Hello Vital MTB Visitor,
We’re conducting a survey and would appreciate your input. Your answers will help Vital and the MTB industry better understand what riders like you want. Survey results will be used to recognize top brands. Make your voice heard!
Five lucky people will be selected at random to win a Vital MTB t-shirt.
Thanks in advance,
The Vital MTB Crew
I heard at the bike park last week that the Optic was done for 2026. Crazy that Norco's full suspension premium non-electric bike lineup for 2026 is down to 2 frames for next year: Sight and Revolver. You'd have to think we'll see a carbon option between the two by this time next year. My prediction is that it won't be high pivot.
I was always told that if you keep finding yourself with the same problems then maybe it’s you that’s the problem.
Jokes
but seriously no wonder some people hate derailleurs if they go through that many, I’ve only wrecked 1 fully through an impact, others have worn out through use.
This is something that Sram does very well. Great support for aftermarket maintenance with rebuild kits for everything they sell. $30 for an alloy RD cage is extremely good value too.
I haven’t looked at the embargoed catalog yet, but I heard they’re leaning in on Ebikes next year. Sign of the times…
Fingers crossed there’ll be some good Optic deals if that’s the case.
Unless you’re talking about Time. No rebuild kits available nor will they provide any specs for sourcing your own replacement parts.
Just a reminder that the actual conspiracy is SRAM selling heavily discounted electronic groupsets to component integrato... I mean "bike brands" knowing that consumers will be on the hook for their shitty, high margin proprietary batteries and chargers.
Nothing says improving the environment and sustainability like planned obsolescence and more e-waste. Social Responsibility btw: https://www.sram.com/en/company/about/social-responsibility
They don't make the Range anymore? It seemed to me like the big rig enduro bike crowd is Norco's target audience.
They make the Sight and Sight Long Travel
I think Norco reducing frames goes back to what others have previously mentioned and lines up with how the new Trek Fuel is being positioned. Everyone is expecting their non-XC bikes to be able to ride anywhere (from local trails to DH) so they have to be made more robust, which increases weight, and then what is the realy difference between a short travel trail bike (like an Optic) and a long travel trail bike (like a Range)? You end up with the same brakes, wheels, tires, rear shock, and kit, with the only difference being a Pike/36 vs Zeb/38 which is not a huge difference in weight. The suspension kinematics are likely the same (less efficient pedaling than XC bikes but more than DH) so you have two of essentially the same bike.
I know weight is not really as big of a deal as many make it out to be, but the sentiment is still there and its an easy number to compare against (vs suspension curves or comfort or even efficiency). I don't think this is a bad thing as I still remember 'trail bikes' with noodley 32mm forks and rear ends that wanted to separate from the frame in every bermed corner, 'BuT iT wAs So LiGhT' so it was 'ok'.
With how aggressive XC courses and bikes are getting, we just moved all of the bikes up a category and removed some middle ground so you have two/three 'UCI race' bikes and one to cover the middle, i.e. XC + 'Trail' + Enduro/DH. Since I have a 2020 Fuel EX (130/150), I often look at the XC/trail bike reviews and have come to realize that things haven't changed that much, just the names of the bikes. I could get a Top Fuel (XC/DC) but it's almost the same geometry, just 10mm less travel, and only a touch lighter than my build. The new Fuel has more travel but is significantly heavier.
On a side note, I do wonder if some of this also has to do with the proliferation of eBikes and their popularity. If you 'must' make competitive race bikes but not 'trail' bikes, and many eBikes are 'trail' oriented, why not primarily design an eBike and then modify that frame to work without a motor/battery? You spend less R&D on a declining segment (trail) but still get to offer it alongside the larger market (eBikes).
They stopped making it last year actually. They put a longer travel Sight in its place.
I have that Range and it’s just phenomenal. I’ve contemplated getting a Sight to replace it. Shed some weight and get some more playfulness. Not worth it to sell in this market, and it’s just too damn good… Probably going to put a dual crown on it since I’m not sure their downhill bike is ever going to materialize.
lithium ion batteries are mostly recycleable these days. those raw materials are way too lucrative to throw away. you need of course a country with a functioning recycling system (read: NOT THE USA) who isn't still using landfills...
Don't replace with a Sight, supplement!
Both the Range and carbon Fluid went away. With the Optic going away it's becoming a very skinny premium lineup. Per Majso's point, the Sight and Optic were so darn close that I almost wonder if they could have come up with a 140mm rear version of the Sight on the same FT/RT and called in their high pivot trail bike with a little bit lighter builds.
Running the Optic and Fluid side by side in carbon was always an odd choice, there was going to be a lot of overlap even if the bikes were tuned different by default. I can totally see the platforms being combined into something a little bit more focused, but I can't see Norco exiting the segment entirely. Maybe they'll bring back the Shinobi nameplate? Hahaha.
Does anyone know if they are going to keep the alloy optic and fluid in their lineup ? Seems crazy to develop the new optic only to drop it entirely after one year.
Interestingly you can long shock the Fluid, and over fork it by 10mm and then you end up with a 150/145ish trail bike with at 64.5 head angle, so they already make a frame that can do that 130 - 145 travel range, its just not advertised, and i doubt they endorse it.
Yeah there’s like 30 of them
Out there already
I’m not sure that Norco is actually dropping the Optic, but I do know that it didn’t sell as well as the Sight. The average customer just doesn’t understand a high pivot, small travel bike. As an Optic owner, I can tell you that it’s the most fun trail bike I’ve ever ridden, but the majority of riders are unwilling to give if a chance since they equate high pivot with big, heavy bikes. Too bad—it’s an awesome bike, one I won’t give up anytime soon.
DVO has some excited news today the exclusive Cone Valve technology from WP Suspension is now widely available for consumers comes stock on their Jade,Onyx and Topaz products. In the past the only way to get this was buying GasGas E-Bikes.
Has anybody here ridden this?
They are selling the leftover OE spec product from their GasGas partnership.
It’s actually been my plan for a long time to supplement with an Optic. If I decide to turn the Range into a downhill bike, I’ll probably get a Sight with a trail build instead. Decisions decisions…
And the shocks only come in 205 mm trunion mount (I think it's 65 mm stroke).
We don’t need a new Fox 40. I am much more interested in that new tire however….
New Fox x Trek ShakeWeight™ Thrushaft™ Reaktiv™ DRCV™ shock coming? Or AI slop employed by a service center too lazy to take their own shots? How did they publish this and expect to take anyone's money?
Name and shame them!!!
Hey at least they got the number of the fingers right. I am also very interested in the Flea oil.
After battling bot spam we get AI generated spam ….. 💩
Saw a bike with bilstein stickers today. Was a single crown and an air shock that kinda looks like an older x2 can but with two very big dials. Couldn’t get a pic
T-Type DH pics are up on PB, looks to be on a Frameworks bike?
I'm interested to see how this new SRAM DH T-Type derailleur is mounted. The Frameworks bikes are UDH, but the Commencal Supreme V5 has a native chainstay adjustment. Maybe Commencal put together a new seatstay specifically for this... who knows.
https://www.commencal.com/us/en/landing-reglages-supreme-dh-v5.html
Will we expect DH frames to eventually go to a UDH mount like everything else or is there more than one mounting system for this new derailleur? Seems like something big for SRAM to be dropping before DH bikes even go UDH more commonly. Maybe it won't even go into production... I guess only time will tell.
They've already done it