NORCO FLUID FS1 29ER
£1,500 Not as sorted as it looks on paper
Norco’s Fluid is a naturally smooth and efficient cruiser with a good spec, but its soft-feeling frame and shorter, steeper geometry hold it back when trails get harder. The frame The curvy frame gets an up-to-date tapered head tube, but the reach is very short by modern standards (425mm on the large) and the tall seat tube (490mm) will likely rule out ‘sizing up’ to go longer. While the Boost-width (148mm) back end increases tyre clearance slightly, it uses a quick-release (QR) rather than bolt-through axle, which leaves it flexy. All cables are routed externally.
The kit
A RockShox Recon RL fork and WTB i29 rims on Novatec hubs are the staple ‘rolling chassis’ gear for this test, and that’s fine by us. The Maxxis Forekaster tyres are good all-rounders too. While the RockShox Monarch shock is an older, nonmetric unit, it works fine, and you get a lockout lever for smooth sections. Norco have specced a small 30-tooth chainring up front and a wide-range 11-46t rear cassette to offset the effect of the larger-diameter 29in wheels. The Samox crank arms are 1cm longer than normal, which means lots of unnecessary ground contact (the pedals themselves are still 175mm from the BB). You get an 11-speed Shimano SLX shifter and rear mech, but these gains are offset by lower-quality Alivio brakes. The dropper seatpost is a bonus, though.
The ride
The Fluid is the only bike here available in a choice of three wheel/ tyre sizes (29x2.35in, 27.5x2.35in and 27.5x2.8in). Whichever you go for, rear travel stays the same (120mm). The 29er wheels suit its distance/XCorientated character best, adding an easy roll over rougher sections that helps you sustain speed. While the Forekaster tyres are only basic-spec versions, they offer a good balance of speed, grip and trail feel on the broad rims (29mm, internal). They’re easy to turn tubeless too, to amplify that smoothness and avoid punctures.
Although the heaviest wheel and overall weight on test does dull acceleration, once you’ve stoked up the speed through the slick-shifting gears, the Norco bowls along well, with the four-bar linkage back end striking a good balance between countering pedalling bounce and letting the rear wheel track the ground. The large Fluid is supposed to come with a 75mm stem, which, combined with the steep 70-degree head angle, will stop the front wheel flopping about on climbs and make it easier to tweak round trees at
lower speeds. If you’re used to an older-geometry bike, the Norco will feel the most natural of the four here. Our bike actually came with a 55mm stem, which made the steering faster-reacting when traction did slip.
That steep head angle means the Norco has much less inherent stability than the other bikes on test, though, and, even with a 29in front wheel and wide bar (760mm), it’s more likely to twitch off-line. While the Boost fork does its best, the flexy frame struggles to stick up for itself if rocks and roots start bullying the front wheel about. The back end isn’t very rigid under load either. This was compounded by the rear pivots and shock bolts shaking themselves loose a couple of times during testing.
Even with the dropper to help you get your weight back, the short 425mm reach cramps your ability to move around between the wheels (especially when combined with the shorter stem on our bike), reduces baseline stability and means the Fluid feels much less planted and surefooted than the other bikes here when things get fast and loose. The Alivio brakes are numb in feel, and the push-on grips won’t stay stuck on for long either. That all combines to produce a bike that’s perfectly happy rolling smoothly along trails or tacking through tight, woodsy singletrack, reducing fatigue and flattering fitness as it goes, but gets nervous if you point it over edges and down cheeky lines. It’s definitely more blue/red than red/black, in terms of trail centre comfort zones.
THE SHORT REACH CRAMPS YOUR ABILITY TO MOVE AROUND BETWEEN THE WHEELS, REDUCES BASELINE STABILITY AND MEANS THE FLUID FEELS MUCH LESS SUREFOOTED THAN THE OTHER BIKES HERE