Norco News

So, spring is FINALLY getting here, at least in our area anyway. We can still find snow as soon as we head too far uphill, but at least it has been melting fast and with the weather improving, riders are dragging their bikes out and hitting the trails. I don't know about you but I sure enjoy mountain biking. I consider myself very lucky to be located in an area where there are cool trails 2 minute from my door, and big-bad world class "shore type" trails within 10. I've been riding most of these trails now for more than 15 years. New ones sprout up here and there when some keen trail builder puts in the hundreds and hundreds of relatively thankless hours and makes this priceless contribution so that all us riders who hear about it go ride it. But then the cycle begins... understandably the trail builder who probably just spent half his last season would rather go RIDE than shovel, but his new trail starts to get beat down with all the new traffic, and most of us just start complaining about how buff and pristine it used to be. You know -- how the first few times there wasn't any wheel sucking holes after the steep rolls, no mucky blown out sections, or washed/eroded away corners. Spring is the worst time for that. We remember how great the trails once were while at the same time roll down trails freshly opened after a winter that may have been quite tough on them. Finding blown down or fallen trees across the trails is common this time of year. Sometimes the trail is almost hidden from washouts, broken off branches, sticks or other debris. If you are going to get a branch stuck in your derailleur or tear your hanger off, mark my words, it will probably be in this next month. Oh... so this has already happened to you once or twice eh??? Ahhhhaaaaa. Maybe, JUST maybe this is karma telling you that you need to do your part. To give a little love back to your favorite trails. Can I suggest (without sounding like I'm preaching here) that on your next ride, and every ride this year to take a few minutes to give back. Rather than just bombing a trail from top to bottom, swing a leg off your ride and take a minute here or there to clear that fallen branch or log, to dig a trench to help drain that low spot that is collecting water. Heck... even find some good sized stones and do a little rock work to fill in the holes on the trail that want to make your front wheel disappear. Maybe I go a little too far, but I have been carrying a small saw (Sandvik folding saw available at Revi or Home Depot for less than $20) on my rides. With one of these, it takes just a sec to clear the branches or downfall once and for all. You would be amazed at how quickly you can go through a pretty good sized downed tree, even big ones up to 6 or 8" in diameter. So, as you hop on your bike think about doing your part. If each one of us did even a little work to our favorite trails every ride, these trails would last and last. . . they may even begin to improve with age like a fine wine. Better yet, get out for a local trail day. These are awesome! A great way to meet other riders and build up HUGE Karma points. Happy trails,

If you live in Vancouver mark that date on your calendar! On May 3rd, The 'Typically Canadian Tribute Tour' cycles into Vancouver to kick-off their tour, pay tribute to community members and raise money for the fight against cancer. The Typically Canadian Group (TCG), which comprises of four dedicated young men and their supporters, will hold a public cycling event that will begin at the Sea Wall, will extend into Stanley Park and will be escorted by fire and police vehicles, decaled RVs, motorcycles, and spirited supporters. The 2008 Tribute Tour, presented by Firefighters of Canada, will honour amazing Canadians from your community with an overall goal of raising more than $720 000 for Canadian Cancer Society initiatives. For more information about the Tour, or to find out how you can support cancer research, check out: typicallycanadian.com

Lots of people took notice when Norco's Factory Team riders were seen rolling around the pits on their prototype Norco Five slopestyle bikes last weekend. Here's what a couple of magazines had to say: bikemag.com on Darcy Turenne's Five Sea Otter Daily on Dylan Korba's Five

Now here's something you don't see every day - video footage of one rider interviewing another rider. Check out the video and blog Ryan wrote about Fionn: While down at the Sea Otter Classic, I had a few moments to catch up with my team mate Fionn Griffiths. She is a 25 year old pro DH and 4X racer, and after 7 years on the pro circuit, she's at the top of her game. The 2nd place DH finish and 3rd place dual finish at the Sea Otter is a testimate to that. If you'd like to hear more, have a look at the 10 minute interview below - though I appologize for the poor audio - it was hard to find a quiet spot, the helicopter half way through didn't help either. Ride On!
- Ryan Fore more of Ryan's blogs, check out his new website: ryanleech.com

