BIKE OF THE YEAR - $3,999 Norco Fluid FS A1
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- čas přidán 18. 12. 2022
- 👇 See Vital’s Norco Fluid FS A1 Bike Review 👇
www.vitalmtb.com/features/tes...
Welcome mountain bikers! We hope you’ve had a fun year of shredding the trails! Vital MTB testers sure have, and in the process they’ve run a big batch of mountain bikes through the wringer in 2022. Now it’s time for the impossible task of deciding which two-wheeled fun machine should be crowned mountain bike of the year.
There are so many well-performing mountain bikes across all price ranges these days. As suspension platforms and geometries become more refined and honed in, the difference between a great bike and a fantastic bike comes down to the little things. Without further ado, Vital chooses the $3,999 Norco Fluid FS A1 as the best mountain bike going into 2023. The reason? The little things.
We’ve had fun on previous iterations of the Fluid in the past, and the completely redesigned aluminum 29er trail bike that landed in our lap this year, proved that Norco is focused on details that serious riders can appreciate. The Fluid FS A1 features 130mm of rear travel via FOX Float X Performance Elite Shock and 140mm of travel up front boasting a FOX Factory 34 Grip 2 fork. Aside from the Praxis cranks, the drivetrain is full 12-speed Shimano XT, including the chain, cassette and shifter, and there’s some bling reflected in the TRP Trail EVO four-piston brakes that worked phenomenally. Here’s a little thing that Norco considered - the Fluid comes with a 203mm front rotor. That may seem like a no-brainer, but there are many bikes in this category and beyond that only come with a 180mm front rotor. The inclusion of the big rotor opens up the Fluid’s capabilities for use on longer, steeper descents.
Another piece of spec that reflects Norco’s dedication to serious riders of all sizes is the dropper seat post. Size smalls get a 150mm dropper, M and L get 170mm drops while XL and XXL get a full 200mm dropper seat post. Norco could have easily stuck with 170s on the XL and double X, but they didn’t. They also could have easily refrained from including the accessory mount bolts beneath the top tube, but they didn’t.
Norco’s commitment to proper bike fit goes deeper than just seatpost spec. Their Ride Aligned geometry means Fluid frames have size-specific chainstay lengths and seat tube angles. On the trail, the Fluid was extremely balanced and well-composed thanks to the pairing of refined suspension kinematics with the size-specific fit of the bike.
Beneath our 205-pound tester, the Fluid stood firm for over 250 miles of trail and bike park abuse in 3 months. Regular maintenance kept the bike quiet and creak-free. Larger, more aggressive rides may push the stock Vittoria tires to their limits, but overall, there wasn’t a single complaint about the ride quality, build quality or spec of the bike.
If $3,999 is out of your budget, you can shave $850 by checking out the Norco Fluid FS A2. It features a build that, at least on paper, has all the right parts in all the right places. Fluid FS frames feature a 5-year warranty, and with Norco you get access to their local dealer network, online retailers, as well as live chat services on their website, should you have questions about the bike.
It’s a great time to be a mountain biker, especially with options like the Norco Fluid FS. It’s a bike that fits like a glove, can take you anywhere, survives what you throw at it and leaves some money in the bank account.
Stay warm, stay safe and we’ll see you on the trails!
#MTB #mountainbike #bike - Sport
Norco is a bike company that understand the needs of bikers in the world. Absolutely awesome bike with a very fair price. Well done Norco
Its cool to see Vital picking a bike thats great for the price not just great with an unlimited budget!
Norco really seems to be hitting them out of the park as of late. I know many people who LOVE their Norco bikes (Bike Somm, I'm thinking of you!) and I am very much considering a Norco as a future purchase.
I'd love a direct comparison to the Marin Rift Zone XR.
I just walked into a bike shop and bought one of these, no clue what I was buying, but looks like a smart choice! Love the bike.
Lucky you. Mines been on back order for three months
Thanks for making this. I bought last year's Fluid and I'm stoked with it. It's my first Norco but i had faith that Canada would produce a bike that can handle what Australia can throw at it.
