I rode the Norco Optic!
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- čas přidán 5. 04. 2021
- #JeffKendallWeed #NorcoOptic
The Norco Optic C1 is available and in stock here at Jenson USA via my affiliate link: bit.ly/NorcoOpticBikeJKW
Also, FYI, the Optic frame has a very competitive price point: bit.ly/NorcoOptic2020FrameJKW
The Rocky Point trail network is a huge achievement for Portland, Oregon area mountain bike riders, as Portland does NOT have a ton of mountain biking by any means! If you’d like to ride these trails, or heck, just support the advocates that have been managing this area, please visit the North West Trails Alliance website here: nw-trail.org/trails/rocky-point/
Big shout to my sponsors! Thanks to Jenson USA, PNW Components, Industry Nine, and Shimano- and any purchases from the below links to Jenson USA will help support my channel:
Jenson USA: bit.ly/JensonUSA2022JKW
PNW Components: bit.ly/PNW_JKW
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Shimano: bit.ly/Shimano2022JKW
Did you know I post a new riding tutorial every month? These are ONLY posted to my Patreon page, so join now to see these rad videos! Here’s the full list of my riding tutorials posted through February 2020:
How to get up ledges WITHOUT bunnyhopping: / 49476021
Which brake to use when: / which-brake-to-48108425
Different bikes, different riding techniques: / 46925782
How to ride FLAT PEDALS through the ROCKS: / how-to-ride-flat-45662347
How to ride wet roots and steep chutes: / 44507851
How to ride with style: / how-to-ride-with-43349450
How to jump for height vs distance: / 42202183
Common manual questions answered: / 41006264
How to land jumps: / 39928153
My 3 favorite skills drills: / if-i-could-only-38809964
How to manual: / how-to-manual-37684861
Cutty: / 36579859
Manual a berm: / 35496772
How to ride in Sedona: / 34436065
Switchbacks: / 3-ways-to-33345804
Nosewheelie: / 32742504
Bump jump: / 31881231
Trials basics for trail riders: / 31145344
Tight berms: / 30389457
Aggressive braking: / 29579507
Confidence for mountain biking: / 28817411
Cornering: / 27981205
Flowing/pumping down the trail: / 27288868
Stoppie through turns: / 26296762
Technical climbing: / 25234847
Boost jumps: / 24161821
Bunnyhop: / 23396959
Utilizing the wheelie on the trail: / 23017910
How to wheelie: / 21879606
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Big thanks to these guys for making this all possible! Any purchases from these links will directly help support my channel as well:
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Industry Nine: bit.ly/IndustryNineJKW
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Check out my riding tutorials: / jeffkendallweed
www.jeffkendallweed.com
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/ jeffkendallweedmtb
~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Krátké a kreslené filmy
As a Floridian it just feels nice to be thought of.
lol cheers man! I've ridden Alafia and Santos, and hope to be back again one day! Folks often forget that the needs of our steeper trails are often at odds with the needs for the flatter stuff in the south east. Both are fun, but simply put- different!
"...and now Peter's calling you in a hurry, cause HE WANTS HIS MONEY BACK...." 😂
lol 😂 I was stoked on that line! Made it up on the fly!
Liked hearing how you feel “more playful aggressive riders may prefer the longer travel”.. so true.. even on my fun flowy trails I get away with things on my long travel bike you’d definitely be paying for with the shorter travel bikes.. still love short travel bikes for intended uses, but I could see how a short travel bike that wants to be the long travel bike in its geo could indeed get in well above its wittle head 😝
I love my Optic! Such a great bike!
this sums up my thoughts about short travel bikes perfectly.
Awesome video man! We rode by ya right as we started climbing the south side so I expected a video.
I would LOVE to see you shredding a SPUR!
That would be fun!
So this bike has geo almost the same as your Ripmo AF but it has 20mm less travel. I think that makes it a lot of fun on crusier trails where the bigger bikes feel like a bit much. Enjoyed the video, thanks Jeff.
Thanks man, it’s literally the same geo as my Ripley AF with the 140 fork.
This bike actually seems really interesting to me. I've only ever ridden hardtails, starting in the late 90s when we just hucked Panaracer DHs, a Bomber, and riser bars onto whatever smallish XC frames we could get a hold of, until blowing out the next headtube or chainstay and starting again. Getting back into riding after a decade or so off and I'm really overwhelmed with all the new choices and styles.
Thanks for the video!
Feeling this comment right now 👍🏻
I agree with having more travel so you can have some margin for error when messing around. I think 140-150 is the most versatile, do it all range.