Double Podium, Silver and Bronze at the Sea Otter Classic! Sea Otter Classic 2008 has been a huge success for Fionn and Griffiths Racing! Coming into the season opener Fionn felt fit and ready to prove it. The Sea Otter tracks are renowned for being pedally and putting your off-season training to the test. So how did Fionn shape up? It was a double podium weekend for our British rider taking 3rd in the Dual Slalom and 2nd in the DH! The weekend started with the weather finally cooperating for riders, showing some sun and keeping the temperatures to a reasonable level for all those hanging in the pits. DH practice was smooth and enjoyable Thursday and Friday with Fionn enjoying her new Norco Six, which would prove to be the perfect bike for the Sea Otter DH. In past years Fionn has struggled with bike choice between her 4X and her Team DH, but the Six eliminated those questions! She was ripping it up all week with a smile on her face. Racing started Saturday with Dual Slalom. With Sabrina Jonnier, Anneke Beerten, Melissa Buhl, Mio Suemasa and Rachel Atherton all on course (just to name a few) Fionn had to set the pace straight away. She came out and qualified hard, putting herself 4th fastest. Racing was tough. Her draw was Leanna Gerrard and with some fast pedal action Fionn was able to advance. Kathy Pruitt was ready for Fee next round and pushed her hard to the line every time, but with long time friend Tara Llanes watching Fee at the bottom, she dug a little deeper and took Kathy on both courses. Next round was Sabrina Jonnier. The current World Champion has won the Sea Otter dual 4 years running and would prove to be too much for Fionn, narrowly knocking her out in both heats and sending Fionn into the small final where she would face UK rival Rachel Atherton. Rachel is a fast, powerful rider out of the UK and Fionn had her work cut out for her. First heat was a close call with Rachel just edging Fionn out for the lead. However the final heat was a mix-match of sprints and errors which left the girls battling for the lead right to the bottom. Fionn was able to edge Rach out just enough to make up the differential and take the bronze medal for the day. Results:
Sabrina Jonnier - 1st
Melissa Buhl - 2nd
Fionn Griffiths - 3rd
Rachel Atherton - 4th DH DH was just as exciting with all the ladies pushing their legs and lungs to the limit. However it would prove to be Melissa Buhl's legendary sprint that would set the bar for the Ladies DH. Melissa took the win by just over a second with Fionn busting a lung right behind her. Results:
Melissa Buhl - 1st
Fionn Griffiths - 2nd
Sabrina Jonnier - 3rd
Racheal Atherton - 4th All in all the weekend was a HUGE success. We are now on our way to the UK to prep for this next weekend's UK National Series race. Thanks to all our sponsors for the help getting Fionn and myself ready for racing. A special thanks to Kevin Haviland from Norco for all his help wrenching! For more information about Fionn's season go to: griffithsracing.net

We were trying to review primarily new for '09 products, but a few of the '08 goodies we already knew about caught our eyes anyway. We've already been testing the brand new for 2008 Fluid LT (long travel) 2.0 from Canadian bike company Norco. Look for a review in the September issue of Mountain Bike magazine. After our first few test rides and a visit at Day One of Sea Otter with Norco's Pat Mulrooney and Peter Stace-Smith, we had to give you some of the goods. This bike rocks and there is a really good reason why. It is the creation of the 120 or so passionate riders/ employees that work at Norco. Their time in the saddle and experiments on the R and D floor resulted in the Fluid LT line for those who are left wanting from an all-mountain rig with less than 6-inches of travel. Check out the full article at: bicycling.com

