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2013 Norco Sight 650B Killer B Build and review

FCLinder

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2002
4,402
0
Greenville, South Carolina
2013 Norco Sight 650B Killer B

Frame Size Med 140mm
Fork 2013 Fox 34 Float 150mm
Shock 2013 Fox DHX Air 7.785x2.25
Bars Race Face SIXC Carbon 29.5”
Stem Race Face Atlas 50mm
Cranks Race Face SIXC Carbon 175mm 34t Ring
Race Face Atlas I-Beam Seat Post and Seat
Chain Guide MRP G3 Mini
Brakes Avid XO 180mm Rotors
Grips ODI Extreme Look-Ons
Shifter Sram X9 10 Speed
Rear Derailleur Sram X9 Type 2 10 Speed
Cassette Sram X9
Chain Sram X9
Wheels Loaded X-Lite 650b/27.5
Tires Continental X-Kings 27.5x2.4



Bike is built up for All-Mt riding and Enduro racing. The soul purpose of this build was to find that happy medium All-Mt bike between 5” and 6.75” of travel. I was going back and forth between the Norco Range 650B Killer B with 160mm of travel and the Sight 650B Killer B with 140mm of travel. After talking to a lot of friends in the industry about 650B/27.5 bikes, I decided to go with the Sight.



I am a seasoned Gravity Racer with 15 years of MTB racing and 8 years in BMX. I have been very lucky to have worked with a lot of great people in the industry and raced alongside some wonderful people. With a growing family and age creeping up on me, I have decided move more into Enduro and Super D racing. Let’s just say I have had a lot more urge for adventure and endurance riding. When I decided to do this, I started researching all I could find on the differences between 26”, 27.5”, and 29” bikes. I spent time on both 26” and 29”, but no time on the 27.5”. I like the sure speed of a 29” for climbing and straight lines, but we all know the 29er lacks corner speed. With that said, I choose to try the 650B/27.5. Boy did I make a great choice!



We put a lot of faith in our parts and bike build. So in order to have that confidence to push ourselves we have to trust our products. So the parts specs where based of brands that I have spent a lot of time on. Although this build is not for everyone, it fits me to the tee.



There is a lot of talk right now about 650B/27.5 bikes, both positive and negative. Think most of the negative talk is the lack of experience and knowledge behind the 650B/27.5 wheel size and not willing to try new things. I for one, welcome new and innovative product in the cycling industry. When I got the chance to work with a company behind the 650B movement like Norco I jumped on the opportunity. Norco has put a lot of thought and engineering into their 650B frame designs. The Sight Killer B has a low center of gravity feel with an aggressive geometry, yet doesn’t feel cramped in the cockpit. I have long torso and arms for someone 5’11”. The chain stay is shorter than most 26er All-Mt bikes. This helps with pulling manuals and whipping through berms. One thing I love about this bike. The140mm of ART Suspension is plush and soaks up anything you can throw at it on the trail. I was very surprised at how well this bike pedaled even after taking the stock Fox Float CTD shock off and replacing it with a Fox DHX Air. You do get a little pedal bob when standing, but you do with most 5”+ travel bikes. Will say when I was in the saddle pedaling, I didn’t feel any bob at all. With only a few true 650/27.5 forks to choose from in the 140mm to 160mm range, I choose to use the Fox 34 Float 27.5 dropped down to 150mm of travel. The fork has plenty of tire clearance to run up to any 2.5” DH tire (even a DH Mud), which will work great when I take this bike to go ride at the parks. I do wish the fork had its own High and Low compression controls to fine tune in the suspension. Mainly, because I am a suspension nerd and like the ability to fine tune. Over all, the 3 position tuning meets most any rider’s needs. I choose the Race Face SIXC carbon Bars and Cranks not only to reduce weight, but help take away most of the vibration form the 4 points a rider feels from the bike. Race Face has hit a home run with their SIXC carbon products and has been proven on the World Cup DH circuit. As for the rest of the drive train I am using Sram’s X9 Shifter and Type 2 Med size Derailleur with the new MRP G3 Mini chain guide. This combination, I have found to work and shift flawlessly. The Type 2 Derailleur also helps with chain slap and keeps the bike quiet when riding down the trail. It’s nice to only hear the sound of the tires beating the ground up. For the wheel set I choose Loaded USA’s new 650B X-Lite wheel set. The wheel set is light, yet strong and stiff. For a wheel set just over 1700 grams, I am impressed with its lateral stiffness. I laced the wheels up with some Continental 27.5x 2.4 X-Kings. I have fallen in love with the feel and reliability of the Continental brand 3 years ago and would have not put anything else on this bike. Although they don’t have their full line of MTB tires in the 27.5 size yet, I have found the X-King to be a capable tire for All-Mt riding. I am looking forward to getting my hands on some Trail Kings as soon as they are ready. Overall the entire bike build is solid and comes in at 28.8 lbs. I plan to run a Dropper Post for Enduro races which will add about 1lb more to the total weight of the bike.















