I have the old Optic and old Sight and just got the new Sight and my mind was blown. It rides like a much bigger bike but still poppy like it's supposed to be at that travel. Made me wonder what this Optic was like and sounds like it's the same. Should be a rad bike for bulk flow trail laps!
Bought an alloy frame and am almost done buillding it. The missing link kit that comes with the framsets is killer. Swap wasnt immediate but i did it yesterday in 20 minutes or so. Im planning mullet for my build 70% of the year or so.
@dialedmtb I'm running a Lyrik ultimate i have really enjoyed (its at 150mm right now). An axs x01 kit, wao - mullet convergence series. One up carbon bars, the alloy frame came with a vivid (pretty much the deciding factor to get the frame and the geo staying static between wheel sizes) building it has been rather pleasant. The routing had guide housings in, which was somewhat helpful. I've got a lot of tire on it right now which I may slim down. The bike will go with me to shuttle zones and winch and plummet trails. I'm hopeful it climbs better and is more capable then the status 140 I replaced. Pretty optimistic about that. I own hardtails and a carbon 120 trail bike ironically, that I still think this will compliment. I enjoy climbing so I'd like a bike that's comfortable at it and gives good traction. Descending I don't expect the shock and geo to feel overwhelming and I sku towards wheels on the ground tech with line choice. So I'm excited, might be perfect!
Dang your bike is going to be rad! Yeah I like that they spec the bike with a vivid on it for the C2 Mullet and on the Frame only! Definitely will make it feel even deeper than mine does on the descent. You will have to update me and tell me how it rides for you!
@dialedmtb shuttled yesterday just 2600 feet of descending and some climbing. Shattered some prs and didn't have the bike dialed at all. Rode today and did 2100 ft of elevation. It felt really comfortable and absolute sled downhill. Fantastic traction. Im mullet still and tipped the scales at 36lbs. Haha. Really planted in chunk, rear feels seemless and great when it grows on banked and flat corners. Had some slick drifting today on damp clay and it kept me upright.
Me personally, I like the TB better. Climbs a lot better and descends well. The Optic is a fun bike but the rear end feels like a 150-160mm rear end with a 140mm front end. Not quite as balanced as I would like. It is super fun but I just don't think you get enough out of it for its climbing capabilities
Interesting that you compare its climbing capabilities to the sight. I dont see the point of having a short travel bike that pedals like a 140-150, and descends worse than a 140-150 bike.
Yeah it's a different bike, but it doesn't descend worse than the old sight, just different. I will be putting more time in on the bike and doing a full review later on. But it is a super fun bike to ride, some people are just really good climbers and don't care much about that. They just want the most fun bike for the descent for them.
An aspect that is glossed over by most reviews is how well a bike pumps and generates speed in corners. Personally this is what separates a capable 125mm bike to a 150mm bike even if they may climb similarly. In short, rolling terrain is just plain more fun and faster on short travel bikes, even very capable ones like the optic.
I would say it does perform better downhill then 140 and 150 bikes ive owned and ridden. It's definitely more playful and its ability to pump as mentioned above and stay planted and hold speed for shorter rear travel is unreal. Beyond summing that up to high pivot witchcraft. Its just incredibly well designed kinematic wise and geo for its use case. May not be for everyone but I'm riding shuttle zones and steep/tech trails with as much confidence as any bike I've ridden. With it being more engaging for not being a 170 travel bike.
That 2024 Optic looks like its flying! I just bought a 2023 Norco Sight A1 but really cool to see the Optic 2024 comparison! Great review bud.
I bought the 2023 Sight A1 as well. Fun bike.
Thank you! I appreciate it! The Sight is a rad bike also!
Looked really smooth through those rock gardens. Pretty impressive for a short travel bike.
Yeah it was a lot smoother through those rocks than any other bike I have rode with 140mm of rear travel or less, pretty impressive for sure!
