MTB Tech Rumors and Innovation

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Packe777
Posts
19
Joined
8/13/2020
Location
Novi Sad RS
19 hours ago
Packe777 wrote:

Thx for the info. I'm exactly your weight 93kg,  but with all the gear and kitted on top around 96-97kg. 

overbiked wrote:
I've also got a set of LH4's currently w/ the Sram HS2 rotors. I absolutely love them, cant recommend them enough. I had code RSC's before...

I've also got a set of LH4's currently w/ the Sram HS2 rotors. I absolutely love them, cant recommend them enough. I had code RSC's before them, and Magura MT7 pros before the codes, and the Lewis' are my favorite so far. Lever feel and power are amazing, value is second to none. With as cheap as they are I'd say go for it. 

As far as the cooling fins I'm to skinny to see a benefit from any brand's so I can't speak to that.

Thx for the answer. I'm gonna go for the new Lewis then i think. I do have SRAM HS2 rotors now running under CODE RSC's.

2
6
FullSend
Posts
328
Joined
7/14/2021
Location
DE
Fantasy
1197th
12 hours ago
I love Norco but Canadian Santa Cruz is gonna be a stretch, and should they even shoot for that? $1,500 Fluids, flat bar gravel/commuter bikes and...

I love Norco but Canadian Santa Cruz is gonna be a stretch, and should they even shoot for that? $1,500 Fluids, flat bar gravel/commuter bikes and even a steel gravel bike. These are all awesome! I’ll prolly never sell my road bike (2018 Search with a dropper and flat bars) because it only cost $450 to begin with! But, part of the Santa Cruz brand is you can only have it on your downtube if you pony up. It's bling to some extent. (100% bling on the Vala with it being crab link)

The other aspects of Santa Cruz that Norco does not embody are quality and warranty ease. 2020 Sight VLT was the absolute worst quality bike I've had by a large margin.  (comparing to: Ibis, Transition, Santa Cruz, Specialized, Nukeproof) Maybe, (hopefully) their quality gone up in recent years. Their warranty department was really great when I broke the chainstays on that bike but that is NOT the experience I hear from others. I hear exclusively negative things about Norco's warranty. They have a looong way to go before they're percived as Transition or Santa Cruz are.

TL;DR: I've owned an XT level carbon Norco eeb and a $450 8sp gravel bike from Norco and the one that's still in my garage is the cheap gravel bike.

Regarding Santa Cruz and "production quality": https://www.instagram.com/p/CpDeo1FrApu/ 

The Nomad frame they use as an example shows voids in the lay-up, dry spots and other signs of delamination - and in the head tube junction of all places. That's pretty much the most structurally critical area of the entire frame. Their production quality really isn't any better than what you'll find at any other large brand.

Also, my own (anecdotal) experience with their production quality hasn't exactly been positive either. I had to warranty my 2023 Tallboy V5 CC three times within the span of like 10 months. First time, the frame started developing a crack at the front shock mount. Second time, the seat tube wasn't reamed properly. Third time, the bike developed a weird amount of flex in the front end. Turns out, the seat of the lower headset bearing had started developing a large crack. After that, I was done with Santa and I don't think I'll return any time soon.

Bottom line: You'll find these examples of extremely negative customer experiences for any big brand.

6
Eae903
Posts
88
Joined
10/20/2023
Location
Laramie, WY US
11 hours ago
I love Norco but Canadian Santa Cruz is gonna be a stretch, and should they even shoot for that? $1,500 Fluids, flat bar gravel/commuter bikes and...

