It took only a few hours to go through the Magnum.  By the end of a lovely Sunday afternoon at the cottage, two bottles of beer had fuelled the refurbishment effort.  The result, a drop dead gorgeous old triple ring road bicycle whose art and color choices could only be called pleasing to the eye.

With a final and careful inspection - just to be sure - I loaded the Norco into the back of the Ranger and transported the bicycle to the nearest paved road surface.  I could have rode the bicycle to the pavement, but I would have had to cross a mile of rough gravel to do so.  I do not really like riding in gravel and I did not want to get the bicycle all dirty, again.

As expected, the bicycle was agile and felt light to use.  The triple rings and wide range freewheel would offer a great transmission range, but one that I would never test fully.  The purpose for riding the Norco was to ensure that everything was working correctly.  I had no intention of keeping the bicycle long enough to offer a fair evaluation of its ride quality.

That said, the ride felt good.  Braking was as effective as any other Old School system I have used and the bicycle, overall, felt comfortable.  Were I to keep the bicycle, I would definitely want to fit a different saddle, though.

The Suntour ARX transmission is, like most other Suntour offerings, a treat in velvet smoothness to use.  Sure, the Old School friction ARX derailleurs are not the best of the best, but they sure work like the best of the best.  And, the Suntour transmission has one huge advantage over all other Old School chain jumpers...

Power Shifters!  The Suntour, down tube, Power Shifter, is the best friction shifter I have ever used!  That wonderful innovation, coupled with the precision shifting already incorporated into the derailleurs, makes for a near perfect vintage shifting system.  My opinion, of course.

A few times, up and down the paved portion of the cottage road, and I was pretty much convinced that the bicycle was in perfect working order.  And, being my size to begin with, pretty comfortable to boot.

Of course, I would never have the chance to spend long hours on the bicycle and, should I ever want to do so, the "as found" saddle would have to go.  I do like to keep an original bicycle as original as I can, but not at the expense of either safety, or comfort.  In this case, I knew right from the first perch that I would never develop a love affair, with the original issue Norco saddle.

The handlebars and stem, on the other hand were quite acceptable although a shorter reach stem would not have hurt my feelings.  The Nitto product is generally well made and finished, these items being no exception to that rule.  And, to add frosting to an already yummy cake, even the original cloth handlebar tape was in serviceable condition.  Sadly, the hoods were not.

All in all, the Norco is an impressive vintage road bicycle.  The finish is great.  The components work the way they should and the feel is that of a fine bike.  How could anyone go wrong with such a nice old bicycle?