Day One of Interbike's Outdoor Demo went off today at the notorious Bootleg Canyon venue. There was a load of excited riders, tons of bikes, and some cactus to round things out. While there is plenty to come, we are going to start things off with a closer look at a few interesting bikes from friends at Norco.

Inside we cover 7 new bikes for 2010 and video giving you the lowdown on each model.

Read more at pinkbike.com

Pinkbike has recently had their 4 Millionth photo uploaded to the site. Yes that is a 4 with 6 zeros after it.

Did you know that the first ever photo uploaded to pinkbike.com was Rob Stevens riding a Norco? Check it out at: pinkbike.com

Ride Guide can now be seen on Air Canada’s In-Flight TV worldwide. Throughout approximately 200 aircraft, Ride Guide will be available on Air Canada’s EnRoute Video On Demand system, in the Travel section within the TV Category.

Ride Guide is a mountain travel TV series, where the hosts and guest pros, share their travels of skiing, snowboarding and mountain biking from locations throughout the world.

Ride Guide’s Maui episode, featuring Norco Factory Team riders, Darcy Turenne and Jay Hoots, is the featured episode on Air Canada In-Flight TV for September and October 2009.

Ride Guide is available throughout Canada on OLN, Rush HD, Men TV, Shaw Video On Demand, Rogers On Demand, and Dose.Ca. Ride Guide can be seen in the USA on The Ski Channel. Check out all Ride Guide broadcast schedules at rideguide.ca.

The City of Vancouver has invited Norco to join them in promoting cycling as an option for commuting, in sync with promoting the new Burrard Street Bridge cycling lane.

We will be set up at the South end of the Bridge in front of Molson’s Brewery from 7-9am each morning next week (sept 14 to 18th)

The local bike shops will also be involved and on hand for advice, a quick chain lube or just to chat about cycling in general.

Cyclists can drop in and spin the prize wheel for an opportunity to win some great Norco promo items, get a bit of lube on their chain and also grab a coupon for 10% off at the local bike shop next time they need some commuting accessories or clothing.

Shops partnering with us:
Ace Cycle
Bike Doctor

Bikes on the Drive

Different Bikes Dunbar Cycles

On Aug 18th at 9pm we (Matt Young, Curtis Christopherson, and myself Richard Alm) walked into the Vancouver International Airport and left for Australia; an adventure that had evolved from a world record ride in 2007 : Team H2V - the Ride Across Canada.

As we approached the check-in desk with excitement and handed over our passports, the Air Canada representative asked us, 'What are in these boxes?' Without hesitation we replied, 'Bikes...We are riding from Cairns to Melbourne in 8 days to raise awareness for Juvenile Diabetes!'
'With your push bikes?' she replied.

This would be the first of many questions asked to us the entire time we were on the road in Australia and we would soon find out why.

Read more about this incredible journey at: norco.com/blog

Redbull Exodus day one - what a day it was! First off, let me start out by describing the course. Okay coming form a trials background we don't have 16 minute gut-wrenching races but I guess in epic downhill they do. The qualifier course started at the top of Garbanzo chair on Whistler and was an epic race course all the way down. It was quite diverse terrain having everything from super tecky In Deep to wide open speed on Freight Train. The thing that made the course difficult was how slick it was. We had been getting rain at night and then a mix of decent weather in the day but the course was in the transition from super wet to dry and that just means it is slimy. Everything had a layer of grease on it, and that coupled with being kicked around on a 5 inch bike things could have become nasty.

My goal was to not ride super fast but rather be consistent and not crash so I stuck to my plan and had a clean run. My biggest problem with the race was other people. I didn't really know how to pass in a downhill race and I got caught behind 3 people! I thought getting passed would be the problem because I was on a 5 inch bike. It was still pretty cool to come ripping through the RedBull arches at the bottom though and I ended up in the 45th out of approximately 130 riders. I would have liked to be a bit more competitive so I would not have to be as far back in the mass start but 4-5th line out of 13-14 lines should be okay. I cant believe I am about to race down from the peak of Whistler and on a slopestyle bike to boot!

I awoke on the race morning to rain rain rain! Then thought "OH MY GOD" what have a got myself into! I was committed though and after a few minutes of reasoning with myself I realized the worst case scenario was severe injury or death and then suited up. Today was not going to be a denim day but rather a real ridding gear day. Jersey's, riding pants and even a pre-race garbage bag had to be pulled out. The peak was cold, windy and had low visibility, aka the perfect recipe for a crazy RedBull race.

After standing around for 30 minutes of riders meetings and being deep frozen it was finally time and the gun went off. The 5th row of 13 rows of riders lurched off the start line trying to catch the first rows of guys. Now alpine fire roads are generally comprised of stones 5-7 inches in diameter rocks which 5 inch slope style bikes do not handle all that well... I was being passed. Thankfully the course designers threw in some uphill which allowed me to grab back a few places; but, once back on the downhill fire road it was basically a death bull ride with almost no visibility as a result of rain, fog and fogged goggles. Once out of the alpine I ditched the goggles hoping that no goggles would work out for better visibility. I had to stop to remove them and that even cost me more spots. Once I could see again I started passing people on tight corners, slick roots and anywhere else I could make up for my lack of travel with skill.

Unfortunately, skill was not always enough and my tires gave way on an inside corner pass and I went for a slider. I quickly shook myself out as I tried not to get run over by one of the passing riders and got back on the gas. By riding some of the more risky lines at bottle necks I was able to make up quite a few spots and was not passed again and kept reeling other riders in one by one. My race ended with a balls-out 3 rider sprint through the giant dual slalom course but cold and wet I crossed the line safe and sound. This race was so much fun it was ridiculous... and a times scary. Finishing the course in 26 and some odd minutes and about 5 minutes behind the leaders was respectable... for a SS bike. Now there is nothing left but the after party and to put a check mark in the box beside 'repeat next season'.

Dylan

With backgrounds varying from professional freerider to world cup racer to first-time jumpers, girls came from all over Colorado, Montana, Washington, and even Canada for three days of launching bikes and sisterly fun at the Slope Sistair Girls Jam held at The Ranch in this past weekend.

Read the full article at: mountainflyer.com

In 2009 Norco has completely revamped its DH line. Using the same hydroformed frame with adjustable 8-9inch of rear travel as the A-line Park edition and DH Frame the lower spec’d Aline makes up this worthy trio. Coming in three sizes for 2009 I was on the small frame which was a good fit for me for downhill riding.

Check out the full review at: mtbr.com

Norco's latest video is in Factory Team rider Mislav Mironovic's backyard Croatia. The video was crowned Video of the Day on pinkbike. Check it out at: pinkbike.com

or check out Norco's youtube channel at youtube.com

Norco Factory Team riders Andrew Watson and Catherine Vipond have been crowned the Ontario Cup Champions in the Men'w and Women's Elite XC. Both riders fought up through the ranks all season and won the final two races pushing them to the top of the podium.

Congratulations Andrew and Catherine on a great series and some fantastic racing.

See the full results at: pedalmag.com