![]() Immediately out of the gates the Torrent was a pleasure to ride. Is this really the all-rounder we’ve been waiting for and is it worth the hefty price tag it comes with? To see if the ‘old’ can really mix with the ‘new’, we took the Norco Torrent HT S1 out to our local trails to see how it would handle square-edged sandstone, loose off-camber corners, rock slabs and even a few berms, drops and jumps. Throw in a mix of Shimano SLX and XT components along with a 170mm dropper post and you’ve got a solid hardtail rig that should be able to handle just about anything you can dish up. Adorned with 800mm riser bars, a hefty 150mm RockShox Lyrik Ultimate RC2 fork and four-piston Shimano MT520 stoppers, the Torrent is very much targeted at all-mountain fun and downhill antics.Īn oversized cockpit delivers plenty of room to play, whilst short chainstays let the bigger 29” wheels excel in tighter stuff where a bike its size shouldn’t. ![]() The Torrent delivers a quality spec’d, steel framed trail weapon that goes up with ease and down with gusto. Norco’s Torrent S1 is designed for those who prefer not to spend Sundays servicing a multi-chamber rear shock, but would rather revisit the ol’ days of bombing down a hill on a burly steel framed, gravity-oriented hardtail beast. The Torrent is adorned with well proved components, including a Shimano XT drivetrain (and brakes) and a 150mm RockShox Lyric Ultimate RC2 fork. This is all packaged in the geometry ‘sweet spot’ for an aggressive all-mountain oriented mountain bike. In fact, one could be mistaken for thinking such a clean frame with external cable routing belongs in a time capsule, until closer examination reveals reinforcing at weld joints, or the hard hitting 150mm RockShox Lyrik Ultimate RC2 fork. The unboxing of a Norco Torrent S1 HT is a sight to behold… not because of all the latest fandangle tech or lightweight carbon pieces you might expect from one of Canada’s top MTB manufacturers, but rather because of the pure delight and simplicity of a dual-triangle double-butted chromoly steel frame, coupled with premium components and oversized 29” wheels. ![]() However, if you want to get back to basics and reignite your passion for the simplicity of a steel hardtail then look no further than the Norco Torrent S1 HT. Nowadays we have carbon dual-suspension bikes with wireless dropper posts and electronic suspension, not to mention the exploding world of the eMTB. Mountain biking has come a long way since some Californian hippies retrofitted beach cruisers with moto bars and fat balloon tyres to bomb down fire-trails on ‘klunkers’ back in the 1970s. The Torrent S1 HT is a rowdy steel hardtail that ups the fun factor immensely on the trails.
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