Review: 2022 Norco Sight C1 VLT - A Long Range eMTB

There are four Sight VLT models to choose from: two with alloy frames and two with carbon. The C1 model tested here is top of the range.

---

Motor and Frame Features

Although some ebikes have a higher total battery capacity when using an external range extender, Norco's 900WH battery option is the largest internal battery in the MTB industry. That should mean more laps without a range extender taking up the space of a water bottle.

Despite the claimed higher energy density, the 900Wh battery is still heavy, at 4.57 kg, which is why you might want a smaller battery for shorter rides. The 540Wh battery weighs 3190g and the 720Wh weighs 3880g according to Norco. The top-spec Sight C1 VLT has a carbon mainframe and seatstay, yet it still weighs 25.6 kg (56.4 lb) in XL with the 900Wh battery. This should go down to 24.2 kg (53.4 lb) with the smallest battery, which still isn’t exactly light.


This model costs $8,599 USD, but if you pay that the bike will climb terribly because, like all the best toys, the batteries are sold separately. They cost $749 for the 540Wh battery, $999 for the 720Wh, or $1,199 for the 900Wh battery. So including the 900Wh battery (which is what I have) it costs $9,798. If you want a second battery for shorter rides, you'll be crossing the $10,000 mark.

The Shimano EP8 motor is rotated anticlockwise (if viewed from the driveside) relative to most ebikes. This allows the battery to slide out of the bottom of the downtube for off-bike charging (it can also be charged on the bike), rather than through a door in the front of the downtube. This design improves the structural integrity and stiffness of the downtube, because it's an intact tube. There's a tool with three Allen keys stashed under the motor to help with battery removal. Word to the wise - don’t use the tool to tighten the pivot bolts as it will break.

Norco say they are able to better optimize the suspension kinematics with this motor layout, and there’s less chance of sumping-out the motor housing because it’s higher up. Most importantly, it has made room for two water bottles to be mounted in the large and XL frames. Smaller frames still have two sets of bosses, but there isn't space for a second water bottle. See the table below for more on this.

---

Geometry & Sizing

Norco’s Ride Aligned geometry means effective seat angles get steeper in larger sizes, going from 77- to 78-degrees, so taller riders don’t end up too far back on steep climbs. But unlike some other bikes from Norco, the rear center stays the same at 462mm (it's hard to make the chainstay any shorter than this on a 29er eMTB) , as does the head angle, at 64-degrees.

I measured all the major geometry figures on my XL test bike and they matched up with the above geometry table very closely (that's not always the case). I measured the effective seat angle at my pedaling height at 78.1-degrees and the head angle at 63.8-degrees. The bottom bracket height measures 345mm (slightly lower than suggested in the table).

---

Suspension Design

The new Sight VLT uses a horizontal shock layout, which helps make space for the two water bottles, but stuck with a Horst-link design. The leverage curve is said to be progressive throughout the stroke. The anti-squat values are a bit lower than on the pedal-powered Sight, sacrificing a little efficiency for suspension sensitivity under power.

I measured the Sight's vertical rear suspension travel at 146mm from full top-out to bottom-out. I used a shock pump to over-inflate the shock to make sure it fully tops out, then a strap wrench to fully compress it to make sure I'm getting the full 55mm of shock stroke, then I measure the vertical difference in axle height with the bike upside-down. It's common for bikes to measure a little short on travel when measured like this, often by a lot more, so I'm not picking on Norco here. Norco say the true travel should be 148mm. But from where the shock settles into its travel when properly equalized and with the bike in a stand, the travel measures around 141mm. That's because the Float X2 shock settles a couple of millimetres into its stroke due to the negative spring pressure - which is a good thing - but it means the Sight has a little less travel to play with than you might think.

