You have some sort of relationship with Norco, right? I figure since you're in the catalogue that there must be some give and take between you.
Thinking of that, I'm happy you didn't give the bikes full top marks. It's good to see some criticisms laid down.
…… I liked the review, but found it pretty wordy.
Again, I liked how you talked about negative things as well as good things.
Actually I used to race grassroots for Norco a long time ago through a bike shop, Cyclepath Broadway. This was around 2001 or so and I raced XC. I was never Norco Factory. Through that, I got to know a lot of people at Norco and many of them are still good friends.
I also got to know a lot of people at Norco through advocacy. Norco's been a supporter of the NSMBA for a long time and when I was President and still actively involved, they helped out a lot.
Recently, I started skitouring and climbing mountains and riding bikes up and down mountains with Pat Mulrooney, who has become a good friend. He is also a heck of a photographer and takes a lot of fine pictures which end up in the Norco catalogue. Since I'm on a lot of these adventures with Pat, I tend to end up in a lot of good pictures.
Anyhow, you're right and I am wordy but only because I like to give the full picture (either behind my reviews or my biases). I like Norco bikes. I've been riding them a long time and I think they're very tough bikes with incredible value for money.
Chris is right. Because I am a bit of a Norco homer, I try very hard to be as objective as possible when reviewing their bikes as I try to recognize my bias in favour of Norco. I'm really glad that you considered my review good and substantive despite my "affiliation" with Norco.
Anyhow, thanks for raising a good point and letting me blabber on more!