And everyone rides different, too. For me, the more travel means more line options. At least, here in the PNW!
For me in the northeast 140front 130 rear 29 works pretty sweet.
And here I just got my Optic a couple of weeks ago and probably more bike than I need LOL. Great video and your riding is amazing, you throw that bike around so easily.
Everyone from the North Shore: You're not from around these parts, are ya?
@@rrolleman4879 LOL. Right?
That Starling!!! YES!!
Great stuff Jeff 🚴 enjoyed the video buddy 👌🏴😉👌
Thanks man!
I think you are rambling on like a Led Zepplin song, but it's so poetic just don't stop, what a ride
Video production is going places. Way to step it up.
Please get your hands on a Revel Rascal and share your experience Jeff.
These slack-ish short travel bikes seem like they would be great for desert riding too, i.e. Moab, GJ/Fruita, Sedona, etc. The slack geo helps on the steep rock rolls, and the light weight plus shorter travel would really help on the punchy tech climbs that desert riding is known for.
Thanks man. This was hugely helpful. I've been trying to figure out whether I want to go with a 2023 Optic or Sight. I ride in Ontario. We have zero mountains, just lots of short, steep climbs. Lots of roots and rocks and off camber stuff. Jumps and drops that often have poor take offs and somewhat flat landings. Our climbs tend to be steep, rocky and rooty, and we've got really tight switchbacks rather than long steady climbs. What you said about a shorter travel bike being more playful and poppy and so better for the sort of terrain you were on (which seems similar, at least in description, to what we have), yet you found the opposite and therefore preferred a longer travel bike because the short travel is just too limited (unforgiving?) is my experience too. This is exactly what I was wondering and hoping to hear from someone. Thanks for this.
I would agree with your overall take on this bike. The geo and sizing appeal to me, but I'm just not ready to go down to a tiny 125mm in the rear!! I'm a member of NWTA, and Rocky Point is fun, but it's some of the more chill trails we have here in the PNW, so I like my 165mm bike. :)
I love my slacker 160 front and 155 rear. Just makes me want to jump off everything. Really hope it stops raining here soon. I just want to ride!
I live in Michigan, and this type of shorter travel bike is very popular (hardly anyone rides 150-170mm travel bikes here unless they're in Marquette).....nice to have a bike available with the modern geometry that us rolling hills flatlanders can enjoy.
Totally. Less elevation=less need for big travel
Red shirt is my husband 🥰🥰 love u Thomas! Glad you got to ride with him.
Congrats on the upcoming kid! Working hard on the vid where we interviewed Thomas as well as Kerstin!
Great to see an objective, honest and realistic opinion after a few short rides instead of someone saying its the best thing in the world because they got to ride it for free.
Lol yeah I’m not a very good yewtoober, I should pretend to give a perfectly dialed analysis 😂 it’s a solid bike, I had enough time on it to confirm that!
I do something very different with my front fork on my hardtail going with quite higher air pressure so that front end doesnt dive as much in the steep chunk and Its kept me out of the OTB club with the softer front end ( knock on wood ) which turned into broken bones . So my front end maybe a bit stiff somewhere between a rigid fork and soft and plush . Its still does well with the chatter and your body adapts .
I run a slightly higher air pressure on the hardtail but a lot more damping. This keeps the bike from pitching as much
Agreed. That's the best way to ride a hard tail, if you're on aggressive trails. I do the same with mine.
What a nice bike :D
Did you ever give you final conclusions on the DVO stuff vs the Fox stuff?
I have this exact bike it is amazing 10/10
can you ride the evil offering?
My dude said Florida! LOL.
I've understood from previous videos that your bikes seem kind of on the heavy side. In this video you mention that this stock bike "is like 10 lbs lighter". How is that? Your beefy tyres with inserts, but what else?
I visited a major bike store in Vancouver (area) and they said no one who worked there rode Optics, they all preferred Sights. But the 2021 A2 Sight is a tank, at least compared with the carbon Optics. I ended up with the C2 Optic and would agree with your sentiment.
That's because 125mm rear isn't enough for BC riding.
Dude thank you so much for not BSing everyone on this short travel / down country craze. It’s mind boggling that the bike industry has convinced so many people to sell super nice all mtn and enduro bikes for shorter travel. And everyone MUST ride 29ers? Not even gonna build 27.5s anymore? Never seen such a pushy industry in my life. There’s a ton of insanely fun modern designs out there. Why slam one trend down our throats when there’s so much more to offer?
