2021 Pinkbike Awards: Mountain Bike of the Year Winner
Mountain Bike of the Year Winner
The finalists for the 2021 Mountain Bike of the Year were the Trek Top Fuel, Rocky Mountain Element, Norco Range, and the Transition Spire. It's a varied batch, one that runs the gamut from bikes that could be contenders in a cross-country race to burly beasts with handling that's very, very close to that of a full blown downhill bike.
When the dust had settled, there was one bike that stood out from the rest. The winner is....
Norco Range
Norco didn't make any concessions in their quest to make the Range an absolute gravity fiend, and those efforts paid off. It's a bike with an unwavering focus on delivering stability and speed in the gnarliest terrain, with extremely well balanced geometry and a high-pivot suspension layout that allows it to make short work of the chunkiest tracks.
The Range epitomizes the trends that we saw this year in the enduro and downhill worlds, a shining example of the direction things are headed in the near future. When it comes to geometry, Norco remain at the forefront thanks to their size-specific chainstay lengths and head angles – the smaller sizes get shorter chainstays and a slightly steeper head angle in order to maintain similar handling characteristics across the board. In addition, Norco's online Ride Aligned setup guide is one of the best out there, which makes it easier for riders to get their bikes dialed in as quickly as possible.
Don't overlook the fact that the Range can be pedaled back up for another lap, either. No, it's not the lightest bike in this category, but its geometry creates a comfortable, upright position that's ideal for spinning out the miles before dropping in for another run.
At the end of the day, it's the Range's downhill performance that gave it the edge over this year's Mountain Bike of the Year contenders. We all ride for different reasons, but there's no denying that going downhill as fast as possible is one of the best aspects of mountain biking. The Norco Range doesn't seem to have a speed limit, a key factor that led to the decision to award it the 2021 Mountain Bike of the Year title.
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@funkzander - pressfit is bearable, have a pressfit bike for 2 years now and nothing happens. Would prefer threaded, but you can't have it all.
But, their warranty service stinks, and they don’t support their USA shops that well.
So if you were multiple men and women simultaneously cooperating to reach common goals under the payroll of an economic entity...
Wait what? That's not how to imagine.
I’m not doubting that the Range deserve mountain bike of the year at all. But I know why I probably wouldn’t buy one.
UK born and bred sporting the US flag for 10 years, some of my former compatriots should probably travel a little before sounding off online.
Enduro riders be pedaling up hills thinking where is my extra 8lbs of weight. I think I got jipped...
point 2. the nominees were from the last two test fields.. but, what about the rest of the bikes launched and tested this year?, pure garbage bikes, right?
point 3. the winner is the winner beacause it is good at what is SUPPOSED to do??!, other bikes in this category do something different than what they were supposed to do or what?
point 4. Canadian local bike-brand?, yes, just a coincidence.
point 1: wat
point 2: do you expect them to award a bike none of them rode? that would be pretty dumb.
point 3: its a tough thing to compare across categories, but the intentions are pretty clear here - award the bike that best achieved the performance of its category. bonus points for innovation and execution.
point 4: the last 8 winners came from Santa Cruz, Trek, Transition, Trek, Commencal, Norco, Specialized, Norco . Just stop.
I think it is time for pb editors to try and view bikes from normal mtb-ers, as 99% of the world's mtb riders do not live in BC or west Canada nor do they have DH tracks as regular riding trails. I understand why it would be good on Kaz's back yard but, that's the exception not the rule; and, as as said previously, Norco's prices outside NA are a joke, especially for a brand that does not win anything in order for them or for pb editors to say that their frame is the best in the world, in 2021, and award it as proof of that.
For understanding how they determined BOTY: m.pinkbike.com/u/mikekazimer/blog/2021-pinkbike-awards-rules-and-guidelines.html
You get the disadvantege of an Idler for a "High" pivot on the Jeykll that is just high enough to give a little rearward axlepath above the SAG point bevor going forward trough the rest of the travel.
Leverage Ration is almost linear.
The geo.. in Large the Reach is a little short for my liking in XL the Seattube is way too long. and the gravity cavity thing... you better never have a stone flying in there or your Shock is f*cked.
If you want to sacrifice pedal efficiency with the extra drag of an Idler pulley the Rear Suspension should be worth it. It is on the Range, it isnt on the Jekyll.
Now I have to cancel and scramble to get a Range... $^%$%#!%$@#%$%!!!!
people need to toughen the f@ck up! (That could be the reason for still single) Cheers and Happy New Year!
