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Norco-Judan-WhiteBG




Norco Judan (large) $1799
¤ Reynolds 525 Chromoly frame with custom belt compatible dropouts with integrated belt tensioning system
¤ Lightweight Manitou Minute 29er fork
¤ Innovation at its finest! Gates Carbon Belt Drive with a 48T front sprocket and 28T rear cog; equivalent to a 32Tx20T chain drive
¤ Gates Carbon Drive-lighter, quieter, cleaner and longer lasting than a conventional chain
Website www.norco.com
Pros:
1. Natural and comfortable body position
2. Stable and controlled stearing
3. Good component specs
4. Carbon Belt Drive
Cons:
1. Tires - lack of side knobs
2. Carbon Belt Drive
Reviewer: Adam LaBargeAge: 32 Height: 6'4"

Weight: 230 lbs

Bike Size: L

Introduction -

After the '10 Norco product launch, I asked Norco if I could spend more time on the Judan Belt Drive 29er. When in Vancouver for the '10 product launch I was able to spend an amazing day mashing around on the bike at the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area. You can find my initial ride report here. Funny enough, even after having the bike for several months, my initial characterization still stand. I'd tell you now, but, that would ruin the fun of reading the review. And just so you are a little the wiser, Judan is the 10th degree of black belt ranking in the Japanese Dan martial arts ranking system. And this is a belt drive bike that looks like a ninja. But you get it, right, belt and belt?

A little about me. I typically ride downhill, but after jumping on the Judan in Vancouver and having such a blast I've been slowly crossing over to riding aggressive XC and doing it on simple and lightweight single speed 29ers. What I look for in a bike is something that has stability at high speeds, agility in turns, the geometry and fork performance to make technical downs exhilarating instead of scary, and the ability to get me up the hill without too much unnecessary effort. There is a comment section below, so if you like, use it.

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First glance -

At first glance the Judan is one sexy looking bike. At least to me. I know bikes aren't all about looks, but this one still shines above many others in terms of color choice, sticker design, component coloring, and frame angles. I don't know about you, but I see a bike this nice and I just want to keep in on my wall as a piece of art. But to delve deeper into the design and components, one can tell Norco designed and made this bike to appeal to the aggressive 29er rider. The higher positioning of the handlebars thanks to the frame angle and 100mm fork, the steep cut angle of the top tube and shorter seat tube, Avid Elixir 5 brakes, and flexible but solid chromoly tubing, are all confidence inspiring for aggressive riding. The Judan is made solid, stable, and tough.

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Components -

Fork

I'll admit it. A Manitou? Really? Say it ain't so! Well, if it has to be... but thankfully its performance shot my initial negative feelings dead. The Minute 29er (white - custom coloring for Norco on the Judan) offers Absolute damping technology, Platform control, rebound and preload adjustments. (Manitou Technology) The spring is a MARS hybrid coil/air spring that does actually provide the sence of bottomless travel. Very smooth at the end of the stroke. Once the fork broke in I was amazed at the smooth rebound and bottom out performance of the fork. No spiking issues, not hard bottom outs, and laterally it was surprisingly stiff. The Minute 29er on the Judan is made with 32mm stanchions and a 10mm standard QR axle. The Platform control on the right hand side is easy to adjust and stays put in place. It also works very well for locking out the fork on pavement or uphill ascents. Also I found it nice to adjust rebound on the fly. It isn't really what it is for, but if I came up on a slow technical decent and I wanted to quickly slow the fork down, setting the Absolute damping to just past half way closed, was very helpful. I'm very impressed with this Manitou. It appears to be a great match for this bike.

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Brakes

The Avid Elixir 5 hydraulic brakes seems surprisingly bling for sub 2 thousand dollar single speed bike, and they certainly didn't let me down. Offering a easy to access reach adjuster and comfortable and solid feeling lever, the Elixier 5 were surprisingly nice. If you have read my other reviews you'll know I'm not really an Avid fan, but, after two good experiences with them on Norco products I may have to change my mind. The Elixirs offered good modulation ranging from just a little pressure to boarder line lock up. If I squeezed hard I could lock up the wheel for some trail eroding sliding. Always fun, never a sign of skill. But this is something a little easier to do than one would like on these loose over hard pack Southern California trails. I never experienced any fade on long descents, but I also never had the joy of riding the bike down any sustained 10 or more minute decent. The Elixir 5 actually made a good light weight DH brake on a day a friend rolled into town with some blown out old XTs. Trashed those suckers and put the Elixirs on and they were put to a test that I could have never have administered on a 29er. No problems.

