2020 Norco Optic | It’s Bigger Everywhere You Look

Norco Bicycles today announces its 2020 Norco Optic, which Norco says is completely re-designed and re-focused – and completely different to the previous Norco Optic.

Developed on, and inspired by their backyard trails in the mountains surrounding their Vancouver-area headquarters and throughout the Pacific Northwest, the 2020 Optic is ‘an evolution of Norco’s new holistic, progressive design philosophy that is designed specifically for high-speed, short-travel trail riding.’

The previous Optic came in two wheel sizes, with the 29er options having 110mm rear travel and 130mm front. For 2020, the Norco Optic ditches the 27.5in wheel size and travel grows to 125mm travel at the rear and 140mm up front. The reach grows too – a Large in the new model is almost as long as an XL in the old model.

The suspension is customised. Norco says ‘We created the Optic’s suspension design around a very specific shock, with spring and damper characteristics that would help define its ride. Unfortunately, that shock didn’t exist, so we asked RockShox to build us a fully customized Super Deluxe Ultimate DH rear shock with everything we were looking for, and they delivered! We liked it so much, in fact, that we put it on every Optic in the line!’

The press release continues:

Though the new Optic shares its name with the company’s past all-rounder trail platform, there isn’t a single aspect of the new bike that hasn’t been examined, re-addressed and overly-scrutinized from previous versions. With this new bike, there is a clear priority put on creating a rippin’ fun short-travel trail bike with the agility and confidence riders need to manage speeds that usually overwhelm bikes with this amount of suspension travel.

The Optic’s carbon frame uses Norco’s new holistic, progressive design process to create its high- speed, short-travel performance, with geometry prioritizing confident, playful descents, railing corners and boosting jumps. The precision suspension kinematics and custom RockShox DH shock create 125mm of plush rear travel, which has been matched with a bump-eating 140mm Pike on every model for the control riders need to keep their mind on the trail, and off of what the bike is up to.

The steep seat angle and long top tube will help get all the power and grip they need to claw back up, but make no mistake, what the Optic really wants to do is rip back down again.

Each model benefits from a descent-focused parts package, featuring 180mm 4-piston hydraulic brakes, light, stiff 29er wheelsets, short seat tubes mated to long-travel dropper posts for increased clearance, and grippy, aggressive Schwalbe soft-compound 29×2.35” tires.

The 2020 Norco Optic will be available in the UK from Evans Cycles and is available in S, M, L and XL, with a selection of four complete bikes. More details on the Norco site.

Pricing

• Norco Optic C3 from £2,595
• Norco Optic C2 from £3,295
• Norco Optic C1 £4,995

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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