Norco Bikes

Micheal sez:

Quoted message said:

I am planning to get a new bike in the fall...

My LBS mainly carries Norco Bikes... the cheapest one is a "pinnicle" for
under $300 CDN

What does anyone know about these bikes....?

its a 21 spd, Cromoly frame, which i want.

Is it worth it? are they good bikes? Will i get good bang for my buck?

Personally, if I planned to spend around that amount for a mountain
bike, I'd look around local bike shops and buy a used one. It's not like
a car in which there are thousands of hidden parts, many of which are
waiting for you to buy the car before breaking at a schedule which will
cause you the most financial pain. (I saw a two or three year old
Specialized FSR on Ebay a few months ago for around $400US, which
retailed originally for around $1200US.)

I don't know Norco, but anyone making a mountain bike for that price has
to take a lot of short cuts. The biggest probably being in weight and
components, especially the rear derailleur. If you don't mind a heavy
bike, you could always upgrade the derailleurs, shifters, brakes, etc.
as they begin to fail.

A lot depends on how off road you plan to take the bike too. Off road
can mean anything from the sidewalk to that stuff you see people do in
videos that scare the [censored] out of most of us here. The more pounding you
and your bike are going to go through, the faster a cheaper bike is
going to start giving you problems.

I just remembered that Consumer Reports had an issue on mountain bikes
recently. See if you can find that issue. It may be in a library or
still in the stores even. I didn't read that issue but it might be
helpful.

T o m Dillon
Lakewood, CO
Z to S to email

In article <[email hidden]>,

Sunastar said:

Micheal sez:

Quoted message said:

I am planning to get a new bike in the fall...

My LBS mainly carries Norco Bikes... the cheapest one is a "pinnicle" for
under $300 CDN

What does anyone know about these bikes....?

its a 21 spd, Cromoly frame, which i want.

Is it worth it? are they good bikes? Will i get good bang for my buck?

Personally, if I planned to spend around that amount for a mountain
bike, I'd look around local bike shops and buy a used one. It's not like
a car in which there are thousands of hidden parts, many of which are
waiting for you to buy the car before breaking at a schedule which will
cause you the most financial pain. (I saw a two or three year old
Specialized FSR on Ebay a few months ago for around $400US, which
retailed originally for around $1200US.)

I don't know Norco, but anyone making a mountain bike for that price has
to take a lot of short cuts. The biggest probably being in weight and
components, especially the rear derailleur. If you don't mind a heavy
bike, you could always upgrade the derailleurs, shifters, brakes, etc.
as they begin to fail.

I do know Norco: they make some awesome, bomb-proof bikes, but they can
cost more than ten times what the Norco Pinnacle costs.

I'm a big Norco-nerd with their current catalog open in front of me, so
I'll be quite straight about this: the Pinnacle is the
second-from-bottom-of-the-line bike in their low-end "Adventure" range.
The upper end of the Adventure bikes includes some reasonably serious
hardtails, but the Pinnacle is so compromised as to be hard to upgrade:
it has a 1" threaded steerer, meaning most new forks won't fit.

Also, Norco's brochure lists this as a "high-tensile" steel frame, which
generally means it is not a nice high-quality cro-moly alloy, but rather
a plain steel of the type most commonly referred to as "gaspipe."

Quoted message said:

A lot depends on how off road you plan to take the bike too. Off road
can mean anything from the sidewalk to that stuff you see people do in
videos that scare the [censored] out of most of us here. The more pounding you
and your bike are going to go through, the faster a cheaper bike is
going to start giving you problems.

There's no avoiding it: this bike will be heavy, but not in a good,
"burly" way. It will be quite nice for bike-path riding, or light,
non-scary trails without serious obstacles. Basically, anything you
would feel comfortable taking a bike without a front suspension on, you
could take this bike through as well.

Any particular reason for wanting a steel bike? Norco's best steel bikes
are in its "Supercross" line, which is mostly dirt-jumping/crossover BMX
bikes. All the rest is alloy, and that seems to work okay for them.

That said, an old bike without a front suspension might be a better buy.
A used bike with front suspension would be a better buy too: my one and
only MTB is a Kona Kilauea acquired at a bike-consignment shop for
C$400. The fork needed new seals, which cost me about C$30. It's a nice
ride, with mostly old XT 8-speed components and a short-travel '97 Z.2
Marzocchi fork. That's probably where the sweet spot is for you: find an
older bike with a half-decent fork in fairly good shape.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

I wont go used.... i can not afford much, and i feel my bike has out lived
its usefullness.... its living on borrowed time.

Would the pinnicle be better than a superscycle, or a CCM?

Micheal

"Ryan Cousineau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Sunastar said:

Micheal sez:

Quoted message said:

I am planning to get a new bike in the fall...

My LBS mainly carries Norco Bikes... the cheapest one is a "pinnicle"

for

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

under $300 CDN

What does anyone know about these bikes....?

its a 21 spd, Cromoly frame, which i want.

Is it worth it? are they good bikes? Will i get good bang for my buck?

Personally, if I planned to spend around that amount for a mountain
bike, I'd look around local bike shops and buy a used one. It's not like
a car in which there are thousands of hidden parts, many of which are
waiting for you to buy the car before breaking at a schedule which will
cause you the most financial pain. (I saw a two or three year old
Specialized FSR on Ebay a few months ago for around $400US, which
retailed originally for around $1200US.)

