Where to start?! Another Thursday, another bike demo! This time, we headed over to Kielder Forest to try out the Santa Cruz Nomad C (for Carbon) on the Deadwater Trail. This type of riding is more akin to our usual, so I was expecting to instantly fall in love with the Nomad, partially because of the terrain.
As we arrived, I saw the bike sat in the shop's van and it really is as breath taking as a bike can be! The carbon is not the square patch carbon you may imagine, but indistinguishable from a car painted with a kind of pearlesant black paint. It seems to sparkle somehow, without being glossy like a painted/powder coated bike. What is clear that the carbon frame is special! This demo was fitted with Fox 36 Talas 160mm, a non-Kashima RP23 shock, Easton Haven bars (same as mine) and some DT Swiss wheels. The drive train was Shimano XT 3x9 or 3x10 (I didn't count!).
As I'm somewhat heavier than your average trail rider at around 205lb/93kg, setup took a little time. Even as I pedaled up to the trail head, I wasn't convinced it was right. Nevertheless, we headed out for a circuit of Deadwater to try it out. On the skills loop, it felt excellent. It had grip, the acceleration was fantastic, but I was climbing hills as quick as my buddy who is usually way ahead. I'm sure many factors will have played a part in that, but the stiffness and lightness of the bike was impressive.
A little way into the trail, I had a nasty crash, caused by what I believe was soft front end suspension. On a berm, there was a small ditch. The wheel dug in, the 160mm maxed out and I kept going, hitting my head and scraping my now bloody leg along the ground. Obviously this had knocked my confidence, but we finished the trail on a high - the last sections of Deadwater, straight after Superbowl are great fun.
Up to this point, I would have chosen the Yeti over the Nomad - no doubt at all.
Back at the car, we changed the suspension pressure and tried again. This time, I was able to trust in the bike to soak up the worst the trail had to offer, allowing me to go faster and faster, ultimately ending in a super fast run though the last sections! It felt so planted but man, this bike can fly too!
Flying, brings us nicely onto the Orange graded tabletops - it had to be done! The Nomad was effortless in the jumps and was easily clearing them (and more on a couple of occasions). My only problem with the jumps, and this is by no means limited to the Nomad, is that you have less feel on the face of a jump with a full sus bike. With the hardtail, as you push against the face of the jump, you can feel the opposite force pushing directly against your feet - not so with the Nomad (and I assume any full sus). Even so, the same technique seemed to work just as well.
I will mention that the Talas forks were mightily impressive as they were on the Yeti but I felt like the 36mm stantions were overkill for the riding we were doing. The bike felt front end heavy as a result so it might benefit from carbon bars and 34mm forks. The Pro Pedal feature on the shock was broken on the demo bike, and whilst the pedal bob was more noticeable than on the Yeti, it never felt like it hampered my progress. On the contrary, my climbing was quicker than it's ever been.
I've struggled to write this review, because it ultimately means I have to make my decision off the back of it. The big question is, is the Nomad worth £600 more than the Yeti SB-66? It is a question I'll be pondering for a while yet.
What I have learnt is that the Carbon-phobia is ridiculous and just shouldn't be worried about. Carbon and Aluminium have different failure modes - Carbon will break, rather than deform, but it will do that at far far higher loads. Stiffness is the amount of force that can be applied to a material whilst it can still return to it's natural form, which is very different from strength which will apply force until a material breaks. Bikes are measured in stiffness, because who wants to ride around on a mangled Alu frame?! In that respect, carbon makes a lot of sense and I truly believe it will be the norm for trail bikes.
Size to choose: X-Large
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