In article <
[email protected]>, "The 70's" <
[email protected]> wrote:
> > Norco makes lots of good, high-end bikes above this range, probably starting with the Wolverine
> > or somewhere around there. But the Sidewinder is just garbage so that they can offer their bike
> > shop distributors a cheap competitor for Wal-Mart bikes.
> >
> > In this price range, the best deals are used bikes, followed by new hardtails.
> Can you tell me what you think of the Norco Scrambler? I bought my son one 2 years ago, made of
> Chromoly, and we bought another one this year (another son) made of Aluminum.
>
http://norco.com/bikes/2003bikes/scrambler.htm Thanks for your input.
Well, it's a hardtail, which is good. The frame is not in their top line, and the components (Altus
and worse) are below the range I would consider for my bike. The fork is heavy and undamped.
But for a kid? unless he's racing XC or hucking 5-footers, no problem. I hear from people who know
better that Shimano's low-end stuff is fairly durable in practice. This bike is already more capable
than any number of horrid Dunlop 747s or whatever the local version of "dual-sus" department-store
wretchedness is in your area. The greatest weakness isprobably the fork, but that can be upgraded as
a reward when your son makes his school's XC team. 7 speeds is obsolete technology, but I race an
ancient Marin with 7-speed and an elastomer fork, and I beat people on lighter, newer bikes. The
only impediment is that descending is scary because the fork is wretched and I have no technique.
--
Ryan Cousineau,
[email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club