A brand new "Shore 1", a four-day lift pass for the best bike park in the world and the weather forecast: sunny. At first glance, that's almost an immoral offer. But not at second glance. On the contrary: it's a vote of confidence. In this case, Norco's confidence in its own product. Because the Whistler trails are an endurance test with built-in time lapse. They offer everything: downhill slopes interspersed with roots and rocks, fast jump trails and stunts of all kinds - tough stuff for a bike. At the same time, every freerider goes into such a frenzy that they master as many descents in a few days as they usually do in a season. No bike in the world can hide any weaknesses here. The "Shore 1" belongs to the new generation of Norco bikes. The Canadian manufacturer has tidied things up. Last year, there was still a lot of bent junk, but for 2008 Norco surprised us with a very modern look. The hydroformed frame with its forged head tube and curved, low-slung top tube looks very high quality and is reminiscent of the "Demo 7" from Specialized. The elegant look is emphasised by the tasteful paintwork: the fork matches the logo. It could hardly be better. The fact that this was an eye-catcher was confirmed by the whispers and envious glances that the "Shore" triggered in the lift queue. As soon as you sit on it for the first time, you realise: this thing must be good. The geometry, the way Marzocchi's "Roco" shock absorber compresses and the feel of the chassis under the cranks. This impression remains even in action. Again, you feel reminded of Specialized's "Demo 7". This is meant as a compliment, because the "Demo" got top marks. Thanks to its low centre of gravity and potent suspension (180 mm at the front, 181 mm at the rear), the "Shore" feels plush, but not at all cumbersome. On the pure jump trails "Dirtmerchant" and "A-Line", the large-calibre freerider even proved to be a playful jumping devil. On twisty technical trails, on the other hand, the Shore with its short chainstays was agile and manoeuvrable on the trail and the suspension buffered everything away with ease on drops. In short, no matter how hard you looked for weaknesses, you didn't find any. At least not in the bike park. And that's where the Shore belongs, because with over 18 kilos, freeride tours are always strenuous.
The entire individual test is available as a free PDF download.