Wheels & Tires

Here is where I think the bike, at least for my aggressive riding style, could use some beefing up. Normally the wheels and tires were fine. 29 tires put more tread on the ground and with the correct tire pressure they performed in almost all situations. Getting up loose sections of trail was easy enough, the rear held grip as long as it was weighted, and coming down other gnarly sections, control was maintained. I even bombed down a baby head littered man sized rut on this bike and there was very little flex in the wheel and fork. The stiffness and stable steering allows for a greater sense of control than I probably really have. Even over flat out and long sand patches the tires stayed afloat. But try to lean the bike over into a turn to rail it and you risk a wash out from the dinky little side knobs. I don't like staying as erect as an English banker in a turn. The Continental Race King 2.1 does have favorable reviews from users on MTBR, but for me personally, I would like meatier side knobs for a bike that is so stable and fun to trail and rail.

Otherwise the Formula hubs ran fast once they broke in and I never felt I was wasting energy pedaling against the components. WTB Speeddisc AM 29er rims showed little flex to ever be an issue. From the reviews on this rim and wheelset it appears folks have been having issues with them staying in true. I didn't find anything too out of true after several months of riding, but I also wasn't taking drops to flat.

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Saddle

The WTB Silverado Comp with chromoly rails is awesome. It is a very comfortable saddle once you get in the right position. I rode this saddle most of the time without a chamois as well. I realize that saddles are a bit like gloves and helmets. What works for one person might not work for another, but this saddle is great. It is on my list for my next pedal bike. I loved the low profile and the speed like angles of the saddle that matched the thin chromoly tubing of the bike. It's comfy and sexy.

Drivetrain

The Judan 29er comes with something a little out of the norm in the drive train department. A Gates Carbon belt drive with a 48T front sprocket and a 28T rear sprocket. Whats the point of these belt drives you might wonder? In theory it should never wear out, the belt is made of the same quality as one that would go into your car and should last 100,000 miles. And it is said it can be made lighter than a chain and standard sprocket though I've not weigh similar sizes side by side. It also sheds mud easily, and should never break on you.

It is true - it sheds mud very easily. I found this out the first ride I had on the bike. Hoping the light rain would stay on the coastline we headed into the coastal mountain just east of Goleta, CA. Little did we know that was where the heavy rain was waiting for us. With in minutes the clay fire road went from tacky to treacherous. Wheels caked with mud, my 2.1 tires went to 3.0. It took a good 30 minutes plus scrubbing to get that red gunk off the bike. But during the whole hellish ride I could pedal. The mud that would get in the chain would be squished through the open tooth design of the sprocket and no problems were had.

All these things sound great, but, you'll want to make sure the tensioner is as tight as it can possibly be. While in Vancouver powering up a hill, with the slight chromoly flex this way and that way as I mashed up a hill the belt popped, just like a chain, and boy was I in some serious man pain. But once recovered and re-tightened I had no more similar troubles.

And this is where an issue comes in for me in the tensioner design. I noticed between the time of the product launch and when I got the Judan in for review, there was some slight change to the tensioner design. Now the tension adjusted with an Allen key inside the thin threaded shaft. You can see in the photo below. Good idea, probably better than the last design, except this one came practically stripped from the factory. Tensioning the belt more was almost impossible. This didn't lead to any belt popping off, but it did lead to the belt skipping when really putting some force into the drive train. It probably doesn't help that I am 230lbs and the frame, being chromoly, slightly flexes as I move my legs side to side. I wouldn't rule out a belt drive for a big guy, or any body size, just work with your Norco retailer to get the tension correct.

The FSA cranks and bottom bracket worked just fine over my review period.

