Field Test: 2021 Santa Cruz Nomad - The Same But Different
PINKBIKE FIELD TEST
Santa Cruz Nomad
Words by Mike Kazimer, photography by Tom Richards
Santa Cruz Nomad
Words by Mike Kazimer, photography by Tom Richards
This is the fifth generation of the Nomad, a bike that’s been a mainstay in Santa Cruz’s lineup ever since it was introduced back in 2005. Like the previous version, the newest iteration has 170mm of travel front and rear, and 27.5” wheels. It’s received a few geometry and frame updates for 2021, but they’re more subtle than radical.
What’s new? Let’s start with the geometry first. The head angle now sits at 63.7 or 64-degrees depending on the position of the flip chip, roughly a degree slacker than before. The reach has grown, and now sits at 472mm for the size large in the low position, a 16mm increase.
What’s new? Let’s start with the geometry first. The head angle now sits at 63.7 or 64-degrees depending on the position of the flip chip, roughly a degree slacker than before. The reach has grown, and now sits at 472mm for the size large in the low position, a 16mm increase.
Nomad Details
• Travel: 170mm rear / 170mm front
• Wheel size: 27.5"
• Head angle: 63.7 or 64°
• Seat tube angle: 77.5°
• Reach: 472mm (lrg)
• Chainstay length: 436mm (size L)
• Sizes: S, M, L (tested), XL
• Weight: 32.6 lb / 14.8 kg
• Price: $7,399 USD
• santacruzbicycles.com
• Travel: 170mm rear / 170mm front
• Wheel size: 27.5"
• Head angle: 63.7 or 64°
• Seat tube angle: 77.5°
• Reach: 472mm (lrg)
• Chainstay length: 436mm (size L)
• Sizes: S, M, L (tested), XL
• Weight: 32.6 lb / 14.8 kg
• Price: $7,399 USD
• santacruzbicycles.com
With the longer and slacker boxes checked, Santa Cruz significantly steepened the seat tube angle - it now measures 77.5-degrees in the low position, creating a much more upright riding position, and a shorter effective top tube than version 4.0.
When the new 5010 came out earlier this year it had size-specific chainstay lengths, and that trend continues on the Nomad. The length goes up by 5mm for each size, ranging from 426mm on the small up to 441mm on the XL.
Moving onto frame details, the most visible change is the addition of another swingarm upright, which means there’s now a support between the seatstays and chainstays on both sides of the bike. Less visible are the changes to the bike’s kinematics - the leverage curve is straighter, for a more consistent feel as the bike goes through its travel. It’s still compatible with both air and coil shocks, and Santa Cruz offers models with both options.
Other details include internal cable routing done the right way, a threaded bottom bracket, Zerk grease ports on the linkage to keep those bearing running smooth, and two paint jobs, one wild, and the other more mild. There’s a lifetime warranty on the bearings, and on the frame itself.
Prices on complete builds range from $4,499 to $8,699, and a CC frame and shock only is priced at $3,399 USD. The version I tested is the $7,399 XT Reserve, which has a Shimano XT 12-speed drivetrain, XT 4-piston brakes, Reserve carbon wheels, a Fox 38 Performance Elite fork, and a RockShox Super Deluxe Select + shock. All of those goodies added up to 32.6 pounds on my scale.
Climbing
The Nomad’s climbing performance puts it neck and neck with the Propain Spindrift - both bikes feel quick and efficient, and do an excellent job of hiding how much travel is available for the descents. The head angle is slacker than the previous version, but the other geometry changes, especially the seat angle steepening, go a long way towards hiding that. In fact, I’d say that it’s easier and more pleasant to pedal than ever before.
For riders that enjoy technical climbs but don’t want to skimp on travel, the Nomad could be a good option. It seems to have an innate ability to find its way through tricky sections of trail, and it never felt cumbersome or unwieldy. There’s plenty of traction to keep the rear wheel gripping the ground, and the lack of unwanted shock movement meant I never had to use the climb switch.
Descending
The Nomad seems to be mellowing out a little as the years go by, morphing into more of a mild-mannered, do-it-all machine, as opposed to a purely gravity-oriented bike that’s only happy if you’re blasting down the trail as fast as possible. Don’t get me wrong - there’s a time and place for those long and fast speed machines, but it was sort of refreshing to take the Nomad out and not need to work that hard to have fun.
