By Steve Sheldon and Chris Barker

Introduction
Back in May, I wrote some initial impressions on the Sight 1 by Norco, but like many short term bike reviews, it's always a bit tricky to be totally objective when you are in the honeymoon phase, with a shiny new bike under you that is functioning perfectly and everything is tight and fresh. Since most people own bikes for at least a season, it's good to know how they hold up to a full summer of abuse, and even though it may no longer be the current model, part selection and longevity of the frame speak volumes about the company and its approach to building a bike.

Since the preliminary review, we have seen amazing amounts of rainfall in the late spring, and have had the driest late summer in 116 years! Loads of rain, and dry dusty trails are perfect for testing out the toughness and durability of any bike product.



Through the test, the bike has been to the Chilcotins for some high alpine epics, it has been in the Nimby 50 XC race, The Four Kings staged enduro race in Whistler, handled everything from flowy smooth alpine meadows to the chundery roots and rocks of Vancouver's North Shore. I even took it into Whistler Bike Park, which the bike handled fine, but a couple of runs was more than enough! If one had to be limited to having one bike to rule them all, this would be a definite contender.



Further Impressions
Most of my initial impressions have not changed too much, the Sight is an incredibly fun, nimble and very capable bike. Even after a season of riding hard, everything feels fresh and tight. The bike's playful characteristics has had me popping off every root to catch air at every opportunity, and I always take the harder lines, since the Sight begs for it! The fun-factor is something that often gets overlooked since it's not easily quantifiable, but in this instance, it's cranked to 11. As mentioned in the short term review, geometry on the bike is great, short chainstays and a decent length top tube with a slack (but not ungainly) head angle keep the wheels going where you want them to. Where the Sight truly excels, is technical climbing; rooty, rocky trails, loose dirt and steep, the back wheel never loses composure, and keeps the traction (No thanks to the stock tires), nearly every time, it was my legs that gave out before grip became an issue.

The great thing about riding a bike for a full season, is finding all the small annoyances, problems with the frame and components and how things wear out, basically the stuff that doesn't show in short term reviews that really can change the experience of owning a bike. Overall, apart from a few scuffs, mostly cable rub, the frame has held up incredibly well. There were a couple of places where cable rub was significant. Under the bottom bracket shell, the shift cable had rubbed through the paint and left a shallow indentation, not enough to be damaging, but I could not see an obvious way to route the cable to stop it from happening. Where the dropper post hose runs along the top tube the paint is scuffed quite badly, and the white scuff marks really stand out against the black paint. On the subject of the dropper post, the Reverb has been totally flawless, and it's function has been consistently excellent.

The fork's performance has continued to be disappointing, changing the oil made it perform much better, but it's small bump performance makes rides very fatiguing on the hands, especially with the stock grips (which I swapped out for some Ergon grips that are much more comfortable). The TALAS feels wooden and flexy, especially when compared to other forks in that category, such as the Marzocchi 44 or Rock Shox Revelation or even a standard Fox 32 Float. The performance of the fork was not it's only issue, as it developed a bad creak in the crown where it interfaces the stanchions, an issue that is seemingly ubiquitous with Fox Forks especially on the 32 platform. The creak did not affect the function, but it was very distracting, and quite often I would find myself altering my lines to avoid making the crown creak.

On Terrain like this, fork creaks are really unnerving, even if you know that they aren't a structural problem.

A few other creaks and squeaks throughout the frame did develop, but routine maintenance, mainly the bottom bracket and pivots, silenced them. The main pivot bearing in the linkage rocker broke part way through the test period, the inner race of the bearing separated, making it impossible to remove the outer race without causing more damage. The guys at Norco swiftly resolved the issue by replacing the part under warranty. The one piece rocker assembly is incredibly stiff, and because the bearings are pressed in, the piece is reliant on the tolerances being perfect to ensure that over tightening the mounting screws will not sideload the bearings. At about the same time, the screw holding the main pivot together snapped, and was easily replaced with a standard fastener (I am a big fan of using standard mounting hardware for this reason, custom fabrications are costly and not readily available). The design of the lower pivot has been modified for 2013, making the assembly much stronger, and the rocker has higher tolerances according to Dustan Sept, Norco's PR marketing coordinator. I am a big believer in supporting local bike manufacturers because dealing with warranty issues can be so much faster, and from my experience, Norco has always been excellent in this department.