My new dropper seatpost and pedals just came gonna do some wrenching and some riding and drinking.
It looks concentric but I guess it isn't as that wouldn't result in good AS values.
half pound weight savings going from 34.9 to 31.8+shim dropper, removed chainring guard, 28t XX1 cranks, Carbon hoops bar and saddle.
I wish it wasn't an issue, but it is. It's not a deal-breaker for me.
This is exactly correct: Body weight and bike weight cannot be combined into one total weight because one uses muscle ( energy) to push pull the other and the reverse is not true. Try lifting weights by losing five pounds and adding five pounds to all your reps in your workout, and see how you feel. should be the same, buts it’s not…
I agree, big heavy bikes stomp on bike park dh’s. That’s why my dh bike is 40 lbs. However, my trail bike is 30lbs and my gravel bike is 20lbs. The weight difference is easily noticeable, the climbing time differences between the gravel bike and the trail bike are minutes apart on the same fire road climbs.
My point is that weight is very noticeable and
people buying this bike should be riding bike park level downhills / double black diamond trails to justify the weight.
If they are not riding crazy steep trails, the bike will make the trails feel boring ( muted). It will be like riding on the road, in the forest. Bike reviews always seem to forget to mention this because their local trails are crazy steep and , usually, are bike parks…
www.vitalmtb.com/community/MTByNOT,43216/setup,44674
WRP is making one also Mullet dropouts
True. It's better.
just for some memories...
Maybe they drop it next week, the articel in 2021 was postet at the 15. of january
My sincerest apologies
Fatduke
I have no issue with that, but I'd be very wary of buying one after reading about various mechanical / design issues which sound like it might be difficult to live with.
I went down a trail in N. GA this Monday that was right up there with the some of steeper and techy-er trails of in the Dark Divide area between Mt St Helens and Mt Adams. Great stuff.
-gtg611a
But the flipside is that being bestowed these awards by influential reviewers like PB must certainly drive the industry to develop new products that cater to such influential reviewers and their coveted awards, and the reality is riding conditions are very different across geographical regions. It seems most manufacturers are then driven to develop new bikes that cater to influential reviewers' tastes, resulting in these new breed of down-country, slack/long/low, etc. bikes that do not necessarily work for a large number of riders and their options keep diminishing by the day because manufacturers know these reviews hold a lot of weight and help with the sales. Pretty soon, riders in Florida will all be forced to ride bikes with 65 deg HTA and 78 deg STA that might be great for steep / techy terrain but suck when it comes to flat terrain with frequent turns (I rode my trail bike in FL over the holidays; it was not really enjoyable).
Rant over... Would love to ride in Bentonville AR sometime though :-)
freeride bikes around for years just so I could get the downhill performance I want, this new crop of bikes that climb really well and descend even better is a huge develop and they deserve all the praise they are getting. Don’t underestimate the amount of riders in the world on big mountains. They’re not just in BC.
www.norconorthshore.com/product/norco-range-c3-395099-1.htm
www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3135006
Would it have won this bike of the year contest? I don't think so. Nevertheless, your (and Sebs) thoughts on it would be super interessting to me. Cheers, and have a great 2022
Won't lie though I expected Rallon and Instinct to win it.
Here is how I imagine that the whole birth of Forbidden went down:
My guess is that the Druid was the Sight, and the Dreadnought was the Range. Something happened that lead Owen to take his ideas and leave Norco to start Forbidden. When he did, Norco was in a tough spot and that is why the HP Sight was never released (maybe Norco didn't like the result and Owen wanted to make it anyway - who knows). Then he made the Dreadnought and Norco was f*cked because they had the exact same bike. They got into a dispute, Owen kept rights to his design, Norco changed as little as they had to on the Front triangle, did some looking around, and found another HP layout that worked - in this case the Antidote Darkmatter. Bang, they put them together to avoid copyright, and you have your range, and both bikes were release far later than expected while it was being resolved.
It was also odd to me that Lewis Buch swapped brands in the middle of it all. I suspect Norco approached him and explained that they thought Forbidden was going to lose said dispute, and "poached him."
Entirely speculation, based on things I have heard from various people... I think something along those lines is not far off, though.
One virtual IPA on me.
If Owen was designing something specifically for Norco and took it with him when he left, well that's something I would not want to have to defend in court. However if some years ago he proposed a HSP bike and Norco turned it down then you'd think he's probably okay.