---

Even if I set my riding style in the setup guide to "professional" (which is a big fat lie), the recommended setting is still too easy to bottom out. The bars are too low for my height too - I'm running the bars at their max height (35mm of spacers) and I'd set them about 20mm higher if I could, as I'm still running a lot of saddle-bar drop. Of course, this could be remedied with a higher rise bar. I've also set the shock a little softer on air pressure and LSC to improve sensitivity, with a volume spacer and more HSC to prevent bottom-out, and I like the Grip2 fork almost fully open on low-speed rebound to flutter over the chatter, but those things are more personal preference.

Elsewhere there are a lot of similarities between Norco's settings and mine, so while it didn't exactly match my final setup, it's a fantastic starting point and still a very useful tool. In terms of actual riding enjoyment for typical customers, Norco's clear and comprehensive setup guide could be a huge benefit.

Climbing

The Sight is one of the best climbing ebikes out there. The long-ish chainstays and steep seat angle make it a breeze to stop the front wheel from lifting on steep, technical climbs. That means you actually need to consciously sit back and upright in order to manage traction on the rear wheel. It's all very relaxed and dignified. The Ergon E-Mountain saddle feels like a helping hand, stopping you from sliding backwards especially in muddy conditions.

The 29" rear wheel definitely helps when tackling slow, bumpy sections too, and the Maxxis Dissector rear tire holds its own in all but the wettest conditions. But even with the low-speed compression fully open, it's not as supple as longer-travel ebikes on faster, rougher sections of climb, where you still need to remain seated for traction. The pedal-bike paradigm that shorter travel is better for climbing starts to fall apart with an ebike - you want supple suspension to help maintain a comfortable seated position while tackling rough sections at speed, even uphill. This is not to say the Sight's suspension is bad at all, just that longer travel ebikes make those rough, fast climbs even easier.

I also noticed the motor whine was a little quieter when climbing than other bikes with Shimano EP8. I'm not sure if that's down to the motor packaging, the software tune, or just manufacturing variance, but I certainly appreciated it.

Range

How far can you ride with a 900Wh battery? That's a bit like asking how long is a piece of string. Norco claim that under a fit rider using only Eco mode, the Sight VLT with a 900Wh battery could achieve 3,500m (11,483 ft) of climbing over 63km (39 miles). That's probably an upper limit, of course, so to find the lower bound, I went out to drain a full battery using only Boost mode (the most powerful) on a very muddy day, riding a mixture of singletrack and fire road climbs. I weigh 86 kg and the bike was covered in mud from the first descent. I managed 1,706m (5,600 ft) of climbing over 39.3Km (24.4 miles). On a regular bike I'd call that a big day out, but I managed it comfortably in an afternoon.

Descending


The most notable feature of the Sight's design is the chainstay length. At 462mm, it's a bit longer than most ebikes these days. That means it's really balanced and composed in fast, flat or off-camber corners because it's easy to keep plenty of weight on the front contact patch. The fork is always loaded up and pushing the tire into the ground, generating consistent grip with a neutral or even slightly rearward riding position. The long back end results in more load on the fork, which partly explains why I needed to set it up pretty firm to hold it up and stop it bottoming out.

The downside of all this room in the rear is that the bike is a lump to manual and bunnyhop, even by ebike standards. I like a longer chainstay on a pedal bike, but combined with the heavy battery stretching in front of the bottom bracket, it makes lofting the front wheel really hard work. Sure, I can bunny-hop this bike and I can get it up to the balance point in a manual, but it's a lot more effort, takes more planning and I can't clear some obstacles which I could with a shorter rear-center. I consider myself pretty good at bunnyhops, and standing 190cm tall is a clear advantage here too, so for shorter or less experienced riders the long rear-center could be even more limiting when it comes to riding the bike dynamically.


Also, on steep terrain with rocky steps or little drop-offs into corners, I don't always feel completely centered on the bike, as if my weight is too far over the front at times. This could be improved with a higher rise bar, but I think the chainstay is a little longer than ideal for steep terrain. There's always a flip-side, and in this case it's superb high-speed stability and cornering composure on flatter or less technical terrain.The Sight likes to go fast and does really well on bermed trails, jumps and flat turns, but is harder work on awkward rock sections where you want to get the front wheel up and over technical trail features.