I love Norco but Canadian Santa Cruz is gonna be a stretch, and should they even shoot for that? $1,500 Fluids, flat bar gravel/commuter bikes and even a steel gravel bike. These are all awesome! I’ll prolly never sell my road bike (2018 Search with a dropper and flat bars) because it only cost $450 to begin with! But, part of the Santa Cruz brand is you can only have it on your downtube if you pony up. It's bling to some extent. (100% bling on the Vala with it being crab link)

The other aspects of Santa Cruz that Norco does not embody are quality and warranty ease. 2020 Sight VLT was the absolute worst quality bike I've had by a large margin.  (comparing to: Ibis, Transition, Santa Cruz, Specialized, Nukeproof) Maybe, (hopefully) their quality gone up in recent years. Their warranty department was really great when I broke the chainstays on that bike but that is NOT the experience I hear from others. I hear exclusively negative things about Norco's warranty. They have a looong way to go before they're percived as Transition or Santa Cruz are.

TL;DR: I've owned an XT level carbon Norco eeb and a $450 8sp gravel bike from Norco and the one that's still in my garage is the cheap gravel bike.

FullSend wrote:
Regarding Santa Cruz and "production quality": https://www.instagram.com/p/CpDeo1FrApu/ The Nomad frame they use as an example shows voids in the lay-up, dry spots and other signs of...

Regarding Santa Cruz and "production quality": https://www.instagram.com/p/CpDeo1FrApu/ 

The Nomad frame they use as an example shows voids in the lay-up, dry spots and other signs of delamination - and in the head tube junction of all places. That's pretty much the most structurally critical area of the entire frame. Their production quality really isn't any better than what you'll find at any other large brand.

Also, my own (anecdotal) experience with their production quality hasn't exactly been positive either. I had to warranty my 2023 Tallboy V5 CC three times within the span of like 10 months. First time, the frame started developing a crack at the front shock mount. Second time, the seat tube wasn't reamed properly. Third time, the bike developed a weird amount of flex in the front end. Turns out, the seat of the lower headset bearing had started developing a large crack. After that, I was done with Santa and I don't think I'll return any time soon.

Bottom line: You'll find these examples of extremely negative customer experiences for any big brand.

Working for shop that is a Norco and a Santa Cruz dealer, Santa Cruz has had far fewer, and far easier warranties to work with. Norco on the other hand has been a pain to work with, and the last gen Sight VLT has been awful. The design of the wiring harness and it's connection to the motor is the worst I've ever seen. It rattles and disconnects constantly. Hopefully the new one is better.

4
earleb
Posts
155
Joined
3/23/2023
Location
North Vancouver, BC CA
Fantasy
225th
4 hours ago
Jotegr wrote:
Man, Trek isn't even the first mountain bike manufacturer to make a one-off metal full suspension bike called the Pipedream.  And with Wade's the name worked...

Man, Trek isn't even the first mountain bike manufacturer to make a one-off metal full suspension bike called the Pipedream.  And with Wade's the name worked on additional levels which is better. 

 

Damn, Brian beat me to it by moments. 

Wade might just be the best rider / actor combo in the industry. Name a rider that does better acting jobs in ride videos? 

2
Bikaholic
Posts
5
Joined
1/30/2024
Location
Squamish, BC CA
Fantasy
1220th
3 hours ago
Jotegr wrote:
Man, Trek isn't even the first mountain bike manufacturer to make a one-off metal full suspension bike called the Pipedream.  And with Wade's the name worked...

Man, Trek isn't even the first mountain bike manufacturer to make a one-off metal full suspension bike called the Pipedream.  And with Wade's the name worked on additional levels which is better. 

 

Damn, Brian beat me to it by moments. 

earleb wrote:
Wade might just be the best rider / actor combo in the industry. Name a rider that does better acting jobs in ride videos? 

Wade might just be the best rider / actor combo in the industry. Name a rider that does better acting jobs in ride videos? 

5
ardor
Posts
67
Joined
10/30/2012
Location
CA
Fantasy
1831st
3 hours ago
Jotegr wrote:
Man, Trek isn't even the first mountain bike manufacturer to make a one-off metal full suspension bike called the Pipedream.  And with Wade's the name worked...

