This is my third follow-up review for my 2006 Santa Cruz Nomad. For the first review and follow up check out this thread:
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166271&p=2290170
After 6 years of hard riding the bike was starting to get pretty beat up. I recently did a bunch of work on it and now it's better than new! I think I'll probably ride this bike another 6 years.
This bike is truly my "one-bike". I currently use it for:
-XC/All Mountain rides: ~10-30 miles 3-5000 vert.
-DH: So far only taken it to Deer Valley and Canyons and some shuttle trails. I don't think I'd take it to Whistler, but that's mainly because of shipping costs and rental options.
-Daily commuter: 3 miles each way 5 days a week (with an optional additional 6 miles of single-track if I've got time/feel good).
Obviously it's strength is in long technical descents you have to pedal up to, but it's a surprisingly capable bike for DH, and is fine for XC riding. It's biggest weakness is the commute to work, and there my main concern is around it being stolen, or wearing out the tires too soon. Aside from those minor details it really is my one bike. I'm planning to sell my DH bike and my road bike this year. I don't use them anymore. I'll still keep an old beater HT around in case this one goes in the shop, but that's it. The Nomad really is my one bike. I probably couldn't win any DH or XC race on this bike, but I'm sure I could at least finish any/all of them. If I had to do it all over again today, I would almost certainly buy another Nomad.
If you're interested, there are videos on my vimeo page: http://vimeo.com/user5637159. Here's the ride that finally did in the CrossMax wheelset:
Moab late fall on Vimeo
Read on for a detailed review of the frame and components:
Current Parts Spec:
Frame: Nomad, mk1, revA bearings (original)
Shock: 2006 DHX Air
Fork: 2012 TALAS 36, replaced 2006 version
Brakes: Shimano XT, replaced Juicy7's
Shifter: Gripshift XO 9 speed (original)
Rear Der: Sram XO short cage (original)
Seat and Post: SDG I-beam (original)
Stem: Thompson (original)
HBar: Easton Carbon XC Riser (original)
Headset: King (original)
Wheelset: Enve AM with DTSwiss 240's, replaced Mavic Crossmax SX
Cranks: Shimano SLX, replaced Shimano XT
ChainGuide: E13 SRS (original)
Frame: Santa Cruz Nomad Mk1 revA bearings Totally rock-solid. I've gone through 4 DU-bushings, but other than that no issues until this summer when I finally started having some bearing play. For 6 years they were free of any noise or play. Totally solid with zero maintenance (aside from washing them with a garden hose). Finally this summer some play developed where the rear triangle connects to the upper and lower links. Turns out my frame has the "revA" style bearings. I sent an email to Santa Cruz and 4 days later I had a new set of bearings in my mailbox free of charge. Gotta love Santa Cruz's lifetime bearing warranty! 6 years of hard riding and this is the only real issue. The only other thing I've noticed with this frame is that it's prone to chainsuck if your freehub is not coasting properly, or your chain is too long. The chain can wedge between the tire and the chainstay. This isn't an issue with the frame exactly, but maybe worth mentioning. My only wish is that the frame had a 1.5" head tube and the ISCG tabs that the new Nomad has. Aside from that the frame has been great. Maybe the chainstays could be a little shorter and maybe the bottom bracket could be a little higher, but then it wouldn't be quite so fast and stable of a descender.
Shock: 2006 Fox DHX Air. For 6 years I've done nothing but check the air level and clean off the slider. Still feels like it did when it was brand new. Rock solid.
Fork: 2012 Fox Talas 36 The original 2006 TALAS was a fine fork but eventually the anodization on the sliders wore off and my ham-fisted mechanic/friend broke off the internals that stick out of the bottom of the lowers. Fox was super awesome and offered a crash-replacement to me. The new 2012 works great, but I actually preferred the 2006. The new adjuster knobs are a little harder to turn while riding, and I miss having 3 travel options, but these are minor issues. Performance-wise I can't really tell the difference between the 2006 and 2012.
Brakes: The original Avid Juicy7's worked great for me, and are still kicking on my back-up hardtail. I never really could tell if the pad contact adjusters did anything, but the brakes have good modulation and I think I only bled them once in 6 years. On really long descents (~15 minutes, 4.5 miles, 3,000 vert feet) the rear (160mm rotor) would occasionally experience heat-failure which was pretty scary. In addition, to get good performance you kind of have to drag the brakes ahead of when you want to stop. The new XT's stop instantly without dragging and seem to manage heat better than the Juicy7's. Definitely adds confidence to the ride.