Not everyone has extended descents and wants a 35 lbs., six foot long sled. The 'industry" pushed moto style headtube angles and carbon frames ($) because every ham and egger out there is gonna go pro these days. That is the myth they sell. Down country or whatever is simply a light duty trail bike, and that serves 75% of the riders out there very well. I ride a 2013 alloy Stumpjumper FSR Elite 29er and it is 30 lbs. with water bottle, frame pump, and full saddle pack... 31 lbs w/ my dropper. The geo is not "modern," but who cares? I am much faster than guys with new big rigs on rolling terrain. That is mostly what I have in OH. Good luck buying any alloy bike spec under 32 lbs. now. Everyone thinks they can be JKW, if they have the right bike. It is the rider, not the bike.
@@petedog9581 the point I was trying to make is the flavor of the week nonsense is complete garbage. Not that any one trend is right or wrong. My dad rides the exact same bike you have and it’s fun as hell. My brother rides a stumpy evo 26 that’s also an absolutely ripping bike. I’ve bounced around bikes mainly trying to get geo that fits me and landed on a 2018 remedy that I have no intention of swapping. But yeah I agree the Uber slacked out mile long reach Cadillac 29ers are probably the dumbest trend yet. I just happen to think stuffing slack 120mm down people’s throats that clearly ride all mountain / enduro trails bc they’re “so capable” is a close second. I’d rather plow through trails over biked and turning like a boat than bottom out and nearly go OTB the whole way down a serious piece of trail. And ideally you pick a bike that suits what you ride since there should be something for everyone. Unless they literally stop making things like they have with 27.5s and more normal head angles, reach, WB
@@padovann I think the problem isn't that the bikes exist, it's that every reviewer takes it out on huge trails with big jumps and sells it as a bike it isn't because watching someone climb for 35 minutes to do some flowy descending makes for a boring video. Norco advertises this as a mostly do-everything bike, but they're really not trying to oversell how well it descends; they've got a huge lineup and plenty of big, long-travel bikes. I have a 2018 Optic, before they made everything more slack, and it's a great bike for a normal guy that doesn't jump well and spends more time pedalling up hills than getting shuttled. Big bike companies try to cover the whole range of riding, because if they miss a potential market, someone else will step in and take it.
And let's be real: I've been mountain biking since the 90s when all we had was 80mm of sticky front travel and skinny bars and rim brakes. A bike like this would've been considered a big hit bike not that long ago. There are better bikes for big jumps and janky trails, but the Optic and bikes like it are perfectly competent if you're willing. Not everyone can afford more than one MTB, so it's a good compromise for a lot of people.
@@VincentJGoh The point is they keep driving up the price on bikes and biking. It is hard to find parts for bikes that are even 5 years old, especially proprietary parts. I have demoed new bikes and they are great, but an alloy comp spec is now 35 lbs. I am every bit as capable on my 8 years old 29er. The industry pushed people to overbike for years, and now they are going the other way with down country??? If you want a nimble bike with any travel, carbon is the only option. My bike is 140/130 mm and weighs less than 30 lbs as an alloy frame. You cannot find that now, unless you hang carbon parts everywhere on it. Then, you spend $1K on upgrades. I guess as long as people will keep flipping bikes, it will continue on this path.
@@VincentJGoh Btw rode ungroomed hiking trails with toe clips on a rigid Trek 830 to start in 1992. The bikes have come a long way, but good riding never changes.
don't bother looking in Trailforks, private trail system with a lot of red tape to access, but this is basically the only local trails in the PDX area, unless you lump in the local trails for Vancouver (calling Sandy Ridge local to PDX is a stretch).
Thomas!!!!
I like Norco. I demo'd a few of their bikes.
I think if I had to get another bike I would get something that has the same Geo as the Ripmo but short travel so I have the support going down too...LOL.
It's another great contender to the Ripley's category!
What glasses do you wear with your 3/4 helmet? I have a drop frame and glasses are difficult to fit
Those are some cheapies I got off Amazon, just work glasses. I have had a few really
Nice sets of smith glasses but they are too expensive to replace after they break
Did you feel like the front end didn’t feel as stable as other bikes? I just bought a frame, built it up and rode it for the first time today and it felt super sketchy! The front tire felt super sketchy on tight chunky turny areas. Am I set up wrong or something. I was riding a Ragley Big Al and that thing felt planted all the time. Maybe I’m not used to the full suspension? I don’t know. Kinda disappointed.
