James Costley-White’s Norco Fluid VLT C1 130 long-term review

The Norco Fluid VLT C1 130 is the first ‘lightweight’ ebike I’ve ridden that’s genuinely light. Previously, my need for an extra-large frame, and my preference for a fairly chunky fork and capable finishing kit, have left the ‘SL’ bikes I’ve tested weighing in excess of 20kg.

The Fluid VLT, however, tips the scales at only 18.56kg without pedals.

This is especially impressive when you consider that my S5 size has the longest frame I’ve ever slung a leg over.

Moreover, my bike is a bit of a hybrid. Norco’s UK distributors, Silverfish, weren’t able to get hold of a C1 140 model for me (£9,999), so they took the C1 130, which isn’t available in Britain, and bolted on a longer-travel fork and shock. So, a stock C1 130 bike will be even lighter.

I’m looking forward to putting the Norco to the test on my local North Somerset loops, the trails of South Wales and – who knows – maybe further afield too.

It’ll be interesting to see how far I can get with the small 400Wh battery, how well the SRAM Level Ultimate Stealth brakes slow down the extra weight of an electric mountain bike and how I fare with the super-long geometry.

Norco Fluid VLT C1 130 frame, suspension and specifications

The frame is made from carbon fibre (Norco doesn’t give details of the exact layup), including the chainstays and seatstays. While the head tube/top tube/down tube junction is fairly chunky, the rest of the chassis is surprisingly svelte for an ebike.

In fact, at a glance, you wouldn’t know there was a battery concealed in the down tube.

Norco’s Virtual Pivot Suspension (VPS) system – a four-bar, Horst-link design – delivers 130mm of rear-wheel travel as standard, although that has been increased to 140mm on my bike.

The Canadian brand says this platform provides a predominantly vertical and forward axle path, with moderate chain growth, a consistent leverage curve and tuneable progression.

Frame features include internal routing for the cable-actuated dropper seatpost and the rear brake hose (plus additional ports in case you want to swap to mechanical shifting), a set of bottle bosses on the down tube and an accessory mount under the top tube.

The Fluid VLT uses SRAM’s Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH), has clearance for up to a 27.5x2.6in rear tyre and comes with a small front chain guide fitted.

There’s also chain-slap and trail-debris protection on the driveside chainstay, the down tube and under the belly of the chassis.

A Bosch Smart System Controller is integrated into the top tube, which uses coloured LEDs to show motor mode and battery charge, and also contains the bike’s power button and a mode switch.

Toggling between the settings is made easier by a Bosch Mini Remote on the left-hand side of the handlebar. Inside the down tube is a slim, non-removable (without dropping out the motor) Bosch CompactTube battery with a 400Wh capacity.

This powers the Bosch Performance Line SX motor – the German brand’s first mid-weight offering, which delivers the same 600W of peak power as its ‘full-fat’ CX drive unit, but with torque limited to 55Nm to provide a more natural feel and eke out more battery life.

As stock, the C1 130 comes with a 140mm-travel RockShox Pike Ultimate fork and a RockShox Deluxe Ultimate inline shock. However, on my bike, these have been swapped for a slightly heavier but more capable 150mm-travel Fox 36 Factory fork and Fox Float X2 Factory piggyback shock.

Elsewhere, the parts spec remains as stock – and highly lust-worthy – including a SRAM XX SL Eagle AXS Transmission groupset with Praxis carbon cranks, XC-focused SRAM Level Ultimate Stealth four-piston brakes with 180mm CenterLine rotors front and rear, and posh Crankbrothers Synthesis Carbon Enduro wheels with Industry Nine 101 hubs.

These are shod with Continental Kryptotal (front) and Xynotal (rear) tyres, in the ‘Trail’ casing and ‘Endurance’ compound.

Finishing things off are a 200mm-travel OneUp dropper seatpost and a matching OneUp Carbon bar, an own-brand stem, WTB Wavelength grips and a Fizik Ridon saddle.

Norco Fluid VLT C1 130 specifications

• Sizes: S1, S2, S3, S4, S5
• Weight: 18.56kg (S5) – with pedals
• Frame: Carbon fibre, 140mm travel (upgraded from 130mm)
• Fork: Fox 36 Float Factory, 150mm travel (upgraded from RockShox Pike Ultimate, 140mm travel)
• Shock: Fox Float X2 Factory (upgraded from RockShox Deluxe Ultimate)
• Motor: Bosch Performance Line SX / Bosch CompactTube 400Wh battery
• Chainset: Praxis Carbon Bosch, 165mm
• Cassette: SRAM XX Eagle Transmission, 12-speed
• Chain: SRAM XX Eagle Transmission, 12-speed
• Derailleurs: SRAM XX SL Eagle AXS Transmission, 12-speed
• Shifters: SRAM AXS Pod Ultimate Controller, 12-speed
• Brakes: SRAM Level Ultimate Stealth, 180mm rotors
• Stem: Norco SL alloy, 40mm length, 35mm bar bore
• Bar: OneUp Carbon, 800mm wide, 20mm rise
• Grips: WTB Wavelength
• Saddle: Fizik Ridon
• Seatpost: OneUp
• Wheelset: Crankbrothers Synthesis Carbon Enduro with Industry Nine 101 hubs
• Tyres: Continental Kryptotal Trail Endurance 29x2.4in / Continental Xynotal Trail Endurance 27.5x2.4in

Norco Fluid VLT C1 130 geometry

At 188cm/6ft 2in, I normally ride an extra-large frame. However, Norco uses an alternative reach-based sizing system, numbered from S1 to S5.

My usual preference is for a reach figure of around 500mm, which would put me on the S4 (497.5mm reach, with my 140mm fork).

