Dirt

Canadian bike company Norco Bicycles was founded in 1964. With roots firmly planted in the world-class testing ground that is British Columbia, Norco introduced the Rampage mountain bike in 1989 and the full-suspension VPS 1 in 1998, and has since grown into a global company with a range of mountain bikes including downhill, cross country, all-mountain/enduro, trail and XC race models, plus the Bigfoot fatbike.

Its purpose-built DH race bike is the Aurum (Latin for ‘gold’), which is designed to be fast and controlled over the steepest, most technical terrain. On the enduro side is the category-bending Range, available with either carbon or alloy frame, and designed for aggressive, wide-open riding with the all mountain-tuned ART suspension system.

Members of the Norco Factory Team can be found around the world, riding XC, dual slalom, DH, freeride, trials, slopestyle and more – riders include freeride star Jay Hoots and slopestyler Mislav Mironovic. There are also three Norco-supported privateers, Mike Hopkins, Adrienne Schneider and Andrew Taylor, plus Team Norco International, a satellite World Cup gravity racing program based in Seattle.

New for 2013 was the Norco Enduro World Team, competing in the inaugural Enduro World Series, and comprising riders Lorraine Truong, Lukas Anrig, Ludo May and Michael Schaerer. Frenchwoman Truong finished 12th overall in the women’s competition, while May was best placed of the men, finishing 14th overall.