The Shore series is a flagship amongst the Norco bike line and has been serving riders for the better part of a decade. Based in the North Shore region of the world, where a lot of the aggressive, and abusive riding has been fathered, Norco has been doing research and development not only on the Shore terrain, but on the Shore as a bike that can tackle it all.

The Shore has gone through a number of phases, from a burly downhill bike designed for the most abusive, and technical trails this side of the water, to an All Mountain orientated “Shore” bike, designed for total domination on that terrain.

Norco has recently made some changes to the Shore, read here more… The North Shore is known for being the most abusive, hardcore place to ride on 2 wheels. Massive rocks, roots, and an always wet climate ensures whenever you go to the North Shore, you’re in for a treat. This is the exact feeling that Norco wanted to achieve with the all new Shore 2. Based off the same tubeset as the Downhill bikes, the Shore 2 shares the same low slung, trail pounding design.

For 2010 the Shore has taken a more well rounded approach to the industry. Spec’d with a 2 ring design, Norco has decided to combine two aspects of the Shore into one bike, climbing, and descending. Trails that descend on the shore tend to have slight inclines, or extremely short run ins, where this gearing would come in handy.

To match up with the 2 ring cranks for climbing, Norco has spec’d the Shore 2 with a telescopic seat post. Telescopic seat posts are a nice advantage, as you can raise your seat for climbs, and getting over aggressive terrain, or drop them down for the descents. All this does come with a slight weight penalty, but the advantages far out weigh the negatives.

Shore 2

Construction wise the Shore 2 features a few new things for Norco. First off Norco started forging their own parts. The forging process takes a solid piece of material, and machines a designed out of it. This makes for a much stronger finished product, especially after treatment processes. Norco has adapted this technology into their main rocker link, and the bottom bracket yoke. These two parts are what secure the rear triangle to the front triangle, so anything that increases the stiffness and strength of these links is welcomed with open arms.

As well, for increased strength with minor weight addition Norco has opted for the tapered headtube, from a 1.5″ base to a 1.125″ on the top. This tapered designed has been adapted to a number of bikes, throughout different companies, all for the same purpose – adding a lot of strength without added a lot of weight. The dropouts on the Shore 2 are standard 150mm x 12mm Maxle, however, Norco has stepped down the size of the drop out for a cleaner rear end.

Like the other 2010 bikes, the Shore 2 has a more color matched approach to it. Clean lines, subtle graphics, and a well thought out component layout all add up to a very nice bike. Red makes up a large portion of the Shore 2, while light browns, and white make up the rest. The Shore 2 carries a Canadian MSRP price of $3,699 and weights in at 42 pounds from the factory. To check out more about the Shore 2, check out www.Norco.com