Review: Norco Range VLT – The Purple Plow – Pinkbike

The Range VLT truly is a downhiller’s e-bike, and its happy place is blasting down steep trails, plowing over whatever gets in its way. It does an impressive job of knocking the edge off of square edge hits, and there wasn’t any sense of the rear wheel getting hung up. I did find that the high pivot suspesnion layout didn’t feel as, well, high-pivoty, as I’d anticipated, possibly since e-bikes already have minimal chain-growth induced pedal feedback due to the freewheeling chainring mechanism. All the same, the Range maintains its composure remarkably well when faced with chopped up section of trail.

This is a bike that rewards a more confident rider – sitting back and hanging on isn’t going to have the best results. That said, the Range VLT’s geometry gives it a level of quickness you might not expect, all other factors considered. Even with the rearward axle path the chainstays aren’t that long, which can make it easier to rip around tighter turns, or pop off the lip of a jump. The suspension feels like it goes through its travel at exactly the right rate – there’s no wallowing or unwanted mushiness on smoother sections, and then there’s very controlled impact absorption from larger drops or rougher bits of trail.

The weight of the motor and battery helps keep the Range VLT planted when ripping through high speed turns, although the bottom bracket height is on the higher side, with just 2mm of drop from the BB to the rear axle. It’s a similar sensation to what I experienced on the Commencal Meta Power – cornering is aided by the extra weight from the motor, but there’s not that totally locked in, carvy feeling that can come with a lower bottom bracket. The Nukeproof Megawatt (RIP) and Specialized Turbo Levo are two examples of bikes with relatively low bottom brackets that corner exceptionally well.

While an extra pound (or three) doesn’t really matter as much as it would on an eMTB compared to a non-motorized bike, when the weight starts creeping towards the 60-lb mark it is noticeable. One of the reasons I enjoyed Orbea’s Wild eMTB last season was that it came in under 50 pounds with a full power motor. Granted, that bike did have a smaller battery, but with more and more range extenders hitting the market I think that a slightly smaller battery (600 Wh or so) with the option to stick on a 250 Wh battery for longer rides is the way to go on these bigger full power machines.