![]() ![]() “I processed a lot of it and built models so I could plot humans of different heights on the bike. Cox started by putting his own modelling together from anthropometric data. Of course the back story involves an incredible amount of time at the computer, and on the trails. The result is the bike, but also the setup guide so anyone can get the bike and set it up to ride the way we intended it to.” And that's what Ride Aligned is, it's those three things coming together. “Those three things cannot be designed independently,” states Cox, “you need to understand how they interact with each other. Starting with the Optic and Sight, Cox and Gaillot worked on a rider's fit on the bike, the geometry, and the suspension kinematics. That's the differentiation with Gravity Tune.” “What David and Arthur have gone and done with Ride Aligned,” explains Burnett, “is expand that into a full story of weight balance and your centre of gravity. Norco already had size specific characteristics within their bikes with Gravity Tune, which sees the rear centre and front centre measurements grow (or shrink) in the same ratio across size ranges, to make sure riders all get a similar ride on the one model, no matter what size they're on. They could adapt this to other bikes and other riding styles easily enough. “From the Revolver we started to fully understand rider weight balance for climbing and descending,” adds Cox. And that's why we ended up with the geometry on the Revolver, and the suspension as well.”Ĭox and Burnett also worked with Arthur Gaillot, a consultant who helps a huge range of riders and athletes get their fit right on a bike, and their suspension working as it should. We thought if we could do this with a bike, then a rider doesn't need to adapt it in the same way. “We saw a lot of similar trends, and riders did it because it worked. Why did they run long and low stems? Why did the put their seats so far forward? The first bike that both Burnett and Cox worked on was the Revolver, this started their push toward really progressive suspension and geometry, and it was all based on rider and real world feedback, not chasing longer, lower, slacker just for the sake of it. The Fluid certainly influenced what the Optic would be.” “And you can see the trickle on what we have been working on. ![]() “One of our previous engineers started on this with the Fluid in 2017,” Burnett said. Funnily enough, the conversation starts all the way back with designing the entry level Fluid FS, and the World Cup XC bike, the Revolver. I wanted to know more, so I got on a call with Paul Burnett and David Cox from Norco. Being able to really nail tyre and shock pressure, rebound damping, bar height and width, volume spacers and more, all based on your height, weight, gender and skill level is pretty intense. Norco's Ride Aligned concept and setup guide plays a big role in bike setup and performance for the Optic and many of their other trail and all-mountain bikes. But like any performance mountain bike, how a bike rides really comes down to your fit on it, and getting the suspension setup just right. So with the Fox Factory 34 GRIP2, new wheels, tyres and group set – it must ride like a whole new bike, right? Of course, it is super crisp. ![]()
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