BUILT FOR THE GOOD TIMES
The Norco Sight VLT Bosch A is designed to be the gateway eMTB in their lineup, offering a no-frills eBike that focuses on the elements they consider most important to deliver the good times. With an alloy frame built around the full-power Bosch Performance Line PX system, and build weights in the 51.8 to 52.7lbs (23.5 to 23.9kg) range with the 600Wh battery, this is an eMTB that’s likely to please a wide range of riders and budgets.
RIDER CONFIDENCE FIRST
Norco applies the same size-specific focus to the Sight VLT Bosch A as they do to their top-end models. They focus on delivering confidence through balanced handling characteristics for every rider size in their five size range, tuning the geometry and kinematics across the board.
The Sight VLT Bosch A’s frame is designed around a mixed-wheel setup only, giving every rider the improved clearance and agility of the smaller rear wheel.
RELIABLE BOSCH POWER
The Bosch Performance Line PX drive unit isn’t yet common in the eMTB space, but as more manufacturers seek to deliver eBikes at a more competitive price point, that may change. Still in Bosch’s Performance Line, the PX weighs slightly more than the typical CX at 2.9kg, and delivers 90Nm Max Torque with up to 700W Peak Power. It’ll deliver up to 400% support factor – the same as the CX – giving suitable drive for steep climbs.
Powering the Bosch PX drive unit is the 600Wh PowerTube battery, fixed within the Sight VLT Bosch A frame. If that’s not enough to satisfy your ride length ambitions, you can purchase the Bosch PowerMore 250Wh range extender to go further.
Utilizing the Bosch Smart System, Norco’s alloy all-mountain eBike can be connected to the Bosch Flow App. This unlocks features like theft protection, navigation, and tuning of the ride modes to deliver the desired compromise of speed and range.
PROVEN VPS SUSPENSION
Norco is well-versed in Virtual Pivot, Horst Link suspension setups, so it’s no surprise to see one featured in the Sight VLT Bosch A. The rear end provides 150mm travel, which is mated to a 160mm fork up front to give a playful yet confident ride feel. This typical four-bar layout is tuned to provide a suitable balance between pedaling efficiency and traction, while the suspension remains relatively unaffected by braking forces.
SIZE-SPECIFIC ALL MOUNTAIN GEOMETRY
Norco offers a choice of five sizes, which are numbered Size 1 to Size 5, and said to suit riders from 5’1” to 6’5” (155cm to 196cm). With small reach jumps of 20mm per size, riders within this height range are likely to find a comfortable fit.
The chainstay length and effective seat tube angle are tuned for each rider size – growing and steepening progressing up the size range – maintaining the balance of the bike. The general geometry strikes a good blend of agility and confidence-inspiring stability, and delivers a well-rounded handling characteristic.
DURABLE ALLOY FRAME
Keeping things simple and the price point lower, the Sight VLT Bosch A is built with an aluminum alloy frame. This is given premium features throughout, from the guided internal cable routing from end-to-end to the UDH derailleur hanger. Durable sealed bearings are used throughout the frame pivots to give long service life.
There’s room inside the front triangle for a large water bottle or the Bosch PowerMore Range Extender across the size range. An additional tool mount can be found on the underside of the top tube to cleanly mount accessories. Generous frame protection is added to the driveside chainstay and downtube, with a sleek base guard in place to protect the drive unit.
GUARANTEED FOR LIFE
Norco’s “No Other Way” warranty guarantees the Sight VLT Bosch A for life. If the rider suffers from a manufacturing-related issue, Norco promises they will be taken care of and ready to hit the trail again as soon as possible with their Lifetime Warranty.
MAKING SETUP SIMPLE
Norco’s Ride Aligned Setup Guide is designed to make finding the optimum setup as straightforward as possible. Taking the rider height, weight, proportions, and preferences into account, Ride Aligned suggests the perfect settings for the suspension and tires to get the rider rolling quickly on an appropriate, balanced setup.
Ride Aligned is an extremely useful tool that we at The Loam Wolf have learned to trust, consistently delivering good setups from which to make further small tweaks to suit the terrain.
SENSIBLE BUILD SPECS
With builds beginning at $4,799 and from a reasonable 23.5kg (51.8lbs), Norco offers three solid builds at their respective price points. Particular attention has been made to ensure riders are given stellar suspension performance and dependable brakes and drivetrain, ensuring the full enjoyment of the capable frame and powerful drive unit.