Shifter and Derailleur: I'm still running Sram 9-speed gripshift XO with a short cage derailleur, but these are actually older than 2006. The parts from 2006 have worn out. The gripshift has no grip left and my hand would slip occasionally. The rear der. main spring broke the other day and SRAm doesn't offer a replacement part. Luckily I had an even older set-up that I swapped onto the Nomad. Works fine, but I'll probably switch to Shimano and triggers for the next round. I'm really interested to see if the new clutch technology would be a noticeable improvement.
Stem/Bar: I'm starting to wish I had a wider bar, but that would require a new stem also, and there's nothing wrong with the stem. It pisses me off to consider replacing a perfectly good stem just because of changing standards, so I'm sticking with the original for a while longer.
Headset: Every once in a while I would think that the Chris King needed new bearings, but each time I've always tracked it back to the front wheel, or the brake calipers, or the DU bushing. 6 years of hard abuse, changed the grease a few times, but otherwise the King has been entirely maintenance free.
Seat and Seatpost: Starting to develop a little play between the saddle and the post, not really sure where it's coming from yet. Set the seat-angle back in 2006. Haven't touched it since. I do want to get a dropper post, just haven't figured out which one is going to be reliable for the long term yet.
Wheels: The original Mavic CrossMax SX wheels have pretty much bit the dust by now. When they were new they felt amazing, but over 5 years a few problems cropped up. The front bearings developed play, the pawls started binding and eventually require replacing the whole freehub body, spokes broke. At the end the wheelset was so beat up and required so many custom parts that it was moved down to my commuter bike where it died due to a seized spoke nipple and a broken spoke. The new Enve AM's feel like an incredible improvement. The SB66 had a set of these and I attribute most of my bike envy to the Enve wheels. They're much stiffer and lighter than the CrossMax's. I can feel a huge difference while pedaling, cornering, and jumping. This was the first upgrade I made and it basically eliminated my bike envy. Totally amazing wheelset.
Cranks/Chainguide: I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow my XT BB wore a groove into the non-drive side of the crank axle and started creaking last fall. The SLX feels basically identical. The chainring bolts that came with it are about 50% heavier than the XT's so I kept the XT bolts on the SLX cranks. Problem solved. The E13 continues to run flawlessly after 6 years. My only gripe is that the adapter can slip causing the chainguide to rotate if the BB isn't tight enough.
Tires: I've gone though a few different tire choices, but my favorite is a Kenda Nevegal UST 2.35 DTC in the rear and a Maxis Minion DHF UST in the front.
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166271&p=2290170
After 6 years of hard riding the bike was starting to get pretty beat up. I recently did a bunch of work on it and now it's better than new! I think I'll probably ride this bike another 6 years.
This bike is truly my "one-bike". I currently use it for:
-XC/All Mountain rides: ~10-30 miles 3-5000 vert.
-DH: So far only taken it to Deer Valley and Canyons and some shuttle trails. I don't think I'd take it to Whistler, but that's mainly because of shipping costs and rental options.
-Daily commuter: 3 miles each way 5 days a week (with an optional additional 6 miles of single-track if I've got time/feel good).
Obviously it's strength is in long technical descents you have to pedal up to, but it's a surprisingly capable bike for DH, and is fine for XC riding. It's biggest weakness is the commute to work, and there my main concern is around it being stolen, or wearing out the tires too soon. Aside from those minor details it really is my one bike. I'm planning to sell my DH bike and my road bike this year. I don't use them anymore. I'll still keep an old beater HT around in case this one goes in the shop, but that's it. The Nomad really is my one bike. I probably couldn't win any DH or XC race on this bike, but I'm sure I could at least finish any/all of them. If I had to do it all over again today, I would almost certainly buy another Nomad.
If you're interested, there are videos on my vimeo page: http://vimeo.com/user5637159. Here's the ride that finally did in the CrossMax wheelset:
Moab late fall on Vimeo
Read on for a detailed review of the frame and components:
Current Parts Spec:
Frame: Nomad, mk1, revA bearings (original)
Shock: 2006 DHX Air
Fork: 2012 TALAS 36, replaced 2006 version
Brakes: Shimano XT, replaced Juicy7's
Shifter: Gripshift XO 9 speed (original)
Rear Der: Sram XO short cage (original)
Seat and Post: SDG I-beam (original)
Stem: Thompson (original)
HBar: Easton Carbon XC Riser (original)
Headset: King (original)
Wheelset: Enve AM with DTSwiss 240's, replaced Mavic Crossmax SX
Cranks: Shimano SLX, replaced Shimano XT
ChainGuide: E13 SRS (original)
Frame: Santa Cruz Nomad Mk1 revA bearings Totally rock-solid. I've gone through 4 DU-bushings, but other than that no issues until this summer when I finally started having some bearing play. For 6 years they were free of any noise or play. Totally solid with zero maintenance (aside from washing them with a garden hose). Finally this summer some play developed where the rear triangle connects to the upper and lower links. Turns out my frame has the "revA" style bearings. I sent an email to Santa Cruz and 4 days later I had a new set of bearings in my mailbox free of charge. Gotta love Santa Cruz's lifetime bearing warranty! 6 years of hard riding and this is the only real issue. The only other thing I've noticed with this frame is that it's prone to chainsuck if your freehub is not coasting properly, or your chain is too long. The chain can wedge between the tire and the chainstay. This isn't an issue with the frame exactly, but maybe worth mentioning. My only wish is that the frame had a 1.5" head tube and the ISCG tabs that the new Nomad has. Aside from that the frame has been great. Maybe the chainstays could be a little shorter and maybe the bottom bracket could be a little higher, but then it wouldn't be quite so fast and stable of a descender.