First Carbon-Neutral Pro-Mountain Biker Ryan Leech has taken his role as an environmental advocate one step further this month by signing on the first professional mountain biker in the Suzuki Foundation's 'Play it Cool' program. 'Play It Cool' is an innovative environmental program that teams high profile summer and winter athletes concerned about global warming with the David Suzuki Foundation. These athletes are committed to making changes in their lives to reduce their climate impact, and to inspiring others to do the same. "I am working with the David Suzuki Foundation to distribute information at events, primarily encouraging people to take The Nature Challenge," wrote Ryan on his newly updated website (ryanleech.com), "I distribute David Suzuki Foundation info to all the schools I visit for my Trials of Life presentation, and make reference to Global Warming in my speech." What does Carbon Neutral mean for athletes such as Ryan? Flying, driving, and heating buildings all produce polluting carbon emissions. These emissions create a heat trapping blanket in the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming. Carbon neutral means having no net impact on the climate. The most important solution to global warming is for all of us to reduce the size of our carbon footprint - by driving less, flying less, and switching to renewable energy sources. To learn more about Ryan's involvement in environmental advocacy check out: ryanleech.com

Check out this short utube video Darcy just sent us from Woodward West. She told us she's gotten quite close a couple of times. If she lands it, she'll be the first women to ever pull off a 360. You go girl!!

Devin Leggett, one of Norco's key web and graphics design staff recently gained some recognition for his work on Norco's Dirt & Street series bicycles. Here's what 'Lost In E Minor' had to say: "This illustration by Devin Leggett is one of several he did for a bike model for Norco Performance Bikes. 'This particular model is inspired by the geography and wildlife of Alaska. There are some tiny 64s in the illustration, which combine to create the map of Alaska. The 64 also represents the year that Norco was established'." For more go to: lostineminor.com

Be sure to check out Darcy in this month's edition of Men's Journal (Harrison Ford graces the cover). "I am really excited to be featured in Men's Journal alongside some of the best female action sports athletes in the world. These are women I look up to on many levels, so it's a huge honour. I also feel really lucky to be representing mountain biking alongside more mainstream sports such as surfing and snowboarding. I defintely got lucky on this shoot because it was shot on probably the one day of the year where I wasn't covered in bruises or torn to shreds. Good timing!"

Norco gains some props from an unusual source - the graphic design industry. Check out the designers comments on the Norco Volt frame.

Darcy hosts a sucessful weekend of ladies-only riding, skills development, and brownies! As some of you may know, I partnered with Sooke Cycles last weekend to host a beginner women's riding clinic in, you guessed it, Sooke! I can honestly say it went off without a hitch! Before I go into details, I want to thank all the girls who came out, layered up, put on their beautiful new pink Norco t-shirts, and rode all weekend in the mud. Luckily though, despite the cold and mud, the sun gods were smiling upon us and gave us two rain-free days...and we all know that March on Vancouver Island can be nasty. You girls are awesome and I was such a proud little coach seeing you improve so much over the weekend. Pretty soon you'll be coaching me! Our first day was mostly dedicated to building basic skills from breaking and shifting, to balancing and, everyone's favourite, dismounting. I'm sure none of them signed up expecting to spend 30 minutes practicing how to fall! I think they were grateful for the skill though the next day when we hit the trails at Broom Hill. It was amazing to see everybody gain so much confidence by the end of the first day. Day 2 we really put that confidence to the test! Broom Hill is a local riding area in Sooke that offers a range of highly technical trails with big jumps, and intermediate singletrack. We opted for the singletrack, but the group challenged themselves when they collectively agreed that they wanted to ride to the summit. It was a great warm-up to the decent. The girls rocked it despite wet conditions and the long climb! I couldn't have asked for a better group and I don't think I heard one negative thing come out of their mouths all weekend. Thanks for getting me motivated and being such a positive influence on me girls! We all had a lot of fun and definitely earned all the food that Thrifty Foods provided us with...and those brownie squares that Kendall baked for us to get us through our day 2 ride. I think that was the highlight for me! Just kidding...they sure were good though. I'll be holding more camps throughout the summer so stay tuned to the Norco site for more details. Thanks again to the girls, Sooke Cycle, Norco, Thrifty Foods, and Sea- Parc Recreation for making this happen! -Darcy

