Santa Cruz Bicycles

Nomad Carbon 27.5 Mountain Bike Frame

The Santa Cruz Nomad is among the most capable long-travel, all-mountain bikes available. Its six-and-a-half inches of rear travel, managed by a newly-redesigned VPP suspension system, make the Nomad comfortable in the steepest, roughest terrain on the planet — oh, and you can actually pedal it, too. The 65-degree head angle, mated to oh-so-short, 17.1-inch chainstays, make the Nomad incredibly stable, yet more responsive to rider input than you’d expect with such a slack head angle. One important note about those chainstays, though — they’re so short that Santa Cruz was unable to find room to cram a derailleur in there, so a one-by drivetrain is your only option. Given the availability of small chainrings, though, this shouldn’t be a deterrent, just something to be aware of as you’re building your dream bike. The new VPP design was borrowed from the downhill-focused V10 and adapted for trail use. The refreshed kinematics add up to better mid-stroke support for all-around trail riding, more small-bump compliance, and a more vertical wheel path to afford better pedaling. These improvements, plus thoughtful touches like stealth dropper post routing, ISCG05 tabs for chainguides, and home-workbench-friendly pivot maintenance make the Nomad a favorite for die-hard trail riders. The Nomad Carbon 27.5 is available with either a RockShox Monarch Plus RC3 DebonAIR or RockShox Vivid Air R2C shock.