While Norco is well-known for their gnarly North Shore freeride and downhill mountain bikes, they offer a full fleet of bikes for street, bmx, cruising and even have a respectable road program. While other “mountain bike manufacturers” may also have a token road bike or two, Norco has four full-carbon road bikes, three scandium cyclocross bikes, three touring bikes and two performance aluminum road bikes to go along with their expansive mountain bike lineup.
Since Norco doesn’t have a huge presence in the States, let me educate you a bit. They are one of Canada’s largest bicycle manufacturers with a full lineup of bikes in every shape and size and a full lineup of accessories and clothing under the Axiom, Mace, Adams and Bike Guard brands.
Over the years, I’ve established a strong relationship with the crew at Norco and have exposed many to the beauty of their bike designs and their cool nature as singletrack-hungry Canadians. They ride and they ride hard, but at the end of the day, the entire crew at Norco–including athletes–are down-to-earth and personable. I like that and am stoked to have a new Norco roadie in for review this year.
About the Norco CRR 2 Road Bike
Utilizing an entirely-new carbon platform for 2010, the CRR road line utilizes a new EPS Mandrel system for even layering with Thermoplastic Mesh for dispersed stress forces. What does that mean? Well, according to Norco, that means lighter, stiffer and stronger frames than ever before. This new carbon makeup is used in both the CRR road and XC carbon mountain bike frames. On top of the new makeup, you also get BB30 bottom-brackets and integrated seat masts.
Unwrapping the Norco CRR 2, I was really impressed by the overall package. For $2040, you get a heckuva bike with full Shimano 105, Ritchey cockpit, FSA cranks and Shimano wheels. I’m excited to get on the road with the CRR 2 and see how it performs… I can’t wait for the carbon goodness to soften the road chatter while also providing instant reaction-times for snappy climbing and handling.
Key Specs of the Norco CRR 2:
- High-modulus carbon-fiber frame/fork with HTR technology
- Ritchey Comp cockpit
- Shimano 105 drivetrain
- Shimano RS10 wheels
- FSA Gossamer cranks
- FSA headset
- MSRP: $2040 (find a dealer)
More Info: Visit Norco.com
03.25.2010 at 2:08 pm - by Brig Graff
Enlighten me — what are the main differences between a road bike and a cyclocross? Do cyclocross have to have wider forks for nobby tires? A more comfortable upright geometry vs. a more horizontal and aerodynamic ‘time trial’ geometry?
03.26.2010 at 12:49 pm - by Jason Mitchell
Great question, but since I’m no CX guy, I’ll tell you what I know. The simple answer is they are typically beefed-up road frames with a slightly more upright geometry. Tires aren’t all that wide, but they are knobby, so frames and forks may need slight adjustments. They also use cantilever brakes (no idea why).
03.27.2010 at 8:20 pm - by Brig Graff
Sounds cool — good price for a good bike. I’m just trying to decide if I would find enough good buffed trails for a cyclocross bike, or if I should just get another road bike (up the ante from my old one) since there is no shortage of good roads to ride on.
07.11.2010 at 7:19 pm - by Brandon Archibald
A cyclocross bike has cantilever brakes for mud clearance. The geometry is very different between the two bikes, not only are they more upright they are also shorter. A lot of the newer bikes have flat or shaped top tubes so that the frame doesn’t hurt your shoulder when you carry the bike. They also don’t run cables on the underside of the top tube for the same reason.