Anyone ridden one?

After a 130mm travel ish trail bike and the Optic looks a good option, similar Geo to my enduro, but less travel and lighter.

Also looking at an SB130, anything else to consider?

Evans are the UK distributor, yet have no demo bikes, this is going to be a big stumbling block!

There’s always the really really obvious answer when a “what 130mm trail bike…” thread comes up 🙂

No, but do want, love the approach.
Burly build, burly angles, proper spec.
They look brilliant.

There’s always the really really obvious answer when a “what 130mm trail bike…” thread comes up 🙂

Go On?

I have a Transition Smuggler and an Enduro 29. I fancy something new and shiney.

LOL the Whyte T130 of course 🙂

So popular they’re like Ford Focus’s

Deviate Highlander is due in the next few weeks.

140mm travel, 29er, high single pivot and idler, LLS geo. I’ve had a go, I’ll be getting one.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5dOTjQHT1g/?igshid=ncq38izvjfax

Also available in orange, drop them a line for a demo.

LOL the Whyte T130 of course 🙂

So popular they’re like Ford Focus’s

Ah, so dull they don’t even register. Its also has little wheels.

Despite you having one Weeksy, believe it or not, the 130 is not actually the answer to everything.

The Optic is, to start with, a different wheel size (except on the tiny models iirc) and it’s built burlier. It’s specced with a piggyback DH shock, 4 pots, slightly more aggressive Geo, and a generally burlier build. It’s more akin to something like the Smuggler.
It’s subtle differences that add up to a bike with a more hardcore intent.

(I ride and love a Whyte, it’s just not the answer to everything)

This one Chris Obvs…

https://www.cotic.co.uk/product/flareMAX

Loads of really nice options around 130 and 29″ wheels these days – 2020 Orbea Occam, Guerrilla Gravity Trail Pistol/Pistola, Hope HB130 (if you are looking at yeti cash)

I have been riding the HB130 since release and it has been amazing, and the new Occam is proving really popular.

Pre Christmas offer on any in stock Occam makes it silly good value Inc the Fox 36s –

2020 Orbea Occam M10 Large Blue/Orange – 36//Minions

Little bit longer at 140mm – Rocky Mountain Instinct?

The Optic actually looks like a really good bike, the first Norco I’ve thought I would seriously consider owning.

The issue for me is Evans and any potential warranty or spares. They never have stock, which would be a right pain.

I have an SB130 still, well I’ve actually currently got two as my new bike from the shop has turned up and I haven’t sent the other back yet – as much as it pains me to say it, it’s a really, really good bike, probably the best I’ve ever ridden. I wouldn’t really class it as an outright trail bike though. It’s more ‘enduro lite’. I’m sure with something like a 150mm Pike and a load of light kit you could build it up as one though.

I couldn’t think of anything I would replace it with, hence why I went for the 2020 one. Others I did consider was the Forbidden Druid, but I’m kind of between the L & XL and whilst I like the long stays for stability, it takes the fun out of the ride IMO. It felt like a bigger bike than the 130 in the way it rode, which isn’t what I wanted.

That Deviate had potential, but it would mean actually paying a sizeable amount of money vs the SB & in reality it’s probably not a better bike, just different. Maybe one to consider if it’s a like for like purchase.

New Hightower? Considered one, but availability was patchy, and the colours are vile.

The SB is so annoyingly good, I sold my big bike, as it was pretty much redundant.

The issue for me is Evans and any potential warranty or spares. They never have stock, which would be a right pain.

Had a chat with one of their ‘helpdesk’ people, I might as well have not bothered. Not all gloom this week, they did warranty a previously warrantied X01 eagle mech!
What were Norco thinking when they picked Evans???

Not sure about the Druid and the Deviate, look a bit odd and I’m after something that pedals well.

SB130 is very hard to beat

Not found a bad review yet. Its not silly slack (tried it on a trail bike, didn’t get on with it), goes uphill well and downhill very well. Slightly annoying as I’d never thought I’d ever consider buying a Yeti…

New Hightower? Considered one, but availability was patchy, and the colours are vile.

Rode a Megatower at the beginning of summer, felt it was a bit average really. Wonder if a Lyrik on the front and a set of ali wheels would of made it ride better. Also a longer testride could of helped.
Like the look of the tallboy, seems to be a lot of good reviews.

This one Chris Obvs…
https://www.cotic.co.uk/product/flareMAX

Can’t be having the same bike as someone else in the riding group! Look what happened when we all had fuels and enduros!

Demo list is growing slowly
-Trek Fuel (looks like they’ve made some good changes, shame they wont ditch the silly shocks though)
-Tallboy
-Sb130
-Optic (if I can demo one)
-Reactor (like the look of it)

I do wonder what Spesh are going to do with the Stumpy, as its looking very out of date, very quickly

I picked up a SB130 frame in September on sale, as a replacement for my Transition sentinel.

