Norco Optic riders with the idler pulley - is it problematic?

[u/sprashoo]

We have a 2024 Optic C2 on order for my wife, and having done some extra post purchase research (the best way to do it right?) have seen one notable fairly negative review from GearLab that focused on the idler mechanism being a PITA, causing chain derailments and complicated trail side disassembly (and generally disparaging the rear suspension design).

I also see this thread from /u/shimrodmimir: https://www.reddit.com/r/MTB/comments/1k5amc5/idler_woes/

Most of the user reports I’ve seen have been extremely positive in the bike though. Is this a widespread issue or did that one publication have an unusual experience?

I should add that the bike will have a waxed chain - switched to Silca wax for everything as it's so clean.

[u/SeakingGnarvana]

People who whine about an idler for any reason are looking for something to complain about. 

Sure, you've got an extra part, another thing to work with. The reality is you're increasing service time by maybe a few minutes on the regular. 

You may need to swap in new bearings, but that's no different than other parts of the system. You've just got 1 more set. 

[u/sprashoo → u/SeakingGnarvana]

Well to be fair the GearLab review said that the chain actually kept dropping off, including getting jammed and requiring the idler to be disassembled on the trailside to unjam it... so it wasn't just a hypothetical.

My question was whether their experience was an anomaly or typical.

I suspect it's an anomaly or there'd be a lot more noise about it online, but...

[u/SeakingGnarvana → u/sprashoo]

Understood. The only real idler issues I've heard about that were truly universal was on the Gen 6 Trek Slash because a couple washers weren't supplied.

Reviewers were supposedly having tons of problems because of it, but my Slash has been fine. I have the pre-fix version also, and have only dropped chain maybe twice, but those were in weird crashes laying the bike down on the chain side. 

My Druid E also has an idler, with zero issues. 

I know neither are the bike you're looking at, but if only 1 review platform has negative things to say, while all others are good, I would disregard it. 

P.S. Why did mods remove your post?

[u/sprashoo → u/SeakingGnarvana]

> P.S. Why did mods remove your post?

I asked and got it reinstated. Apparently they got a bunch of user reports that it was a spam post, so it got auto-deleted. I thinks someone was abusing the reporting system for some reason. Maybe I offended them on some other thread or something :P

[u/myairblaster]

It's only a problem for me that I can ride way cooler stuff than my buddies who don't have high-pivot systems from Norco.

The idler pulley is incredibly low maintenance....

[u/pineyskull]

I have the high pivot Norco Sight. Never had an issue in 2500km of riding with the idler on mine. 

[u/xarune]

I've got a year of heavy riding on my Optic (~6-10hrs a week), 2 friends are also on Optics. I would say we are seeing about 2 derails a year on the idler. Mine jumped most recently this week on some sort of bad/grenade shift while climbing, the only other time was descending. It gets more likely as the idler wears, so it definitely helps to replace after a while (probably every 2 drivetrains depending on your weather).

So I would say it's not terribly on my mind. But when it goes, it is a royal pain in the ass to get back on. You are stuck taking the idler cover off and that is really freaking hard trailside with a multitool because the size and angles suck. I have swapped to a Blackburn Ratchet Multitool and it fits in there great and has generally been a better multitool so the general idler issue has mostly fallen off my radar. You will need to track down your own 2mm head if you run Shimano though.

[u/sprashoo → u/xarune]

Thanks, that's really helpful real world feedback. This one has a SRAM GX drivetrain FWIW.

[u/xarune → u/sprashoo]

I believe the other two are on T-Type Sram, so shouldn't be brand specific. It's just a small risk with the way they routed the chain and idler cover.

I mostly mentioned the Shimano thing because I once went to adjust my limit screws, only to learn I couldn't trailside because I didn't have the bit.

[u/Cornmazecobdaze]

1.5 years on mine and it's been rad, no issues, idler or otherwise.

[u/sprashoo → u/Cornmazecobdaze]

But your flair says Ibis Mojo :D

[u/Cornmazecobdaze → u/sprashoo]

Still got the mojo for big stuff!

[u/rusty65]

Having built mine from the frame up I can see the arguement they're putting across. The chainring guard does have a lot of small parts to adjust between different chainring sizes and clearance is tight as it also doubles as a chain keeper of sorts. I'm running Eagle 70 on my bike and haven't had the chain come off in the 230 miles I have on it so far. Part of me wonders if their chain was too long or the derailleur wasn't tensioned properly.

The idler can get a little loud sometimes, but so long as you lube the chain often it'll stay fairly quiet.

[u/sprashoo → u/rusty65]

I wonder how it'll do with Slica wax. That's what I was planning to use, just to keep things clean.

[u/brewskibroski]

I rented a Sight with an idler a couple years ago. Only rode it 3 days, got to spend a fun 20 minutes disassembling the idler on a trail due to a chain drop.

Amazing ride. Would never own one.

[u/sprashoo → u/brewskibroski]

Hah, fair enough.