The A1 looks incredible! 👌😎🇦🇺
As an Optic owner, that Fluid sure is sweet. Very similar bikes but with some differences, be curious to hear a breakdown of the two bikes side-by-side.
Second this
An Optic with a Cascade link is also 130r 140f. Interested in how they would compare.
@@robertkeith9620 Would love a CC link just can't justify the cost :(, would think they would ride very similarly
third this
I had a optic with CC link and now have a 2023 fluid. I can tell you it’s a more fun bike! More forgiving. Don’t have to have it pinned to come alive. Climbing is much better. Better Bb clearance and still snappy. I have some short videos on it.
I have the 2019 fluid fs1 with some lighter wheels and tyres, it weighs 13.7kg with pedals, its super fun to ride, its agile, responsive, lively and poppy, plus stable, I took the fs a3 for a ride around a parking lot to get a basic idea on what it rides like, and it wasn't the same bike anymore, it felt like a generic heavy trail bike, slower enduro like steering, hard to get a rebound pop out of the suspension, and much harder to get the front wheel up, its like norco changed it from a fun playful bike to a short travel enduro bike, so I'm not upgrading, I much prefer the older model, and on top of that the price has gone up too, in my country the 2021 fs1 cost $3800 and came with a rockshox deluxe shock and pike select fork, where the fs a3 costs $200 more and comes with a crappy x-fusion shock and rockshox 35 silver tk fork, the fs a2 has good spec but it costs $800 more.
got my Norco Fluid A1 today 😎
This bike beat a 10k Yeti on the ups and downs In the pink bike field test, def deserves BOTY !!
A Good choice...Nice !!
Optic comparison please.
Sorry two things, everyone did nearly everything you pointed except within regards to brakes and some did add larger rotors. Second and this one particular affects me the 150mm travel posts ven on smalls on a bike with 29in tires will affect people whose inseam is particularly short. You can actually have the seat post fully inserted and still be too high to negate having that much travel unless you get something with adjustable travel like a Ranier Gen 3. 100-125mm Travel is still the more reasonabl;e option on a size small bike.
Good choice,
I made the mistake of renting one of these in Quebec. It was so much better than my bike I have to buy one now
I just brought home the 2023 Fluid FS A2 two days ago. Sweet bike!
I went in to buy the A2 and he said he could get me the A1 for the same price... I was like.. WHAT? YES .. 1000% yes.
@@snowman22ism YAAA WOW! That's amazing! congrats!
@@dems_mtb Did you get the Silver one with the red fork or the sweet blue one with the copper lettering?
@@snowman22ism silver wth red fork
Actually it's the 2022 Specialized S-WORKS Enduro LTD 👏👍💪
3999?
Norco looks great! I can have Giant trance x advanced pro 2 for same price. Any advice please? Tough decision...
Really? I just looked this bike up and it's retail price is over $1200 more. You must be getting a sick deal.
Norco powa 💕💕💕💕
Quite similar to the bike I chose.
Gorgeous bike, very nice XT spec and looks like a great decision for bike of the year. Funny that I can't feel attracted by bikes with less than 150mm.🤙🏻
How tall is the test rider?
Im 5’9 140pounds and the large frame feels to large. But norco size chart recommends a large. I don’t want to make the mistake of buying a Medium
at 5'9, we'd go for the medium. in general, our testers like a more playful bike fit than a stretched-out fit.
@@vitalmtbthank you so much!!!
The difference between a great bike and a fantastic bike comes down to the rider. 😊
A bike is just a bike until you put a rider on it.. :)
Could you do a mullet set up
norco doesn't recommend it and with no geo adjustments on the bike, you'd probably have to mess w/ shock eye-to-eye or offset bushings to keep it from scraping the ground w/ the small rear wheel. not worth the hassle/cost.
@@vitalmtb could you do it if you changed the fork to 150
@@fullsendmtbbois6149 following
What a sub $5000 bike wins BOTY23 ?! Why not a $12,000+ dream build? Blasphemy!!! Oh the Horror !!!
that bike is $4999.99 here in Canada