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09-22-07, 01:50 PM
I recently picked up a Norco Victory Tri-A road bike for CAD$85.00. It was more than I wanted to spend on a used bike in so-so condiiton (had to replace tires and clean chain) but it seemed like a nice enough bike that it would be worth it.
After taking the bike home I decided to repack the wheel bearings. The rim tape was rotted so I had to replace it. I also noted some abrasions on the inside of the rims (looked like they had been grated on something) not too reassuring but it seemed OK to use in the face of low $$$ for new rims.
I tried removing the 4-notch Suntour freewheel (man I hate those things) but it would not come off. Closer inspection revealed that it may have been ruined by earlier attempts. I know I managed to break off a piece of one of the notches. This presented a bit of a problem as access to the hub race was restricted. I was going to give up but then decided to see how far I could get with the freewheel in the way. It turned out that cleaning and repacking the hub was tedious but not impossible.
One of the tires was completely ruined so I got a pair of Continental Ultra Sport 700 x 28 tires and replaced both tires. This is where I had the tube explode. After putting another tube on (and exercising more care in the process) I put some earplugs on and then pumped up the tires.
I then found that the dérailleurs needed adjusting so that the chain would not over shift and fly off the outside chain ring or rub on the cage while using the largest rear cog. After all that it was time to ride.
After riding my Trek 3700 this summer, riding the Norco (after adjusting and dealing with exploding tubes) feels like flying a high performance aircraft. Not sure if this is just due to the novelty of the experience but the Norco with the 700 x 28 tires feels a lot faster.
I was looking for more info on this bike and I saw many references on the web to "Repco Victory Tri A" but not Norco. The names sound the same and they appear to have the same model bike. Is repco just rebranded Norco for Oceania?
Anyway, this a fairly rambling post. I just wanted to share my experience and see if anyone had any info on this make/model of bike. Thanks.
After taking the bike home I decided to repack the wheel bearings. The rim tape was rotted so I had to replace it. I also noted some abrasions on the inside of the rims (looked like they had been grated on something) not too reassuring but it seemed OK to use in the face of low $$$ for new rims.
I tried removing the 4-notch Suntour freewheel (man I hate those things) but it would not come off. Closer inspection revealed that it may have been ruined by earlier attempts. I know I managed to break off a piece of one of the notches. This presented a bit of a problem as access to the hub race was restricted. I was going to give up but then decided to see how far I could get with the freewheel in the way. It turned out that cleaning and repacking the hub was tedious but not impossible.
One of the tires was completely ruined so I got a pair of Continental Ultra Sport 700 x 28 tires and replaced both tires. This is where I had the tube explode. After putting another tube on (and exercising more care in the process) I put some earplugs on and then pumped up the tires.
I then found that the dérailleurs needed adjusting so that the chain would not over shift and fly off the outside chain ring or rub on the cage while using the largest rear cog. After all that it was time to ride.
After riding my Trek 3700 this summer, riding the Norco (after adjusting and dealing with exploding tubes) feels like flying a high performance aircraft. Not sure if this is just due to the novelty of the experience but the Norco with the 700 x 28 tires feels a lot faster.
I was looking for more info on this bike and I saw many references on the web to "Repco Victory Tri A" but not Norco. The names sound the same and they appear to have the same model bike. Is repco just rebranded Norco for Oceania?
Anyway, this a fairly rambling post. I just wanted to share my experience and see if anyone had any info on this make/model of bike. Thanks.