The damaged one piece rocker link. The outer race of the bearing is still stuck in the rocker. Norco replaced it under warranty very quickly and reported that it is an isolated issue and the cause (tolerancing) is much better for 2013.



I loved the way the bike handled with a small exception; When pushing hard into some corners, there is a slight hesitation, almost a stuttering, and it's hard to tell if it is coming from the fork flexing, or from frame flex. I had observed a small amount of frame flex when sitting on the bike and pulling on the handlebars, and while there may be perceived effect when hard cornering, it has felt stiff and controlled when it's really needed. The ride quality is very comfortable, the A.R.T. suspension doesn't get hung up on rocks, and there is negligible harshness on rough terrain, the 140mm of travel soaks up the bumps, although a couple of times, it did feel like it was starting to wallow a bit, but that never seemed to slow it down.

The Shimano XT brakes and drivetrain have been amazing. The XTR Shadow+ rear derailleur is an expensive component, and I was concerned with how vulnerable it could be, but it is still working as well as it did on day one, and there are a few scuffs indicating that the derailleur got intimate with trailside objects. There is no chainstay protection to protect it from chain slap, but the clutch on the derailleur works exactly as advertised, and there are only a few dings from the chain, and chain drop was virtually non-existent. When the OEM pads wore out, I replaced the rear with a sintered metal pair of pads, and I found that not only was it noisier, it didn't have the power or feel of the resin pads that came stock, but they are more consistent in the wet. When the original chain wore out and was replaced, the larger chainring would not cooperate and was skipping really badly, even though the original chain was not too badly worn. The teeth on the outer ring were quite badly worn from rock strikes, and for around BC, an ISCG mounted chainring protector would be a good investment if using the 2x10 system.

The wheels have been stiff, solid and have remained true and round, as good as the rims were, the freehub didn't last so well. When removing the cassette for a routine cleaning, the freehub body fell apart, something had shattered it, and even in it's broken state, it was working perfectly, held together by the cassette, and once apart, it was impossible to reassemble. Shimano replaced the wheel under warranty, and I was rolling once more in just over a week, and it's been fine since.

Conclusion
The 26" Sight is returning in 2013 at a much better price, and definitely great value. It will be accompanied by the Sight Killer B (a 650b redesign). Not too much has changed with the new 26" model of the Sight 1, the Kenda tyres are replaced with Continental rubber, the uncomfortable Norco brand grips are getting swapped out with Ergon GA-1. A Bionicon chain tensioner has been added to supplement the XT Shadow+. The most notable, and needed, change is the chainrings have switched from 26/38 to a much more versatile 24/38.

At $5600, the Norco Sight 1 is still a very expensive bike, but the less expensive Sight 2 and Sight 3 come in at a much more reasonable price point, both with solid and sensible builds, they all share the same excellent platform with the A.R.T. suspension, which is still available as a frame only (The LE model). If you are looking for a really capable all-mountain bike that you can ride all day, then the Sight should definitely be on the short list. For 2013, the Sight 1 is $1000 less, and still offers a near identical spec, making the decision to buy this excellent trailbile a little bit easier. As mentioned earlier, the framekit is available, and at $2100 including the shock and a reverb, it is amazing value.



If your preference is for more gravity fed trails, Norco's Range would be a bike worth considering, it still has the excellent A.R.T. suspension that is featured on the Sight, but much more aggressive geometry geared towards the downhill. That said, the Sight excels at everything, and even though there were a few minor problems, the spec and build quality are excellent. It's easy to understand why it's winning accolades such as "Trail Bike of the Year".

Pros:
  • Nimble, yet sturdy, this bike truly is a do it all bike
  • Climbs exceptionally well
  • Excellent customer service supporting the bike
  • Component spec is amazing
Cons:
  • Fox 32 TALAS really holds the bike back
  • 2x10 gear ratios, and how exposed the Chain rings are
  • Pricey
  • Some tolerance issues (reportedly much better for 2013)
About me
I have been riding bikes off road for over 20 years, and even though I've raced, I'm not really a racer, but I do like to push bikes as hard as I can. I live in Vancouver, BC, and ride anywhere there are trails, but spend a lot of time on the North Shore. I have no affiliation with any bicycle or component manufacturer, and I was loaned the bike to review for the summer.

The review was split between myself (Steve Sheldon) and Chris Barker, this review is a collaboration of our thoughts.