Hi, I’m curious as to whether you were able to figure this out? Did it take some time to get used to.. or maybe what you did to change that? The rear of the bike seems to have super short chain stays so I could imagine that make the bike feeling more squiggly…
Would like to know more about why you prefer 165 mm cranks.
I think its important to mention and point out that norco factory suspension settings for the avg. rider is much different than the needs of JKW's wild riding style. However, it does seem pretty weird that the settings were off by a large margin... Maybe JKW can throw down some insight on this.
I was using recommending Ride Aligned Norco stock rear suspension the whole time- and with no issues at all. However, I have no idea how the factory fork settings are, as I found the fork to be way off the Ride Aligned from outta the gate. However, after adding a mere 10psi and removing the massive wall of damping, the fork felt great.
Is that a Wreckoning in your van? Hows your experience, and when's the video? 😊
interesting!
just adressed the pain of decision im in... coming of a modern 140mm/65° Hardtail, ripping KOMs on it, but allso rolling the dice alot... Went for Devinci Troy 29 LTD 160/140 (the shorter 2019 model).
still was wondering if Devinci Django 140(150)/120 would have been better... just being more eager to pump and jumping in and out of turns.
Would be fun to see, what you think of the Pivot Switchblade 2020 (same Geo as my Troy) vs Pivot Trail 429 2021/Devinci Django (same Geo but less travel)
But i guess that "Fun and flickable Geo, with Suspension to cover your ass when you send it to far" sums it up for what i guess to be our similar riding styles. (I'm just not as good at it as you xD )
How did you like those tires?
How would this compare with the Orbea Occam? The Occam has more travel but it's more on the efficient end of things, just wondering about say the differences with efficient more trail style bikes vs these short travel bikes with more aggressive geo
Occam is much more of a traditional XC/trail bike, with steeper geometry and a shorter feeling wheelbase. Occam would be better in rough, natural trails, Optic better in flow trails or bike parky stuff.
@@JeffKendallWeed This is good info, thanks!
Hi Jeff, I wonder, how would you compare the SB130 and the Optic? The travel is quite simmilar (130mm vs 125mm), the geometry numbers are very close too. From all the reviews they seem different, but I’m sure you could give better insight in direct comparison. Thanks!
Hey Pete, the SB130 I have is the Luch Ride version and it is noticeably longer legged. 160
Fork vs 140. The SB130 is waaaaay longer and feels more like an enduro bike.
Ok so I owned the 2020 optic and it’s a great little bike forsure but I had 1 issue with it and that’s why I said I owned the Norco optic not own. It’s got 125mm travel in rear with DH shock basically. It’s descends like a 150mm bike I even took it to bike park with no issues. But the issue is that it also kinda climbs like a 150mm bike so I had to ask myself. Why do I want only 125mm when I feel like I’m not benefiting from it at all. So now I own the Evil offering V2 and it’s 140mm travel in rear and climbs better then the optic by a long shot for me
Man the Optic and the Offering are at the top of my list for a one bike quiver. I really feel like they occupy the same space but in a different way. Would love any more comparisons you can offer. How do they compare on punchy up and down tight twisty pedally stuff? Not too concerned with steep fire road climbing but more flattish mellow pedally stuff. Which is more engaging when the trail isn’t rowdy?
@@mtskibum16 For the punchy climbs and tech climbs I gotta give it to the offering every time. The suspension on the evils really is something spectacular! But also if its just a mellow climb the offering too. Another complaint with the optic is it doesn't have a lockout lever on shock which I must say I never reach for it but sometimes on a super mellow climb it is super nice to have. The optic is slacker so if its very steep id love having the optic over the offering even with less travel but I also keep my offering in the low setting instead of x low which will slacken out head tube of you wanted too. I only keep a 1 bike quiver and for me the Offering has just been the perfect bike for that for me. In the last 3.5 years I've had 3 bikes. Commencal meta Am 27.5, 2020 Norco optic and now 2021 Evil offering and for me I don't know if ill ever own another bike brand because I truly believe the suspension on the evils is just fantastic!
@@mtskibum16 I dont wanna bash on the optic to much though because it really is a fantastic bike it just wasn't for me and if that's what you end up with you will absolutely love it. The offering isn't some like super bike compared to the optic at all. The are both amazing the offering just made more sense for me and how I ride.