I’ve built it up to last rather than a feather weight. It’s a bloody good bike as someone above mentioned. it’s become my go to bike even when really I should take the hardtail out. It goes up hill really well not a slouch at all then point it down and it just deals with everything, at times you have to remind yourself it’s less than 140mm travel.

Compared with the sentinel, it’s way better up and along and a bit better down.

Big downside I guess is the cost.

Just recently got an Ibis Ripley V4 frame to replace my Smuggler. Have only had a couple of rides of which one around Bedgebury so more XC but the bike so much more lively & responsive compared to the Smuggler, it accelerates much quicker too. Mate rode a few sections on it & got fasted time of year on Strava on section, faster than his carbon hard tail & in winter slop! Also running it with 140mm travel up front which clearly doesn’t slow it down!

Picked up my optic last weekend, C2 model in large. Swapped a few parts from my old bike and took it for a ride yesterday.

I am incredibly happy with it. It has replaced my 2018 Rocky Mountain altitude carbon. I wanted to try 29 inch wheels, but knew I didn’t need a 160mm-ish travel bike for 95% of the riding I do.

The pink bike field test told me all I needed to know. I test rode an orbea occam, which was a nice bike, but it didn’t excite me, whereas the optic did. So a lengthy 15 mins in Evans Gatwick car park was enough of a test to convince me. No regrets thus far!

A few riding buddies feel that it’s not enoug bike for our yearly trips abroad, but I’m happy to tackle the challenges Finale Ligure etc might throw at the bike (and me!)

I’m not sure how to upload pics, but I have one on my instagram: v7fmp

Hopefully I won’t fall foul of issues that Evans might throw at me if anything goes wrong.

View this post on Instagram

New Whip. #norco #optic #mtb . ceramic coated with #waxisdead . . #norcooptic #mountainbiking #mountainbike #cycling #carbon #29 #rockshox #sram #schwalbe #mtblife #ride #fun

A post shared by Mat Pewsey (@v7fmp) on Dec 8, 2019 at 9:58am PST

I’ve just bought a 2020 Norco Sight which isn’t an Optic but it has the same design / engineering thinking behind it, just a bit more travel. I was tempted by the Optic and have ridden the new ones around a car park but I wanted to go back to an aluminium frame. Anyway, I’m really surprised by how little movement there is from the rear end when climbing out of the saddle, even with shock pressures too low. But the suspension really opens up on the downs (Squamish BC downs). It was the stiffness when car park testing that fooled me into setting up the bike too soft, and then got a pretty sharp bottom out from the rear shock landing a drop…..
So only one ride in but the Sight gets a huge Thumbs Up from me and I know the Optic is very similar.

I still love my geometron g13.

135mm at the back and it’s ace in the peaks + trail centers. It’s enough bike for me. I wasn’t any faster In the bike park at whistler on a full dh bike than on my geometron. Maybe that says more about my riding than the bike 😀

A few riding buddies feel that it’s not enoug bike for our yearly trips abroad, but I’m happy to tackle the challenges Finale Ligure etc might throw at the bike (and me!)

I think it depends. I took my big bike out to whistler this year, and used it in the bike park, as well as the valley trails, Squamish/Pemberton etc, and it was great in the park, but a bit of a handful on the more tech stuff. It climbed well for its size but no getting around the fact with DH tyres on it was ~36lbs, so a tough day out when pedalling.

I took my SB130 to Finale and it was great. The newer trend of geometry just works, although it doesn’t have the travel of the bigger bike, you don’t get the safety margin you get on that, they are still plenty capable. As I said before, it resulted in me selling the other one, because it made it redundant.

Happily taking it abroad again next summer & will race a few EWS’s on it, it’s certainly not slowing me down 🙂

I ride my Smuggler in Finale, have done three times. I find that i’m perhaps a little more worn out after a long day in the saddle on it, but it never hinders what i can or can’t ride.

I tried a Stumpy Evo a few weeks back, didn’t really get on with it, as the front end is silly low and by the time you’ve got the bars at the right height, its pushing you further back, even with a 50mm stem is still didn’t feel right. There is definitely a point where bikes become too slack and long.
The weight didn’t help it either, with being 2lbs heavier than my enduro, chucked a lighter set of wheels on, air shock, lighter pedals and it livened the bike up no end, still offered nothing over the enduro and I’m giving up travel, plus it didn’t pedal nearly as well as the enduro (pedal strikes out of corners was a new experience)

I can just about justify a third bike, quite like the smuggler for midweek xc and the enduro is brilliant for days where you want a big bike. The Sb130, optic, et al fit the bill.
Ridden the smuggler on steep/rough stuff and it does tire you out more than a big bike, I know where I take it and where I dont now!

