After months of shopping I finally pulled the trigger on a Large Norco Torrent 7.2.
It's the bike that offered the most value ($2K Cdn taxes in) in a market where prices are sky rocketing alarmingly, especially for us Canadians.
At 5'9" (on a good day), I've always been a Medium 23.75-24" ETT kind of guy with 90'ish mm stem, but with the 55mm OEM stem I decided to try a size up and it fit perfect!
It's the first MTB I've purchased in 5-6 years, the Scott Scale 29er (first year it came out) was a very worthy stead - IMO paving the way of current generation HTs with slack 69.5 HT (IIRC), and short'ish chainstays (~44cm).
This time around I wanted something which mixed the 29er diameter with volume closer to a Fatbike tire (regret selling my Al 907). The Torrent in my short pre-purchase ride has delivered just that. The verified 42.5cm chainstays make for a very playful ride and easy to loft the front if wanted.
Many of my bling parts will be swapped over from my Scott (XO shifters/der, XG cassette, P6 hiflex post, Vector 12D bars, Formula RX brakes) which along with tubeless conversion should trim some of the weight off the 29lbs girth - which she hid quite well BTW.
LOTS of clearance for possible a future 3.25" tire, although I'm a huge Schwalbe fan, the 3.00 coming in at 2 7/8" (72mm) on the Alex MD40 rims.
Picked up the Torrent, was worried about it being to small at 6' 5" but it feels really comfortable. Coil feels good as well not too soft not to harsh.
The tektro brakes work surprisingly well, predictable stopping power.
I have already set it up tubeless. Weight is 31 pounds XL frame.
A quick update while today's ride is still fresh in my mind.
I swapped the tires to tubeless, and setup them up at 10f & 12r. That number could go down 1 PSI. I'm about 220lbs fully kitted but ride pretty light. Fork was set to about 95psi, will try 90psi next ride.
Everything I've read about 27.5+ is true. The tires are very sensitive to pressure, 1psi can make a substantial difference. There's gobs of traction, off camber grip was ridiculous. The bike holds a line so well, I was plowing through stuff that would have had my 29er ping-pong left & right. I was riding wet and icy rocks with similar confidence to my 29er on a warm summer day. Amazing.
There's been quite a bit of grief out there about this new standard but it really does fill a niche:
Dual rig for summer and winter on older snow/hard pack trails
A bike to build confidence, either for a newbie or an experienced rider looking to ride tech stuff in slippery conditions
Older experienced riders looking to continue to ride gnar, but are MUCH more conscientious about self preservation & injury.
Rider looking to have fun (!) irrespective of pace. No interest in PBs, Stava records, or crushing buddies on a weekly group ride.
I would check all of those as my goals when I was shopping for this bike.
I would like to think I was the first Torrent riding Kanata Lakes but there was a clip posted earlier this summer () in the exact spot as my pic below .
I did have one minor issue, the tubeless conversion which seemed to go easy enough at home didn't fare as well on the trail. I was getting sealant leaking through the rim's seam which would seal but then reopen when my ride resumed.
I've since re-taped with proper tubeless tape and am confident the issue will be rectified.
Besides that, I'm very impressed with bike as a package. The fit is perfect, the BB height (which I was worried might be too high) is also perfect - I was actually surprised to tap the pedal a few times. This is a big machine but the weight and wheelbase was well hidden on the trail. The front lofts sooo easy with the 425mm chainstays.
This is my first Norco and having ridden MTBs for nearly two decades I'm somewhat ashamed to say it's my first local/Canadian brand.
I would think that any bike that would help any rider avoid injury is a good thing!!!
Does your Torrent 7.2 come with a 1x10 drivetrain with just an 11-36t cassette? Do you think you could just drop in a Sunrace 10-speed wide range cassette without changing anything else? Seems odd that Norco would spec their entry level $1800 bike with the old cassette, when Marin can stick the wide range cassette on their $1200 (but rigid) bike. Apart from that the Norco spec looks nice.
Fritzman, that Torrent 7.2 looks super nice and sounds like it can handle some technical riding. I'm really considering getting one - the CAD $2k price would be right at my budget limit. I have a Giant Talon 27.5 and it's decent for riding gravel trails and atv trails etc, but riding on any kind of technical singletrack is sketchy, especially on descents. I'm looking for a more burly, do it all hardtail that I can take out to the local trail network and really ride technical stuff more aggressively. I live in New Brunswick so the trails are typical east coast - up and down, tight, twisty, rooty and rocky (emphasis on the roots), wet and muddy, especially the first half of the season. I've never ridden a Norco and I like the idea of riding a Canadian brand bike.