I don't know Norco, but anyone making a mountain bike for that price has
to take a lot of short cuts. The biggest probably being in weight and
components, especially the rear derailleur. If you don't mind a heavy
bike, you could always upgrade the derailleurs, shifters, brakes, etc.
as they begin to fail.

I do know Norco: they make some awesome, bomb-proof bikes, but they can
cost more than ten times what the Norco Pinnacle costs.

I'm a big Norco-nerd with their current catalog open in front of me, so
I'll be quite straight about this: the Pinnacle is the
second-from-bottom-of-the-line bike in their low-end "Adventure" range.
The upper end of the Adventure bikes includes some reasonably serious
hardtails, but the Pinnacle is so compromised as to be hard to upgrade:
it has a 1" threaded steerer, meaning most new forks won't fit.

Also, Norco's brochure lists this as a "high-tensile" steel frame, which
generally means it is not a nice high-quality cro-moly alloy, but rather
a plain steel of the type most commonly referred to as "gaspipe."

Quoted message said:

A lot depends on how off road you plan to take the bike too. Off road
can mean anything from the sidewalk to that stuff you see people do in
videos that scare the [censored] out of most of us here. The more pounding you
and your bike are going to go through, the faster a cheaper bike is
going to start giving you problems.

There's no avoiding it: this bike will be heavy, but not in a good,
"burly" way. It will be quite nice for bike-path riding, or light,
non-scary trails without serious obstacles. Basically, anything you
would feel comfortable taking a bike without a front suspension on, you
could take this bike through as well.

Any particular reason for wanting a steel bike? Norco's best steel bikes
are in its "Supercross" line, which is mostly dirt-jumping/crossover BMX
bikes. All the rest is alloy, and that seems to work okay for them.

That said, an old bike without a front suspension might be a better buy.
A used bike with front suspension would be a better buy too: my one and
only MTB is a Kona Kilauea acquired at a bike-consignment shop for
C$400. The fork needed new seals, which cost me about C$30. It's a nice
ride, with mostly old XT 8-speed components and a short-travel '97 Z.2
Marzocchi fork. That's probably where the sweet spot is for you: find an
older bike with a half-decent fork in fairly good shape.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

In article <[email hidden]>,

Micheal Artindale said:

I wont go used.... i can not afford much, and i feel my bike has out lived
its usefullness.... its living on borrowed time.

Would the Pinnacle be better than a supercycle, or a CCM?

Micheal

I'm going to say yes, not so much because it's an inherently superior
bike (I'd say it's about the same quality as those others) as because I
know that Supercycle is Canadian Tire's house brand, and buying the
Norco means you will have the support of a local bike shop who sold you
the bike.

The components on this bike are very close to what you would get on a
better department-store bike, except that the frame is hi-ten steel (not
good).

It will work, though. What will you be doing with this bike: bike path
riding? Light trails? Bombing along hard-core singletrack? Dirt jumping?

I would say that this bike will do the first two competently. The third
would be tiresome. The fourth would be asking for it.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

"Ryan Cousineau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Micheal Artindale said:

I wont go used.... i can not afford much, and i feel my bike has out

lived

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

its usefullness.... its living on borrowed time.

Would the Pinnacle be better than a supercycle, or a CCM?

Micheal

I'm going to say yes, not so much because it's an inherently superior
bike (I'd say it's about the same quality as those others) as because I
know that Supercycle is Canadian Tire's house brand, and buying the
Norco means you will have the support of a local bike shop who sold you
the bike.

The components on this bike are very close to what you would get on a
better department-store bike, except that the frame is hi-ten steel (not
good).

It will work, though. What will you be doing with this bike: bike path
riding? Light trails? Bombing along hard-core singletrack? Dirt jumping?

I would say that this bike will do the first two competently. The third
would be tiresome. The fourth would be asking for it.

1, 2, and 3.... i bike to work which is 20km each way. I avoid the realy
hard core stuff..... i have had minor injuries because of that.

If i bought a CCM, or Supercycle for the same price -- about $300 would
there be much of a comparasion?

Micheal

In article <[email hidden]>,

Micheal Artindale said:

"Ryan Cousineau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Micheal Artindale said:

I wont go used.... i can not afford much, and i feel my bike has out

lived

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

its usefullness.... its living on borrowed time.

Would the Pinnacle be better than a supercycle, or a CCM?

Micheal

I'm going to say yes, not so much because it's an inherently superior
bike (I'd say it's about the same quality as those others) as because I
know that Supercycle is Canadian Tire's house brand, and buying the
Norco means you will have the support of a local bike shop who sold you
the bike.

The components on this bike are very close to what you would get on a
better department-store bike, except that the frame is hi-ten steel (not
good).

It will work, though. What will you be doing with this bike: bike path
riding? Light trails? Bombing along hard-core singletrack? Dirt jumping?

I would say that this bike will do the first two competently. The third
would be tiresome. The fourth would be asking for it.

1, 2, and 3.... i bike to work which is 20km each way. I avoid the realy
hard core stuff..... i have had minor injuries because of that.

If i bought a CCM, or Supercycle for the same price -- about $300 would
there be much of a comparasion?

You could find a bike with arguably a better frame for that price, but
the advantage of getting a fitting and bike setup from a local shop
would be much greater than the sum of the parts. The drivetrain would
probably be the same.

To reiterate, I think there are better deals in the used market than
this bike at this price, but barring that route, I'd say that buying
from an LBS pays big dividends in getting setup and competent advice and
support.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.