Norco is seriously on the unicycle market
- New monty trials uni
- Upgrading old standard models
- Considering making a better seat
In a recent post, wich also was sent to the Norco company, I gave a very
harsh view of their unis. I was also surprised that Norco, with Kris Holm
in their trials team, had not come up with a better uni to sell to all the
“Kris wannabes” out there.
Now their new trials uni is launched on their site:
http://www.norco.com/bikes/2002bikes/uni.htm
It’s nothing like Kris’ uni (even if you do get that impression on the
above page) There’s no real information on the page, but the following was
supplied by Jim Jamieson on Norco:
It will probably sell for as little as 125-140 USD (in Canada) Features:
20x2.5 Monty or Monty style tire Alex DX32 trials rim BMX style platform
pedals Lasco alloy cranks (they’re working on getting a 3 pc tubular
chromoly crank) Viscount saddle (for now) Standard united style frame
with main cap bearing holders
Also the old Norco unicycles have been improved: The old 28 hole hubs have
been replaced with 36 hole hubs. This allows the rider to upgrade to a
stonger rim (It’s very hard to find decent 28 hole rims)
The old seats (savage-model) have been replaced with the better, less
pain-inducing Viscount seat.
In reply to my mail, Jim Jamieson on Norco wrote “I agree with you that we
should change our standard model unicycle over to the non lolypop style
dropouts on our future orders, we will plan to do this.” (Wait until this
if you for some reason is planning to buy one)
In addition, Norco is considering replacing the rounded crown with a more
“trick friendly” flat one (read “skill friendly” if you wish)
Kris wrote that he has sent ideas for seat improvements to both Velo and
Viscount. According to Jim, Norco is also working on this: “We are working
on further developments with Kris on a better seat (he is always on us
about this) and hope to have something happening soon”
Way to go Kris, don’t let them have a rest! (Does this means you’re
actually getting somewhere, or does Jim really mean “we might maybe do
something soon”)
Happy unicycling! Staffan Palm, probably one of the “Kris wannabes”
mentioned above 
Sweden