going to upgrade that to X01 at some point)
-Chain is NX, but that's a cheap fix

Other than that I'm pretty happy with the build. DPX2 is nice, Pike is fine (don't know why they didn't put a fox on front too). Dropper is functional and no issues. Might upgrade the bar to carbon. Saddle and grips were changed out by day 2.

I went with alloy over carbon due to not liking the lowend carbon drivetrain build (and next step up was a huge jump in $$). Of course now 2019 custom builds are 20% off.. so that would have made a difference. They are out of DVO shock kits though. That seemed like a really good bang for the buck.

Sorry, I'm not the OP, so I may have confused this thread.

What I was driving at was I went through the same process as the OP when I bought my Sight--can't afford both carbon frame and carbon wheels, what do I do? I hatched a plan then to ride it as-is and upgrade the wheels down the road. In the meantime, I came to realize that it wasn't exactly the right bike for me, so I never finished my plan.

 

[eh steve]

Sorry, I'm not the OP, so I may have confused this thread.

What I was driving at was I went through the same process as the OP when I bought my Sight--can't afford both carbon frame and carbon wheels, what do I do? I hatched a plan then to ride it as-is and upgrade the wheels down the road. In the meantime, I came to realize that it wasn't exactly the right bike for me, so I never finished my plan.

What did you end up going with and why?

Sight is pretty good all-rounder (depending on where and what you ride), but jack-of-all ends up master of none.

 

[Thaumaturge]

What did you end up going with and why?

Sight is pretty good all-rounder (depending on where and what you ride), but jack-of-all ends up master of none.

I snagged one of the last of the 2019 Trance Adv 29 1s in Giant's Canadian warehouse. My riding priorities are pretty balanced these days, and I have come to the conclusion that the Sight over-prioritizes the downs vs. the ups. My plans for next year involve some long pedals, and the Sight won't be the right tool for the job.

 

[eh steve]

I snagged one of the last of the 2019 Trance Adv 29 1s in Giant's Canadian warehouse. My riding priorities are pretty balanced these days, and I have come to the conclusion that the Sight over-prioritizes the downs vs. the ups. My plans for next year involve some long pedals, and the Sight won't be the right tool for the job.

Pretty different bike overall. If the Sight wasn't a match I guess makes sense. Ripley is a lot more comparable. I'm not sure what Norco has that compares. Revolver FS 120 but overforked? The fluid fs is closer as far as geometry and travel, but it's alloy only (iirc), heavy and not available builds as high end as the trance adv (fluid comes in nx eagle at best).

I'm sure the trance adv climbs like a dream compared to any Sight build. I was looking at burlier bikes in medium travel (the new process 134 would have been a contender, transition scout was on the list, stuff like that). Climbs around here are short and punchy. In the off chance I have a long slog uphill (e.g. fire road or access trail) I lockout the rear. I swear it's more efficient than my hardtail since there is no pedal bob, yet it holds traction better. I still have to deal with the weight of the bike, but I'm no racer. If I want a lighter climb there is plenty of free weight reduction to be had between the pilot and his bag.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Pretty different bike overall. If the Sight wasn't a match I guess makes sense. Ripley is a lot more comparable. I'm not sure what Norco has that compares. Revolver FS 120 but overforked? The fluid fs is closer as far as geometry and travel, but it's alloy only (iirc), heavy and not available builds as high end as the trance adv (fluid comes in nx eagle at best).

I'm sure the trance adv climbs like a dream compared to any Sight build. I was looking at burlier bikes in medium travel (the new process 134 would have been a contender, transition scout was on the list, stuff like that). Climbs around here are short and punchy. In the off chance I have a long slog uphill (e.g. fire road or access trail) I lockout the rear. I swear it's more efficient than my hardtail since there is no pedal bob, yet it holds traction better. I still have to deal with the weight of the bike, but I'm no racer. If I want a lighter climb there is plenty of free weight reduction to be had between the pilot and his bag.

Agree 100%. The Sight is a pretty different animal, and unfortunately I just got it wrong. Cool bike for the right person.

I would have been pretty interested in trying an Optic, but Norco doesn't seem to think British Columbians will like it, though popular opinion seems quite positive on that bike. They bring something like eight or more Ranges in their Western Canadian demo fleet and zero Optics. That seems like it would have been a decent match for what I ended up wanting. Ah well.

 

[thebeast]

Pretty different bike overall. If the Sight wasn't a match I guess makes sense. Ripley is a lot more comparable. I'm not sure what Norco has that compares. Revolver FS 120 but overforked? The fluid fs is closer as far as geometry and travel, but it's alloy only (iirc), heavy and not available builds as high end as the trance adv (fluid comes in nx eagle at best).

I'm sure the trance adv climbs like a dream compared to any Sight build. I was looking at burlier bikes in medium travel (the new process 134 would have been a contender, transition scout was on the list, stuff like that). Climbs around here are short and punchy. In the off chance I have a long slog uphill (e.g. fire road or access trail) I lockout the rear. I swear it's more efficient than my hardtail since there is no pedal bob, yet it holds traction better. I still have to deal with the weight of the bike, but I'm no racer. If I want a lighter climb there is plenty of free weight reduction to be had between the pilot and his bag.

The 2020 Optic will be very much like the Fluid, but with higher end builds and carbon frame. That could be the one!

 

[eh steve]

Agree 100%. The Sight is a pretty different animal, and unfortunately I just got it wrong. Cool bike for the right person.

I would have been pretty interested in trying an Optic, but Norco doesn't seem to think British Columbians will like it, though popular opinion seems quite positive on that bike. They bring something like eight or more Ranges in their Western Canadian demo fleet and zero Optics. That seems like it would have been a decent match for what I ended up wanting. Ah well.

Interesting. I never tried a demo with Norco (just rented a Sight before buying). Optics seem to come up used on the island regularly, so obviously they sell. Someone is selling a used 2019 c2 right now, and a shop has a NOS 2017. They seems to come up as often as Sights or Ranges. Fluid FS seems more rare, but that's completely anecdotal.

Fluid FS is a strange one. Cool bike by the specs, but I think I'd go with a lower end Sight over a Fluid (since it isn't much of a weight benefit). That being said, I was thinking of a Fluid for the wife unless I can find a good deal on a medium sight 27.5. I should probably get her on a demo or rental, but I'm convinced a 29er won't work for her. A 29er would mean more shared parts though...