SIGHT VLT BOSCH A – A1
- Sight VLT Bosch aluminum frame
- Bosch Performance Line PX system and PT600 battery
- RockShox Lyrik Select+ 160mm fork
- RockShox Super Deluxe Select+ shock
- Shimano Deore Di2 drivetrain
- Shimano Deore brakes
- Weight (claimed): 23.5kg / 51.81lbs
- MSRP: $6,599 USD | $8,399 CDN
SIGHT VLT BOSCH A – A2
- Sight VLT Bosch aluminum frame
- Bosch Performance Line PX system and PT600 battery
- RockShox Lyrik Base RC 160mm Fork
- RockShox Super Deluxe Base shock
- Shimano XT drivetrain
- Shimano Deore brakes
- Weight (claimed): 24kg / 52.91lbs
- MSRP $5,699 USD | $6,999 CDN
SIGHT VLT BOSCH A – A3
- Sight VLT Bosch aluminum frame
- Bosch Performance Line PX system and PT600 battery
- DVO Diamond 36 Core 160mm fork
- DVO Topaz Core shock
- Shimano CUES drivetrain
- TRP Slate EVO brakes
- Weight (claimed): 24kg / 52.91lbs
- MSRP $4,799 USD | $5,999 CDN
THE WOLF’S FIRST IMPRESSION
CLIMBING | Getting out on the Sight VLT A was a fun and new experience. I’ve only ridden Bosch PX drive units on urban eBikes and was excited to see how it would do on the trail. At the time of this initial project, test miles have been limited, but I am quite pleased with the unit in many ways. However it does have a few rather notable differences to the CX drive unit. Namely in power and overrun. The reduction in power wasn’t huge in many scenarios however I noticed that in low cadence accelerations, the unit did struggle a bit. As long as I kept the legs spinning a higher RPM, roughly above 75-80, the motor delivered more than enough juice to get me up anything I was trying to climb. If you’re coming out of steep switchbacks however, you’ll notice it takes about two or three full rotations to get your cadence up and then the drive unit will spin back up to speed effortlessly.
It’s worth noting that there are some rather reliable rumors around a Bosch power update in the very near future. We can only imagine that the PX will also see some improvements in the assist ratio as well as peak power updates, which will be pretty awesome. One area that could take a bit more time to adjust to for full-power converts is the lack of overrun. Not sure if that will change with the update but, it offers more of an “SL” or dare-we-say, non-eMTB feel. Rather than relying on the overrun of the drive unit, riders will have to rely on muscle, technique and timing to get up steppy, technical bits of trail or through obstacles. Just like we had to do it in the good ol’ days.
The rest of the bike’s climbing experience is quite solid overall. The bike has a comfortable cockpit and body position for me at 5’11 and I would have no complaints riding this thing on some big epics. Norco have given the latest Sight VLT offering a good geo set, and the VPS suspension platform is solid for all around trail riding.
DESCENDING | My first descent on the Sight VLT A was on a steeper, challenging but fun desert flow trail. I was pleased to feel instantly at home aboard the bike and after watching my POV video back could be heard saying, “It feels like a Norco!” I felt at home on the bike, it’s geometry put me in a comfortable and confident position down, just as it did on the way up. I have ridden the non-electrified Norco Sight a ton lately and have been absolutely loving the newly release Sight VLT TQ. This bike feels like the beefier sibling to those bikes, with a bit of its own personality.
The VPS suspension platform seems to offer a fun and lively platform, however after just two rides, it seems the rear shock suffered a premature death. Norco quickly replied to my email and have a new shock on the way, and I trust that it will serve me well for the remainder of testing. During those first two rides however, the shock was impressively active and helped the bike get off the ground, absorb big hits and remain composed when pushing hard.
Often times budget-minded bikes can get under-spec’d in the brake department, I’m happy to report this bike has plenty of stopping power. It’s quite needed on an over 50lb eMTB that likes to be ridden as aggressively as this one does.
Overall, I think that Norco have done a nice job in creating something that is different, namely due to the use of the Bosch PX drive unit and 600Wh battery selection. Their goal was to offer an eMTB that had a durable and robust alloy frame, give it a lifetime warranty with local dealer support while offering those customers size-specific geo, time invested into custom shock tunes for each spec and a ready-to-upgrade OR ready-to-rip machine that will serve a wide range of riders. We like this trend a lot.
