happy birthday to me...

weight is coming soon… have to borrow a scale. My rough guess… 32 lbs.

scale broken… sadly. Will hopefully find out soon. Took for first ride today. Holy shit. Having ridden FSR bikes exclusively (except for a lap on something else here or there) I thought they were the bee's knee's… This is better. Feels like I'm on a cushion and pops out of corners. Feels long like a DH bike but short and snappy at the same time.

I am wowed.

How tall are you and what size did you get? On paper the Scratch seems to have a real short top tube length.

I am a FSR fan as well, My Remedy pedals and climbs well, but I am not super stoked on the downhill performance. I think its more to do with the shock than the design though.

How tall are you and what size did you get? On paper the Scratch seems to have a real short top tube length.

I am a FSR fan as well, My Remedy pedals and climbs well, but I am not super stoked on the downhill performance. I think its more to do with the shock than the design though.

I'm on the large and I'm 6'. I agonized over this decision for 2 months… I am used to riding mediums (around 17" irl). I decided on the large because I really don't rip like I used to (back injury) and I wanted a bike that would allow me to incorporate some fitness in to my riding.

I demo'd a remedy in 17.5 for a month or so as I couldn't get my hands on the scratch. The remedy is too steep to get in to the serious sketch that any of us know about living in van/lower mainland/fraser valley. The shock on the remedy, I felt, was perfect for what it was designed to do, which what I thought was to be linear through most of the travel in typical west/mid-west US riding and soak up the big hits when necessary. Perfect if you live somewhere where the riding… well, isn't what we do here.

This rig, this rig… totally different. If you want to climb, you lock out (or close to) the back end, drop the travel to 120 in the front and lock it out, and you basically have a 68.5-69 degree head angle with an almost fully rigid bike. Hyper aggressive for climbing.

At the top of the climb (I kept the dropper post), drop the post, turn off the pp, lockout and up the travel and it rides like a dh bike. Feels long when it needs to feel long, and short and snappy when it needs to be. I haven't even put this thing in to slack/low bb mode yet.

NOT a remedy. Not even close. Designed for the guy in between… pedal up fromme, woodlot, burke, rip down… maybe skip the big gappers or drops. This is my style (not by choice).

One last comment… FSR is f'in awesome. I loved it for 5 years. This bike (scratch) is what I always wish I had. It pops out of turns like nothing else, and feels like it glides over square edged hits. I always felt like my FSR bike cruised great, but seemed to pack up.

Please be advised I am new to new linkage and I am super stoked on this bike.

Oh, and I'll say the 15mm axle and 32mm stanchions on the remedy didn't inspire confidence. 205lbs…

The Norco might look like the Trek. However, I noticed the Trek as a split pivot rear. The Norco Range doesn't. Norco has pushed the rear chain stay pivot toward the BB and below the axle center line…

Whats the difference in feel? What does Trek's suspension do differently cause obviously you are happy with what it is doing..

The Norco might look like the Trek. However, I noticed the Trek as a split pivot rear. The Norco DH doesn't. Norco has pushed the rear chain stay pivot toward the BB and below the axle center line…

Whats the difference? What does Trek's suspension do differently cause obviously you are happy with what it is doing..

Just for reference I never compared the Range to my Scratch…

Not being an engineer… The numbers and actual tech stats are something I can not provide. When it comes to that stuff I don't know… I can point out that the rear axle pivot pivots around the axle, as opposed to the axle being in behind and above.

It's also a floating lower shock mount ('full floater'). Used by Suzuki motors for a number of years.

From what I've read, essentially the deflection of the rear axle versus the position of the brake caliper is such throughout the travel that it contributes to virtually no brake "jack," or "squat…" depending on the person speaking. I know they mean two different things, but one means no lockup under braking. That's the one I'm going for.

As far as being on the trail… totally different bikes. This is essentially a single pivot bike, and perhaps it is the weight, but it feels (to me) better than every FSR bike I've ridden. To clarify, that means it pedals better uphill, rides over square edged bumps downhill, and accelerates out of corners better.

The angles are near identical to every FSR bike I've ridden. Yes, the suspension damping tech is new and hot as shit. Very well could be a contributing factor. Please don't count this out.

Bottom line is: This bike scared me a few times. It's light enough that it feels like I'm riding one of my old DJ bikes, and has enough suspension that I get going too fast for my old, busted ass and don't even realize it. My FSR bikes I loved with a passion, but they slowed down (my non-engineer perspective) when this bike does not.

That sounds awesome… The new norco DH looked like it had a similar suspension set up to the range as well.. in another gear thread..

Yes, I am an engineering student…but I thoroughly believe building and testing is better engineering than paper and pen/computer aided. within reason… I hate engineers who swear by their designs but have never built or testing anything. That just doesn't fly with me.

Happy belated birthday, enjoy your new ride!

33 lbs, 1 gram

Set up a ride for comparison?

That sounds awesome… The new norco DH looked like it had a similar suspension set up to the range as well.. in another gear thread..

Yes, I am an engineering student…but I thoroughly believe building and testing is better engineering than paper and pen/computer aided. within reason… I hate engineers who swear by their designs but have never built or testing anything. That just doesn't fly with me.

PJ, the engineer at Norco who designed the new Range, rides a ton. Lots of prototyping and design changes till the final product.

Was checking out one of those treks up at hartland the other day….sexy ass bike….looks like fun.

Was checking out one of those treks up at hartland the other day….sexy ass bike….looks like fun.

very fun - and worth the demo if you're local shop has them… even try a remedy if you can.

Oh I have a Rune….not interested in another bike right now. ;)

My most wanted bike for the last two years…NICE