NDG

Hi,

I have recently purchased an older Norco road bike.
It is a Norco Nomad, Sports Series, that probably dates from the 1980s.
The serial number is F6030118.
There is also a "68K" inscription just below the serial number.

I don't know if any of you can help, but based on the serial number, is it possible to determine the exact year of manufacture of this bicycle?
I would also love to see an archive picture or specification list of this bicycle to see the original specs (it has been transformed into a single-speed winter bicycle).

Thanks

Thank you in advance.

T-Mar

It's a 1987, Taiwanese manufactured model. The Nomad was the bottom model in Norco's lightweight lineup. The frame is hi-tensile steel and the OEM components were a generic cotterless crankset with steel chainrings, DNP derailleurs, Chang Star side-pull brakes and 27" steel rims laced to steel, nutted hubs.

The 68K stamping is likely a bottom bracket shell identifier/model number. The 68 probably identifies the width and K may be the style or threading.

NDG

Thank you T-Mar.
Very helpful. Do you have any pics from the original catalog?

The frame is still in good shape, so, I think that it will be a great winter bike.
With cyclo-cross tires and a vintage-looking straight handle-bar, it looks quite good.
Thanks again.

Turbo231

Thread bump from the dead...sorry, this was the right thread for this bike, just its old.

I too have a Norco Nomad, here are some pictures and details. My serial number is F6030562, so if in order, I'm only 444 units off of the OP's bike. This is after repacking all bearings and cleaning.

Pictures and descriptions...
Here is the subject bike, a Norco Nomad. I guess its a lower end roadbike but because of the fork damage, I wouldn't feel comfortable selling it, and since it fits me and I sold off all my other road bikes, I'm adding this to my signature as my defacto road bike.
I purchased it for $20 from a bike collector, he has half a garage full of vintage bikes I have heard from a friend, I hope to see it sometime. He said he purchased this bike from a police auction back in 1981, which runs contrary to T-mar's 1987 date, so I'm not sure. The SunTour stuff seems to want to put it earlier, I will have to see if I can date code it.


It is equipped with a SunTour Honor derailleur, which in the early 80's was a cut above similar level Shamano equipment I have read. The freewheel is a Shamano, the dork disk is a SunTour, and the rear wheel is a Araya, the front is CMC, so something has gone on here. 27x1-1/4 tires, which I just replaced with new, old were NORCO brand.


SunTour Spirt front derailleur. Neat thing about SunTour stuff, they default the the big ring instead of the small ring if something breaks.
I had to replace the crank arms and crank ring as the original was a heavy chrome, aluminum cranks, and the right one broken (SR brand out of Japan). This set is off a Venture road bike, the arms shrink from 170mm to 165mm, tooth count is about the same.


Norco headbadge and as T-Mar said, aluminum Chang Star side-pull brakes...it had the OEM pads in great shape but old, I replaced them with newer stickier ones. They were not very worn. The brake appears a bit bent, probably from an accident at some point, more on that later.


SunTour shifters on the stem, that happens to be where I like them. Not a fan of downtube or bar end shifters.


Rear view, I replaced a chrome rack with this Alumium name brand one that came off my high end Apollo.


Steel Tubing sticker...


Dealer Sticker, this bike was sold in Edmonton, which is a few hours from where it lives now.


Here is the damage, I can't see the bend, so it was either bent back or was minor, but it did ruin the paint and bend the brake out of shape a bit. It's steel, looks ok, I'm not worried, but I'll keep it as my own now and drip a bit of blue paint on it.


My serial number and the 68K actually printed under the serial number.




Edit: The rear derailleur has a ZL date code, Dec 1983. The front derailleur has a date code of ZJ, Oct 1983. You can't date a bike buy its components, but if they are stock it puts us in the range.

Hummer

NDG and Turbo231,

good information in a thread is never dead. Thanks for posting information about your Nomads.

In the 1985 model year, Norco began putting a (white) band around the middle of the seat tube and writing "Sport Series", "Touring Series", "Racing Series", "Mountain Series" and lord knows what other series, depending upon the purpose of the model.
This continued into the 1986 model year.

I have seen three 1986 Norco Mountaineers and a 1987 Bush pilot, lower end MTB models, with the same format of serial number. As T-Mar says Taiwanese manufactured. The country label is on the front of the head tube, but is missing on yours Turbo231.

Turbo 231,

From the other Nomads that I have seen, T-Mar's list of components seems right. So, I think some of the components on your bike are not original.

The serial number and look of the decals says 1986. The story of the 1981 police auction is hard to swallow.

Except for the fork, your bike looks in pretty good shape for a 1986 model.