There’s a nimbleness to its handling that makes it well suited for hitting all the little bonus jumps, but when things get rough and rowdy it’s still possible to put your heels down and plow right on through.
The Nomad seems to be mellowing out a little as the years go by, morphing into more of a mild-mannered, do-it-all machine, as opposed to a purely gravity-oriented bike that’s only happy if you’re blasting down the trail as fast as possible. Don’t get me wrong - there’s a time and place for those long and fast speed machines, but it was sort of refreshing to take the Nomad out and not need to work that hard to have fun.
There’s a nimbleness to its handling that makes it well suited for hitting all the little bonus jumps, but when things get rough and rowdy it’s still possible to put your heels down and plow right on through.
Timed Testing
The enduro and freeride bikes were all tested on a section of trail that included a mix of everything you'd expect to find on a race track. There were tight corners, a few drops, some sidehill sections that get trickier the faster you go, along with some higher speed, open corners.
Don't forget that timing is just one of many ways to judge a bike, and fast doesn't always mean it's the best for everyone.
Mike Kazimer: "I had my slowest time on the Nomad, at 2:48, a little over 7 seconds back. That could have been me forgetting I was on a smaller wheeled bike and pushing a little too hard in the corners, causing a couple of slide outs."
My first ride on the Nomad ride took place after a heavy rain storm, which can be a recipe for scary levels of slipperiness, but I didn’t have any issues in my hunt for traction. The shock tune feels perfectly matched to the bike’s intentions - it’s nice and responsive off the top, with a smooth ramp up to avoid any harsh bottom outs.
Who’s the ideal candidate for the Nomad? I’d say it’s the rider who enjoys technical climbs and descents, someone would pick maneuverability over outright speed. Compared to the Norco Shore, the other 27.5” bike in this Field Test, the Nomad is an entirely different beast. The Nomad can eat up the miles without a fuss, and remains engaging even on mellower terrain. The Shore, on the other hand, is a more demanding ride, one that needs a steady diet of gnar to keep it happy.
Pros
+ Great option for someone looking for a long travel bike that excels on a wide range of terrain
+ All the little frame details are taken care of, including size-specific chainstay lengths
Cons
- You need to pay more for a lighter carbon frame, and there's no aluminum option for now
- Those dang rattly XT brake pads.
The 2020 Pinkbike Field Test was made possible with support from Dainese apparel & protection, Sierra Nevada refreshments, and Smith eyewear and helmets. Thanks also to Maxxis, Garmin, Freelap, and Toyota Pacific.
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Seems like a weird oversight not to go with a hatch here, it's not like they haven't had the time to make it work.
A bearing kit for most bikes isn’t that expensive, either. I’ve seen people justify SC’s higher prices because of free bearings and that really doesn’t make sense.
Either way it's not easy or quick. I'm just saying a bearing kit is like $30 for any bike. It's no justification for buying from SC over other brands.
Just like everyone complains that all SC's look the same...y'all seen Banshee's lineup?
They are playing the "me too" business model successfully used by automobile manufacturers and other large entities in competitive landscapes. It allows them to keep R&D costs down to offset other costs (like branding) - looks like Loris even felt the pinch.
I know they make decent bikes and "if I dont like it I dont have to buy it" plays well here but the "we are SantaCruz and our Shit Dont Stink" narcissism has long since put them outside the circle of trust.
They also came out with a 120mm bike with a 65.4° HTA last year. Some people were even bitching about it being too slack. It's the same thing with the colors, people bitch about the colors no matter what color the is. I think people just like to bitch about Santa Cruz.
But I see the "me too" in my industry aswell (building envelope) - the larger firms spend on outreach, litigation and lobbying the EPA and Environment Canada to ease global warming restrictions. The smaller, more innovative firms roll out excellent global warming-compliant products then the larger firms follow suit. It's free RnD when you "me too".
Like 50to01 crew?
People love to complain about them, no matter what.
God forbid the person riding the bike likes it
they may not be for everyone but look at the market, various vpp type designs all attempting to build a better mousetrap and yes some are very good.
this review could easily have describe the N1 version, they were revolutionary and set the bar much higher elevating the entire industry.
mbaction.com/the-return-of-the-virtual-pivot-pointmay-15
People like to bitch about all Santa Cruz bikes looking the same now, but in my view they just have the nicest ice cream parlour in the business which should cater to just about everyone's taste of travel and wheel size (now also expanding to electric offerings). They even corrected their ridiculously small sizing from years before.
