2008 Norco Shore - torture tested all summer

[cam@nsmb.com]

Ridden hard in the Okanagan by Dan Austin - for the whole summer.

Here's what he had to say about the bike.

[Robot]

a balanced, critical review. good points about the brakes, and it's a bit of a bummer to hear about the cracked / borken stay. at least norco is close and they're willing to correct the problem...

i'm not sure i'd blame the author's seatpost woes on norco though. it's probable that norco spec'd a longer post so buyers can cut it to their preferred length, esp. since it's a personal preference thing. it's easy to trim length from a seatpost but putting it back, not so much. keeping the post clamp tight and clear of the shock is something that should be checked before every ride...

the fork colour makes my eyes bleed.

[Sharon]

great review!

What do you think is the functional difference of having the rear shock pointing more down towards the down tube rather then up at 45o?

I really like the avid brakes. I have had to bleed them too right away as well ( actually Lee does that...) after they've been bled they worked great. I had the Juicy 3's on the Atomik and I was concerned that they wouldn't be enough on this bike but they were fine.

Really what is the functional difference? weight? It seems the difference between the 5's and 7's is the contact pad adjustment.

[stuart@nsmb.com]

Good to hear that people are enjoying the review.

Dan is currently out in the field for his day job (something about hiking thru the bush and measuring shit), but he'll be back later in the week and will answer specific questions at that time.

[hrussoczy]

Has anybody ridden both this and the Demo 7? I have been super impressed the my demo and wonder how this would compare? It would be great to see a shootout review of these bikes as we know the NSMB team is familiar with them.

[rewoga]

Great article - and now I am confused again - I had my heart all set on buying a DH rig but now am thinking "what about a good 7 and 7 bike like the Shore???" ACCKKK - not buying till April so I will take my time and keep pounding my Six into the dirt...

[cam@nsmb.com]

Originally Posted by Robot

i'm not sure i'd blame the author's seatpost woes on norco though. it's probable that norco spec'd a longer post so buyers can cut it to their preferred length, esp. since it's a personal preference thing. it's easy to trim length from a seatpost but putting it back, not so much.

I'm with you there. I left Dan's comment in the review because Stuart and I try not to meddle too much. If there's one thing I dislike it's the 'review by committee' feel that shows up in some publications. In the worst examples you don't even get the name of the writer. (This can be blamed on the publisher rather than the writers btw.)

The review is meant to represent the reviewer's opinion rather than an editorial middle ground established by us here at nsmb.com. I too prefer to have choice in terms of post length rather than be limited by a short post from the start. I would normally check the length of the post and then cut it appropriately right away. The same goes with bars. Send them long and if they are too long (not likely!) I'll cut them down some.

[cam@nsmb.com]

Originally Posted by hrussoczy

Has anybody ridden both this and the Demo 7? I have been super impressed the my demo and wonder how this would compare? It would be great to see a shootout review of these bikes as we know the NSMB team is familiar with them.

I have ridden both bikes - but not in head to head situations. For me the ideal way to really analyze the subleties that set two similar bikes apart is to swap mid-trail - and I haven't done that in this case. I would certainly call them similar in terms of target rider and feel but I don't have enough info to say which I'd prefer in each situation. No question I'd be more than happy to saddle either one up for a day in the bike park or on the Shore. Both are excellent bikes.

[djb]

I too would be interested in a Demo 7 shore head to head review.

One question - why not just put a tab or close off the seat tube so that you cannot have the post low enough to hit the shock? Others have done it, seems reasonable to me....

[stuart@nsmb.com]

With regard to the seatpost thing, Dan's main issue (as I read it) was not so much the length of the post as it was the need to be aware of potential problems from running a long post on this frame.

Breaking the rebound knob off the rear shock is a serious pain in the ass. And as I commented in my note, this isn't the first time I've seen a Shore One with the rebound knob broken off. One was even broken off before it left the store.

[shonky]

A good write up. I've been riding an 08 Shore since January and I'm really impressed with it. I ride everything from Fromme to Whistler on it and it handles it all fantastically. Jumps great, corners great(er than me), and really does pedal surprisingly well for a big bike. That FSR design is a winner and the Totem is the perfect choice of fork for the bike.

I'd like to mention one thing for existing or potential '08 Shore owners. The leverage ratio on the rear shock linkage is too low (or high - I can't figure out which way is which) for the stock Roco TST. The result is that the shock feels considerably overdamped (compression and rebound) and spikes badly, especially at higher speeds. In this state the TST is basically useless other than as a lock out for pedaling up.

This problem is compounded by the fact that the stock springs are on the heavy side. As an indication, I weigh 160lbs and run a 350lbs spring (stock is 400lbs on the medium) and still didn't get anything like full travel until I had my compression damping opened up. Having the damping opened up transformed the bike - it felt so plush and, well, like it was working properly. It literally felt like I'd added 3" of travel to the rear of the bike. Days at Whistler were less tiring and more fun, I got faster through the fast techy/rooty stuff (Original Sin, Goats Gulley, etc). Just much more fun overall. I can't recommend this damping modification enough!

This over-damping issue will be inversely proportional to spring rate so the heavier guys might not have the same problems that I did but I hope this info helps out some of the lighter Shore riders out there

[wa90]

No-one's mentioned the fact that it's an ugly tubular mess.

[FullMonty]

Originally Posted by wa90

No-one's mentioned the fact that it's an ugly tubular mess.

nobody has mentioned that the new frame design looks schweeeeet, either.

[King of Fasia]

Love the bike, have ridden everything from the Shore, to Whistler, Squamish, the valley and have no complaints. After I got my new stay the bike is super solid even with all those "curvy tubes" that apparently alot of people don't like. I think it looks great and moreover it rides great, which is a better sign of how good a bike is.

[Dan Austin]

[QUOTE=Robot;2020511]i'm not sure i'd blame the author's seatpost woes on norco though. it's probable that norco spec'd a longer post so buyers can cut it to their preferred length, esp. since it's a personal preference thing. it's easy to trim length from a seatpost but putting it back, not so much. keeping the post clamp tight and clear of the shock is something that should be checked before every ride...[QUOTE]

While I agree with you that it is every riders responsibility to check their equipment I think it is still noteworthy that the Shore does come with a long seatpost and that even when you think your clamp is tight enough you should make sure its extra tight in case you do what I did. I did cut the post to a length that I thought was acceptable to give me enough post to put it up to climb and enough cut to lower the seat to a descent level for freeriding. I would consider my comments as a warning more than anything. I still stand behind my question of the length of the post. At 350mm the post is too long, and you MUST cut it a significant amount to make sure it is not an issue, so why spec such a long post in the first place? In the end, its not a big deal anyhow, I'm just calling them as I see them. But I appreciate your opinion.