Ideal north shore do it all bike

ive heard that about the reigns actually, the stock shock and tune isnt great for bigger riders, which is unfortunate because im a fit 6ft 210! shoudlnt feel like im on the upper end of things! :D

anyway, good info. I think im learning towards a more aggressive bike, hell it will just make me work a bit harder for the downs!

That would explain the large number of pedal strikes I got on the Reign. I did up the pressure and ran the bike much firmer than my Trance with the DB Inline. Was a medium Reign with 170mm cranks and ultra skinny pedals, I got pedal strikes while pedaling, that I can work with and figure out (although I still get the odd pedal strike on the Trace too), but it was the pedal strikes while descending that was a first for me and a bit unnerving.

The technical climbing might have also been the shock, the bike did have loads of traction on the climbs, just like the Trance, but felt like harder efforts were simply lost in mushing the bike as compared to the Trance that moved it forward / upward. Lastly it might be overall position on the bike or that it is 1 degree slacker 65 on Reign vs 66 on Trance, but there was also a noticeably more rearward body position on the Reign.

Maybe I could have gotten accustom to the ride of the Reign, but it really felt that I was giving up too much on the climbs and easier trail riding as compared to any minor gains on the descents.

Then again, perhaps I should have known that my riding style, or lack thereof, does not lend itself to full out speed bikes. Years ago when everyone was jumping on the VP-Free wagon I tried one but could not get the bike to ride well for me as compared my Nomad.

Lots of people really like the Reign and it has mostly fantastic reviews, but for me a slightly burlier build on the Trance is better than a lighter build on the Reign.

heard carbon forsure to start , but one guy who has ridden the bikes said he thinks there may be a alloy version later

hm fair enough.

i was super excited for the new RM slayer to come out…and was quite disappointed that it was offered in a carbon version only.. only for the rich :(

That's been my beef with Giant bikes, High leverage ratios suuuuuuck for larger dudes (im 250+) I test rode a 29er trance a few years back and it wallowed in it's travel like a mofo. I did take a Reign out for a test ride this year and it felt okay…the BB was far too low. I think my Prime is a better bike. So fun!

I ride an Sworks Enduro 29r and find that its a very solid Shore bike. It climbs really well given its descending abilities and it descends exceptionally well given that its a reasonable climber. My Epic climbs faster, but Im not sure it climbs better. My E29 is a way better do it all bike than my 4inch Epic.

I find that if the E29 has limitations (at least with me on it!) its on the nastiest of the nastiest stuff - the Steps on 5th, that first pitch on Wild Cherry, ugly stuff. Its certainly me more than the bike but I dont have the greatest confidence on the ugly ugly ugly stuff. Maybe the 29 wheels. Maybe the still-a bit-steep geo. Maybe because I ride alone 99% of the time and dont want to die alone in the bushes! But I would like more confidence on sections like that than the bike gives. Plus, its plastic so I tend to end up walking the worst sections instead of trying them.

Im looking for a proper DH bike to assist. Ive convinced myself that the bike is the problem!

But for everything short of the nonsense that Im too old to be trying, the bike rocks. I think that a 6inch long travel 29r may be the perfect shore bike as long as it has a climbing switch.

I ride an Sworks Enduro 29r and find that its a very solid Shore bike. It climbs really well given its descending abilities and it descends exceptionally well given that its a reasonable climber. My Epic climbs faster, but Im not sure it climbs better. My E29 is a way better do it all bike than my 4inch Epic.

I find that if the E29 has limitations (at least with me on it!) its on the nastiest of the nastiest stuff - the Steps on 5th, that first pitch on Wild Cherry, ugly stuff. Its certainly me more than the bike but I dont have the greatest confidence on the ugly ugly ugly stuff. Maybe the 29 wheels. Maybe the still-a bit-steep geo. Maybe because I ride alone 99% of the time and dont want to die alone in the bushes! But I would like more confidence on sections like that than the bike gives. Plus, its plastic so I tend to end up walking the worst sections instead of trying them.

Im looking for a proper DH bike to assist. Ive convinced myself that the bike is the problem!

But for everything short of the nonsense that Im too old to be trying, the bike rocks. I think that a 6inch long travel 29r may be the perfect shore bike as long as it has a climbing switch.

I have had the 2017 Enduro comp 29/fattie in mind for a while, but have kind of pushed it to the back burner due to the spec for price compared to the giants.. I have heard awesome things about the E29 though so nice to hear from a fellow north shore rider that this is indeed the case.

is it obvious i have no idea what bike i want? this thread has for sure helped me though

I have had the 2017 Enduro comp 29/fattie in mind for a while, but have kind of pushed it to the back burner due to the spec for price compared to the giants.. I have heard awesome things about the E29 though so nice to hear from a fellow north shore rider that this is indeed the case.

is it obvious i have no idea what bike i want? this thread has for sure helped me though

not to mention the colours! how the hell does spesh intend to move the new enduros. heinous colourways, ugliest i've ever seen.

heard carbon forsure to start , but one guy who has ridden the bikes said he thinks there may be a alloy version later

There will definitely be an updated alloy version of the Range and Sight. I'd expect to see them for 2018 model year.

