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Nomad slayer
What is a Nomad Slayer?
well after 3 years on the Nomad, I had dialed it to the nth degree. I took my friend's Remedy 7 for about 200 meters and decided to sell the Nomad because the Remedy slays the Nomad, hence Nomad slayer. Here is whyOk so right off the bat let me say that thi is my view on how these 2 bikes compare, it's not meant to be a perfect comparison as I don't have the money to buy 2 bikes with exact same components and spend 6-7 days in a resort to fully appreciate each bike's traits and features.
I bought a 2010 Remedy 7 (the lowest end model), I took all my parts from my Nomad put them on the Remedy and took the parts from the Remedy, put them on the Nomad and sold the Nomad. My cost difference between selling the Nomad and Buying the Remedy was $587 including a new chain. The Nomad is a 2007. Santa Cruz has since revised the linkage ratios and made a carbon version of the venerable Nomad so there would be comparisons that could be slightly different if again I had piles of money laying around I could comment but oh well. Come to think of it there would be bikes all over my garage if had a lot of money.... (I am a bike whore)
ok the biggest difference that sold me immediately on the Remedy is the cornering ability. As far as I can tell, this is due to 2 things, the ABP rear pivot that keeps the suspension working all the time even when you are braking and the rear shock that feels great all thru the stroke. the bike keeps a steadier line when cornering because it remains active all the time and when you push on your bike to rail corners, the rear shock has a great instinctive feel as you hit the apex of the corner, making it easy to finish corners with a simple pull on the bars to bring it out of the corners and already at full speed right away. For someone like me who loves going fast and railling corners this is the holy grail!!!!
The second thing that I really noticed is how easy it is to pop or loft the bike around. With the Nomad, I always felt that I was fighting the rear suspension to get airbone, please don't get me wrong, the Nomad as an all mountain bike, it's ok if the bike stays on the ground as you can keep pedalling but I see the Remedy as a play bike and this is one fun machine, I am now looking everywhere for roots to just pull on the bars, spot the landing push on the bike as it lands and instantly accelerate.
The Nomad has a DHX air 5 which has propedal and it was useful, however sometimes too many adjustments is sometimes just as bad as not enough. Ask anyone who had a Manitou Swinger 6 way, how confusing it was to make it work. The Remedy has propedal on or off so it's simple and easy and I found that the only time I really want to use the Propedal is when I am climbing a significant hill. Most of the time when I am riding around in Fish Creek, I could not tell you if it's on or off without looking down at the shock.
The biggest test for the Remedy came when we did a few shuttles on Stoney Squaw in Banff, it's an easy downhill with lots of baby head rocks and roots and very fast speed, well except for the few uphills here and there. The Remedy earned another gold star for it's descending capabilities, again keeping the line, predicatble, easy to just float over bumps and the rear shock did not fade like the old Fox RP23 used to.
I just read recently in a bike magazine that they considered the Remedy to be a Single pivot type of suspension and I am scrathing my head as to how this makes any sense, this bike in my opinion is a great interpretation of a four bar linkage with refinements that make it better than most if not all four bar linkages and a gaggle of other bikes on the market
Goodbye Nomad, welcome Remedy, now it's time to go shred.
well after 3 years on the Nomad, I had dialed it to the nth degree. I took my friend's Remedy 7 for about 200 meters and decided to sell the Nomad because the Remedy slays the Nomad, hence Nomad slayer. Here is whyOk so right off the bat let me say that thi is my view on how these 2 bikes compare, it's not meant to be a perfect comparison as I don't have the money to buy 2 bikes with exact same components and spend 6-7 days in a resort to fully appreciate each bike's traits and features.
I bought a 2010 Remedy 7 (the lowest end model), I took all my parts from my Nomad put them on the Remedy and took the parts from the Remedy, put them on the Nomad and sold the Nomad. My cost difference between selling the Nomad and Buying the Remedy was $587 including a new chain. The Nomad is a 2007. Santa Cruz has since revised the linkage ratios and made a carbon version of the venerable Nomad so there would be comparisons that could be slightly different if again I had piles of money laying around I could comment but oh well. Come to think of it there would be bikes all over my garage if had a lot of money.... (I am a bike whore)
ok the biggest difference that sold me immediately on the Remedy is the cornering ability. As far as I can tell, this is due to 2 things, the ABP rear pivot that keeps the suspension working all the time even when you are braking and the rear shock that feels great all thru the stroke. the bike keeps a steadier line when cornering because it remains active all the time and when you push on your bike to rail corners, the rear shock has a great instinctive feel as you hit the apex of the corner, making it easy to finish corners with a simple pull on the bars to bring it out of the corners and already at full speed right away. For someone like me who loves going fast and railling corners this is the holy grail!!!!
The second thing that I really noticed is how easy it is to pop or loft the bike around. With the Nomad, I always felt that I was fighting the rear suspension to get airbone, please don't get me wrong, the Nomad as an all mountain bike, it's ok if the bike stays on the ground as you can keep pedalling but I see the Remedy as a play bike and this is one fun machine, I am now looking everywhere for roots to just pull on the bars, spot the landing push on the bike as it lands and instantly accelerate.
The Nomad has a DHX air 5 which has propedal and it was useful, however sometimes too many adjustments is sometimes just as bad as not enough. Ask anyone who had a Manitou Swinger 6 way, how confusing it was to make it work. The Remedy has propedal on or off so it's simple and easy and I found that the only time I really want to use the Propedal is when I am climbing a significant hill. Most of the time when I am riding around in Fish Creek, I could not tell you if it's on or off without looking down at the shock.
The biggest test for the Remedy came when we did a few shuttles on Stoney Squaw in Banff, it's an easy downhill with lots of baby head rocks and roots and very fast speed, well except for the few uphills here and there. The Remedy earned another gold star for it's descending capabilities, again keeping the line, predicatble, easy to just float over bumps and the rear shock did not fade like the old Fox RP23 used to.
I just read recently in a bike magazine that they considered the Remedy to be a Single pivot type of suspension and I am scrathing my head as to how this makes any sense, this bike in my opinion is a great interpretation of a four bar linkage with refinements that make it better than most if not all four bar linkages and a gaggle of other bikes on the market
Goodbye Nomad, welcome Remedy, now it's time to go shred.
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Member since Jul 9, 2000
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1 Comment
- 1 0
shenyyc
(Jun 25, 2010 at 15:21)
I have to agree. Am liking my remedy but have not tried too many other bikes to compare, also don't feel the need to try any other bikes until something substantially different or upgraded comes along and that could be a while...
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