.. I'm looking for a more burly, do it all hardtail where I can take it out to the local trail network and really ride technical stuff more aggressively. I live in New Brunswick so the trails are typical east coast - up and down, tight, twisty, rooty and rocky (emphasis on the roots), wet and muddy, especially the first half of the season. .
Sounds very similar to our region, very east-cost, almost trials'y riding. Because of our trails I only use a HT for better response on step-ups etc.. The only NB riding I've done was some small trails around Saint Andrews but it was pretty tame stuff.
I put another ride on the Torrent today. There is a section of trail which I have only cleared a few times (in 10+ years of trying). I haven't ridden that part in over 4 months, and on this bike in wet and icy conditions... I cleared it. To say this bike, or this tire size, has made me fall in love with MTBing again is an understatement.
It's not just the climbing that insane, the descending can plow through some serious ****, like wow... 6" rocks just disappear (fork at 90psi now). No more picking clean lines.
The funny thing is that the Torrent 7.2 tires are merely Schwalbe's Nobby Nic 'Performance' line. Grabbing a set of their Trailstar compound will offer even more grip LOL.
As good as the bike is there is room for improvement. I'd love a little more sweep in the bars and the Novatech hub has what feels like only 2 pawls - sooo much rotation before engagement. The good news is that can be improved as time goes on.
I say if you can, give one a test ride... you only live once so may as well enjoy it!
For me 11-36 is an acceptable range - given the front ring is properly sized, which for my area is. Norco spec'ing a 28t direct-bolt RaceFace Narrow-Wide is a nice move IMO. Besides that, I really didn't care what drivetrain was offered as I wanted to move my XO 10sp grip shift/derailleur and XG cassette. I will probably move to XD 11 speed GX twist grip setup for 2017 season - likely with a new rear hub that offers more points of engagement over the OEM Novatec.
The OEM Shimano derailleur came with one of those offset hangers to increase the range so it may be possible to swap in a 42t.
As for my build, the final swap-in parts have been ordered and will be installed after Christmas, SRAM Guide RSC and Easton Haven 35 carbon low-rise.
29lbs was stock Large complete with tubes and pedals.
I'm down to about 27.7lbs now with eggbeaters, bottle cage and other bits.
Honestly, because of the cush in the 27.5+ tires I originally shopped long and hard for a fully rigid 27.5+, so suspension fork was of little concern to me. I'm not opposed to suspension fork, my Scott Scale 29er has a PUSH tuned Reba with xloc and DT Swiss 9mm thru-bolt RWS skewer. I just thought that suspension with such large tires was a bit overkill.
Having said that, given the speed the Torrent encourages on descents (easily it's best trait IMO), I'm glad I've got a squishy fork - and a surprisingly decent one at that. I'm getting about 110mm travel at 90psi leaving 10mm for heavy hits. I wouldn't go any softer up front as it's starting to dive a bit. Rebound adjustment works well and the incremental compression lockout is quite good as well. It's got a beefy crown and a funky thru-axle which uses a self expanding flare bit to lockup against the dropout, it's a little weird at first but easy to use once it's operation is understood. I'm perfectly happy with the fork and it will likely stay as a permanent fixture along with the frame.
Given the fall-like weather, I've had a few more rides on the bike since the last posting. I'm starting to get a really good feel for it - and learning more about it and this tire standard.
First surprise is that riding this thing to it's potential takes quite a bit of energy, noticeably more than my 29er. The bike's got oodles of grip but it requires quite a bit more torque from the legs to leverage those strengths - scaling straight up stuff I would have zig-zagged or chosen an easier line in the past. Riding a bigger machine harder and faster means that I'm also feeling it a lot in the arms and core - a total body workout. :thumbsup:
The bike let you run sooo many more lines while descending that it doesn't take long for the brain to get lazy and want to move past sections which I used to have to really focus on. I'm subconsciously running lines now that would be almost dangerous on my 29er - and I still don't feel I'm anywhere it's limit. I image those who will be swapping back & forth between rides will have to pay attention...
I was annoyed on parts of today's ride as I spun out on a few tech climbs - but I caught myself when I realized that the tires were wet & cold and I was trying stuff I used to *only* ride when warm & dry. It doesn't take long for the brain to accept new standards. You really can ride 95% of the year on this. Heavy snow and freezing rain are the two limiters IMO.