As for the reach, it would be a pretty safe bet to look at one of their more recently updated bikes like the Sasquatch: http://www.norco.com/bikes/mountain/fat-bike/sasquatch/sasquatch-61/

Canfield is offering complete builds now fyi. I loved my 2016 Balance and my new Riot so far feels the tits. Worth a look.

I've been riding my Prime, 140 Pike/DB Inline, for a couple of seasons now and have ridden it everywhere on the shore that I used to ride my DH bike. Cypress, Seymour, Fromme, Sumas, Vedder, etc…. It's so versatile, adjust the dropouts for steeper geo for xc riding such as a romp around the Watershed. Flip'em over and head up to Cypress. You can even throw a set of 27.5+ wheels on there if you so desire. I have and they're a blast. Only feel overwhelmed on the gnarliest stuff but I always manage to plow through. I keep looking at other bikes but can't justify enough of a difference to pull the trigger. Perhaps something with a 140mm travel 29er lite the new Sight but I'll probably wait until they come out with an alloy version. Depends on the geo really.

not to mention the colours! how the hell does spesh intend to move the new enduros. heinous colourways, ugliest i've ever seen.

I actually like the colour on the Comp! The matte grey and black colorway that is… not sure how I feel about the green…

I've been riding my Prime, 140 Pike/DB Inline, for a couple of seasons now and have ridden it everywhere on the shore that I used to ride my DH bike. Cypress, Seymour, Fromme, Sumas, Vedder, etc…. It's so versatile, adjust the dropouts for steeper geo for xc riding such as a romp around the Watershed. Flip'em over and head up to Cypress. You can even throw a set of 27.5+ wheels on there if you so desire. I have and they're a blast. Only feel overwhelmed on the gnarliest stuff but I always manage to plow through. I keep looking at other bikes but can't justify enough of a difference to pull the trigger. Perhaps something with a 140mm travel 29er lite the new Sight but I'll probably wait until they come out with an alloy version. Depends on the geo really.

have you tried the bike with 160mm travel up front ? and the new frames are roughly a 1 lb lighter from what I was told with the new tubing

There will definitely be an updated alloy version of the Range and Sight. I'd expect to see them for 2018 model year.

As for the reach, it would be a pretty safe bet to look at one of their more recently updated bikes like the Sasquatch: http://www.norco.com/bikes/mountain/fat-bike/sasquatch/sasquatch-61/

that would be a smart move to add aluminum to the new models that would definitely peak my interest in a frameset

Hey guys,

I'm sure you've heard this question a thousand times, but I'm having the hardest time deciding on my next bike. I haven't demoed any yet (not quite in the buying stage, just doing the pre-shopping) but I'm trying to decide between a 160-170mm enduro or a 150mm trail. My budget is $4000 and I'm looking at the 2017 Giant Trance 1.5LTD(and going 1x in the front), 2017 Giant reign 2, 2017 Norco Range A7.3 and the 2017 Norco Sight a7.2.

I ride fromme and Seymour mostly so I want a bike that I'm not dragging up to 7th and can pedal up Good Sir Martin..but still enjoy coming down seventh secret, neds, and a good ride along bridal.

Do a lot of you guys do fine with 150mm trail bikes all around the shore? Or are the new enduro bikes manageable enough on the climbs?

i do like the comfort of being able to plow over stuff if needed but also really enjoy a good trail ride. seems I'm stuck in the middle.

I demoed a 2015 Sight and a Range, and ended up going with the Range. Boogieman was my go to trail at the time and while I could certainly manage everything on the Sight, I preferred the extra confidence of the Range. As you mentioned, it's a tough call though as there is always a trade off. There was no doubt that the Sight was a more efficient, better pedaling bike, just as there was no doubt that the Range was a more capable descender. The 2016/17 Sight were upgraded to a 150mm fork and some burlier tires though, so there's that to consider as well.

If you do end up going for the Range, you could try to find a 2016 A7.1 on clearout and then try to get them to upgrade it to a stealth dropper: http://www.johnhenrybikes.com/product/norco-range-a7.1-239979-1.htm

What are you riding now? What's drawing you to the trance vs a more DH oriented bike?

My "trail" bike is a Trek Scratch Air (170mm rear travel) with a 180mm Fox 36 VAN (coil sprung) fork which weighs about 35lbs. Great at descending but a beast to pedal up and not fun on anything remotely technical ascending due to the big fork. I original bought it as a "do it all" bike I could take to the bike park. Now that I have a dedicated DH bike I want to downsize to 140mm or so.

If I could only have one bike it would be something like a Reign for sure.