The shock comes with no volume spacers installed, which I found resulted in the bike bottoming out a bit too easily and, at the same time, the suppleness over small bumps wasn't overly impressive by ebike standards. I tried easing off the low-speed compression to improve small-bump sensitivity and increasing high-speed compression to take the energy out of bigger hits, but what worked best was adding a volume spacer and reducing the pressure slightly. It's not the most plough-like, but it offers good suppleness without bottoming out too often when set up like this.


Overall the front and rear suspension work well together, providing a good balance of sensitivity and support. The Fox 36 e-MTB fork has a beefier crown and thicker stanchion walls than the regular 36 (this results in a smaller piston area which means higher spring pressures); it never feels flexy or overwhelmed in big holes or square-edged impacts. However, I can't help feeling the bike would only perform better with a bit more travel, especially considering the real-world travel is a bit less than 150mm by my measurements.

The rigid mass of the ebike frame makes it far easier to use all the travel on big hits when compared to a pedal bike; as a result you have to run the suspension a bit stiffer, so brake dive and wallow are less of an issue and pedal bob doesn't really matter at all. Norco's Range VLT, which has 20mm more travel at either end, would be a better bet in my eyes because the extra travel has very little downside on an ebike. If anything, more rear travel makes it easier to manual too because the rear suspension squats into its travel as you manual which helps the bike to rock back. Try to manual with your shock locked out if you're not convinced. But it's the Sight's long chainstay length that's the main issue for me. Combined with the weight, it dulls the responsiveness in some situations, and in my opinion, dulls the fun a little too.

---

How does it compare?

I recently reviewed the Nukeproof Megawatt and got the chance to ride both bikes on a lot of the same trails, sometimes on the same day. The Megawatt has 10mm more travel at the front (170mm) and 15mm more at the rear (165mm). It's also considerably cheaper, at $7,500, thanks in part to an aluminum frame and smaller 630Wh battery. Despite the lack of carbon and longer travel, the Nukeproof is a full kilogram lighter, although the Norco would weigh slightly less than the Nukeproof with the smallest 540Wh battery fitted.

As well as offering more range, the Norco has a slight edge on technical climbs due to its steeper seat angle and bigger rear wheel, which make it that bit easier and more comfortable to make your way up the steepest pitches. On the other hand, the Nukeproof's suppler suspension more than makes up for the smaller back wheel when pedaling over bumpy sections with a bit of speed.

When descending, there's no contest. The Megawatt has much suppler suspension, while still having room in the travel to avoid bottoming out unless really pushed. The rear suspension feels more progressive and lightly damped, which makes it feel at once livelier and more stuck to the ground. The big difference is the chainstay length - at 442mm the Nukeproof's are 20mm shorter, which makes it dramatically easier to hop and pick up the front to get up and over trail features. As far as I'm concerned, that makes it less effort and more rewarding on technical terrain.

---

Technical Report


Ergon SM-10 E-Mountain Saddle: I like the upturned "spoiler" at the back of the saddle when tackling steep climbs as it holds you in place with less effort - especially with muddy shorts. It does get in the way and catch on my shorts a little more than I'd expect when descending, despite the 210mm-travel dropper post (which I was very glad to have). It's not a problem with the seat slammed that low, but I wouldn't fancy using it with a shorter travel seatpost.

Maxxis Dissector Tire: I was really impressed with the Dissector's ability to clear mud in wet conditions. It's billed as a fast rolling rear tire, but it held its own in terms of edging grip in the corners, never feeling tail-happy when paired with the Assegai up front. Sure, a bigger, stickier tire would be better for scrambling up technical climbs, but it rarely let the Sight down there either, and a faster-rolling rear tire is a good choice if you want to maximize range.

---

Pinkbike's Take

Posted In:
eMTB Reviews and Tech Videos Reviews Enduro Bikes Norco Norco Sight Vlt