The overall feel of the bike is impressive in many ways. I found myself comfortable on the 650B/27.5 size wheels right off the bat. Something I didn’t feel when I got on a 29er. Cornering and acceleration speed was not a problem at all like on the 29er. It felt much like a 26er. Most 26er riders will feel right at home on the 650b/27.5. The big advantages I felt were, you don’t have to work as hard to keep your speed up and no hang up feeling when riding over roots and rocks (much like the 29er). The 650/27.5 wheel size has truly taken the advantages of both the 26er and 29er sizes to offer the best package for a great All-Mt bicycle.



Go out and try a 650B bike for yourself,

Cecil
 
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Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,920
borcester rhymes
but 650b stole seb kemp's lunch money and now he has no one to go to prom with!

Love it. Love the color. Interested to hear how the tires do. The sight/range are on my short list of "one bike" stable breakers...but so is the enderpo29.
 
sweet build,

was considering the sight, but all sold out for the year.

i'm interested to see how the SIXC cranks hold up thru the course of the season. I have a Bronson C coming and i'm debating about putting SIXC cranks versus the trusty XTR.

not sure if you're wedded to the continental brand, but hans dampfs are solid performers.
 

FCLinder

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2002
4,402
0
Greenville, South Carolina
The Continental X-Kings are a good dry tire. Lots of grip for a low tread. The Trail Kings are the ticket! By far the best All-Mt tire I have ever used in all conditions.

The Race Face SIXC cranks are strong. Their WC racers have been using them now for 2 years on the WC Circuit. The only ones they have seen busted up are from the rider not using the Metal Tabs with the chain ring bolts and braking the cranks tabs off. Other than that solid.

Cecil
 

frorider

Monkey
Jul 21, 2004
971
20
cali
You do get a little pedal bob when standing, but you do with most 5”+ travel bikes.
I like the bump-eating and braking performance of my norco truax, and the seated climbing is fine, but pedal bob when standing is a bit more noticeable than some other suspension designs out there.

The Sight is in a difficult position. I'm not a weight weenie but at 140 mm there will be a lot of competition by 2014 from lighter and stiffer frames. Still though for now it's benefiting from the relative lack of 650b frames w/ similar geo.
 
The Sight is in a difficult position. I'm not a weight weenie but at 140 mm there will be a lot of competition by 2014 from lighter and stiffer frames. Still though for now it's benefiting from the relative lack of 650b frames w/ similar geo.
I see your point but quite a few companies are offrering 4-6" 650b wheeled bikes at the moment that are DHr esque geo.
My top 3

SAnta Cruz Bronson 150mm
Black Market Roam 130/165
Norco Sight at either 140 or 160mm

Others quality players 2 follow for sure.....
 

Routier07

Monkey
Mar 14, 2009
259
0
The Sight is in a difficult position. I'm not a weight weenie but at 140 mm there will be a lot of competition by 2014 from lighter and stiffer frames. Still though for now it's benefiting from the relative lack of 650b frames w/ similar geo.
Wait to see what Norco have in the works for the Range and Sight for 2014. They're being put on a diet.
 

BmxConvert

Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
715
0
Longview, Washington
Wait to see what Norco have in the works for the Range and Sight for 2014. They're being put on a diet.
Not only are they getting lighter, but they're scheduled for an earlier release too.
We just got another batch of Sight/Range's in and the guys riding them right now are LOVING them. One dude swears he will never touch a 26" bike again having been on a 29er for so long but loves his 650b Range.
The other guy swore on 26" bikes and is hooked on his 650b Sight.

I'll be ordering a Sight frame for myself when the 2014's are available.
 

I.van

Monkey
Apr 15, 2007
188
0
Australia
2013 Norco Sight 650B Killer B I was going back and forth between the Norco Range 650B Killer B with 160mm of travel and the Sight 650B Killer B with 140mm of travel. After talking to a lot of friends in the industry about 650B/27.5 bikes, I decided to go with the Sight.

Can you expand on that statement? I would be interested to here your thoughts on the differences between the Range and the Sight, and why other people convinced you to go with the Sight.