I have the old Optic and old Sight and just got the new Sight and my mind was blown. It rides like a much bigger bike but still poppy like it's supposed to be at that travel.
Made me wonder what this Optic was like and sounds like it's the same.
Should be a rad bike for bulk flow trail laps!
Great review!
Thank you! I appreciate it!
Bought an alloy frame and am almost done buillding it. The missing link kit that comes with the framsets is killer. Swap wasnt immediate but i did it yesterday in 20 minutes or so. Im planning mullet for my build 70% of the year or so.
That will be awesome! What components did you end up going with? Let me know what you think!
@dialedmtb I'm running a Lyrik ultimate i have really enjoyed (its at 150mm right now). An axs x01 kit, wao - mullet convergence series. One up carbon bars, the alloy frame came with a vivid (pretty much the deciding factor to get the frame and the geo staying static between wheel sizes) building it has been rather pleasant. The routing had guide housings in, which was somewhat helpful. I've got a lot of tire on it right now which I may slim down. The bike will go with me to shuttle zones and winch and plummet trails. I'm hopeful it climbs better and is more capable then the status 140 I replaced. Pretty optimistic about that. I own hardtails and a carbon 120 trail bike ironically, that I still think this will compliment. I enjoy climbing so I'd like a bike that's comfortable at it and gives good traction. Descending I don't expect the shock and geo to feel overwhelming and I sku towards wheels on the ground tech with line choice. So I'm excited, might be perfect!
Dang your bike is going to be rad! Yeah I like that they spec the bike with a vivid on it for the C2 Mullet and on the Frame only! Definitely will make it feel even deeper than mine does on the descent. You will have to update me and tell me how it rides for you!
@dialedmtb shuttled yesterday just 2600 feet of descending and some climbing. Shattered some prs and didn't have the bike dialed at all. Rode today and did 2100 ft of elevation. It felt really comfortable and absolute sled downhill. Fantastic traction. Im mullet still and tipped the scales at 36lbs. Haha. Really planted in chunk, rear feels seemless and great when it grows on banked and flat corners. Had some slick drifting today on damp clay and it kept me upright.
You should get a norco fluid fs to review
Hi, I hope you make more videos soon!
Thank you! I have been super busy, should get more out soon!
@@dialedmtb Didn't happen lol
how does it compare to tallboy v5 you've reviewed recently in terms of overall ride?
Me personally, I like the TB better. Climbs a lot better and descends well. The Optic is a fun bike but the rear end feels like a 150-160mm rear end with a 140mm front end. Not quite as balanced as I would like. It is super fun but I just don't think you get enough out of it for its climbing capabilities
No new content for the summer?
I have some videos I need to get edited. I just have a lot of other things going on so it's taking away from my video editing time.
I wonder how much the frameset weighs?
It probably is not that light.
Interesting that you compare its climbing capabilities to the sight. I dont see the point of having a short travel bike that pedals like a 140-150, and descends worse than a 140-150 bike.
Yeah it's a different bike, but it doesn't descend worse than the old sight, just different. I will be putting more time in on the bike and doing a full review later on. But it is a super fun bike to ride, some people are just really good climbers and don't care much about that. They just want the most fun bike for the descent for them.
An aspect that is glossed over by most reviews is how well a bike pumps and generates speed in corners. Personally this is what separates a capable 125mm bike to a 150mm bike even if they may climb similarly. In short, rolling terrain is just plain more fun and faster on short travel bikes, even very capable ones like the optic.
I would say it does perform better downhill then 140 and 150 bikes ive owned and ridden. It's definitely more playful and its ability to pump as mentioned above and stay planted and hold speed for shorter rear travel is unreal. Beyond summing that up to high pivot witchcraft. Its just incredibly well designed kinematic wise and geo for its use case. May not be for everyone but I'm riding shuttle zones and steep/tech trails with as much confidence as any bike I've ridden. With it being more engaging for not being a 170 travel bike.