@@MillerRL96 Wow Miller we couldn't be more different. While I didn't have much time on the Optic, just two days of riding, I feel it was a more natural climber than the Offering. The Offering has a very different feel- shorter, taller, heavier, and much more active suspension. I'd rather go up on the Optic, then would be about equally happy on either going down. I'd much rather ride the Offering in a bike park though.
@@JeffKendallWeed crazy how I experiences differ so much haha. I just always felt like the Optic at 125mm travel climbed like a much bigger bike. Never thought it was a bad climber by any means but just felt like didn't climb like I expected at the size travel
JKW is a dead ringer for Ken Burns, the historical documentarian. Jeff, you should do historical documentary about the origins of mountain biking in America, and how the sport and culture has progressed from chop shop bikes and riders to the modern industry and riders. : )
Hahahaha Pete I’d love to get more in depth on some stories but it’s impossible to sell those to sponsors. Videos like this are what pay the bills. Got two story telling vids coming up soon tho!!!
Was contemplating getting a Marzocchi bomber z1, or get a rockshox yari and upgrading the damper later to a charger rc2. What would you recommend?
Whichever one you get a good deal on.
I can get both for 500 dollars, would that change your recommendation?
Hey Tforce, my only experience with the Yari was on the ebike. Both forks get good reviews though. I'd say go with whichever you can source more easily. I love how a Marzocchi can be retrofitted with the Grip 2 damper!
I Have a Z1 160 Its Excellent After Running It For abit 1000km I wouldn't Run a 34 or 35 on any bike lol . I have a 150 Pike on my RM And its NOWHERE Near As SOLID As My Z1 😎 2 different classes
Was after an Optic vs Ripley comp for some time now...
Last 3 minutes of the vid has that!
@@JeffKendallWeed watched before commenting 😉
Too bad you did not have either both "in comparable $ trims" (Ripley AF to mid range Optic, there is no full alu option on the norco) or the Optic as a frame for longer terms, in order to distill an opinion either on a $ basis, or with similarly tricked builds.
I wish they sold an aluminum frame, just the frame. I would build one.
At $2700, the frame is a great deal. bit.ly/OpticFrameJKW. It's nearly impossible to find frames from other brands right now.
@@JeffKendallWeed but that is a bit pricy for a frame
My favorite short travel rockstar in the industry. Totally out kicks its coverage!
Yeah- I think because it's been so hard to come by! They have been selling fast than they can be produced.
compare to Revel Rascal?
Always blows my mind how low you get the bike in corners. My mind is screaming that you are going to wash out...
Thanks John, I tend to trust the bike- sometimes too much, too!
Hey Jeff -- I'm 5'9 ish you think a LG would work for me?
Tony, I don't have the most experience with these, so don't know what to tell ya, sorry! I'm about .25" below 5'9", and the medium felt fine.
Awesome riding as always - BUT - there are going to be sooo many dissatisfied Optic fans watching this! The optic is a ripper! And, ignoring the ride aligned system, one of the easiest bikes I’ve had to set up.
You should really put at least two tokens in the fork.
Are you using a GoPro Hero3?
Lol hero 7 on a karma grip. I have 4-5 karma grips and they all work a little different- this one is by far the worst.
@@JeffKendallWeed It was a tad "jerky". Have you tried the Hero9 with the Max Lens Mod? It has amazing stabilization without a gimbal.
the general consensus is the less travel you have the stiffer you should set up to avoid bottoming out on the big hucks, right? That's what I've been subscribing to for a while at least
Yep the percent of sag stays similar but since it’s shorter travel, you gotta have a higher pressure and therefore stiffer.
Use those trails while you can. The "Really Big One" going to destroy they entire western seaboard when it happens. Which is overdue.
Lol 😂 every summer the forest fires get worse. And it’s been 100 years since the last major earthquake up here so it’ll hit any day. But ya know what? I live so full throttle that I really don’t have any regrets.
Please try and convince more people of that happening, so they'll leave Portland!! Thanks mate.
that 45mm stem is totally a deal breaker IMO...
Lol the stock stem was long- at least 50. But the wide, flat bars were a struggle for me. That’s not brand related, just fit and personal preference
@@JeffKendallWeed 2021 Optics ship with 45mm stems. Its right there on the spec sheet on norco.com.
Ooh! Still what about the evil
OOOOOhhhh the video is in progress!!! Hope to publish that one next week.
That Norco guy doesn't look so friendly 😅
LOL Derek is great!
Resting grumpy face. ;)
Come ride Florida man
I did! It was fun. My in laws live literally on the Santos trails. I also rode Alafia. Jeff Lenosky joined me at both spots and we made videos and such!