I love the colour btw.
 
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Routier07

Monkey
Mar 14, 2009
259
0
Not only are they getting lighter, but they're scheduled for an earlier release too.
We just got another batch of Sight/Range's in and the guys riding them right now are LOVING them. One dude swears he will never touch a 26" bike again having been on a 29er for so long but loves his 650b Range.
The other guy swore on 26" bikes and is hooked on his 650b Sight.

I'll be ordering a Sight frame for myself when the 2014's are available.

Same here, we have a couple Sight 650b and the buzz surrounding them this year is crazy.

Personally, im on a Sight 26" that I'll be rocking this year, but once the "lighter" Range comes out, I'll be selling my Sight and Aurum, and use the Range for Everything. IMO the Range 650b could easily replace the Truax if Norco made a Range 650b "EVO"... hah
 

marshalolson

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2006
1,770
519
I see your point but quite a few companies are offrering 4-6" 650b wheeled bikes at the moment that are DHr esque geo.
My top 3

SAnta Cruz Bronson 150mm
Black Market Roam 130/165
Norco Sight at either 140 or 160mm
.
hot bike fclinder!

loon, just ordered a black market roam, should be here friday. pretty stoked.
 
hot bike fclinder!

loon, just ordered a black market roam, should be here friday. pretty stoked.
You setting it up for 650? Did ya notice you can run it 650 with or without the different drop outs for it?
I have a killswitch that i love and the Roam is really intriguing to me. Please post your build and riding impressions of it.
What shock you slapping on it?
 

FCLinder

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2002
4,402
0
Greenville, South Carolina
Can you expand on that statement? I would be interested to here your thoughts on the differences between the Range and the Sight, and why other people convinced you to go with the Sight.

I love the colour btw.
My choice for the Sight over the Range had a lot to do with my riding style and the type of trails I ride 85% of the time. Mainly climbing 3500ft+ of elevation in a day to hit the raw fun trails in Pisgah National Forest. I only do park riding when I go to a race. I am also mainly focused on Enduro and Super D's this season. I have had plenty of 6" to 7" bikes in the past. Although they were all great bikes at that time, they all felt sluggish to me. That is why I was back and forth on the Sight over the Range. I didn't want a sluggish feeling bike again. After riding the Range I can say its not sluggish at all. When looking at a 650B or 29er over a 26" bike you have to take the wheel size in consideration when choosing your suspension travel size. Meaning a 650B 140mm travel bike will feel and perform like a 26" 150mm to 160mm travel bike or very close. So a 650B 160mm will fill more like a 170mm to 180mm bike. I knew I didn't need that much travel, so that is why I picked the Sight over the Range.

Hope this helps,
Cecil
 

marshalolson

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2006
1,770
519
I want a ride report ASAP Marshal. Those bikes look sick!
yeah man, should be built up by this weekend, assuming i can rig up an 83mm crank for the time being. you are welcome to give it a rip sometime.

You setting it up for 650? Did ya notice you can run it 650 with or without the different drop outs for it?
I have a killswitch that i love and the Roam is really intriguing to me. Please post your build and riding impressions of it.
What shock you slapping on it?
indeed, i have have some 650 rims sitting here, just need to order spokes and hubs, and waiting for the plan-b drops (which i will probably run with 26 wheels also). i will be running it with a 66 for the time being, so 650's with that fork and the normal dropout will give me something like a 14.4" bb, not into that!

its getting a ccdb air.




sorry for thread hi-jack!
 

batts65

Monkey
Aug 27, 2002
182
0
Upstate NY
Nice ride, I was looking at the Sight 650b and ended up with the Intense Carbine 275. The 650b/27.5 Kool aid taste real good...

are you tube less??
 

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
I see your point but quite a few companies are offrering 4-6" 650b wheeled bikes at the moment that are DHr esque geo.
My top 3

SAnta Cruz Bronson 150mm
Black Market Roam 130/165
Norco Sight at either 140 or 160mm

Others quality players 2 follow for sure.....
I'd add the Spitfire also to that list :cheers:

BTW OP, killer bike ! I'm really keen to here more about the 650b, as I now have a bike that accepts such wheels.
 
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demonprec

Monkey
Nov 12, 2004
237
15
Whonnock BC Canada
saw one tonite at the local spot , have to go check one out in the market for a decent all around ride , my old school 46lbs 8" freeride bike is too much for some of the stuff i,m starting to ride now . are there any dh/freeride tires for the 650b yet