There are plenty of bikes available that are described as "budget freeride bikes." Often this just means that they are long-travel and relatively heavy, but it certainly doesn't mean that they are up to the task of taking on all those silly-skinny bridges and drops that our dear friends in British Columbia, Canada, are prone to building and riding. Vancouver,

B.C.-based Norco designed the Drop to fill just that role--a reasonably priced, full-pull freeride machine capable of taking huge amounts of abuse.

Sharing a design with its higher-priced freeride sibling, the VPS Launch, the Drop frame is based on a heavily-gusseted monococque front end, with a welded-on seat tower and tubular four-bar-link rear-suspension system--licensed from Specialized for sale in the U.S. (no licensing agreement required in Canada). Norco's Richard Belson explains, "It (the four-bar system) works. There's no point in avoiding it to save a couple dollars." And, for the most part, we agree.

He continues to explain, "The North Shore Series frames (Shore, Launch and Drop) are designed to be extremely solid platforms. We took kind of a freestyle BMX approach to it, saying, 'it needs to be stronger, add metal' instead of worrying about saving weight." Basically, Belson isn't apologizing for the bike's 37-pound weight. It's designed to be strong, stiff and confidence inspiring in ugly situations.

The frame uses easy-to-replace, standard skateboard-size bearings for the two main pivots, and bushings for the rest. Travel is adjustable--either 4.5 or 5.25 inches, depending on which shock-mounting position you choose.

Geometry is a bit laid back, with a 67.5-degree head angle and (approximately) 70-degree seat angle for added stability (complemented by the longish, 43.5-inch wheelbase) and a little extra room in the cockpit despite the shorter 23-inch top tube on our 19-inch test bike. The bottom bracket, not surprisingly, is a little high at 13.25 inches, for extra ground clearance. All in all, just what you'd expect from a bike intended for technical descending, stunts and wheelie drops.

Parts: Appropriate for the job

So, if it's got the same frame as the more expensive Launch, then the parts must cost less, right? Yup. Norco saves money by using a non-adjustable Fox Vanilla shock and equally non-adjustable Marzocchi Z.5 QR20 fork. Both work reasonably well, but the Marzocchi felt way overdamped--an oil change is necessary right out of the box to get the fork to rebound a bit quicker for any kind of small-bump suppleness.

The good-value darling of the freeride/DH crank and BB world, TruVativ's Hussefelt crank (with only two chainrings and a bash guard) and ISIS splined BB get the nod on a drivetrain that sees LX derailleurs matched up with a SRAM cassette and Half-Pipe shifters.

Not surprisingly, the Drop gets platform pedals--the VP-made models have replaceable pins (small set-screws) that fall out all the time if you don't check them. We recommend checking them.

Hayes mechanical disc brakes matched to Avid levers, an Axiom stem (which we almost immediately stripped out) and seatpost and Vuelta anti-snakebite DH rims round out the package. Though the focus in spec'ing the Drop was on saving money, the guys at Norco deserve credit for doing it in such a way as not to sacrifice too much durability or performance. Overall, the bike is still up for some pretty heavy abuse.

Ride: What did you expect, eh?

Duh. As promised, the Drop feels most at home in low-speed, technical downhill settings with big drops and odd obstacles--man-made or otherwise. The two-chainring setup really limits its range, though, as top-end speed is compromised for ground clearance. Fortunately, the bike will accept the third chainring (in place of the bashguard) if more speed is what you need.

Otherwise, after changing to lighter-weight fork oil, the suspension offers a balanced feel, soaking up small and large impacts nicely considering the lack of adjustment options.

Norco did well to choose the four-bar rear end. The bike doesn't suffer from excessive pedal kickback or many drivetrain issues on large impacts, and it pedals efficiently--somewhat making up for its excessive weight. It's no cross-country bike, but it's not unbearable to ride it to the top of a descent if you're so inclined.

The beefy build is, not surprisingly, nice and stiff. The Drop tracks well and doesn't feel mushy or wacky in the corners.

Verdict: Pure B.C. freeride

This one is pretty simple. The bike is good. It does what it's supposed to do. It doesn't do it as well as higher-dollar offerings with more adjustability, but that's kind of the point. Basically, if it's freeride durability and performance you're after, and you've (only) got $1,900 to blow on a bike, the Drop is a great choice. If you can save up a little more cash to get the refinement, adjustability and slightly more durable parts-spec of the Launch or Shore, well, it's probably worth doing. Regardless, the Drop is a worthy, Canadian-style freerider at a reasonable price. We're believers.

We were happy to see Specialized put rear disc tabs on the bike. As out of place as they may be for some elite racers, the tabs are far better than the silly disc-brake arm attachment the company used in the past.

We've seen plenty of "race replica" bikes come through our door over the years. Some of them have been close to what the racers ride, but most of them haven't. The S-Works is close. Probably the single-best indication of that is the spec of the Time ATAC carbon/Ti pedals. These are as good as it gets-and not only do we rarely see them spec'd on bikes due to their expense, but Specialized also gave the Times the nod over its own pedals. Although the RockShox SID SL duplicates what Fullana and the team are riding this year, historians will point out that she won her stripes with a Manitou fork.

As you'd expect from an authentic replica bike, the S-Works is spec'd with the best of the best. You'll find everything from a Shimano XTR drivetrain to Mavic CrossMax UST wheels and a Thomson seatpost/S-Works Body Geometry saddle combo. It's all good, and it all works great. No complaints.

Though we never competed on the S-Works "race bike," we didn't have to. We gleaned all we needed to know about its ride characteristics by doing some bitchin,' all-day cross-country rides (you know, real freeriding), and the bike shined. With its one-degree-slacker (than the Tycoon) head angle and the more-than-one-degree-slacker seat angle, the S-Works had a far more stable ride. It was never too quick in the turns or too sketchy over the bumps.

The advanced evolution of Specialized's signature M4 tubing gives the S-Works superior stiffness in all the right directions. While stiff laterally and in torsion, the S-Works' frame seemed to have a certain degree of damping when negotiating rough terrain. This is the kind of thing that might not mean much on an hour-and-a-half ride on your local trail, but it could be the difference between just surviving the last lap of a three-hour cross-country race and reeling in that last competitor to make your way onto the podium.

These two bikes are definite thoroughbreds. Climbing with either of them almost feels like cheating-every pedal stroke results in instant forward motion. Both were built to be race bikes and they're happiest when doing exactly that; they love to be ridden fast. But don't let the race-derived roots of these bikes make you think they are race-only machines. When taken out for a day of trail exploration, we found a lot of fun in each, far from any start line or finish banner.

Basically, the difference between the bikes comes down to their respective numbers. Although the complete bikes weigh the same (21.5 pounds), under a talented rider, the Tycoon just takes off down the trail because it has shorter chainstays (16.5 inches vs. 16.75 inches), steeper angles and a lower bottom bracket (11.5 inches vs. 12 inches). For the sake of accuracy, we slapped a 63mm-travel RockShox Sydney fork on the S-Works to better duplicate the short-travel ride that Fullana relies on. The one-inch-shorter fork drove the head angle up to a steep 72 degrees, but it still didn't feel as race-oriented as the Tycoon.

If you're the type that goes through life acting and thinking like a winner, the Tycoon is for you. We rode it on the same backcountry XC rides we rode the S-Works on and, while it handled the creek crossings and staircase drop-ins like any well-designed hardtail, it just required more of the rider's attention.