Shock: 2006 Fox DHX Air. For 6 years I've done nothing but check the air level and clean off the slider. Still feels like it did when it was brand new. Rock solid.
Fork: 2012 Fox Talas 36 The original 2006 TALAS was a fine fork but eventually the anodization on the sliders wore off and my ham-fisted mechanic/friend broke off the internals that stick out of the bottom of the lowers. Fox was super awesome and offered a crash-replacement to me. The new 2012 works great, but I actually preferred the 2006. The new adjuster knobs are a little harder to turn while riding, and I miss having 3 travel options, but these are minor issues. Performance-wise I can't really tell the difference between the 2006 and 2012.
Brakes: The original Avid Juicy7's worked great for me, and are still kicking on my back-up hardtail. I never really could tell if the pad contact adjusters did anything, but the brakes have good modulation and I think I only bled them once in 6 years. On really long descents (~15 minutes, 4.5 miles, 3,000 vert feet) the rear (160mm rotor) would occasionally experience heat-failure which was pretty scary. In addition, to get good performance you kind of have to drag the brakes ahead of when you want to stop. The new XT's stop instantly without dragging and seem to manage heat better than the Juicy7's. Definitely adds confidence to the ride.
Shifter and Derailleur: I'm still running Sram 9-speed gripshift XO with a short cage derailleur, but these are actually older than 2006. The parts from 2006 have worn out. The gripshift has no grip left and my hand would slip occasionally. The rear der. main spring broke the other day and SRAm doesn't offer a replacement part. Luckily I had an even older set-up that I swapped onto the Nomad. Works fine, but I'll probably switch to Shimano and triggers for the next round. I'm really interested to see if the new clutch technology would be a noticeable improvement.
Stem/Bar: I'm starting to wish I had a wider bar, but that would require a new stem also, and there's nothing wrong with the stem. It pisses me off to consider replacing a perfectly good stem just because of changing standards, so I'm sticking with the original for a while longer.
Headset: Every once in a while I would think that the Chris King needed new bearings, but each time I've always tracked it back to the front wheel, or the brake calipers, or the DU bushing. 6 years of hard abuse, changed the grease a few times, but otherwise the King has been entirely maintenance free.
Seat and Seatpost: Starting to develop a little play between the saddle and the post, not really sure where it's coming from yet. Set the seat-angle back in 2006. Haven't touched it since. I do want to get a dropper post, just haven't figured out which one is going to be reliable for the long term yet.
Wheels: The original Mavic CrossMax SX wheels have pretty much bit the dust by now. When they were new they felt amazing, but over 5 years a few problems cropped up. The front bearings developed play, the pawls started binding and eventually require replacing the whole freehub body, spokes broke. At the end the wheelset was so beat up and required so many custom parts that it was moved down to my commuter bike where it died due to a seized spoke nipple and a broken spoke. The new Enve AM's feel like an incredible improvement. The SB66 had a set of these and I attribute most of my bike envy to the Enve wheels. They're much stiffer and lighter than the CrossMax's. I can feel a huge difference while pedaling, cornering, and jumping. This was the first upgrade I made and it basically eliminated my bike envy. Totally amazing wheelset.
Cranks/Chainguide: I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow my XT BB wore a groove into the non-drive side of the crank axle and started creaking last fall. The SLX feels basically identical. The chainring bolts that came with it are about 50% heavier than the XT's so I kept the XT bolts on the SLX cranks. Problem solved. The E13 continues to run flawlessly after 6 years. My only gripe is that the adapter can slip causing the chainguide to rotate if the BB isn't tight enough.
Tires: I've gone though a few different tire choices, but my favorite is a Kenda Nevegal UST 2.35 DTC in the rear and a Maxis Minion DHF UST in the front.
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