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I'd be willing to put money down that Norco comes out with something between the new Revolver and current Sight that:
1. is closer in spirit to the Revolver than the Sight
2. abandons the 'Optic' moniker.
If they do, it'll be a great option. I appreciate the comment on mental ability and pedalling high pivot bikes. Personally, I think we're going to generally see a push towards lighter and more pedally 130/140mm bikes rather than the previous push of the last 5 years, which was to make them closer to enduro bikes.
You just described the Norco Fluid, which exists. 130/140mm crab link. Carbon and aluminum options. Was bike of the year for one of the big guys (green and red sites), maybe both when it came out 2 seasons ago.
ai derailment aside, source?
there are rumors about a smaller non HP bikes from Forbidden. I should have been more specific...
Perhaps using the same FP Flex Pivot design, but longer travel to replace optic. That would be great; the Revolver is super fun.
It's supposedly called the cangrejo.
It supposedly might have anywhere between 119 and 121 mm of rear travel.
No, not really. Other than the carbon fluid.... experiment? (it's discontinued after 2 seasons), the Fluid is clearly positioned to be an affordable trail bike in Norco's lineup. Yes, you can see some top specs for great prices, but the savings have to come from somewhere and that's clearly the frames: through a combination of manufacturing techniques and materials, they're heavier and less sophisticated than their premium offerings. Contrast this with the new Revolver which is positioned to be a premium product.
Characteristic wise, they're quite a bit closer to the Sight than the Revolver. Ride one and it's pretty obvious that despite the travel numbers, it's tuned to provide a comparatively better (and forgiving) descending experience than climbing experience. I found it felt less efficient than the Gen II Optic. Great bike but certainly isn't getting away from the exact trend I was talking about the industry getting away from, i.e. making 130/140mm bikes pedal and descend like enduro bikes.
There isn’t a downside, you would get more dropper insertion with the new design. They also made the LR more linear progressive instead of the ramp at the last 1/3rd. Owen told me they did that because shocks didn’t have HBO when they started designing the V2. With the HBO they didn’t need that ramp anymore and were limited on how much they could make the LR more linear, with how deep in the design cycle they were. They also have a less rearward axle path with V2 ~22mm and the new E being ~18mm.
Maybe more of a topic for the Bikenomics Mega Thread, but I'm purely speculating the carbon Fluid may have just been put on pause in hopes to move some Optics that I imagine they're sitting on. Which then, I now understand your point. I will agree in that the Revolver is a pretty kickass bike, and more "fun" XC bikes need to make their way into more lineups.
I’m seeing a great April 1st product for cascade link. A pretty cnc suspension link for your crab link bike that looks like a crab claw a-la the vampire bat wing
when can we get some more teaser info on anything Forbidden to come?
Will we see a V2 Supernought soon? and the V3 Dreadnought?
nope.. it's a bike for disproportionate bodies.. or wacky stance/technique... pass..
they already do, the Fluid VLT. why should they invest in niche markets like unmotorized bikes?
The Fluid is, in my opinion, a bike that was almost completely ignored by consumers when it really shouldn't have been. I reviewed it for another site and it blew me away, and indeed others who rode it. A former colleague and I still regard it as one of the best trail bikes we've ever ridden. So much fun to ride.
I wanted to try something else so didn't end up buying one (ironic given my point I guess!) but it is genuinely a brilliant, brilliant bike. Perhaps the carbon one was a little expensive, but damn, from a ride POV, it was next level. If it disappears I'll be sad, I'd love to ride one back to back with my Ripley to see how it directly compares. As it is, I had a good year or so between riding each one.
V2 dreadnought is already 2 years old, so 2 more years (+/-) to a v3... same for a v2 Supernought
Wait wait wait. Youre wanting to pay top dollar for a Santa Cruz labeled frame that is just a crab link bike that probably already exists by another company? To each their own I guess.
Like mentioned V2s seems quite sorted and fairly recent. Shorter travel bike and a Dreadnaught-E with Avinox M2 seems to be the next bikes out of the oven
Yeah, I know, it's weird. I will only buy bikes that I can source through my LBS and if I were to go off of that rule, there are only two brands that I would do so with RAAW or Frameworks. Truth be told, I've ridden a lot of crab bikes (haven't we all) and I have mostly no complaints... however I want to see what Santa Cruz's horst link pedal bikes would be like after spending time on the bullit. There is just something about the combination of fit, geo, kinematics and quality (lack of issues) that keeps me coming back to Santa Cruz. I spent 5 years trying to ride everything but them, just so I wouldn't be another jerry in socal on a santa cruz... but after going down that route and dealing with all sorts of oddities in kinematic and frame quality issues... I'm back on SC fanboi train. I honestly want to be on team transition, but I had a bad run of 3 frames in a row with quality issues, so I'm on timeout with them.
