Norco has engineered a new range of small wheeled dual-suspension mountain bikes.
If you wish to share the complete trail riding experience with your kids they deserve to ride a bike that is as nice as your own.
Youth riders are often relegated to riding V-brake hardtails which feature technology that is embarrassingly out of date. The logic is that children grow to fast and will quickly outsize their bike.
But why sacrifice your child’s riding joy – and safety – with an unsophisticated hardtail, when they could be on a trick dual-suspension bike instead?
Canadian brand, Norco, does not think that being young should preclude you from enjoying the latest mountain bike design features. The company has revealed a new line of its Fluid full-suspension youth mountain bikes.
These aluminium bikes are built specifically for young riders under 40kg in weight and feature all the bits and technology you’d find on an adult-sized Norco dual-suspension trail bike.
Available in two wheel sizes (either 20- or 24-inches in diameter), the Fluid range offers a sophisticated four-bar rear suspension linkage. Suspension travel is a very generous 145mm up front and 120mm at the rear.
Mountain bike suspension systems are traditionally designed to work with adult rider weights and input forces. For these much smaller frames and more compact rear-suspension kinematics, Norco’s engineers have worked with Fox to produce a damper which is specifically suited for lightweight child riders, who require much greater compression and rebound sensitive due to their low mass.
The sizing of components are very different to what you’d conventionally expect. Handlebars are only 640mm wide and the cranks are only 155mm long, but for riders aged between 9-12 years, those components sizes are perfect.
Although the Fluid’s reach is very short, at 340mm, it should be wonderfully stable for a child and with a 64.5-degree head angle, they’ll never feel anxious about going OTB on a steep descent.
It even has a dropper seatpost and 11-speed drivetrain and Shimano hydraulic brakes, with a 180mm front rotors and 160mm at the rear. Considering the total riding mass of most children who would be on a Fluid, it should have immense stopping power.
Norco is positioning its Fluid FS youth bikes from $1799 (for the 20-inch version) to $2499 (for the top-spec 24-inch bike).
