Norco Fluid FS A2 29" – Full Suspension Trail Bike

The Fluid FS A2 is the second-tier build in Norco's Fluid FS range, an aluminium full suspension trail bike built around 130mm of rear travel and a 140mm fork up front. It's aimed at riders who want a bike that can be pointed at proper technical trail without flinching, but who also don't want something so long and slack that it's a chore to get up the hill in the first place. This isn't a bike built for one type of trail. It's set up to be genuinely capable on the way down while staying sensible and efficient on the way up, which is the balance most people actually riding UK trail centres and natural singletrack are looking for.

Frame and suspension

The frame is 6061 aluminium, giving 130mm of rear wheel travel. It's a straightforward, durable alloy construction rather than carbon, which keeps the price down and makes it a sensible choice if you're planning to actually use the bike hard rather than keep it pristine. Up front there's a RockShox Psylo Gold fork with 140mm of travel, matched to 29" wheels. Out back, damping duties are handled by a Fox Float X Performance Elite shock with a two position lever, and low speed compression and rebound adjustment, built on Fox's EVOL air spring for a supportive but still sensitive feel through the travel.

The 10mm gap between fork and rear travel (140mm to 130mm) is a fairly common trail bike approach. It keeps the geometry from getting too steep or too high at the front while still giving the front end a bit more cushion for chatter and bigger hits, which suits how a lot of riders actually load the bike, with more weight and more input going through the front wheel.

Geometry

The Fluid FS comes in five frame sizes, labelled Size 1 through Size 5, said to fit riders from around 5'1" up to 6'7". Norco use size-specific geometry rather than just scaling everything up and down evenly, so the reach, seat tube angle and chainstay length all shift as you move through the range rather than staying fixed.

Head angle is a consistent 65 degrees across every size, with 44mm of fork offset, giving a trail figure of 128mm. That's a fairly settled, stable front end angle for the travel on offer, not so slack that it becomes vague or wandery at low speed, but relaxed enough to give confidence pointing down steeper, rougher ground.

Reach runs from 420mm on the Size 1 up to 540mm on the Size 5, moving in fairly even 30mm steps through the sizes (420, 450, 480, 510, 540). Stack rises gradually too, from 617mm to 653mm, so the front end gets both longer and a touch taller as you go up the size range.

Effective seat tube angle steepens slightly as the frames get bigger, from 76 degrees on the smallest size up to 77.3 degrees on the largest. A steeper seat angle helps keep your hips over the pedals on climbs rather than stretched out behind the bottom bracket, which matters more on the bigger frames where the seat is further back to begin with.

Chainstays (rear centre) grow from 425mm to 445mm across the size range, again scaling with the front end rather than being fixed. Bottom bracket drop is a constant 30mm with a bottom bracket height of 348mm, giving a fairly low, planted stance that helps cornering stability without being so low you're forever clipping pedals on rooty or rocky ground.

Wheelbase stretches from 1166mm on the Size 1 to 1323mm on the Size 5, which is a substantial spread and shows how much the bike changes in overall footprint and stability from the smallest to the largest frame.

Standover height ranges from 678mm up to 767mm, and seat tube lengths run from 360mm to 510mm, which combined with the size-specific approach should make it easier to find a frame that actually fits rather than compromising on either standover or seatpost insertion depth.

Groupset and drivetrain

Shifting is handled by Shimano Deore, 12 speed throughout, with the SL-M6100-R shifter, RD-M6100 rear derailleur, and a CS-M6100-12 cassette running a 10 to 51 tooth range, paired with a Deore CN-M6100 chain. This is a solid, well proven mid-range groupset that gives a wide enough gear range for steep climbs while being simple and inexpensive to service and replace parts for.

The crankset is a Praxis G2 Cadet M24 with a 30 tooth chainring, running on a Praxis M24 threaded bottom bracket in a BSA shell, which again favours durability and easy home maintenance over exotic materials.

Brakes

Braking comes from TRP, specifically the Slate EVO with metallic pads, paired with TRP's own RS01E rotors, 203mm at the front and 180mm at the rear, both 2.3mm thick with a 6 bolt fitment. The larger front rotor is sensible on a bike like this, giving more stopping power and better heat management where most of your braking force is generated, particularly useful on longer or steeper descents.

Wheels and tyres

Rims are WTB ST 29", 32 hole, laced with stainless steel 14 gauge spokes and black nipples onto Bear Pawls hubs, a 110x15mm front and 148x12mm rear with 6 bolt rotor mounts. This is a Boost spacing setup front and rear, which is now the standard across most modern trail bikes and gives a stiffer wheel and better tyre clearance than older spacing standards.

Tyre spec varies slightly depending on availability, listed as either Continental Kryptotal Trail up front and Xynotal Trail out back, or Maxxis Minion DHF front and Minion DHR rear, both in 29 x 2.4". Both are well regarded trail and enduro focused tread patterns designed to bite hard into loose or wet ground while still rolling reasonably well, and having two possible tyre brands listed suggests this may vary by batch or region, so it's worth checking with your dealer which combination you'll actually receive.

Cockpit and finishing kit

The handlebar is a Norco branded 6061 aluminium bar at 800mm wide with 25mm rise, paired with a Norco 6061 alloy stem in 40mm or 35mm depending on frame size. Grips are WTB Wavelength. The saddle is an SDG Bel Air V3, a well known trail saddle with a durable cover and shape suited to moving around on the bike rather than sitting in one fixed position.

The dropper post is a TranzX YSI34, 34.9mm diameter, with drop length scaled by frame size. Recommended seatpost drop runs from 150mm on the Size 1 up to 200mm on Sizes 3, 4 and 5, with maximum post insertion depth increasing from 250mm to 330mm across the range. This size specific dropper spec is a genuinely useful detail, since it means smaller frames aren't stuck with an oversized post that can't be run at full drop, and larger frames get the room to run a longer post if the rider wants more.

Headset is a standard zero stack sealed cartridge bearing design with a tapered steerer, and the frame will take one 750ml bottle on Sizes 1 to 4, with Size 5 able to fit a second, smaller 620ml bottle as well thanks to the extra front triangle space on the largest frame.

Tyre and crank sizing

Tyre clearance is rated for 2.4" up to 2.6", so there's room to size up if you want more cushioning or grip without needing a new frame. Crank length is a standard 175mm across the range, and stem length is fixed at 40mm regardless of frame size, with the reach and stack figures doing the work of adjusting fit rather than the stem.

Who it suits

Given the 65 degree head angle, 130mm rear and 140mm front travel, and a groupset and brake package built for durability over outright weight saving, the Fluid FS A2 reads as a bike for riders who spend most of their time on proper trail centre red and black routes, or natural technical singletrack, and want a bike that climbs efficiently enough not to be a slog but descends with real composure. It isn't a downcountry bike built to be light and quick, and it isn't a long travel enduro sled either. It sits in the middle of the trail category, built to be ridden hard and repeatedly rather than babied, and the component choices throughout, from the alloy frame to the Deore drivetrain to the TRP brakes, back that up.