Man, Trek isn't even the first mountain bike manufacturer to make a one-off metal full suspension bike called the Pipedream.  And with Wade's the name worked on additional levels which is better. 

 

Damn, Brian beat me to it by moments. 

earleb wrote:
Wade might just be the best rider / actor combo in the industry. Name a rider that does better acting jobs in ride videos? 

Wade might just be the best rider / actor combo in the industry. Name a rider that does better acting jobs in ride videos? 

Bikaholic wrote:

Damn, that's such a sick vid. Thanks for the revisit, Bikaholic. 

2
sspomer
Posts
4860
Joined
6/26/2009
Location
Boise, ID US
Fantasy
66th
2 hours ago Edited Date/Time 2 hours ago

the only brand engineer to make a finals at the world cup - According to Kirk, Episode 2 from Norco (Kirk McDowall)

6
his dudeness
Posts
10
Joined
12/30/2010
Location
San Jose, CA US
6 minutes ago
I love Norco but Canadian Santa Cruz is gonna be a stretch, and should they even shoot for that? $1,500 Fluids, flat bar gravel/commuter bikes and...

I love Norco but Canadian Santa Cruz is gonna be a stretch, and should they even shoot for that? $1,500 Fluids, flat bar gravel/commuter bikes and even a steel gravel bike. These are all awesome! I’ll prolly never sell my road bike (2018 Search with a dropper and flat bars) because it only cost $450 to begin with! But, part of the Santa Cruz brand is you can only have it on your downtube if you pony up. It's bling to some extent. (100% bling on the Vala with it being crab link)

The other aspects of Santa Cruz that Norco does not embody are quality and warranty ease. 2020 Sight VLT was the absolute worst quality bike I've had by a large margin.  (comparing to: Ibis, Transition, Santa Cruz, Specialized, Nukeproof) Maybe, (hopefully) their quality gone up in recent years. Their warranty department was really great when I broke the chainstays on that bike but that is NOT the experience I hear from others. I hear exclusively negative things about Norco's warranty. They have a looong way to go before they're percived as Transition or Santa Cruz are.

TL;DR: I've owned an XT level carbon Norco eeb and a $450 8sp gravel bike from Norco and the one that's still in my garage is the cheap gravel bike.

FullSend wrote:
Regarding Santa Cruz and "production quality": https://www.instagram.com/p/CpDeo1FrApu/ The Nomad frame they use as an example shows voids in the lay-up, dry spots and other signs of...

Regarding Santa Cruz and "production quality": https://www.instagram.com/p/CpDeo1FrApu/ 

The Nomad frame they use as an example shows voids in the lay-up, dry spots and other signs of delamination - and in the head tube junction of all places. That's pretty much the most structurally critical area of the entire frame. Their production quality really isn't any better than what you'll find at any other large brand.

Also, my own (anecdotal) experience with their production quality hasn't exactly been positive either. I had to warranty my 2023 Tallboy V5 CC three times within the span of like 10 months. First time, the frame started developing a crack at the front shock mount. Second time, the seat tube wasn't reamed properly. Third time, the bike developed a weird amount of flex in the front end. Turns out, the seat of the lower headset bearing had started developing a large crack. After that, I was done with Santa and I don't think I'll return any time soon.

Bottom line: You'll find these examples of extremely negative customer experiences for any big brand.

Eae903 wrote:
Working for shop that is a Norco and a Santa Cruz dealer, Santa Cruz has had far fewer, and far easier warranties to work with. Norco...

Working for shop that is a Norco and a Santa Cruz dealer, Santa Cruz has had far fewer, and far easier warranties to work with. Norco on the other hand has been a pain to work with, and the last gen Sight VLT has been awful. The design of the wiring harness and it's connection to the motor is the worst I've ever seen. It rattles and disconnects constantly. Hopefully the new one is better.

There’s a saying that might be before your time… “creaks like a Santa Cruz.”

Had two, they sucked. 

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