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Component Summary -

Overall the component spec'd on the Judan belt drive are solid. Being both price and performance conscience. I think the Judan shows that Norco can really put some careful thought into a fully packaged product that would need little after market tweaks. The components, coloring, and design, for the price point of less than $2k, rivals some of the pimped out bikes I've seen on forums.

Cockpit Feel/Fit and Climbing...

Cockpit Feel/Fit -

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I was a little apprehensive to ride a 29er the first time I got a chance. Being in the land or gnarly trails, about to do a Canadian XC ride, I wasn't sure if I could handle it on a single speed 29er. Especially since everyone else had 26inch wheel, 4 to 6 inch travel, full suspension bikes. But the moment I swung a leg over the saddle, gripping the handlebars, 5.10s on flats (those are all I brought to Vancouver with me), I knew I was going to have a great time. It took me a couple minutes to adjust to the larger wheel size, but after that, I was off like lighting. The trails in Burnaby park were nothing to scoff at. Skinnies around blind turns, baby head littered ruts, tight twist and turns, roots galore, and skinnies training course. It was everything opposite from what we have in SoCal.

The cockpit is very comfortable. The Judan feels similar to all other Norco bikes. If you've never ridden a Norco the feeling I get is of stability and control. Body position always feels very centered, steering is the complete opposite of twitchy without being slow, and the bike comfortable, stable and inspiring at high speeds.

The handlebars are a bit shorter than I would have liked, but are comfortable. I think on the size Large and XL Norco should consider 28-30 inch bars and let the end user cut down as they see fit. There is some flex in the stem, but nothing too great. Coming from the predominately bomb proof stem world of DH, a bit of flex can be unnerving at first, but after some time on the bike it became trust worthy.

Over all I was able to find a saddled position that was comfy and kept spine from being too far bent over. On long rides my arms never grew tired of supporting my body, like they can do in a more aggressively designed cockpit.

The grips were a bit thin for my taste, but whatever. Grip is such a specific thing to each bike rider it is almost a shame to sell a bike with grips at all.

Climbing -

Climbing on the a single speed can at times being the easiest thing on earth or the most exhausting. You don't really get a choice of it. The hill is what the hill is and the gear ratio is what the gear ratio is. But, I found the Judan to be very able to get up most hills without too much trouble. I'd like to think one day I'd be good at going up hill. But, even if I lost another 15lbs I'd still be 215lbs, and let me tell you, it takes a lot to get that up a long hill. But the Judan was never frustrating for me. Only on really loose trails, going up hill did I really wish for a geared bike. But someone told me walking was part of the SS game, so, it happens.

One problem I did have with the Judan while ascending was getting the front wheel up over roots. The front isn't the easiest thing to pop up. It can be done, but it does take some fore thought into the trail and your route.

Descending/Handling -

Handling the Judan is simply pleasurable. The steering is stable and the front wheels goes where you put it. The bike is able to handle a surprising amount of technical terrain and gave me the confidence to really push it, on a 29er that is. Having the front fork helps keep the bike on track at high speeds and over loose or rocky trails. The wheelbase seems perfect for everything except quickly popping the front wheel up. With the plush fork and 29er rear wheel it takes a good pull to get it up. Of course setting the rebound a little faster, or having a stiffer fork would help, but I like a plush ride and the ability of the fork to suck up a larger rock. Turning was pretty easy as well. The bike was able to stay on the chosen line. Off camber trails posed little issue as well. But I think half of that game is experience. Unless your tire tread is whack.

One thing I truly appreciate about a chromoly fame is the smoothness in the ride it gives you. Aluminum is so hard, every vibration seeps into your body and a ride can quickly become fatiguing on the hands and body. The slight flex in the chromo frame gives the bike the ability to soften the trail and add bit of snap from the frame when accelerating out of a corner.

Conclusions -

Overall I have to say I really like this bike. I'm not sure I'm completely sold on the belt drive concept, but it works well once adjusted correctly. Otherwise the bike is absolutely great. A wonderful choice of components, a great look and color combination. Plus a sub $1799 price tag means it is easily in the reach of your average consumer.

I give the Judan a 9 out of 10.

Overall I'd like to see a better tensioner design and maybe a lip on both sides of the sprockets to make the belt slippage or popping off unheard of.

Value Rating:

5 out of 5 Stars



Overall Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars