Santa Cruz Bicycles

Nomad Carbon with FOX CTD Kashima

Once Santa Cruz introduced its Carbon Nomad, one could say that the pinnacle of do-everything mountain bikes had been achieved. But nothing's static in the mountain bike world, and the addition of Fox's Kashima coated Float CTD takes this feathery heavy-hitter to the next level.

Santa Cruz claims the Nomad Carbon is its strongest, stiffest bike to date -- and does so while shaving 3/4 of a pound from its alloy counterpart. Broken down in simple terms, you can have your 160mm of adept, all-mountain travel in a package as trim as many cross-country frames. To achieve this impressive ratio of strength and weight, Santa Cruz employs a one-piece construction technique.

Rather than having components produced separately and then bonded or wrapped, the Nomad's two triangles are constructed as one piece -- there's no bonding of multiple tubes to form the triangles. Additionally, the carbon fibers are continuous around tube junctions; this distributes load and absorb impact energy better. There are also no riveted or bonded-on cable and hose guides, as they're incorporated into the original layup.

The resulting structure looks as good on the inside as it does on the outside -- there's nothing there except smooth carbon. This, along with the one-piece construction, ensures there are no stress risers and plenty of material where it matters most. It also allows the VPP suspension design to shine.

The Nomad Carbon has a carbon fiber upper link that shaves weight and enhances lateral stiffness. It's counterpart on the bottom is alloy, and it has easily-serviceable grease ports. The pivots for both links have beefy, 15mm, locking collet axle-pins so they won't creak or loosen, and they run on intricately-sealed bearings that should last the life of the frame. Leaving no detail overlooked, the Nomad Carbon features titanium pivot and shock hardware to shave every last gram.

If you're not familiar with VPP, it uses two links to counter suspension-squatting pedaling forces while offering an ideal rear axle path and shock rate. The upper and lower links flatten out the shock rate and provide a more active feel to the early end of the axle path. The suspension allows the rear wheel to move up and back as you ride over a bump, and it balances the downward force of pedaling with the pulling force of the chain through its link configuration and axle path. The resulting movement makes it easier to roll over a bump or through a dip, and the suspension doesn’t change whether you’re in the saddle or not.

The VPP suspension of the Santa Cruz Nomad Carbon yields 160mm of smooth travel damped by a Fox CTD rear shock with Kashima coating -- a lightweight, reliable shock that's features an intuitive interface for simple, on-the-fly suspension tuning. It has three distinct settings; a firm 'Climb' setting, medium 'Trail' setting, and a plush 'Descend' setting. This keeps operation straightforward and intuitive for beginners and experts alike.

The 67 degree head angle strikes a perfect balance between slow-speed steering on technical trails and high-speed stability on loose descents. The Nomad Carbon will accommodate 1.5in steerer tubes and headsets for supreme front end stiffness. And, while the geometry is based on a 160mm front fork, feel free to install a 180mm single crown fork for more gravity-oriented riding. ISCG 05 tabs make for easy chainguide installation, and it has an ISO standard rear brake mount and accepts rotors up to 203mm.

The Nomad Carbon requires a 30.9mm seatpost, and a 34.9mm top swing/top pull front derailleur. The bottom bracket shell is 73mm wide, and it comes with a DT Swiss 142 x 12mm thru axle, with a standard derailleur hanger. If you'd like to opt for Shimano's new direct mount rear derailleurs, hangers are available separately.

The Nomad Carbon also gets a woven downtube protector that is reported to be needed for cosmetic security only. As the downtube is made of carbon and kevlar, and is thick enough to wave off serious abuse on its own. It has a two year warranty against manufacturing defects, while the bearings are guaranteed for life.

The Santa Cruz Nomad Carbon is available in Gloss Green/Lime, Matte Blue/lack, and Matte Carbon/Gold.

US Santa Cruz dealers are prohibited from shipping Santa Cruz bicycles outside of the United States.

Please Note: Due to cable routing and space considerations, current SRAM front derailleurs will not work with the Nomad Carbon. For 2 x 10 drivetrains, we suggest using a Shimano XTR Double Front Derailleur FD-M985. For 3 x 10 drivetrains, we suggest the XTR Triple Front Derailleur FD-M980.