Back to rumors. I'm sick of all of the ebike news stealing the show... since we're at the end of 2025, what's the full list of pedal bikes that we think are getting released/refreshed this year?
Santa Cruz: Nomad/Mega, Tallboy?
Transition: Spur?
Forbidden?
Specialized: Demo?
What else?
Fair. You make some points.
Yes back to rumors. I dont know if its anything, but the standard Trance on Giants website is kind of missing. All they have are framesets. Also not a bad price for the frame I gotta say.
Lack of dropper insertion/ stand over is probably my only complaint on the bike (I really wish I could run a 210mm dropper on my S3 at 5'10") which the e bike layout would fix. Perhaps 18mm of rearward axle path instead of 22mm might make corners feel a little less jolting but I just think the inverted crab with a horizontal shock orientation looks way more aesthetically pleasing.. but maybe looks go out the window when the e bike layout proves it's ride quality.
Giant is definitely due for a new Trance.. I wish I could have jumped on one of those frame deals... The small tweaks they made on that over the prior generation that I have and really like.. Unless they use the new Anthem X as a replacement..
Do they need a new trance though? I honestly don’t know, but whatever bike they recently came out with called the trance with the really straight top tube looks sick. Is that the trance X? I also remember there being an X, and an X that was 27.5, and like two non X generations that had short lifespans, which also did not coincide with the release of the X models. Idk it’s confusing as all get out. They are reaching maxxis levels of confusion in my opinion regarding gens and X variants releasing at sporadic times. I can’t even really decipher which ones are which unless I have my laptop open with multiple tabs going to compare what the hell I’m looking at.
My simple fix is this. Clean the slate and ditch the “X”. Consolidate to Trance 130 and Trance 140. One frame, no mullet options (leave that to the reign) and only release all of the models at a single time.
The product manager said on the N-1 podcast that the 120mm Trance is dead and the Anthem X will fill the gap. I loved the 2nd gen Trance 29, it was a great all around trail bike. It could be built light enough to compete on harder XC/marathon courses but could also race light/pedally enduro. Kinda bummed I sold it tbh, I had the bronze camo frameset so it was pretty unique. The X is probably a better all around bike for more people though, and probably a better seller.
Sorry, I really don’t have any inside info, just a bike nerd that got to bother Owen for 10 minutes. I wouldn’t count on V3s anytime soon. With the way the bike industry is going, they probably need focus their capital allocation on getting enough Druid-Es to dealers and customers. In PDX Cyclepath only got about ~8 of them and sold through quickly minus the one small. In my mind I would wait for the carbon molds to wear out before updating bikes, 3-4 years depending on yield from what I understand. Both the V2s IMO are good bikes.
Mid high pivot, seems to be the best compromise. You get the square edge performance with more neutral cornering and jumping character. And Forbidden is still unique because of the true proportional sizing, which I think is still the key sell point. I am terrible judge of aesthetics.
The new ones with the straight top tube are the Trance X (29er,140/150 travel stock) and
Trance X SX ( Mullet,145/160) . They also have carbon versions of both bikes, so Trance X Advanced, and Trance X Advanced SX 😵💫. I agree, Giant's model names can be incredibly confusing. What makes it worse, is they continue selling the old models well after the new versions drop. So, while the supply lasts, The old Trance X 27.5, Trance X 29 which is a completely different bike is still available for sale. You can also still buy the Trance 29 (120/130 travel).
I feel like they should rename the Trance 29 if they're gonna keep it around.
Their non-X Trance Advance 29 (their carbon 120/130 one) also has straight top tube.
They need to keep the v2 drop outs. The e-bikes are a step backwards
I was talking with one of the Norco reps at a Crankworx party, and I was given the impression that the optic was potentially going the way of the horse as a whole moniker/concept. TBF I don't remember all that much from that night lol, but the fact that they have 4 bikes that all fall in the all mountain to trail category is quite funny.