Norco's Secret World Cup Weapon Finally Hits the Trails

James Moore · 2026-09-25

### Five Years in the Making You know that feeling when something's been hyped for so long you start wondering if it'll ever actually show up? That's been the Norco Team DH. Five years of development. Countless prototypes. Hundreds of days of testing on the World Cup circuit. And now it's finally production-ready. With 6.3 inches of travel front and rear (200mm for those keeping track), five frame sizes, and the refined HVP6 suspension, Norco's betting this race platform translates directly to your local trails. We put it through its paces in Val di Sole to see if the wait was worth it. ### The Race Team Connection Here's what makes this bike different. It wasn't designed in some wind tunnel and then handed to racers. It evolved on the track, with constant feedback from riders like Greg Minnaar and Gracey Hemstreet. Then there's Kirk McDowall, who races World Cup AND works as an engineer at Norco. He gave the Team DH its final sign-off after racing it at YongPyong in May 2026. That's not marketing fluff. That's a guy who knows exactly what happens when you push a bike to its limits. The connection to Norco's Ride Aligned setup guide is interesting too. The same engineers who developed this bike also built the system that helps you dial in your own setup. So the knowledge doesn't stay locked in the race pits. ### Why Mullet Only? This is where things get interesting. The Team DH runs a 29-inch wheel up front and a 27.5-inch in the rear. Norco tested a full 29er during development, and here's the surprising part: Greg Minnaar originally preferred it. He was convinced it was faster. But the stopwatch told a different story. After numerous back-to-back tests, there was no advantage. The mullet setup gave riders more agility and freedom of movement over the rear. So Norco made the call: mullet only for production. > "The stopwatch doesn't lie. If it's not faster, why give up the agility?" ### What You're Actually Getting Let's talk numbers: - **Travel:** 200mm front and rear (about 7.9 inches) - **Weight:** 19 kg in S3 (roughly 41.9 pounds) - **Frame sizes:** Five options - **Price:** $7,999 USD The bespoke kinematics software Norco developed with an external partner is worth mentioning too. With a six-bar suspension design, the interaction between links and pivots gets complex fast. Their custom tools let engineers define target parameters and explore configurations that actually work within the frame's constraints. Telemetry played a huge role as well. Those mounts on the frame? They're not just for bottle cages. They're attachment points for the data acquisition system. Combined with dyno testing and rider feedback, Norco could compare hard data with how the bike actually felt on trail. ### The Bottom Line You don't need your own race mechanic to benefit from all this. Ride Aligned gives you a solid starting point based on your height, weight, riding position, terrain, and preferences. It won't replace those final few clicks of fine-tuning, but it takes most of the guesswork out. At $7,999, the Team DH isn't cheap. But you're not just buying a bike. You're buying five years of World Cup development, refined into something you can actually ride on your home trails.