Is This Blenkinsop's New DH Bike?Norco's Sam Blenkinsop was recently spotted in the Whistler Bike Park aboard what looks to be a brand new downhill bike from the Canadian company that's a drastic departure from their long-standing Aurum DH rig. And while merely seeing Blenkinsop on the bike doesn't mean that we're looking at the Aurum's replacement, the fact that the front triangle, and apparently the rear as well, is made using carbon fiber says that Norco is relatively committed to the design you see here.
What's new? Everything, it seems, as it's obvious even in these grainy cellphone photos that this bike represents a wholesale change from the Aurum and its 'A.R.T.' Horst Link suspension layout that delivers 200mm of travel.
The prototype's single pivot, linkage-activated design features an extremely high main pivot that sits well above the height of Sam's chainring, and an integrated pulley / chain guide setup routes the chain up high to run around the main pivot. The bike would have a large amount of chain growth / pedal kickback / anti-squat if the chain weren't routed in this way.
Remember when Sam was running a
very non-production high idler pulley setup on his Aurum, pictured to the right, earlier this year?
When questioned about that back in January, Owen Pemberton, Norco's Senior Design Engineer, had this to say: ''
What you are looking at is just a part of our ongoing Norco Race Development program. That setup on Sam's bike is purely an information gathering exercise at this time.'' Information gathering for this new design, apparently.
An integrated idler pulley routes the chain up and over the bike's main pivot.If you think that the basic layout looks a bit like a carbon fiber version of
Commencal's Supreme DH V4 downhill machine, you wouldn't be wrong. The high pivot is in a similar (but not the same) location, and the integrated idler pulley setup on the swingarm is also somewhat comparable. Small differences in pivot locations can create drastically varying performance characteristics, however, and the prototype Norco's linkage system is distinctly different to the Supreme DH V4's that compresses its shock from below.
This is reversed on the Norco, with its pull-link activating a rocker that compresses the bike's shock from above. The linkage, which is unrefined and clearly far from being set in stone, is very different from the V4, despite the bike appearing to be similar from afar.
In knowing that, it's not the same bike.
As that being said, watching Pinkbike, you would know that Trek has a new proto DH frame that has been spotted. Always looking for that edge. Constant refinement/advancement.
Your welcome
@SKIGAN14 do you need a tissue to remove the egg on your face?
Both could be bought publicly in 1997. Who knows how long each had the idea. So ahead of their time.
Is rampage still happening? There's been zero coverage at all so far.
Gearbox for AM/EN applications.
X01 DH Cassette wieghs 135g, X01 rear mech 257g. That gives us like 300g of unsprung weight saving compared to a gearboxed bike. In Enduro cassettes are bigger, with Eagle going full retard at 370g. In such case gearbox saves 500g!!! on the rear
I am not overly familiar with @protours comments but know hes not a fan of the Demo. Off topic but I sketched through its axle path and the wheelbase gets 40mm shorter at full travel.
although i can only really pedal it 750 or so meters of vertical before I die in a heap.. I have modern bikes for that stuff. I just love riding the old girl.
The idler removes pedal kickback and counteracts chain growth (you can actually pedal through rock gardens on flats).
Yes im a convert, I still have a balfa bb7 (as well as plenty of modern rigs including the new antidote carbon jack when it arrives)
And I love how it's one companies "radical new prototype" when it's been Canfeild Brothers standard for a decade. Lame. The C-Bros and their followers have just been too busy effortlessly destroying rock gardens to try to hype up a long proven system.
This drivetrain doesn't even go up as high as some of the GT and Commencal bikes I've seen.
Not sure how your smarta** response is constructive, but thanks.
Never fails for people to be douches on the internet. Cheers!
But this style has like, what, 0.00000003% of the bike market?
...Because someone had to do it.