While most people use their summers for barbecues and beach days, the Teeter family will be pedalling their bicycles across Canada for ALS. The Teeter brothers - Michael, Aaron and Adam - lost their father Steve to ALS in 1994. The Brothers Bike for ALS is their dream to raise funds and awareness about the disease that took their father. "As a family who has lost a loved one to ALS, our hope is to encourage others by sharing our story," says Adam. The brothers, along with their wives Juliet, Amy and Heather, will be on the road from May 28 to August 2, 2008. Adam and Aaron, who live in London and Hamilton, Ontario, respectively, will join Michael in Langley, British Columbia to kick off their tour. Their goal is to raise $52,000 as they bike through many communities from coast to coast. "We want this fundraiser to celebrate our father's life and give hope to those living with this terrible disease," says Michael. "Our father's life serves as a reminder that we can't control the end of our days. What we can control is the quality of the life we live in the circumstances that we find ourselves. We decided to take control of our grief by organizing this fundraiser," says Aaron. For information about their tour check out: Brothers Bike 4 ASL Source: ASL Society of Canada

Norco LRT & CORSA Ok...so there are no 'whistles', but both the Norco LRT series and Corsa series do include fenders, racks, and of course, bells! LRT 1 Features:
~ Shimano/FSA 24 speed gearing for all types of terrain
~ Reliable Shimano hubs with double wall rims and flat protection tires
~ Lightweight Aluminium frame with Chromoly fork
~ Ritchey lightweight handebar, stem, and steapost Norco's commuter series bikes make city riding easy and convenient. The LRT offers a 26" wheel and light aluminium frame at two affordable price points, while the Corsa series provides larger 700c wheels, comes in both a traditional and step-thru frame design, and aims to provide a bit more comfort. If you prefer even more performance but still want to stay within a reasonable budget, be sure to check out the VFR (flat-bar road bike series). When your bike is more than just a weekend distraction . . . it's a way of life.

Hello! Just a quick hello from the Seattle Bike Expo; thought I would leave you with this little video blog instead of writing too much, check it out.... Peace, Ryan

There are many young riders that come and go. One day they're hot, then the next they're gone. Over the last decade, I kept noticing this one local kid, Dylan; he always made me double take by pulling these amazing trials moves off out of the blue. He has exceptional and diverse riding skills (always has a new trick with style), he's hilarious (usually by making fun of himself), and he has an great work ethic. You can learn a lot from Dylan, his training techniques might not be too wise to emulate (ie: who needs a foam pit), but his priorities are solid. It would be easy for him to be totally romanced by all the opportunities that riding has brought and totally forget about school. He stuck to his values though and is now finishing up his fourth year Economics degree. Smart Kid! Props to you my friend, both on and off bike!! - Ryan Leech Read the FULL INTERVIEW on NSMB.com

