Norco Sight Carbon 7.1 - Layman’s Review

That's one crisp rig. Photo by Garett McDermid.

The  Norco Sight Carbon 7.1 easily turns heads with its stealth finish and attractive lines. After a couple days of trail testing, it was clear this Killer Bee is more than a pretty face; it’s a great choice for an adventurous cross country rider that goes up, down and all around. It held its own in corners, felt bottomless on landings and left me grinning wildly.

With a boatload of awards and accolades, I’m obviously not the only one enamored with this Norco. The bike is a jack of all trades and master of many — a strong candidate for anyone’s stable, but especially if you only have room for one bike. Norco took winning characteristics from its alloy Sight and built them into this, its first carbon iteration. Norco’s gravity tune — Advanced Ride Technology, or A.R.T. — is aboard helping to make this a bike you’ll be happy to pedal wherever you want to go: it eats up climbs and devours the descents, too.

The SRAM X0 drivetrain won over whatever 1X skepticism we might have had going into our test. Photo by Garett McDermid.

By switching to carbon, Norco had the opportunity to revamp its design; the layup process enables integration across the work of its industrial designers and graphic designers. As per artist Jeff Boyes' vision, the graphics work with the lines and molding on the bike, adding to its parking lot/bike rack appeal. And as much as neon and toucan colors are overtaking top bikes these days, the murdered-out black-on-black-on-black component spec lends the carbon Sight some serious sex appeal.

The Sight's Reverb dropper post had internally-routed cables and slick action to add some serious life to the bike when the trail got fun. Photo by Garett McDermid.

Specs & Components

• Purpose: Trail
• Fork: Rockshox Revelation RLT with 140mm of travel
• Rear Shock: Fox Float CTD (Climb/Trail/Descend) Performance B/V with 5.5”/140 mm of travel
• Wheel size: 27.5"
• Frame weight (medium): 2,250 grams
• Complete bike weight (medium): 28lbs / 12.6kg
• Sizes: S, M, L, XL
• MSRP: $6,300 CAD or $5,758 USD

The Sight Carbon 7.1, the second-highest spec’d model below the Sight Carbon LE, augments its award-winning platform with technology from Fox and SRAM/RockShox. The Reverb dropper seat post, once slammed down, frees you to move your weight back and forth and side to side; it feels like the bike is alive and frisky, and in general a dropper post is an awesome upgrade for anyone looking to bring an existing ride to life on the downhills. For my first day of testing, the bike was outriding me. But by day two, my confidence soared as I hit jumps, pumped drops, teetered on the totters and slayed singletrack. When it was time to head up to do it all again, my saddle went smoothly back to climbing position with the push of a button.

Floated by a Fox Float CTD rear shock and Rockshox Revelation fork, the Sight Carbon 7.1 was well-spec'ed and as murdered out as a Rick Ross music video. Photo by Garett McDermid.

Fox suspension with CTD (climb/trail/descend) adjustability adds room for a rider’s personal preferences. And the RockShox Revelation fork felt plush and active on the descents, but not bobby or wasteful on the climbs.

Finally, the 1x11 SRAM X0: At first, I was skeptical. I knew before rolling out what kind of elevation was coming and wondered if I could do without a little ring. But the bike cleaned everything,I never felt I needed an easier gear and even on the flats, I was able to keep a great cadence and never spin out the cassette. “We should give SRAM some real credit because they pretty much nailed the 1x setup the first time around,” said Dustan Sept, Norco’s Communications & Marketing Supervisor.

The wide Race Face bar provides great stability for riders who want all 760 mm of it; smaller riders may want to chop them down a little bit. Photo by Garett McDermid.

As a woman, I might consider making some switches in areas where females have different needs, such as the saddle and grips. And I would consider a slightly narrower handlebar (it comes with a Race Face Turbine 760 mm), though I did enjoy the stability the wider bars afforded on the descents. But in general, saddles, grips, and bars aren’t bank-breaking upgrades, and shouldn’t influence a yay or nay decision on a given bike.

The Ride

Flexing the downhill capabilities of the Sight Carbon 7.1. Margus Riga/Norco photo.

My test rides were doing double duty as reconnaissance for the upcoming B.C. Bike Race. On the log rides in Buggered Pig, I felt confident and stable. On the steep (steep!) switchbacks of Truffle Shuffle, I conquered my fears and pointed down. On the at-times 20% grade up to Sykes Bridge, I never missed a beat. And on the maze of ladder bridges over the frigid creek and melt waters of Thirsty Beaver, I stayed dry. All thanks to the Sight’s low center of gravity.

Compared to a 650b, 100mm XC bike, the Sight features a lowered bottom bracket and slacked-out head and seat tubes. In fact, the Sight’s BB is 2mm lower than on the 26” version of Norco’s Killer Bee line, and lower than the rear axle to accommodate the larger wheel size. Had they kept the geometry the same as the 26” version, the center of gravity would go up a full ¾ of an inch. I clipped my pedals about four times before making the mental adjustment to ride a little tidier. But the Sight more than made up for my sore toes with its whoop-worthy descending capabilities, coupled with its you’ll-be-amazed-you-made-it climbing skills.

Never far from the rain in British Columbia, Kris Gross scouts the Teapot trail section of the BC Bike Race course. Gerhard Gross photo.

Though riding the B.C. Bike Race course on a Sight Carbon 7.1 sounds like a grand prize in itself, I decided it wasn’t the bike for me to race in the famous seven-day endurance event. Though not heavy, at 28 pounds it’s not impressively light either, and I felt I was dragging, or digging a little too deep to clear the tops of some of the steeper pitches — especially if they were decorated with technical features like protruding roots and rocks.

I was also surprised to find I was most-suited to a size small frame. Usually I ride a medium, and I’ve heard from others that when it comes to Norcos, they too had to size down. However, gravity tuning means Norco is one of the few manufacturers that changes the chain stay length according to the frame size. The small bike I rode had a shorter chain stay length than a medium, so whether a rider is 5’7” like me, or 6’1”, their center of gravity will fall in the same place. That means the bike handles the same for all sizes of riders. If you’re thinking about taking a Sight home, I would recommend you test ride for best fit.

If you can find one of the Sight Carbons, you'll love throwing this thing into corners... Margus Riga/Norco photo.

That being said, taking one home might not be so easy — once you can afford one, you still have to find one: a number of Norco’s carbon Sights made it to market in early 2014, but with high demand combined with an unfortunately timed strike at port, they have become a little scarce. Norco says that though you may not be able to get one at your local shop, they are out there. If you’d rather wait for the 2015s, you can look forward to a similar bike, likely with a few minor spec and graphical changes. “With our growth internationally and in the U.S., we’ll bring a larger number to market next year,” said Sept. “You can say that with pretty much any bike that we make.”

The Bottom Line

This bike is a work of art — and I don’t just mean A.R.T., which is a beautiful thing on its own. The  Sight Carbon 7.1 is a masterpiece that will delight and amaze any cross-country rider looking to excel at everything but weight-weeny marathon races. The more I rode it, the more I loved it.

Looking for a new trail bike? Check out Contributor Ryan Stuart's review of the Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt 770, with 120mm of front and rear travel, 27.5" wheels, and a descend-friendly 68.5 degree head angle.

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About The Author

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stash member Kris Gross

Kris Gross is a Canuck in Cali, XC racer, mtb skills coach and freelance writer. She is always learning, constantly hungry, and perpetually in motion.