Norco Sight 2 SE, Rocky Mountain Alpine 50 or Whyte E-120

[watusi]

Hi all,

First post for me after a lot of lurking.

I got back into MTB'ing last year after a good few years off. I already own a Cube Ltd Pro 2012 HT which serves me well but I've a sudden urge for a FS trail bike - mainly as my main riding buddy always pushes down routes which would really benefit from the FS.

I've narrowed my choices down to :

Norco Sight 2 SE - Got Evans to do it £2250


Norco Sight 2 SE 2013 Mountain Bike | Evans Cycles


or a Rocky mountain Alpine 50 which is reduced to £1500 in the sales (then add a dropper)


Rocky Mountain Altitude 50 2012 Mountain Bike | Evans Cycles

Or a guy at work is selling his 3 year old Whyte E-120 for just under a grand.

Decisions decisions. My heart wants the Norco but I'm concerned that the after sales from Evans with the Norco doesn't seem to be that good.

The Rocky Mountain is really well specced for the price but I'm not that keen on the look.

The Whyte looks like a great bike but I'm concerned about buying a bike second hand as I'm not too clued up on bike maintenance at the mo - still learning.

The final option is a Sight 3 but I've kinds ruled that out as a bad option given the spec against the Whyte or the Rocky Mountain. That or stick a dropped in the cube and build my skills with the HT - and maybe pick up the Sight in the sales later in the year.

Help!! I need advice.

[SteveSKorea]

Hi Watusi,

I got a Norco Sight 2 SE a couple of months ago and its the business. Great on the uphills fantastic downhill.

I wrote the first review on it on the evans website where i go into a bit more detail:
Norco Sight 2 SE 2013 Mountain Bike | Evans Cycles

I havent had cause to need after sales from evans so far. I just had a couple of questions and they gave me a number for one of their stores. The guys there helped me out over the phone so I was quite impressed with that.

I bought without test riding which was a bit nerve racking. If you're going through the same process and have a question just ask.

Ste

[watusi]

Thanks Ste, pretty much set on the Norco now anyway. Borrowed the Whyte but it was a touch too big for me anyway - Nice bike though.

The Rocky mountain is my backup plan but once I've added a dropper its closer enough to the Norco to skip straight to that.

My only real concern with the SE is the CTD forks which seems to get really mixed comments on the net. How are finding then so far?

[SteveSKorea]

havent had a problem yet. but to be honest I haven't been out on the bike in the last month because of an injury so I havent really pushed them to their limits. They do seem to go through their travel pretty easily with the recommended sag but I havent bottomed them out. biggest drop/jump I've hit is maybe 4 feet though.

The Descend mode in front and rear is plush but doesnt bottom out. It rides really nice, particularly the rear shock. its pretty impressive. and then the other two settings have noticeable advantages in going uphill and less hardcore downhill. So I find myself actually using them more than I expected. I thought I'd just use the trail setting in its most open sub-setting. but there is a definite improvement if you switch to descend on a rocky steep and fast downhill.

So the CTD thing actually works BUT therefore there may not be a perfect single setting for the shock. so I'm kind of complaining here that it does exactly what its supposed to do. But if the old RP23 could be set up just right, for stiffer initial compression and plush through the rest then maybe it was better.

long story short. the shock works and feels great. this "bottomless" thing they go on about with the "boost valve" may actually be more than just marketing nonsense. loving the rear shock.

I wouldnt be put off by negative reviews on the fork. its just nitpicking. but you would wonder if you should just save some money and go for the Sight 2 (standard) with the Rockshox....its a lesser dropper post, shifters, and rear shock has no Boost Valve....but its been getting rave reviews and lots prefer the rockshox revelations to the fox crd...