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First Look: Norco Sight C 9.2 // a nimble 29er all mountain rig

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I used to hear “29er” and all mountain riding was one of the last things that would come to mind. This was probably caused by the early years of 29ers being heavily marketed towards cross-country and trail riders. Obviously the winds have changed with them making their mark on nearly every kind of trail. That even includes bikes like the new Salsa Deadwood, a full suspension plus sized 29er. The title may have given it away, but this bike fresh out of the box is the new Norco Sight C 9.2.

The Sight is Norco’s current take on an all mountain 29er. The frame is loaded with Norco tech including Gravity Tune, ART Suspension, Size Scaled Tubing, Armor Lite, and more. It’s not plus sized, but it offers plenty of clearance for the stock 2.35 tires leading to a sizable base of control.

Continue for the full breakdown…

Frame & Geo

 

The Sight’s rear triangle has aluminum chainstays linked to carbon seatstays. The 148x12mm Boost spacing offers a stiff connection between wheel and frame in addition to allowing shorter chainstays, more tire clearance, and stiffer wheels (requires a 6mm wrench for wheel installation/removal). Alloy brake hose clamps give the rear chainstay a clean look.

The bottom bracket is a pressfit Shimano BB92, while the seat tube fits a 31.6mm post. The Size Scaled carbon tubes vary in width and diameters depending on frame size. This allows for similar stiffness and feel across the size range (M/L/XL). And would ya look at that cage mount!

 

 

The robust junction between top and down tubes feeds into a 1.5-1.125″ tapered headtube.  Norco’s Gizmo system creates clean transitions for cables and hoses entering and exiting the frame. Not only does it prevent dirt and grime from entering, it’s adjustable to keep housing taught suppressing any internal rattles.

The geometry shows not only aggressive head and seat tube angles, it shows Norco’s Gravity tune at work. Similar to how the Size Scaled tubes standardize ride quality, the Gravity tune system adjusts front center lengths across the size range ensuring similar ride quality.

Components

The front is cushioned by a 140mm Rock Shox Pike. It features 110x15mm Boost spacing and, similar to the rear, requires a 6mm wrench to install/remove the wheel. Race Face AR 30 rims come tubeless ready on Shimano XT hubs, and get Schwalbe Magic Mary [F], Nobby Nic [R].

The cockpit is completed with a Race Face Atlas 800mm bar, Aeffect 50mm stem, and Half Nelson locking grips. The Rock Shox Reverb Stealth drops* into the seat tube with 150mm of travel on sizes M and L (170mm XL).

 

The Sight 9.2 is equipped with the 1×11 Shimano XT drivetrain. A OneUp S3 chain guide keeps the gears spinning over epic terrain, and comes with interchangeable guides for different chainring setups. XT hydraulic disc brakes coupled with 180mm rotors keep the 29er momentum under control. 130mm of travel cushions the back-end thanks to a trunnion mounted Rock Shox Deluxe RT3 shock.

Weight/Closing

Out of the box it weighs in at 30.49lbs, which is decent considering the tire/wheel size and XT components. Price: $5,000

I’m stoked to see how the Sight handles fast downhills and technical climbs in comparison to other 650b AM rigs. There are a lot of switchback climbs and rooted descents that should be easy peasy on the wide 29″ tires. I do have some skepticism about how it’ll compare on the downhills with maneuverability. Keep the news feed in…Sight for the full review!

Norco.com

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R N
R N
7 years ago

Not sure about the sizing that increases chainstay length on larger frames. I love the 430mm chainstays on my Following and love the 420mm chainstays on my hardtail even more.

430mm stays on a size L please! (goes for the YT Jeffsy too)

Great looking bike otherwise!

Tim
Tim
7 years ago
Reply to  R N

@R N- The Canfield Riot FS bike has 29″ wheels and 414mm stays.

traildog
traildog
7 years ago
Reply to  R N

I think the increasing chainstay length with sizes is great, i just wish they would adjust maybe 5mm shorter per size. 425 M, 430 L, 435 XL. That seems about right to me on a L and accounting for my tall and short friends too. There’s definitely such a thing as too short (420 on long wheelbase bikes). Of course it’s difficult to do this one 29ers sometimes. I also recognize this is fully in the category of irrelevant nit picking. 10/10 would ride this bike.

Funny how when the BMC trailfox came out everyone talked about what a massive bike it was; now a “reasonable trailbike” is essentially the same geometry, minus 8-10mm of wheelbase on account of a slightly longer fork.

preston
preston
7 years ago

Not able to mount an FD I guess.

Rey Bingham
Rey Bingham
7 years ago
Reply to  preston

Not really sure why you’d want to. . .

Terry
Terry
7 years ago
Reply to  preston

Actually, you can if you choose to. The s3 chainguide can be removed to reveal a low direct mount if you want to run 2x.

Roddy
Roddy
7 years ago

One of the best 29er geometry IMO.

Pricecurious
Pricecurious
7 years ago

I don’t get the price hike on the XT build? If I were to go the shimano route I think I’d be better off getting a frame only and sourcing the parts online for 1/2 the msrp. This doesn’t just apply to the Norcos bikes though.

Nick
Nick
7 years ago

That because you can buy Shimano online cheaper than they probably sell it to Norco for.

gg
gg
7 years ago

Curious why the title bills this as nimble when there is no ride review at all ?
I just demo’d it at the local ski hill so lots of climbing and descending on AM trails and DH.
This bike is heavy and feels like a tank, but does climb well. Not much flow on the single track as well steers like a bus. Very good on holding the line on high speed chunder and baby heads.
Not an all rounder for me though. Disappointed actually.
Need to get on the 27.5/+ Sight to compare.

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