LONG TERM REVIEW: NORCO RANGE VLT E-MOUNTAIN BIKE – THE EDITOR’S CHOICE

When we tested Norco’s Sight VLT in the December 2021 issue, it had a lot going for it at the time, but electric mountain bikes have evolved quickly, so Norco has completely revamped the Sight and Range VLT ebikes to stay ahead of the curve.

The new eMTBs have a completely new high-pivot suspension design, mixed wheels, Bosch drive units and revamped geometry. We got our hands on the 170mm-travel Range VLT to see what the heavy-hitting bike was made of.

DRIVE SYSTEM

Norco chose Bosch’s Performance Line CX Smart System to power the Range VLT. It produces a maximum of 85 Newton meters of torque from its electric motor and comes with Bluetooth connectivity via Bosch’s eBike Flow app where riders can tune its modes for assist percentage, power delivery, and cutoff speed. The app also lets you choose up to four of eight modes, including Tour Plus and the more powerful eMTB mode that automatically adjusts power output based on torque and cadence, while Turbo gives you everything, including a split second of extended boost after you stop pedaling.

Everything is controlled through the wireless remote switch or the top-tube-mounted display. Paired to the motor is a Bosch PowerTube 750Wh battery pack that’s hidden inside the downtube and is changed by a 4-amp charger.

FRAME

The Range VLT is offered with carbon and aluminum front triangles, while the swingarm assembly and linkages are aluminum on both versions. It is a dedicated mixed-wheel design that’s available in five different sizes, ranging from 1 to 5, like many brands are now adopting. Norco says it went with a dedicated mixed-wheel design because their testing found it easier to control and more maneuverable than a full 29-inch wheel setup. There is room for a full-size water bottle inside the front triangle, and guards protect the downtube and chainstays.

Norco offers five sizes in the Range VLT and does away with the small/medium/large thing, replacing them with a numbered designation ranging from 1 through 5. Many brands offer four sizes, and based on reach numbers, it seems that Norco chose to add what would be a medium/large, or size 3, which makes sense if you look at the bell curve of average rider height.

There are no flip chips or geometry adjustments built into this bike, so our size 3 is set with a 63-degree head angle, 77-degree seat tube angle and 467.5mm reach. The seat tube angles steepen by .25 degrees, with bigger sizes starting at 76.5 degrees for size 1 and ending at 77.5 degrees for size 5. Chainstay lengths change in a similar manner through the size range in 4mm increments, starting at 428 in size 1 and ending at a lengthy 444mm in size 5. According to Norco, the rear center on the Range grows about 10mm from fully extended to ride height at sag, so the static chainstay-length numbers may look shorter than they actually feel while riding.

SUSPENSION

Norco has gone all in on high-pivot suspension designs for its trail, all-mountain and enduro bikes, including its Range VLT. Norco says that they were developing this bike at the same time as the Sight and Optic, and they felt there was a benefit to a tuned amount of rearward axle path. Range VLT’s 170mm of travel has a 27-percent overall progression, and what they say is a very consistent leverage curve throughout the stroke, which they claim made things much more simple for their shock tuning.

The rearward axle path grows to a maximum of 15mm, and then transitions to vertical and then forward at about two-thirds of the way through the travel. This is shorter than their Range, which grows to a maximum of 25mm, but Norco felt this shorter growth helps with bike handling and cornering in particular.

The design runs an idler that’s not concentric with the main pivot to give it certain pedaling characteristics. Norco licensed a patent from a company called i-Track that allows them to mount the idler in different locations along the chainstay. Norco also found that they could get away with lower levels of anti-squat, because the motor actually smooths out the delivery of power compared to purely human-powered versions.

Our test bike is spec’d with a RockShox Vivid Select+ air shock and a 180mm-travel RockShox ZEB Ultimate fork.

COMPONENTS

Norco offers the Range VLT in one aluminum-framed version and two carbon. None of these builds are what we would consider value-driven and are on the pricey side of things. They range in price from $8999 for the SRAM SX drivetrain-equipped Range VLT A1 to $11,999 for our Range VLT C1 test bike that comes with a SRAM GX Eagle Transmission drivetrain and Code RSC brakes. SRAM’s Transmission drivetrains really work well on ebikes due to their smooth shifting under full power.

Our test bike was also built with Crankbrothers Synthesis ebike wheels that took a beating in stride. Continental Kryptotal tires are spec’d with a soft compound and enduro casing. The cockpit consists of a TranzX YSI08FL RAD+ adjustable-travel dropper paired to a SDG Bel Air V3 saddle. The saddle is fairly comfortable, but some of our taller test riders wished the bike came spec’d with the 200mm-travel post of the size 4 and 5 instead of the 170mm that comes on the size 3. A Norco-branded aluminum bar and stem round out the cockpit and give test riders little to complain about, while WTB’s new Wavelength grips feel well above average to most of our test riders.

CLIMBING

Yes, it’s electric, so the Range VLT climbs quite well, but test riders were genuinely impressed by this long travel’s bike ability to ascend. A big part of this spiderman-like climbing ability is the powerful Bosch motor system. It can be punchy or smooth depending on the chosen settings, and it’s very powerful. In fact, only Bosch’s own Race version of this motor and Rocky Mountain’s Dyname 4.0 are more powerful.

So, it has the motor, but another thing it also has is incredibly neutral suspension under power. The idler location gives what feels like zero anti-squat, so even when you and the motor are laying down the power, the rear end feels like it’s responding to bumps the same as when you’re coasting. The back tire really hugs the ground while you’re pedaling hard, offering not just tons of traction but lots of control when smashing uphill into things.