For the benefit of our international comrades - SC make excellent bikes and I have some good friends who own them, but they are a bit of a stereotype here as the option for a certain type of rider who wants "the best bike" and money is no object. Like the Yeti/dentist thing in the US.
It's a bit dated now and the lack of Enve wheels takles the edge off a bit, but there's still a grain of truth there.
I get bored of the tired of comments section cliches rolled out by people who have probably never ridden certain bikes but form an opinion based on the current media driven herd mentality that has to be longer, lower, slacker, bigger wheels and have some fancy new design to make it relevant. Additionally if a bike is more expensive than a direct to market brand then it seemingly represents bad value for money, lest we forget that 'value' means different things to different people.
That said, it's not really the same without #inbeforemike
It's pretty much the same here in California. Fine bikes, to be sure, but desired by (modestly-skilled but brand-conscious) riders way out of proportion to how good they are.
Rationally, it seems that the Nomad does not know what bike it is anymore and for what purposes it is built. Modern geo with 170mm but not even a mullet...in 2021?, only carbon?, select+ for 7k+ USD?
There are a number of weird-ish choices/decisions made by SC which make the bike look a little undefined.
Years ago a local BMW dealership had a charity event, and I got to drive a 540 with 6-speed manual. That car, for as big as it was, was a lot of fun.
Why wouldn’t they put the newest tech on it?
Why do people still want that?
I think what Santa Cruz has going for it is that it is every detail has been thought of (based on @mikekazimer review). And maybe that is overkill on bikes but when you are paying thousands of dollars don't you want the details?
My big question is what brand is the worst value? I'm always surprised with brands that have no entry level models. I think Transition and Pivot start at about $5,000. But maybe you could get a Salsa that is 90% of a Transition for 50% of the price or an Ibis is 90% of a Pivot. Just speculating. No personal experience.
Not here in the EU, price is almost even, still the Nomad is a bit more expensive but the components are one weight class lower. Drivetrain, suspension, brake's and dropper are a higher grade on that Spindrift. If you go all in on the Nomad, it gets the x01 and that cost 9k and you still have only the 350 DT Swiss hubs and no AXS ofc.
What Pinkbike not mentioned is that the Spindrift is ready for DC so this bike can do much more. 5 years warranty is enough for me because well, I don't keep bikes 5 years other then my commuter.
In the meantime all I can find on Propain website is rear hanger and... pedals.
You know what that means?
You don't even need an LBS to get bearings for your Bikes.
I have at least 5 riding buddies with SC Nomads and holly shieet, the supplier here in Germany must be bad because most of them had to wait for their bearings some weeks some even a month.
I never ever have to wait for a standard bearing. I also don't need to pay extra for bearings because I can get the good stuff straight from the factory without a relabe sticker to it.
You also buy BB bearings from you BB manufacturer? Same stuff here except for SRAM dub.
Isn't it the same with your answer that it is region specific?
Even if the SD cost 1k more in the US the parts are less expensive on that topend SC. The SD is still less expensive. The only part to argue are the rims on the Nomad who are better.
How can we take the review seriously when that's not addressed in the article?
I've gone through the video and can't work out if it's backwards on the clips of it being ridden. Too hard to tell on my phone.
So any number of things could have happened - arrived wrong, was serviced midway through and put together wrong, maybe it was intentionally switched to try a reduced offset...
www.ridefox.com/img/family/bike/my21-all/technology-38-steerer.jpg
www.santacruzbicycles.com/files/styles/scb_natural_2000_auto/public/my21_hero_n5_oxblood_desktop.jpg?itok=yJdx4NGe
Particularly that second link. It's very weird though and not something I've noticed on any other picture of a bike with a 38.
Looks same on this review bike too: singletrackworld.com/2020/12/review-brand-new-santa-cruz-nomad-v5
That photo has a little more angle on it but I think you can see that it would look the same (backwards) if the photo was taken at the same angle.
My sincere apologies to @mikekazimer
“What you up to this weekend?”
“Probs just gonna go off a lot of big stuff really, you? Bit of shopping?”