But, with Norco’s sizing chart putting me on the borderline between that and the S5, and telling me I’d have an optimal fit on either, I opted for the larger frame instead, interested to see what impact that would have on my riding.

The S5 has an enormous 527mm reach, but the stack height isn’t too gangly, at 646mm, nor the seat tube overly long, at 475mm. Effective chainstay lengths are size-specific, with the rear centre measuring 444mm on this size.

Combined with a 64.5-degree head angle (again, with a 140mm fork), this gives the bike a 1,306mm wheelbase.

The effective seat tube angle steepens as you go up in frame size, to keep you balanced between the wheels, topping out at 77.5 degrees on the S5.

Why did I choose this bike?

After enjoying my time on Orbea’s Rise, I wanted another lightweight eMTB.

I had fond memories of my 2016 Norco Optic trail bike, so when I heard the brand was bringing out a Bosch SX-equipped eMTB, it went straight on my shortlist.

For me, 140mm of rear-wheel travel seems to be the sweet spot, delivering a good balance of trail-friendly tautness and descending control, so that was another tick in its favour.

Plus, as a taller rider, the option of longer geometry appealed, although I’ll have to get used to the bar being an inch further away than I’m accustomed to when stood on the pedals.

I was also interested to try the Bosch motor, and to put some proper miles in on one of SRAM’s wireless Eagle AXS Transmissions.

As tends to be the way, I had my eye on the more reasonably priced C3 or C2 models, but was sent the top-of-the-range build for testing instead.

Norco Fluid VLT C1 130 initial setup

Setup was simple. I attached some Crankbrothers Mallet DH clipless pedals, raised the saddle to a height of 1,050mm (from the rails to the ground), rolled the bar forward in the stem a little (a habit from the days when it was hard to find a bike with a long enough reach) and adjusted the brake lever angle and other controls to my liking.

I topped up the battery and connected the bike to the Bosch eBike Flow app via Bluetooth to check it was 100% charged and had the latest software updates. The SRAM AXS rear derailleur battery needed charging too.

I stuck 20psi in both tyres, as a starting point to adjust from. Finally, I used Norco’s helpful Ride Aligned online setup guide to get my suspension settings in the right ballpark, sticking with fairly neutral requirements (medium-firm, low-grip/mixed trails, suggested starting position).

For my height and near-80kg weight, it recommended 84psi in the fork’s air spring, along with a single volume spacer, six clicks (from fully damped) of both low-speed rebound (LSR) and high-speed rebound (HSR), 13 clicks of low-speed compression (LSC) and six clicks of high-speed compression (HSC).

At the rear, the suggestion was 212psi, no volume spacers, 10 clicks of LSR, four of HSR, 11 of LSC and five of HSC.

Norco Fluid VLT C1 130 ride impressions

I’ve taken the Fluid VLT out for a few rides and one thing has really stood out – the Bosch motor isn’t as powerful as I’d expected it to be.

While its torque puts it in the same ballpark as lightweight drive units from Specialized, TQ and Fazua, as well as the tweaked Shimano EP8 used by Orbea, it greatly exceeds these in terms of power, on paper at least.

The rub is that this only kicks in at high pedalling cadences.

Now, I’ve always been one to spin in a small ring rather than grind in a big one, but even so, I have to mash the cranks super-fast to get the boost I want on climbs.

I’m sure this is something I’ll get used to, and it gives the Norco a more natural – rather than rocket-propelled – feel on undulating trails.

But it definitely makes the bike more of an all-day singletracker, rather than a self-uplift machine.

I was hoping I might be able to tweak things in the SRAM AXS app to unleash a bit more power, but it turns out the boost mode was already in its highest setting.

Despite the high price of the C1 130, I’ve identified a few kit changes I want to make.

This is not because there’s anything wrong with the stock spec, but because Norco has prioritised light weight a little too much for my riding.

However, in general, I’ve no complaints, and the 400Wh battery has been ample for the fast blasts in my local woods I’ve done so far.

It took a couple of runs to get used to the longer reach and get my weight balance right over the drops, but I soon adapted.

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about the 650b wheel out back, having almost exclusively ridden full 29ers for the past few years, but I haven’t really noticed it on the trail, perhaps because the size-proportionate chainstays mean the bike still has a relatively long rear centre.

Initially, I kept shifting in the wrong direction, finding it confusing that the bottom button on the SRAM AXS controller makes things easier (smaller gear), while on the motor controller it’s the top button that does this (more assistance).

Thankfully, I’ve managed to reallocate the AXS buttons to make gear changes more intuitive.

Overall, it’s an easy bike to get used to, feels good and stable, and I’ve had no qualms sending it down red-equivalent downhills.

The suspension feels efficient on the climbs but still soaks up the bumps nicely on the descents.

Uphill, the steep effective seat tube angle puts me in a good position over the pedals and combines with the long top tube to avoid making me feel too stretched out.

It’s early days, but I’ll keep you updated as I spend more time on the bike.

Norco Fluid VLT C1 130 upgrades

The lightweight SRAM Level Ultimate Stealth four-piston brakes are perfectly adequate for trail-centre laps and flowing singletrack, albeit crying out for a bigger 180mm front rotor.

However, I like to ride steep off-piste trails from time to time, so I’m going to be upgrading to something more powerful.

I’m also going to be swapping out the OneUp carbon bar. That's not because there’s anything wrong with it – on the contrary, it’s a favourite of mine, with a great shape and noticeable buzz-damping qualities – but on account of its low 20mm rise.

I want to try something higher, to put me in a slightly more upright, descending-friendly position.

A final change I need to make is a grippier front tyre. While the stock Continental Kryptotal has a decent tread pattern and the ‘Trail’ casing has proven durable enough so far, a muddy and icy ride exposed the shortcomings of the hard-compound ‘Endurance’ rubber.

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