Norco Sasquatch

With mountainbiking splitting into several different disciplines, and riding in general getting a bit more extreme I though I better let my lightweight XC bike take a back seat and checkout one of the new 'hardcore hardtails'.

These are essentially dirt jumping bikes, with more gears to make them a bit more versatile. They have longer travel forks (four to five inches), bomb-proof frames and wheelsets that can take pretty much any abuse you can throw at them. This kind of bike is perfect for places like Glentress and other 7stanes routes, but a bit heavy for epic rides in the Scottish wilderness.

I looked at a few bikes from manufacturers such as Kona, Trek and Norco. There was little difference in cost and spec, but the Norco looked better so that clinched it!

The top tube is shorter than a regular XC bike and it has a fairly high front end, due to the five inch travel fork. This makes for a comfy ride that just screams to be thrown into the air at every opportunity! The components have been picked for strength and durability - Marrazochi Dirtjumper 3 forks, Truvativ double ring cranks with bashguard to shrug off rocks, Alex rims, the obligatory Shimano disc hubs and a set of whopping 8" Hayes rotors to bring it all to a halt. The frame is 7005 aluminium, with a massive welded front section and square rear stays with some very understated graphics. Painted up in 'army green' it looks as tough as it is.

click to enlarge

One downside to all this strength is a massive weight penalty - this beast weighs in at around 35lbs, which is heavy for some full suspension bikes, never mind hardtails! People buying this type of bike are probably not going to worry too much about this, but be prepared to get off and push on the big climbs.

There are a few cheapo items that will need upgrading, such as the tyres, saddle and shifters, but the money has been spent in all the right places. This bike is also brought in from Canada by a Scottish importer, and is only sold by three dealers in the UK, so it's very rare. I have only ever seen one other out on the trails.

Overall, this is an excellent bike, no all-rounder but ideal at what it does best - short fast rides with plenty of jumps and drop offs thrown in. On those downhill sections I can go about twice as fast as I could on my 25lbs XC race bike! At £750 it's a bit of a bargain and worth considering before you shell out £2000 on a full susser - do you really need it when this bike will do it all and never let you down? Just remember to budget for some armour as this bike may make you do silly things!

Stephen Malaney