Anyone can ride those trails on any bike. The reason I will get a 170mm over a 150mm bike is to hit some big features. I would really like to see how these bikes handle them.
I guess a couple factors:
1) They have made some changes to the nomad, perhaps the changes to leverage curves, anti squat and seatpost angle have improved the climbing significantly.
2) The goalposts have perhaps moved. 170mm on 27.5 was a huge bike 5 years ago. Now we have a lot of bikes 170 and 180 travel and 29 wheels - so this 170 27.5 doesn't seem so unmanageable any more, particularly with a light build and carbon wheels.
The Evolink was a great bike and truth be told I really do miss the steep seat angle now I'm on a 2018 Hightower LT. It isn't that the Hightower is bad, just that a SA of I would say, 76 or above just puts you in a much much better position for pedalling.
I do also think that longer chainstays - or at least size specific stays - are a good thing. Was it Norco I think, quite some years ago did this. It never really caught on so interesting to see it coming back to the fore again.
A takeway from riding the Pole for me though is balance - its the first and only bike I've ridden where I felt right in the centre of the bike and that not only helps with confident descending but also climbing traction.
Now that it's being compared to other 170mm+ travel big bikes, the N5 (with I'm sure some small improvements to climbing over the N4) does climb pretty well and leans a bit more all mountain than it's competitors, because the competitors are all new.
Just like short travel bikes have become more capable downhill as geo has evolved... so too have long travel bikes become more capable climbers and do-it-all bikes.
This has led me to pass on the trail bike category all together.
How do people making assemblies don't understand that EVERYBODY would rather like SLX components and a shox with compression tune ?
At more than 7k, people would not even complain about adding 100£ to get this better shox anyway...
For me, I've decided to buy frames 2nd hand and build them up with the parts I already own and some new goodies. The only way to not have to deal with shitty parts such as Reverbs and low level Sram brakes.
Ok - its expensive, nothing new there. All the main players are too bloody expensive! At least its not loaded with their own brand mediocre kit, like Spesh and Trek et al roll out. I've had a good number of them at some point in the last 20 years. Crappy own brand seat posts (At least I can rebuild that Reverb when it goes bouncy - and it will, but they all do), own brand crap lightweight tyres, wheels, seats, grips, their own tune suspension = usually a cheap model damper etc etc but they still want premium prices...
Its a 170mm front AND rear, none of this miss-matched crap 147mm rear end with 170mm front end odd balls I see popping up all too common, which simply says to me - "We couldn't engineer matching rear end travel - but hey, we matched the tune of the rear shock with the front fork to perfection..." Utter BS.
Its 32 lb - that pretty light nowadays especially for 170mm ALL round big hitter.
You want some radically different model every year. Whenever I see a radical departure from the previous design, that immediately makes me sit-up for all the wrong reasons. So does that mean the last model was either crap, or too expensive to make and you've found a cheaper way to make the frame but charge me more? (e.g. no APP on a Trek, or knock block headset, because really its cheaper not to kink the down tube. Or lets drop one of the pivots on a Horst link design - Spesh. Press fit BB... etc etc. ) but didn't you bike manufactures tell me last year it was the best design - EVER! Porsche, seem to have hit on a good thing, get the design right and and keep evolving.
Its got a lifetime warranty on the frame, the wheels, the frame bearings, and your still winging - FFS! All this on a bike you should be absolutely beasting, so there's a high chance your going to damage that frame or wheels and I for one welcome any manufacturer offering me a genuine lifetime warranty - it screams volumes about the confidence in their product.
But what really matters to me now after 20 years of broken / cracked bike frames or parts, is how a company deals with an issue when something goes wrong. And something is going to go wrong if you ride your bike as fast as you can and regularly, like you should, foe something costing over £2.5k, never mind £7K! Now what matters more to me is how quickly and fairly a company with fix an issue and I have to say when I owned a 26" Nomad and Blur, Santa Cruz in the UK (AKA Stiff Cycles) were pretty good. They typically held stock of all the parts even spare frame parts. I would get them in a week. In contrast, I moved to Trek - cracked a chainstay on the then current Trek Slash - waited 3 months for a replacement! Cracked an S-works Enduro. Spesh - not interested after 5 years old. Canyon Strive - "Oops you cracked a seat stay! No problem sir, we will rip you off by only offering you a whole new frame at the not so heavily discounted crash replacement price of £1800! Same experience with YT.