“I do wonder what Spesh are going to do with the Stumpy, as its looking very out of date, very quickly”

Stumpy update Q2 2020 is what a trailpixie told me.

Stumpy update Q2 2020 is what a trailpixie told me.

Hmmm, could be interesting what they turn up with.

Someone has already been photo chopping!
-Shock in fashionable position, check
-Water bottle, check
-Longer/lower/slacker, check (but not too much)

Wonder what they will do with the ST and LT models?

I should stop looking at thy reads like this – that Norco Optic looks great. I dont in anyway need a new bike but something between my hardtail and Enduro bike would be what I’d like if I could justify the cash.

130/140mm ish 29er full suss would be bang on – although I’d like it to be lighter than my Aeris 145LT and I’m not sure how much lighter the optic would be.

30.4lbs apparently for the C2, guessing no pedals, so thats 31lb. Solid spec on there as well, drop a fair bit with a lighter set of wheels and cassette.

Won’t be the lightest frame, guess at 3.0kg, maybe a bit more?

I think that’s lighter than my Aeris 145LT – I’m going to say it’s around 32-33lbs. That’s weighing on luggage scales which I appreciate aren’t the most accurate.

I do have a fairly robust mid range build on there though – Lyriks / Codes / Gx 11 speed with NX cranks / Hope Pro4 with XM481s / 2.6” Hillbilly front / 2.3” dhr2 rear / Oneup 180mm dropper.

Nothing bling really – although the Raceface Turbine 32mm stem is probably fairly light.

I wouldn’t let the ‘lack’ of travel bother you, like Hob Nob and howsyourdad say, I think geometry is far more important. I rode my FlareMAX in the alps and Pyreenes this year and didn’t find it a hindrance or struggle to keep up with people on bigger bikes.

And as for weight, I bet my Flare weights 33-34lb, not weighed it but it’s no slouch uphill and I’ve done quite a few long climby days on it. In fact the only time it’s noticeable is carrying it up Lake District passes.

I could be talking bobbins mind 🙂

something between my hardtail and Enduro bike

I’m now thinking of this as the ‘third way’. The bikes I rode the most were my Orange ST4 (before it broke) and my Pyga 29 OneTen. They were in that perfect sweet spot for 80% of the riding I do. They don’t replace the HT or the big bike, but they do complement it.

I’ve been trying and failing to find something since. After reading this thread I decided it wasn’t the Norco or the Orbea. Much as they both look like great bikes. Too close to my RipMo.

So I bought something else. Thanks STW, a week ago I was telling all my mates I wasn’t buying any new bikes as I was very happy with what I had!

I’ve been trying and failing to find something since. After reading this thread I decided it wasn’t the Norco

Bikes with geometry like the Norco/SB130 definitely wouldn’t, as the Ripmo is more ‘trail bike‘ in terms of geometry than either of them.

The Occam is very similar to the Ripmo on paper, I would have thought you need to drop down to something like the new Trek Top Fuel to notice a real difference. That to me is a hard tail killer & would probably be a great short travel trail bike. Even something like the Tallboy 4 would be too similar in geometry to the Ripmo, despite the shorter travel.

@hobnob – I like your style. This is exactly how I tie myself in knots working out what I want/need. I’d never give up my HT because I love riding it in the local woods and on longer days as well. It’s a whole load of fun, and it’s my go-to bike for night rides and through the winter.

I’ve never give up the RipMo either as it’s the fastest bike I’ve had (down for sure, up not far behind) and while I’ll never get close to its limits, it gives me margins in places I don’t have all the skills for. In Finale and Sospel for example, there’s not bike I’d rather be riding. Same for next year at Switchbacks and Andorra. Perfect bike.

The in between thing needs to be something quite different. Closer to the HT with some travel. I tried a FlareMax, a Smuggler and now my 27.5 Orbea AM. None of them really did the job althougH I enjoyed riding all of them.

I did look at the Tallboy. Not had a SC since my first superlight in 2001. But decided it wasn’t for me.

So I bought a MK4 Ripley at a brilliant price. Ibis seem to have worked hard to differentiate it from the RipMo. Time will tell.

These clips make me want one, I want to ride like this

This

And at 1000 FPS slowmo

Pfft, I can ride at that speed without any fancy camera tricks..

I’m looking forward to seeing this on your youtube channel.

nice! interested to hear.
was interested in one also, but the evans thing put me off.
ordered a ripmo af instead. be here in about 2wks i hope

Reactor 290 built up, ready for the weekend.

so many nice options . some crisp new bikes in this thread!