05/16/2008

2007 Norco Fluid One
Words and photos by Lee Lau

This year Norco has divided its all-mountain line into all-mountain freeride and all-mountain cross country categories, with the 5" rear travel Fluid One sitting one bike down from the top of the latter category. As I've previously said, I freely disclose skepticism about marketing-speak. But I've gotten over it - after all, in the end, it's just a name to be used for a type of bike that's designed to be an all-rounder: good for climbing, good for descending, and good for flat terrain. Indeed last year's review of the Fluid One bore out this summation.

Some things have changed between last year's Fluid One and this year's version. For one, this bike now has an attractive traffic-ticket red paint job, which frankly I find to be dead sexy. Bike weight has also dropped from about 30lbs. last year to this year's 29lbs.

Check out that wicked red paint job and swooping tubeset.

Noteworthy components include the entirely Shimano XT drivetrain and brakes, the Fox Float 32 RL front suspension and the Fox RP 23 rear shock. The wheelset is the proven tough Mavic Crossride. Bling is provided by carbon parts such as the Ritchey handlebar and seatpost. Other then the somewhat generic FSA headset and boatanchor Shimano LX freewheel, Norco has not skimped on spec'íng parts and components on the Fluid 1.0.

There are some new frame design details that seemed to respond to rider concerns from last year's model. The top tube slopes so there is now more standover height. The classic Horst link four-bar rear linkage is now wider so that a quick release can be used without interfering with the linkage, and there is an added metal member on the rear linkage for added stiffness in rear assembly. The cable routing is much cleaner, with routing under the top tube.

One very sweet looking linkage plate, and the patented pivot on the chainstay. Hopefully, the spoke protector will be disappearing...

All in all, the bike looks drop-dead gorgeous. Norco fans may take offence to this but for a long time, Norcos had a reputation as being the best bang for the buck bikes. Good solid, workhorse bikes that were good value for the dollar. Now you can add to this praise by also saying the Fluid One looks beautifully finished, with eye-catching attention to details.

It seems that every year Norco tries to raise the bar and first impressions of the Norco Fluid One suggest they're on the right track. I will be testing this bike and the Norco Six One (the all-mountain freeride counterpart to the Fluid One) over the summer to see how far one can slice the all-mountain pie.

The official weight for the Fluid One is 29lbs. Its list price is CDN$3,329 / US$2,950. For comparison, the Fluid SE (almost CDN$2,000 more expensive) is 28lbs. More details on the Fluid One, including detailed specifications, geometry can be found on the Norco site.

Mace Assault Gloves
Words and photo by Dan Austin

We need gloves to ride, no doubt about that, but when it comes to choosing a pair it seems the sky is the limit in terms of selection and price. In the end, you need something comfy that covers and protects those silky soft hands. So does Mace deliver with the Assault glove?

They say first impressions are important. Right off the bat, I couldn’t help but notice that these are definitely red gloves. I looked to see if they came in any other colour and I was surprised to find that they didn’t. Whatever color they are, the Assaults look great and they have lots of touches to make them unique. Contrasting embroidery on the palm, Mace logos from wrist to fingertips, and abrasion protection in all the right places come together to produce a pretty nice looking set of mitts.

The oh-so-red Mace Assault gloves, waiting to get dirty.

The piece de resistance is the incorporation of a carbon-fiber knuckle protector over the outer two knuckles. It’s comfortable, durable, and able to take the sting out of a solid hit. The back of the hand and fingers are further protected by “3D CAD modeled direct injection armour.” That’s just fancy talk for rubber ridges placed on the back of the glove designed to soften a blow to the area. Finally, the backs are made of a durable stretchy mesh material that allows for nice airflow and cool hands ... we all want cool hands don’t we?

Flipping them over, the palm is pretty straight forward. Synthetic leather makes up the entire palm and finger area, with abrasion resistant panels added to key areas like the heel, thumb, and forefinger. These are not for fall protection, but for resisting wear on your shifters and handlebars. I have never replaced gloves because of a fall but I certainly have because they wore out in exactly those places, so the panels are a nice nice. The terry cloth thumb is also nice – it’s so gentle on my nose.

All sorts of protection for the back of your hands.

Did the Assaults stand up to the test?
From the first time I put them on, these gloves were really comfortable. They felt snug but not tight, and I liked the hook-and- loop closure on the underside of the wrist. With the closure on the bottom, the top edge of the glove was smooth and straight, making it comfortable when your hand is bent backward as you ride. Also, I have longer fingers so I usually have to get larger, looser, gloves to fit properly. These ones fit me very well - not too wide and with sufficiently long fingers. The box construction of the fingers makes the fit unrestrictive, and they weren't baggy.

A word of advice - you should try these gloves on before you buy them because the way they fit me suggests that if you have wide hands/fingers, they may not fit as nicely.

Protection for your palms, from the trails and those nasty shifters.

All in all, riding with these gloves was a pleasure. Once I got over the red flashing in the corner of my eyes as I rode, I can’t say anything bad about them. They have stood the test of crashes, washes, trailside repairs, and general abuse and I can say that after a solid two months of riding, they look, and smell, as good as they did when I first got them. The one blemish I can point out is that the Mace rubber fingertip-grip logos are starting to wear off. but these are on the two most used fingers and I am surprised they lasted this long. You may also wonder if the carbon fiber is really necessary. The deep scratch on one of my gloves, which I can’t remember making, suggests that it’s not a bad idea.

Thankfully, the days of fingerless, thick leather palmed, red white and blue crochet-backed riding gloves are gone. The Mace Assault glove is a much better choice. It retails for CDN$60, and comes in sizes small to XXL.

Want to talk about the gear? Here's the place to do it.