Wow - reading all this moaning about what is clearly a great bike is catching, as you've obviously triggered a nerve with me. I'll put it down to hormoanes.... Note to self; must not read and reply to drivel with drivel....
I’m on a V3 Bronson coming from a V2, had an early Superlight back in the day. When the bearings developed play on my V2 a simple email had new bearings at my door within three days. A threaded frame insert stripped on friends friends V3 Nomad they replaced it with a V4 frame. I’ve seen Reserve rims replaced with zero quibble in double quick time. If you have to pay a little more to get through the door to customer service like that then so be it. But if you would rather take your money elsewhere then that’s your choice. No point in ragging on something you don’t intend to buy, unless of course the truth is that you really want one but it’s out of reach.
As for design changes surely we are at the point of marginal gains in bike design by now!? I’d not expect huge step changes in design. Look at F1 for example. Each year the teams come with new cars with lots of small changes but to the untrained eye they look like the same car. How about the road bikes? How does last years top of the line Trek differ from this years, or the one from five years ago? Again, marginal gains.
The bike looks great, I’d have mine in green.
,
Does SC put name tags onto the frames now to tell them appart ?
very nice
not Norco-like
Side note does the varying chainstay lengths mean the small is shorter travel than the XL? Is so by how much?
Are you confusing the Nomad with the VP-Free? The first Nomad (~2010) was precisely the "mild-mannered, do-it-all machine".
fotos.mtb-news.de/p/2529450
Like here www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL7PJ9ro1LU&list=PLpFl7okrctbuE0Irhue44UmGS7i25W0cI&index=30&t=109s
If customer wants fast bike defenitely it is a good hint. Not the greatest and I agree with you that after proper suspension tuning you can have different result but all bikes can have the tuning and we are talking about stock bikes. Any better hint to buy fast bikes? Yeah, test it yourself si it will be the best for you but it often impossible.
EWS? O no, they have tuned suspension and some great rider like Sam Hill could be fast on any proper bike.
So, yes, I believe those kind of test like this in UK Magazine is a good hint.
I don’t understand bikes
P.S.:
As an owner of a '19 model, I can trully tell you that, my MX set up with 160mm fork ( 565mm axle to crown length), on low BB setting works perfectly and I'm super happy!
Aside from the extra 10mm travel, does the Nomad's suspension improve on the Megatower's in any respect, or is it simply a matter of shock tunes on the respective bikes?
• Head angle: 63.7 or 64°
• Seat tube angle: 77.5°
Not sure how they calculate their seat tube angle, if that is a virtual angle for a given saddle height or the real actual angle at which the seatpost is exiting the tube and if it under no weight or at a given sag level.
But even visually you need to see an optometrist if you still see them as parallels
The old phone against the monitor puts that at about 68*, so no, not exactly parallel
Head angle measurement for reference: 63.5
Actual seat tube angle: 68
Effective seat tube angle to the middle of seat clamp at the press photos seat height: 75.5
I thought about a Bronson when I was looking at the v4 nomad. With the v4 being as good as it is it didn’t make that much sense to get the Bronson over it.
I also have a 5010, so have a 130/140 bike and a 150/160 bike also seems sillier than a 130/140 and 170/170 .
Either way the v4 is amazing everywhere I take it , the v5 seems to just make everything better without changing the whole bike.
No thats because the size large has a 472mm reach and 820mm Front Centre in low setting with a 436mm Rear Centre giving a FC:RC ratio of ca.1.9. The bike would feel like a limo. Chainstay would need to be 450mm to get that working well IMO.
Edit: I'd rate confidence in front wheel grip very highly in factors that influence fast riding.
Juliana Strega came in xs I think. Probably a good deal out there for one.
Last year I picked my wife up an xx1 reserve for 5k ish on pros closet, the deals are out there!
Then there's the months of waiting for YT to answer you're bloody email!
I found cracks in my wife's top of the line Capra seatstay. She's 53 years old, its safe to say that bike has an easy life. They won't sell me a replacement seatstay as YT have decided they'll only sell you a complete discontinued frame for £1500 and its the totally wrong colour so non of the parts would match.
Buy cheap you buy twice.....