One thing I love about Norco is that the company has always focused on hiring incredible riders who are also incredible people. Although I know I'm probably biased, I think Norco's Factory Team really are some the most impressive, professional athletes in the industry. As an insider, I get to see much more of what goes into being a pro than just the day they stand on the podium. I've seen the incredible effort Fionn puts into off-season training, the countless unpaid hours Hoots ungrudgingly gives to the local riding community, and the sleepless nights of stunt-building by headlamp that Ben does to complete a film or photo segment. I see riders like Darcy and Dylan juggle full-time school and part-time jobs, while still trying to find enough time to stay on their bikes. Every year Norco receives hundreds of emails, phone calls, and letters about sponsorship. In fact I can't think of one event I've attended where, at some point, a rider has walked up and asked, "How do I become a sponsored rider?" Unfortunately, there is no set job description or easy answer to this question since every company looks for something a little bit different. However, there are a few things we all want to see, and you might be surprised that it's more than just your 'mad-skillz'. Of course you need to know how to ride, and to ride well, but there is so much more to being a professional rider than race results. (Once again, keep in mind, this is my opinion, and Norco does things a bit differently. There may be companies out there that only care about podiums and medals.) However, here are a few straight-forward DOs and DON'Ts when you are looking for sponsorship: DO. . .have a professional, up-to-date resume (yes, that means a cover letter, resume, and photos *video is always a huge bonus too*) DON'T. . .assume being a great rider is enough. There are hundreds of great riders out there, and there is always someone better. DO. . .follow up within a month to be sure the correct person has seen your resume. DON'T. . .torment the team manager by calling or emailing every day. (don't laugh, it happens!) DO. . .take time to improve your public speaking and writing skills. Your ability to interact with the public and with the media will be just as important as your ability to ride. Plus, both of these skills will build your confidence and help you to 'sell' yourself when you start looking for sponsors. DON'T. . .slag companies or products. Giving honest feedback is one thing (and companies often want that) but getting onto forums and spouting off about how 'so and so sucks so much!' can really come back to haunt you. DO. . .work out something with your local shop first. Grassroots sponsorship is a great way to learn how to be a professional rider. DON'T. . .forget that other riders, especially kids, watch you and look up to you when you are talented. Whether you are sponsored or not, other riders WILL notice how you treat your riding environment, how you dress (yes, that means wearing a helmet like your mom always wanted you to), and most of all, how you treat other people. DO. . .realise that being a sponsored rider is a JOB. Yes, it is a dream job to get paid to ride and have people giving you free gear but there are responsibilities and expectations. A company is hiring you to be their face and voice on the mountain so don't be shocked when they expect to have a say in what you do or say out there. Honestly though, the best way to learn how to be a professional rider is look closely at the riders you admire. You don't have to become a carbon-copy of Jay Hoots or Ryan Leech, but watch what they do and how they act in public and you can quickly learn about what it means to be a professional. - Norco PR Girl (filling in for Steak-Sauce)

Still One-Of-A-Kind Although street and dirt specific bikes haven't really been around that long the Two50 is a bike with a surprising amount of history. Can you give us a brief history of the Two50?
Dave (Norco Bike Division): Sure. The first Two50 came out almost 8 years ago in 2001 and was a huge departure from anything that was happening at the time. I believe the first model won 'Bike of the Year' from Mountain Biking Magazine. Why was it so different?
Dave: Well, at the time people were starting to market 'shore' style hardtails as dirt jumping bikes, but no one really made anything specifically for street riding or dirt jumping, they all assumed kids like that would want a 'do everything' type bike. To be honest, that's what most companies still do, there are very few dedicated bikes for this niche. You seem very excited about the 2008 version in particular, why is that?
Dave: This year's bike is FIVE pounds lighter than last years (30lbs)! We were able to find some new vendors and materials, so the frame and components are stronger and lighter than anything we've used in the past. I love riding a steel frame, for both the feel and the durability, so having a lighter bike in the material I prefer is pretty sweet. As well, we sourced some higher-end BMX components this year and used the lighter Rockshox Argyle 302 fork, while still keeping things simple with one rear mechanical disc brake and a single-speed drivetrain. What about the graphics? They're pretty eye-catching.
Dave: The aesthetic design of the entire series is very different than anything we've done in the past. We wanted to really break away from the traditionally dark, industrial look of these types of bikes and give riders a chance to express their individuality. We don't expect everyone to love them, but we wanted to get people talking. One thing we focused on this year was really working to find exact colour matches to the frame with the bar, stem, pedals, and fork. We already spend so many hours discussing (and arguing . . .lots of arguing *laughs*) about parts and spec, so we wanted people to see that reflected in the bikes overall 'look'. Anything else you want to add?
Dave: hmmm . . . Did you know that the Two50 is one of the only mountain bikes with a Spanish BB? I only know of one other small independant company that does it. When I said this bike really has BMX roots, I wasn't kidding. Want to know more about the Two50? Two50 Parts & Spec

Congrats to Norco grassroots rider, Tyler Gorz, on another great podium result in the Pro Men's category!

Who is Fionn Griffiths? An extreme and professional downhill mountain bike racer. Contender for 2008 Downhill World Championships. An icon of professionalism, friendliness and integrity for the sport. A dedicated and driven athlete with impressive racing results. An athlete who will continually push her boundaries and strive for perfection in her races. Read the FULL INTERVIEW at dhrider.com Check