Norco

Fluid FS A1 Mountain Bike

FAST and GREEN

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

M

Height:

5' 9"

Weight:

140

After about a month of solid riding I feel like I’m well acquainted with the bike, have the fit mostly dialed, and now feel like I can give a thoughtful review. At 5’9” I was between sizes M and L, decided to go for the M to prioritize cornering over flatout straightlining. I’m happy with my decision, the M doesn’t feel cramped, it’s a comfortable climbing/pedaling position and handles well through switchbacks and still absolutely charges on the steep stuff. Geometry: I like the tall headtube, I think it helps keep you from getting pitched forward, like if you get thrown off your line and need to grab a handful of emergency brake it gives a good platform to push against. It’s easy to handle through corners, which is probably my weakest area of riding proficiency, so I appreciate how willing it is to hop around and help redistribute weight. When the trail opens up and points downhill this bike wants to go FAST. I can’t tell if it’s the geometry or the suspension (or both) but it feels so stable at high speeds. It’s almost effortless how fast it wants to charge downhill. It eats up the chunky stuff and wants to absolutely send the high-speed water bars that are so prevalent on my local trails. I haven’t had a chance to test out the slower-speed tech yet. I am shocked at how well it jumps. I’m not a jumper by any means, but I immediately noticed a massive difference in my confidence sending the jumplines at my local bike park. This bike is so easy to pop off the lip, it’s easy to manipulate in the air, and it saved me on more than one overshoot. Again, hard to tell if this is because of the suspension or geometry, but either way it feels wonderful to jump and land. Suspension: it straight up rules. At ~140lbs I’m squarely in the intended user group for a Fox 34, so heavier riders might have different experiences, but to me it feels extremely supportive, I haven’t been able to detect any flex, it charges through the rough stuff without getting bounced offline too easily, and absolutely soaks up small bumps. There’s a fast chundery section on one of my favorite trails where I actually couldn’t stop laughing because of how smooth it felt compared to my old bike. The Float X does its job well for only having 130mm of travel to work with, I’ve managed to bottom it out once or twice and it’s noticeable but not necessarily unpleasant or worrying. Climbing: this is not a lightweight bike, despite the relatively low travel. But you probably already knew that. At roughly 33lbs you can definitely feel the weight going up. It doesn’t have a lot of “getup” in acceleration. Climbing position feels comfortable but the bike doesn’t want to fly uphill. Flats/slight uphills are no problem and it moves along fairly well on undulating terrain, but it can feel a bit sluggish on extended climbs or shorter punchy climbs. The climb switch on the rear shock is helpful. I switched out the rear Martello tire pretty immediately for an Eliminator T7 and it helped quicken things a bit. I also switched out the crankset for something lighter and put on a smaller chainring to help with the really steep stuff, and that made a difference. I opted to switch out the TRP Trail EVO brakes for a set of Hayes Dominions, so I can't comment on the stock brakes. The XT drivetrain is as reliable as ever. The stem/bars are fine, and the tall head tube doesn’t give any reason to feel like a riser bar is necessary. The dropper post drops easily and has a good return speed, the lever works without issue. No issues with the wheels, despite casing a few jumps they’re still spinning true. I don’t love the Mazza front tire, but I prefer a super grippy planted tire rather than a Maxxis DHF-equivalent that wants to slide through corners. Overall it’s been an amazing bike. Descents are absolutely ripping, and I can live with a slower climber if it means more fun going down. The few changes I’ve made have proven to be good choices, but it would still be exceptional as stock