PS £7500 is about the same as all the other main players - they've all lost the plot!
Seriously, I’m a mechanic (cars) and can do the same.
Not saying they aren’t expensive, but the barrier to entry seems to be the willingness to spend that much with most people I see on the trails.
Everyone is in a different situation and has different priorities , but you definitely don’t need a 6 figure salary to be buying these bikes.
You don’t get to say that something isn’t aloud to be as expensive as it is simply because you can’t purchase it , especially when it’s not a lack of income but an excess of spending.
Your complaining about your lifestyle and blaming it on the price of a bike.
You aren’t required to pay 7,300 for the build though, you pay 6,199.
They have the optional carbon wheels on this bike, which they also warranty no questions asked.
Santa Cruz is literally known for their build quality so..
All of the top tier bike brands are expensive any way you cut it. I just don’t see the “price gouging “ that everyone seems to scream about with Santa Cruz. I also don’t understand why people think that having a lifetime warranty doesn’t add value. ESPECIALLY coming from the people who buy a bike every year or two, those people are wasting SO much more money than someone buying a Santa Cruz over “x bike brand”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKzZORaLMkY
Zerk and grease are redundant. A Zerk fitting _is_ a grease fitting, and most grease fittings are of Zerk style, so either one of the other should do.
Also, never heard them called ports except here. They are fittings, nipples, or just zerks.
so, let's put up the prod. range here, for a clear point of view.
29er Hightower: 145-150mm(many overfork it to 160mm) - all-mountain/all day epics, light enduro
650b Bronson: 150-160mm - 650b wheel fanboy's enduro(type) bike
29er Megatower: 160-170mm(many put a cc link to make it 170-170 and also some ppl overfork it 160-180 or 170-180) enduro, bike-park, (light?)DH
650b Nomad: 170-170mm - ???
Can anyone look at this product range and tell me(or us!) why the Nomad is still a 170mm travel bike?, and if it can't be something other than a 170mm bike, why does it still exists?, what is the reason..what is the purpose?
As a freeride 180 or 190mm bike, yeah, I could have understood..but at 170..why?, what for and for what type of riding?
P.S. the Bronson is fast, stable and plowy and the Nomad can't ocuupy the same category so, please, don't even try to call it all-mountain. Even for the Bronson, AM is a stretch.
P.P.S the Megatower is not an all-rounder!, ffs, a 170-180 travel one, won the national DH champs in the elite 30-39 category and DH champs for sure are not the place for an all-round bike; also, my friend's 170-170 is faster(with ext suspension though) than his previous 650b DH bike so, again, what all-round are we talking about?, the Megatower(as well as other Mega..s) is a beast of a bike, capable of crushing all in its path, not an all-round, which the Hightower is(or a future Hightower LT).
so.., if for all-mountain epic days we have the hightower, for 650b fanboy enduro, we can ride the Bronson and for enduro-DH-bike-park you can ride the Megatower...where we will ride this new Nomad?, asking because, on flow trails, you need maximum 140mm bikes and for deep and steep tracks, you have the megatower and the V10, both faster and more capable. Again, where, and at what, this new Nomad excels..can anyone explain?!
I do think it is a missed opportunity. Since the V4, the Nomad wasn't a racer's bike so, in todays sea of even more capable tremebdous 170mm enduro 29ers, why they simply update the travel range to a full 180..or 180-190mm?, if the bikes climb like they say it does, 10mm extra travel wouldn't made any significant difference.
As the Nomad is neither an AM-enduro 27.5 bike like the Bronson, nor a full-blown racing bike like the MT, what is it?
In my opinin/mind, the logical step would have been a mixed wheel 170-180mm bike or a full-blown 180-180mm freeride bike. As it stands..it is undefined, that's all.
I didn't like the time I got, it was soaking wet, the video wasnt soaking, ignore the time coz its a Santacruz...
Why did the rest give high end bikes but not SC?
Even though the tyres are the same, why did you not change the so they were the same set?
Why did you not test in the same conditions?
Which bike was first to test, which one had the best conditions.... so many questions after this review!!!
Helmet cam footage of the runs please from each bike on the descents...
Why did you change the stem on one of the bikes, thats not the bike, thats you personalising the bike...
It was slower, regardless of the brand and its legacy, it was slower!
Thanks for the negative props in advance