{"id":916910,"date":"2026-10-01T19:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T19:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/916910\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T19:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T19:02:14","slug":"bike-check-gracey-hemstreets-norco-team-dh-is-finally-not-a-prototype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/916910\/","title":{"rendered":"Bike Check: Gracey Hemstreet’s Norco Team DH is finally not a prototype"},"content":{"rendered":"

After more than five years of development, Norco finally released the production version of its long-prototyped Team DH rig<\/a> last week. That\u2019s the bike the brand\u2019s factory team riders have ridden and raced in various forms for most of that time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Gracey Hemstreet cruised through a wild qualifying session with the third fastest time on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Despite having the Team DH available to the public, Norco still created a special edition for the Norco adidas Race Division riders for Whistler<\/a>. We caught Gracey Hemstreet\u2019s after she landed an impressive second place at the Whistler World Cup<\/a> for a deep dive bike check.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bike Check: Gracey Hemstreet Whistler-edition Norco Team DH<\/p>\n

Hemstreet\u2019s mechanic, Brett \u201cTurtle\u201d Ward<\/a>, was kind enough to bring her bike out of the pits so we could get a closer look at all the details on this stunning Whistler-edition build. Each Norco adidas Race Division rider\u2019s bike was personalised with small details, while following two version of the same general theme.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Each rider\u2019s frame listed not only their name, but their teammates names and the names of all the NaRD staff that make the project work. Because getting onto a World Cup podium is always a huge team effort.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some fancy gold leaf details near the BB area. Norco was, understandably, making a big deal of both the arrival of World Cup racing just an hour from the brand\u2019s head offices and the long-awaited release of its new DH bike.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The two-toned theme was reversed for Danny Hart and Bodhi Kuhn\u2019s bikes, with purple up front and a lighter rear triangle. Even the team bikes still use external cable routing. Shimano Saint, Crank Bro\u2019s pedals and a big Fox Float X2 air shock for Gracey.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hemstreet was one of a few riders running an unmarked Shimano rear derailleur in Whistler. The lower pulley cage still says Saint but the main linkage and body look more like Shimano\u2019s current generation of rear derailleurs. It looks to have the same non-clutch design but this one is cable operated instead of following XTR Di2 down the wireless electronic route. Also, the hand-drawn marks on the rear pivot bolt for quick torquing is a clever touch when rebuilds have to happen fast.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Race Face Atlas bars and stem on a Fox 40. Shimano\u2019s new XTR brakes provide enough power for Gracey, though other riders were also running unmarked Shimano brakes in Whistler<\/a>. It\u2019s been a long time since Shimano updated its Saint downhill group. Could new gear finally be coming?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hemstreet\u2019s Fox 40 still had the attachment\u2019s for telemetry on race day. World Cup weekends are busy. It\u2019s a quick turnaround from gathering data in Friday practice and even Saturday morning practice sessions before Saturday mid-day qualifying.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Even Hemstreet\u2019s Crank Brother\u2019s Synthesis wheels were decked out in custom decals to match the Whistler-edition bikes and kit. Fresh decals fought valiantly against three days of constant power washing on a very muddy weekend. Not all survived intact.<\/p>\n

The hype from Whistler\u2019s first World Cup weekend has hardly begun to fade but Hemstreet and her NaRD teammates are already on the other side of the continent, preparing for the final World Cup of 2026 in Lake Placid, N.Y.<\/a> Then it\u2019s back to B.C. for the first-ever Red Bull Hardline in Canada on West Van.\u2019s Cypress Mountain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After more than five years of development, Norco finally released the production version of its long-prototyped Team DH…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":916911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[127362,49,48,635,80423,1700,35620,173241,316095,18208,82,57968,314227],"class_list":["post-916910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-bike-check","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-gracey-hemstreet","tag-mtb-features","tag-mtb-gear","tag-norco-adidas-race-division","tag-norco-team-dh","tag-shimano","tag-sports","tag-whistler","tag-whistler-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=916910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/916911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=916910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=916910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=916910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}