# Norco Storm 4.3 Advice



## KeeperSD (May 21, 2008)

So I need some help in making a decision. I am looking to upgrade/change my son's 24" bike. For reference he is 7.5 yrs old, 132cm tall and has an inseam of approximately 58cm

I bought him a second hand Giant XTC about 6 months ago, however it is far too heavy for him and as such he ends up hating anything that resembles an up.

I started looking at options to lighten that bike, but pretty quickly realised that wasn't the easiest or cheapest thing to do.

So I started to hunt for a rigid 24" bike for him, the only true rigid mountain bike that I have found in Australia is the Norco Storm 4.3. m.norco.com However being they are a 2017 model there is very little information on them. I contacted Norco direct and they suggest the weight is 24lb.




























My questions are, am I on the right track for him, is a reduction of 2.2kg enough to be significant when it comes to his riding.

Does the geo for the bike look suitable to trail riding and is he likely to outgrow it quickly?

Is there any experience on here with this bike?


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## silvascape (Sep 11, 2014)

I dont have any experience with this particular bike but we just bought our 7 year old son a Norco Fluid 2017 (I put a review on here - its the dual suspension model). Must say, very impressed. If the bike you are looking at has the same sort of geo as the Fluid you will be on a good thing. In a way we bought our son a bike which will penalise his strengths (he climbs very well and loves it) and improve his weaknesses (being confident enough to really accelerate on the down hills), it has worked well - he is much more confident and still rides away from Mum and Dad on the uphills.
I would say that your only other alternative would be to change out the forks and gearing on the Giant.


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## GrayJay (May 16, 2011)

24 lbs for a MTB with rigid fork and rim brakes is not particularly lightweight. I think that the storm suffers from cheap, heavy components, 36 spoke wheels which likely have a freewheel (non-cassette) rear hub. The single front chainring will not offer a particularly low gear range for climbing and with a freewheel you will not be able to change to super low 1X gearing.


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## KeeperSD (May 21, 2008)

Thanks Grayjay, I realise it's not super light weight, but there are few options in Australia unfortunately. 

Looked at the Superfly 24, but that is over 11.5kg, as they went and put on a cheap fork. 

I have been offered the Norco Charger 4.1 for a reasonable price as well, not as cheap as the Storm, but with the running gear appears to be worth the extra cash, from Norco this is 24.5lb. 

Will 24.5lb down from 28.5lb be enough for him to notice a difference?


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## MTB Pharm (Mar 10, 2007)

4lbs is a significant weight difference he will notice. The Norco parts list is like that of most other kids bikes. The weight savings is from the rigid fork and use of an aluminum handlebar and a 1x drive train; most kids bikes are built with a steel handlebar and a 3x drive train. If you are handy with the bike you could remove the front derailleur and shifter, 2 chainrings (if you can, otherwise you may need to replace the cranks) and replace the handlebar (and maybe the seatpost and stem) on the Giant. Replacing the tires is also relatively easy to a lighter pair. A rigid front fork can be found on ebay. Also, don't forget to take off the kick stand if it came with one.


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## Soh67 (Jun 2, 2015)

It may also be worth looking at some other options from the UK. Merlin and CRC both ship kids bikes to Australia at no cost (no VAT to pay either so 20% saving on UK price) and others such as JE James and Cycle Surgery only charge GBP25-40. I sourced my 20 inch Early Rider Belter through Merlin and it arrived in Sydney in a week for a lot less than it would have cost if I had walked into their storefront in the UK as a local customer.


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