Staff Rides | Jono’s Norco Sight C1 MX

Only a few years ago, I had the opportunity to test the Norco Range, and while being an absolute monster truck on the descents, it left me pondering what could have been. For the majority of trails around Australia, a 170mm bike weighing in at almost 18kg is overkill. Although I managed to snag a few fast times on the way down the hill, having such a big bike reduced the overall length of my rides. Upon completing the review, I summarised that I’d love to see the ride characteristics of the Range in a slightly lighter weight and shorter travel package.

A 50mm OneUp Components stem was added to boost the 472.5mm reach of the size three frame.

Just over two years later, a press release rolled into the Flow inbox about the new Norco Sight. I was quick to jump at the opportunity after almost pulling the trigger on a couple of similar travel models from other manufacturers. Having ridden both the current and previous generation Norco Range and the previous generation Norco Sight, on paper, the bike had everything I’d want out of a trail bike.

The geometry wasn’t a drastic departure from the previous generation Sight — which I’d loved — however it had a slightly rearward axle path with the addition of the high-pivot rear end. I popped in an order before I’d seen one in the flesh and waited for the courier to arrive.

Hello high-pivot, my old friend

The Norco Sight C1 MX arrived into the workshop not long after and was stripped of most of its parts to begin the build. The Flow office was divided over the colour scheme and the nickname the Curried Egg was coined. Before getting stuck into part selection, it was off to RideWrap to keep the frame looking as pretty as possible for as long as possible.

Call me a weight weenie, but I’m the type of rider who tends to count grams a little when selecting components. I’m not opposed to long rides and big pedally days, and if I can shave off some weight without sacrificing performance or reliability, I will. Given the inherent drivetrain inefficiency introduced by bending the chain around another pulley wheel, the goal here is to claw back whatever I can.

The parts that were selected for the build had the overall goal of retaining descending prowess while wiping off a few grams. The Fox DHX2 with a Sprindex coil fitted as standard was switched out for a Fox Factory X2 air shock.

Before getting too far down the line of tinkering, I decided to retain the standard shock and fork travel and work from there. As for weight, the switch to the Fox X2 saves around 500g off the coil shock. Historically, the Fox X2 air shock hasn’t been known for its flawless reliability, but with subtle updates over its lifespan, this has improved significantly.

When swapping the shock, Norco specifies that the bike can run either 205×60 or 205×65 shock lengths, with the latter bumping travel from 150mm to around 170mm in the rear.
Up front on the Norco, the fork remained unchanged, with the Fox Factory 36 set at 160mm and a couple of factory orange dials added.

Time to switch gears

When it came to the drivetrain, the bike came fitted with a complete SRAM GX Transmission groupset. As reliable as these have proven to be, a little extra bling was called for, and the derailleur and crankset were both upgraded to X0 and XX, respectively. The weight difference between the two derailleurs is minute with a reduction of just 16g. The XX carbon crankset shaves off significantly more, with a reduction of 184 grams over its GX counterpart.

The drivetrain is a mixed bag with parts from three different levels of SRAM’s T-Type Transmissions: XX, X0 and GX. These all pair together without issue.

What I’ve been left with is a bit of a mixture of parts from SRAM that, fortunately, all still work well together. Once it’s time for a cassette and chain replacement, these will upgraded to match the other components.

Stopping power

Out of the box the Norco Sight C1 MX comes fitted with Code Stealth Silver brakes. This is a mighty fine brake with four pistons and plenty of power to pull you up in a hurry. Brakes are often a choice of personal preference as there are so many characteristics that can vary: power, lever feel, modulation, lever adjustment, bleedability, reliability — the list goes on.

With that considered, I made the selection to go with Shimano XTR, mated to some whopping 220mm and 200mm Galfer rotors for the front and rear of the Norco, respectively. After a trip to Maydena late last year on 200mm rotors front and rear, I was left wondering how to get a little bit more power out of the Shimano four-piston brakes, and the larger rotor up front seems to be the solution. The thicker width improves lever feel, and the overall power increases, so you’re not yanking on the levers quite so hard on steep descents.

