While never really liking the name, I’ve been a long-time champion of the downcountry category, even racing a couple of enduros on a 120mm short travel trail bike because I like the way the best ones ride so much. Many happy miles have been spent on every generation of Evil’s Following and I’m now bombing around on a Santa Cruz Tallboy for a lot of my testing; all the while continually bleating on to mates (or anyone that’ll listen) that it’s all the bike you need for most UK trail riding.
On paper then, with short travel pumped up with extra downhill attitude, Norco latest Optic couldn’t really be more up my street. It follows the familiar formula of the best downcountry bikes of geometry edging towards an enduro bike for high-speed stability, but with less travel to enhance the hop-and-pop factor you rapidly start to lose once too much suspension starts smoothing out too much energy from rider inputs and terrain.