It’s incredibly efficient, too. Even with the motor off, it pedals like a heavy enduro bike with little drag. In fact, it pedals more effectively than the Norco Range we reviewed a while ago. This speaks to both the effectiveness of the VLT ebike and the inefficiency of the Range.

Test riders appreciated the rider compartment, too, with a steep-feeling seat angle that not only put us in a good pedaling position on steep climbs, but made us feel centered on the bike, making weight transfers between the wheels feel natural as we navigated technical climbs.

DESCENDING

With so much travel and a well-designed and -tuned high-pivot suspension design, this eMTB descends fearlessly. It plows through the rough like a downhill bike in some instances, lacking only in travel at times, but even then, the extra weight of the ebike keeps it planted feeling.

Only the absolute hardest of hits make it get squirrely, but it takes a lot to get the bike to this point; its limits are way out there and often exceed our own. The suspension is really well behaved and, thanks to the Ride Aligned program, a snap to set up.

If there is a drawback to the Range VLT’s suspension, it’s that it doesn’t have a ton of pop and tends to stay planted to the ground. If you push hard into things, it will launch, but you have to be deliberate with those moves. This is where the shorter-travel Sight VLT would probably work better in this regard.

Even when pushed hard, the Range feels solid and predictable; there is no wag in this dog’s tail. The frame feels solid and predictable front to back. Cornering is also very good and predictable in most instances. We were surprised by how nimble this bike felt given its weight, geometry and suspension design.

It has little trouble whipping through tighter corners. However, it did reveal a chink in the Range’s armor. The Continental Kryptotal tires performed quite well when the soil was softer, but they were not our favorites on harder surfaces. This really became apparent when the trails dried out in spring and became baked in the sun. The front tire in particular struggled to hold its edge in this scenario. In all fairness, they are designed to work in mixed conditions, not hardpack. We wish Norco would have spec’d the Super Soft version of this tire in front, which we tested and loved everywhere last year, because it works in a broader range of conditions. Test riders were content with the performance of the rear tire, though, and it resists wear well.

WHAT DID WE LOVE?

We really like Norco’s Ride Aligned program. It allowed us to quickly set the bike up, and not just get it in a ballpark setting, but one that is very close to optimal. We would like to see a few tweaks, like being able to manually change the frame size. We couldn’t since we sized down for our rider height and were forced to use a size-4 frame in the setup process.

We also really like the SRAM Code brakes on this bike. That’s right, the brakes we complain about time and time again can work well when paired to the right rotor type and size. In this case, that rotor is SRAM’s HS2 in a 220mm diameter in front and 200mm in back. They have a great combo of power, feel and heat resistance.

WHAT DID WE HATE?

With a bike so dialed, we were a bit disappointed to see a basic hole where the cables exit the bottom of the front triangle rather than being clamped down by some sort of mechanism. Since they are free to float, the rear brake hose was rubbing paint off the edge of the port after just a couple of rides. While we like SRAM’s wireless drivetrains, we’d prefer if it was powered by the bike’s main battery, like it is in their own eMTB system and some of TQ’s, so there’s one less thing to charge or think about.

BOTTOM LINE

Norco really stepped up their game with the new Range VLT. It’s not just a huge improvement over their previous eMTB designs, it’s one of the best long-travel bikes we’ve tested. The suspension, geometry and drive system are all highly evolved and dialed in, even in the fast-moving world of electric mountain bikes.

It’s the kind of bike that makes you want to smash your favorite downhill trail into oblivion, but the bonus is getting to have a lot of fun on the way up, too. This bike is so good that we gave it an Editor’s Choice award. It’s also soo good that one MBA editor couldn’t part ways with it and opened up their wallet to keep it – the ultimate stamp of approval.

NORCO RANGE VLT C1

www.norco.com

CATEGORY: Enduro eMTB

SUSPENSION: 180mm (front), 170mm (rear)

TIRE SIZE: 29″ (front), 27.5″ (rear)

Price: $8,999
Weight: 55.9 pounds (without pedals)
Sizes: 1, 2, 3 (tested), 4, 5
Frame tested: Carbon 170mm travel
Motor: Bosch Performance Line CX
Controller: Bosch System Controller and wireless mini remote
Battery: Bosch PowerTube 750Wh
Shock: RockShox Vivid Select+
Fork: RockShox Zeb Ultimate, 180mm travel
Wheelset: Crankbrothers Synthesis ebike
Tires: Continental Kryptotal-F Enduro 29” x 2.4” front, Continental Kryptotal Enduro 27.5” x 2.4” rear

Seatpost: TranzX YSI08FL RAD+ travel adjust dropper, 125mm (S1), 150mm (S2),170mm (S3), 200mm (S4, S5)

Saddle: SDG Bel Air V3 Lux alloy
Handlebar: Norco Butted 6061 alloy, 800mm, 25mm rise
Stem: Norco 6061 alloy, 40mm
Grips: WTB Wavelength
Headset: FSA No. 55 sealed bearing
Brakes: SRAM Code RSC four-piston
Rotors: SRAM HS2 220mm (f)/200mm (r)
Rear derailleur: SRAM GX Eagle AXS T-Type
Shifters: SRAM AXS Pod Controller
Crankset: e*Thirteen e*Plus 165mm
Cassette: SRAM 1275 T-Type 10-52T
Chain: SRAM GX Eagle T-Type
Chainrings: SRAM 34-tooth

GEOMETRY SIZE S3

Head tube angle: 63°
Effective seat tube angle: 77°
Reach: 467.5mm (18.4”)
Stack: 639mm (25.2”)
Bottom bracket height: 359mm (14.1”)
Chainstay length: 436mm (17.2”)
Wheelbase: 1,269mm (50”)