Other component choices

You’d be hard pressed to miss the whopping dropper post that’s been fitted to the Norco. The 240mm OneUp V3 dropper post is one of the longest we’ve had on any bike at Flow HQ. The short seat tube, combined with my decision to size down on the Sight, called for a dropper with a whole lot of drop. I’m 185cm tall and made the decision to go with a size three frame for the build, a size that Norco claims I’m around 5cm outside of their recommended range for. After much deliberation on the sizing I opted for the size three as the next size up would have had me on a bike with almost 500mm of reach.

240mm, now that’s a lot of drop!

The OneUp V3 is mated to a OneUp lever that provides a smooth consistent lever feel. This is then clamped to OneUp’s carbon handlebar and the cockpit is finished off with a OneUp 50mm stem. I’m quite the fan of massive cushy grips on my mountain bikes, and the largest and softest grips I’ve been able to find are ODI F1 Dread-lock grips. They’re fat and they’re foam, providing plenty of vibration absorption out of the trails.

The 800mm OneUp carbon bar also adds to the vibration absorption goals with its oval profile just outside of where the stem clamps. This is designed to improve vertical compliance and help with vibration absorption.

Wheels and tyres

Before the bike arrived, I was set to run it as a full 29er, and I ordered the Missing Link shock mount that would facilitate the larger rear wheel. This was until I rode the bike in its mullet configuration. This quickly made me re-assess what I really wanted to get out of my rides. The smaller back wheel made the bike a whole lot more playful, particularly through tight corners and in the air. I have no intentions of racing, so it made sense for me to make this a priority.

With that, I mounted up a Reserve 30HD review wheelset, which have remained bolted into the Curried Egg ever since. They save around 300g of weight over the standard wheels, and the DT Swiss hubs are reliable and rebuildable. To protect from any unwanted rock strikes or impacts, I’ve added a Huck Norris tubeless insert in the rear, this also allows for pressures to be dropped a little lower.

Wrapping the Reserve rims (and the build) are Continental Kryptotal and Xynotal tyres in their soft compound enduro casing. These tyres have proved to be incredibly tacky on previous bikes we’ve tested them on and there have been next to no punctures or issues, even if they are a snug fit when first putting them on!

What I like

After almost six months of ride time, I’ve been able to nail down a few qualities that the Norco has in spades. The main one of these is the unique combination of playfulness on the trail and predictability in rough terrain. This is largely due to the combination of the mullet setup and slightly rearward axle path.

The bike tracks well on high-speed rough trails while still being an absolute blast on jump trails and through tight corners.

Despite the added complexity of the idler, the other standout for the Sight is the serviceability. After a brief stint on a Scott Genius, my appreciation for ease of maintenance has grown exponentially. Having internal tube routing for the brakes meant that changing the brakes was a 15-20 minute job that didn’t require fishing cables out of the frame through guide ports. Don’t get me started on the breath of fresh air that escaping headset cable routing is too!

Initially, I was going to get rid of the smaller back wheel, but after riding in the stock MX configuration, my tune quickly changed.

What I don’t like

The drawbacks of the build that I’ve discovered are relatively minor after six months use. There isn’t anything that irks me during rides or constantly has issues. The only minor flaws would be the little bit of idler noise you hear when the chain dries out, and the tiny bit of extra weight added to an already beefy 150mm frameset.

At just shy of 16kg, it’s not exactly a featherweight build, but I can move past my weight-weenie-like tendencies to ensure added reliability and durability any day.

What I’m still going to change

Next up for testing is a Fox Grip X2 Damper for the fork and a 170mm air spring. I haven’t had the opportunity to spend any time on the Grip X2 damper yet and I’m eager to test this one out. I’ve also got a 170mm air spring ready to install into the Fox 36, which should boost the wheelbase slightly and slacken the head angle marginally for improved stability on high-speed descents.

The Sight might be going Maydena spec with a longer air spring in the fork and a Grip X2 damper.

If a Maydena trip comes to fruition early next year, then an increase in shock stroke length may be on the cards to manage the bulk bike park laps.

Norco Sight MX Specs

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