2001 Norco Torrent
Hardtails have been experiencing something of a renaissance recently. The popularity of urban riding and dirt jumping and the need for a more versatile ride has sent big bike riders on a quest for a second saddle. Norco recognized the market for a strong woods bike designed for North Shore punishment yet light enough to ride in most any situation and the Torrent was born.

The idea for the new frame design started early in the summer of 1999, and the first samples, delivered later that summer, immediately caused a buzz. Norco's trials team found the Torrent perfectly suited to the technical demands of local riding, but still nimble enough to throw around like their Trials bikes.

The 2001 frame uses the American Monocoque down tube and Easton Elite top and seat tubes as last year's bike, but the seat and chain stays were redesigned, incorporating CNC'd dropouts, new tubing dimensions and shapes, and a completely redesigned bottom bracket/chain stay junction. This beast is a far cry from the frame that began life as a featherweight, aluminum XC bike.

Component Spec.

Of course, any other fork than the 130mm travel Z1 Drop Off would have just been wrong. (upgraded from the Z3/110mm found on last year's bike) Any seasoned shore rider knows that, if you're going with a single crown fork, Marzocchi is where you need to be. With this year's addition of the QR20+, life in the stiff fork lane is even smoother (but a little more awkward to deal with).

The rest of the components have been thoughtfully chosen with an emphasis on performance and strength. Raceface North Shore XS cranks with the new ISIS drive interface have been fairly well received (The first batch of the Prodigy bottom brackets being a notable exception). The crank comes with a granny and middle chainring and the ubiquitous bashguard. A nice set of Funn bars which are very wide and tough mate your mitts to the bike. Hayes hydros with 6" rotors front and rear are automatic. Norco is one of the first companies to acknowledge the freerider's lust for flat pedals and the Torrent comes with Axiom's excellent cartridge bearing model. Other notables are Vuelta disc specific rims (laced with DT spokes). The shifting is handled by SRAM shorties and a 9.0 rear derailleur. It's tough to find fault with the parts on the Torrent.

A year of abuse on the shore alerted the warranty guys to an issue at the headtube. A deep cup Tange stainless steel headset was installed and the head tube was beefed up in order to spread fore and aft loads over a larger area. That should give you some peace of mind when you launch your next 6 footer.

With a suggested retail of $3049, the Torrent will likely find itself under experienced riders looking for the ultimate hard tail woods bike or looking to get back to their roots and brush up on some long-forgotten skills. Either way, the Torrent appears to be up to the task...

The Ride
I hadn't been on a hard tail for close to four years and I have to admit that it was with some trepidation that I picked up the Torrent. I am old you see, with creaky bones and sore joints, and taking away my 8" of rear travel seemed like a regressive move. I have been riding a Super 8 for the last 2 years enjoying the fact that I can sit down on almost any terrain if I feel tired.

Climbing
Many freeriders don't care about going up but for me it's important. I did a couple of hour plus climbs on this bike and was quite impressed. Part of my impression results from the weight difference between the Torrent and my Super 8 but make no mistake; this bike goes up well. The one area it did falter was on very steep climbs. The geometry forces you to lean forward to keep the front wheel down. This unweights the rear wheel compromising traction.

Descending
The same geometry that penalizes you on steep climbs allows helps you out on the way down. This bike is fast. I thought that the oversized aluminum frame would be so stiff that my teeth would be rattled out of my head but the QR 20+ does its job well allowing me to keep my teeth and, for the most part, the bike firmly in place. One thing I noticed was the back end sliding around on me on steep rough descents. I think this was a result of my riding style ( or lack of it ) rather than the bike but I thought it deserved a mention. The F.U.N.N. components were great. When a small cut appeared in the saddle I thought the stuffing would fall out, but a tough rubbery material is used to prevent this. It would be safe to say that even if the tear was not fixed the seat would have many rides ahead of it. The 6" Hayes hydros were great but I would think about upgrading the front to an 8" rotor. Too much stopping power is a little like to much lovin' - ain't no such thing.

I am not much of a hucker so I lent the bike to Bevan, a local loco that has spent the last couple of months throwing himself off stuff on a hardtail. He had this to say,

"The bike is well balanced and compliant when doing any type of jump, the frame seams to take away some of the shock, especially on big concrete hits. On kicker type jumps the bike is stable it doesn't throw you around and flies straight. On technical shore drops the bike is predictable it takes off and land's pretty much as you planned. Overall I would buy one with a few changes of course, tires would have to go, frame would have to be smaller (smaller sizes are available) and cranks need to get beefed up (once you go Profile there's no going back)."

Bottom Line

This is a great bike. I would buy one if I was in the market for a hard tail. The frame is surprisingly forgiving on rough stutter type terrain but holds its own on the big hucks. It can still climb like stink and even comes with a THE fender. The one consideration for myself is the price. $3000 for a hard tail is steep but if you are a core hard tail rider you will not go wrong with this bike.

Rich "Couch" Vigurs