Another possible scenario could simply be that Norco did not want to move to HP this soon, and Owen knew of other brands in the market that were developing their own, and did not want to loose his opportunity to get a foot in the door - Thus, left to start Forbidden. Norco had some sort of "blueprint" or philosophy knowledge and the Range was put into practice, only to have Forbidden put their foot down, and force a change in the design. As payback, Norco poach Lewis Buch, Forbiddens ace in the hole from a marketing stand point (his youtube was blowing up at the time), and then look toward the Darkmatter for "inspiration."
That does not include the romours I heard about the Sight, though... Unless there was never any turth to that, to begin with.
One of the two is correct, I'm just not sure which.
1) chain rub on rear swing arm (seat stay portion) that could have been avoided in design, and adds to the already noticeable drag in smaller gears.
2) very poor weak coating/lacquer on the paint.
3) Not enough clearance between the cassette and swing arm, causing the chain to also rub around the drop out area and do damage.
No bike is perfect, but the Dreadnought does everything that I expected it to do and I'm enjoying it so far. I'm on the East Coast as well, so it's more than just a downhill sled, for me. I rotate between it and my Wideangle when I need to, and for sure a 130mm lightweight trail bike would be faster in these parts, no bike has made me smile as much as the Dreadnoght, so far.
I agree with your three points - in general the frame was just not very refined...lots of rubbing issues, constant noise (not from the idler but from the pivots)...in 500 miles I had to tear the bike down 3 times chasing creaks. That mixed with the rear axle issues (that Forbidden did address, but still) and the fact the tune on the shock just never felt right had me sell the bike after just 6 months of owning it.
When the biked worked, it did work well, and I must say it climbed VERY well...even with the angle set (64 HA) and Cascade link (142mm). My theory on the Forbidden bikes is that the tunes on the rear shock suck...they are too small to warrant a custom tune from any of the manufacturers and I think it needs it given how unique the suspension design is - I think Owen knew this and its why he even changed the stock tune on the DPX in 2020 (still was not right).
Pretty annoying to have a 800$ shock and all 4 settings wide open for the bike to feel any good...you lose any adjustability and just feel stuck. Look on MTBR...lots of the same complaints...frankly the bike was crap without the Cascade link...
I hope they can figure it out and wish them well but for me...I want to ride, not constantly tinker with the bike just to get stuff not to rub that should not have been rubbing in the first place.
I quickly did it with a side picture so it's surely not perfect, but pretty much all numbers seem right : About 25mm of rearward wheel path, lot of progression, AS around 100-140%, AR going from around 110 at sag to 30% at full travel, not much KB thanks to the idler, low CoG, low standover, short seat tube, probably enough tube for a long dropper, and there's even space for a water bottle... and without a lower chain guide.
I wonder if it could not "simply" be pushed to 200mm of travel because the shock has a +-50mm yoke.
Or maybe the next iteration could. This would close the gap between EN and DH.
The Anti-Rise numbers are very different due to different suspension types.
The high single pivot dreadnought comes with anti-rise at SAG ~125% that lowers to 100% at full travel
The 4 Bar design of the Range has ~100% Antirise at SAG and it lowers to 20% at full travel.
The low Antirise deeper in the travel allow the range to have a very supple suspension under rear braking.
As far as I know, The range is the only High Pivot Enduro that has Antirise figures far lower than 100%.
Antisquat is around 100% at sag on the Range and around 120% on the Dreadnought.
Rest of the kniematics are quite similar, both bikes have excelent leverage curves and no pedal kickback due to the idler.
Now just get back to building frames in Canada!!
The lack of a refine ride feel and heavy weight is still holding them back in my personal opinion.
On the other hand, the bike seems pretty bombproof given the fact that it is just a short travel trail bike. So far I haven't had to touch the bearings or do any major maintenance on it and it feels as tight as the day I brought it home even though it has done quite a few bike park laps. I've had the first gen YT Jeffsy previously and that was the exact opposite of the Optic. It looked like a really high value well made frame but that thing ate bearings like crazy ... actually any rolling or sliding element had to be constantly maintained and often parts had to be replaced. Shock shaft was done after two seasons and the main pivot bearings turned into rusty dust every nine months. the most high maintenance bike I've ever had.
For me, the problem with the latest generation of Norcos is that the jump between M and L size is quite big and I'm right in the middle. Actually, I think there are some pretty large gaps in their bike line up as well. I feel like maybe Optic has too little travel given how burly it is and sight has too much to be a general purpose trail bike. In ideal world I would like and in-between bike in M/L size ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEKl25cfBVI
Both bikes look great but the Range has a bit more "wow".