Norco Torrent
Me and my new baby, August 2001. Pictured having just returned from a shakedown ride in the mud at Gembrook
Me and my new baby, August 2001. Pictured having just returned from a shakedown ride in the mud at Gembrook
My hardtail is built around the frame that is sometimes referred to as the MTB-OZ Town Bike. It has a long and sordid history, but I've ridden it more than everybody else combined.
I bought the frame off MTB-OZ listee MattO (the Liver Man), (who bought it off Pauly, who bought it off TFN, who aquired it as AMB photo-shoot schwag). It was only ever built up by Pauly and MattO, and not ridden much at all.
I was going to just swap everything over from the cleanskin to the Norco frame, but the Norco's headtube was too long for my skinned Englunded Judy, and after much anguish (okay, not much at all :-), I bought a new fork to go with it. I was a bit hesitant at putting a 105mm (4.1") travel fork on a hardtail, but now it's done, I don't think the X-Vert Air was a bad decision at all.
MattO provided the headset, BB, FD and seatpost with the frame. The fork was purchased new. The rest of the build was transferred over from the Cleanskin.
As of last page update, this is my hardtail:
Frame: Norco Torrent, 1998 model, 18". Lime green, Easton Elite.
Fork: Manitou X-vert Air, 2001.
Headset: FSA Orbit.
Stem: Generic 65mm x 10 dg 4-bolt machined Al stem, on a 10mm spacer.
Bar: Titec Hell-Bent Flat-tracker.
Grips: Oury.
Bar Ends: Big ones. The ones that came on my old bike. They protect my hands from incoming rocks, sticks and foliage. Very uncool.
Shifters: 8-speed XT rabid fires.
Brake levers: Avid SD-1.9.
Front Brake: Avid Ball Bearing cable disk.
Rear Brake: Avid SD-2.5 with Fibrax pads. Until they wear out, and I'll go back to KoolStops.
RD: 9-speed XT.
FD: 9-speed Deore.
Crankset: 8-speed 4-arm LX; 22,32,42.
Pedals: SPD M-535s. Bought them new with the old bike, still going strong (despite much abuse).
BB: UN-72.
Cluster: 8-speed steel XTR, 12-32.
Chain: SRAM PC-39s, a couple on rotation.
Hubs: XT 32h disc front, XT 36h rear.
Rims: Vuelta Vision front,, Araya RM-915DH rear.
Spokes: Sapim 14g 3x front, DT 14g 3x/r rear.
Tyres: Tioga Factory DH 2.3 rear on the front, WTB Weirwolf 2.1 rear.
Seatpost: UFO, 2-bolt zero setback. Looks the same as an Axiom.
Saddle: SDG Comp.
In chronological order, these are the things I've changed on the bike since I first built it up:
| Component | Change from | Change to | Reason |
| Seatpost | Kalloy (bought with the frame) | UFO, 2-bolt clamp (from Pauly's schwag bag) | Kalloy had too much set-back for the frame's seat-tube angle. |
| Saddle | Vuelta Selle Bassano (OEM on my old bike) | SDG Comp (from Fruitbat's schwag bag) | The Bassano was never comfortable, but I kept on not replacing it. The SDG is much more comfy. |
| Front tyre | Bontrager Jones 2.2 | Velociraptor 2.1 (repaired an old sidewall cut) | Similar tread pattern, but the Jones kept on washing out on me! |
| Stem | 135*5 GT Cromo | ~105*25 generic alloy (second hander sold through aus.bikes) | Better position. Riser bars without having to resort to riser bars. |
| Shifters | STX-RC rapidfire 8's | XT Rapidfire 8's (second hand through mtb-oz.com op-shop) | The Cleanskin's shifters were shot, and these came up second-hand. Sweet. |
| Front tyre | Velociraptor 2.1 | Tioga Factory DH 2.1 | Cheap @ Phantom, and I was due for a change |
| Front Rim | Bontrager Mustang Ceramic | Sun Rhyno Lite (from Dave's schwag bag) | The Bonty's ceramic was chipped, oil-contaminated, and generally crap. Dave had a spare Rhino that he'd never built up. Deal. |
| Rear tyre | Velociraptor 2.1 | Tioga Factory DH 2.3 rear | Another cheapy from The Phantom. The 'Raptor was a bit worn. |
| Tyres | Tioga DH 2.1F on front, 2.3R on rear | Tioga DH 2.3R on front, 2.1F on rear | The 2.3 was too wide for the chainstays and polished off a bit of paint. Front and rear tread patterns are nearly identical, so swapping wasn't an issue. |
| Stem | Generic 105x25 | Syncros 85x25 | Bikepr0n! Bought cheap of a MTB-OZ listee. Mmmm...pimpy hinged faceplate... |
| Front brake | Avid V-brakes | Avid cable disc | Ballarat winter. Mud. Silt. Slurry. Wearing through a near new set of front brake pads, then half the rim, in one ride. |
| Front wheel | XT and Rhino Lite | XT disc and Vuelta | Disc upgrade. Hub off Ebay, uncool champagne-coloured rim from Ballarat LBS for dirt cheap. |
| Rear tyre | Tioga Factory DH 2.1F | WTB Weirwolf | Never really happy with the DH. Great front tyre, bit squirmy on the rear. Swapped for the OE front off my new dually. |
| Stem | Syncros | 65x10 NC Machined 4-bolt (generic) | Syncros looked the part, but the steerer clamp didn't. The sloping top-cap was a stupid feature, and irreplacable when a previous owner pulled the preload bolt through it...bought cheap off Ebay when I was in the USA. |