Santa Cruz’s longest travel bike aimed at being pedalled to the top of the hill, the Nomad, got a refresh this year with some minor tweaks all round.
Sitting pretty in the middle of the three UK-available Santa Cruz Nomad 7 models, the XT Di2-equipped offering is every bit the bike for some serious action. Pete was a big fan of the outgoing Nomad, will the latest version stack up?
Photos by Pete Scullion.
Key features:
- Fox 38 Float Factory Grip X2 170mm fork
- Fox DHX2 Factory shock
- Shimano XT Di2 12-speed drive
- SRAM Maven Silver brakes
- DT Swiss 350 hubs on Reserve 30 AL rims
- OneUp dropper
- £7,499.00 RRP
- SantaCruzBicycles.com
Santa Cruz launched the seventh Nomad back in April, and we’ve been lucky enough to get our grubby mitts on one. CC carbon only now ladles and jellyspoons, no more Carbon C. You still get 170mm travel at both ends and mixed wheels too.
Leverage curve and progression are carried over, updates to the kinematic are reduced pedal kickback and less anti-squat to bring it in line with the Bullit. The new Nomad is also more active under braking too via less anti-rise.
A slimmer downtube aims to prove a more comfortable ride when charging hard. When compared to the Bronson 6 CC, you save an unprecedented 86g. Head angle slackens slightly to match the Bullit, and the seat tube angle steepens in a similar vein too.
Seen here is the middle of the three full builds that you can buy in the UK, the Nomad 6 XT Di2 Coil. This Carbon CC frame comes with a Fox Factory 38 with the GripX2 damper and Glidecore air spring. This is matched by a DHX2 Factory Coil out back. Shimano XT Di2 handles the forward, SRAM Maven Silvers the slow down. DT Swiss 350 hubs are laced to Reserve alloy rims, DD casing Maxxis rubber features at both ends too. A very nice result of PON owning OneUp is that you now get their excellent carbon bars and dropper too. All this sets you back £7,499.00.
Opening moves
My first task with the new Nomad was to fit an appropriate spring weight for my 60ish kilo frame. With a preference towards Santa Cruz size mediums, the 450lb spring that comes as stock is about 75 too firm. Whilst the new Fox DHX2 makes it far easier to swap springs, the Hi/Lo flip chip nut is not captive, and more than once the nut fell into the frame’s inner workings.
After some less than muttered swearing, I finally re-sited the nut and I could finally begin the setup. Sag, damping, lever throw and angle. We were off. I was a big fan of the previous Nomad in almost identical spec (bar the SRAM drivetrain) and it appeared that the new bike could only improve on that.
The work to make the frame less jarring on long descents was music to my ears being both a lighter rider and someone that likes to take bikes to the top of the UK’s mountains to try and rattle off the top. Any kinematic changes that Santa Cruz bikes have received as well have only made them better in both directions, be in the Tallboy or the Bronson.
For such a capable bike, the Nomad winched its way calmly up long fire roads, making the most of the iput into the pedals. When the climbs got technical, the lower anti-squat made sure that the bike stayed glued to the deck, which became even more evident on a solstice Munro outing.
As a long, hot day wore on, the Nomad kept me going forward when I might otherwise have not. That efficiency in the rough, winching through the boulders or charging back down them was really quite something. As my body started to tire into the seventh hour of riding and the riding skill left the chat, the Nomad just dealt with my terrible lines and rewarded me with speed.
Arguably my only gripe with the Nomad is that, at low speed or when things get slick, the Mavens can too easily lock the front, leading to a creaky bum on occasions. This Nomad has also taken longer to find the sweet spot, but I’m sure when I do, it’ll break the sound barrier. Watch this space.
