any riding experience on the new norco DH aurum ?
- Thread starter saruti
- Start date
felt sharp and poppy for a DH bike
rails corners very well
feels very stable yet agile
stock X0 brakes were very solid
tracked the terrain well
build quality looked good - not "high end", but good
well balanced on jampz and drops, geo seems well thought out
front end numbers maybe look too slack on paper but it seemed to work well on the trail
seemed to boost nicely off things
bb wasn't rock-clippingly low IMO
seemed like a good solid all rounder DH race/shred/fun bike
should sell well IMO
^ one day on a proto version, 8 bike park laps
6' rider on a large, seemed like a good fit/sizing and no comfort/body position issues
Can you buy frame only? If so how much?
You can, Either Dirt Team Colors or the White/Red/Blk LE frame. During Product launch it was rumored to be shipping with either a CCDB or Vivid Air and Cane Creek Angleset, dont know what the situation is now though. Suggested Retail for the frame is right around $2700cdn.
I'm 5'11, rode a medium. Had 3 WBP days, 2 local days in the rockies, and one day on Cypress.
Other than disagreeing about the front end 'maybe too slack on paper' (i think it's just fine on paper and better in practice), i agree with everything in that post. Oh and i hated the brakes, but i was on a fairly well used demo mule, so they probably could have used a bleed.
Edit: I liked it enough to buy one FWIW.
what a good review...can definitely identify with this piece:
"The most pronounced change in the Aurum's design is the way the bike absorbs hits. In previous generations of Norco the suspension took the hits well enough but for each hit we remember feeling a small tug on the suspension. This was amplified over successive hits such as roots where we found that older designs sometimes had a tendency to lose traction and speed. The new Aurum design is noticeably smoother. There is no speed robbing tug. You still feel each hit, but the suspension dulls the impacts and the ride is very controlled. In sections that were choppy, rocky or filled with roots, the Aurum was extremely calm. In back to back tests between our current FSR bikes and the Aurums ART tuned suspension, the Aurum was noticeably smoother."
I had forgot about this bike and since I am looking for a poppy DH bike this might need to be put on my list. My local shop is a dealer for them even. I need to convince them to bring one in ha ha
Did anyone else notice the geometry chart though? seems a bit weird that the chainstay length increases with each size. Not complaining though because all of them are crazy short as far as typical DH chainstay length is concerned.
Did anyone else notice the geometry chart though? seems a bit weird that the chainstay length increases with each size. Not complaining though because all of them are crazy short as far as typical DH chainstay length is concerned.
It makes sense if you think about it. I think it was listed as a feature of the bike.
I wonder if it rides like a lighter demo? Chainstays aren't as short and surely the suspension behaves differently, but it's rare for DH bikes to have sub 17" chainstays.
I wouldn't say it rides at all like the demo. Suspension handles the rough much better then the demo, but it doesn't corner nearly as quickly in the tight stuff. The demo is really in a league of it's own for tight turns. A lot of the comparisons in that review are against the demo.