Using an Accu gage, ideal tire pressure for me is 9-9.5psi front and 10.5-11psi rear in slow tech riding.
this thing looks really sick, has almost the same geometry as the fuse (which I liked) but not the creaking noise box, AKA, press fit bottom bracket, and a lot cheaper with a better fork.
now to find a dealer in the area...
I agree man, the Torrent looks so awesome and it sounds like it's the plus hardtail with the best value right now (at least in Canada). I've already been talking to a local Norco dealer about it...really want this bike!
Fritzman, if you haven't gone tubeless yet, do so, as with the plus tires, it saves you about a pound and a half.
That Torrent looks awesome. If I were 10 years younger, I would probably have gone with it over the FSR 6Fattie. That could be the ideal slow technical riding setup.
I totally agree about how the plus setup responds to speed. I'm probably one cog too weak to get the most of it.
Tubeless was (and always is) the first mod to my bikes, be it MTB, CX (Compass Bon Jon Pass), or Road (Schwalbe One).
In the case of the Torrent, I only saved about .35 of a pound, or 160grams total for F&R. The OEM tubes were ~200 gr which were offset by 2 scoops of Stan's (60gr x 2 per wheel).
Very cool Mr. Bric! But as a moderator you surely must know the online rule - Pics or it didn't happen.
To answer your question, I pulled the OEM red tape/liner and used Velocity tubeless tape (seems similar to Stans but blue - free so I had to try). Prior to the tubeless tape I also added a piece of wider packing tape just at the seam to get a better bead-to-bead seal.
I used two scoops of Stan's sealant per tire and a small compressor with Schrader to presta adaptor to easily inflate and seal. Beads will pop nicely when in place ~25psi.
She still wept a bit on the first ride after the 'improved taping' but pressures have since stabilized on the next couple of rides.
Well, the terrain I like to ride in often includes shale & other sharp objects (such as cacti), so way easier to fix/replace a tube than fix/replace gouges or slices in a tire.
Also, how many flats have you had? I've only had 2 that I recall: one a gouge & another cactus needles). So it's hard to justify the cost/labour.
But maybe I'm just old skool & like to get free pints off people at Whistler or in Moab for fixing their pinch flats on the trail XD
Regardless if I'm running tubeless or not I always bring a spare tube and pump.
My Large is down to 27.7lbs with Eggbeaters, Syntace P6 Hiflex post, XO 10sp grip shifter and derailleur, WTB Rocket CroMo rail saddle, and all .3lbs savings from tubeless. I cut 1cm off the stock bars for a short-term fix.
I do have Easton Haven carbon low rise bars and 50mm stem coming in which should help. Also I've ordered SRAM Guides RSC brakes which may add or remove further weight.
Next area for weight savings AND performance would be carbon rims IMO.
I'm curious - as opposed to what other option? Candy/Mallet?
I've only ridden Eggbeaters with stiff carbon sole XC shoes (Specialized) and have never understood the need for a more platform-wrapped pedal, perhaps for those with softer all-mountain shoes/soles?
In the winter I do flip to regular flat pedals with warmer boots.
The good thing with many of my new ordered parts is that I can re-use the Torrent's parts (Brakes, shifters, bar/stem) on my boys bikes which need replacements anyways (they're damn hard on equipment). Better to purchase replacements for my bike than theirs.
Carbon hoops won't be for another year - I'll wait until this drivetrain is done before I grab an XD-equipped hub (one with MANY more points of engagement) to build with the new rims.
Unfortunately I've been off the bike for a week, and it looks like quite a few more. I have an 'involuntary dismount' and managed to smash my thigh hard enough into the bars enroute to mother earth that I've bruised femur including some periosteal lifting as a result of the trama. It was a stupid mishap on an easy trail, pedal strike on a small stump in a corner stopped the bike dead. That's the thing with these plus bikes, they allow you to carry more speed but when things go wrong physics bites back harder.
Just brought home my 7.1. Changed out the seatpost for 150mm Reverb. I'll post up ride impressions once I get the chance. Should be tomorrow.
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How big of a tire can you fit on the torrent? I was gonna go with torrent but there is no norco dealers in my area. I ordered a guerrilla gravity pedalhead instead. Custom USA made steel gnar hardtail. Waiting on frame to be built.
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