Santa Cruz Bicycles

Nomad Carbon CC X01 Eagle RCT Coil Mountain Bike

The latest iteration of Santa Cruz's Nomad is a gravity fiend's dream come true. Stepping slightly away from the enduro-realm where 29ers seem to be getting a slight edge, Santa Cruz reconfigured the new Nomad as a freerider's rig, one that could serve lift service and shuttle duty on DH trails and in the park and offer efficient pedaling to get you into places where the natural terrain is so choice. This particular build is outfitted with a RockShox Super Deluxe Coil RCT shock that provides a more consistent and plush feel on those extended descents over thousands of vertical feet. By replacing air with steel springs and reducing the number of dynamic seals, heat management is better and the suspension is so much more sensitive. While aboard the Santa Cruz Nomad Carbon CC X01 Eagle RCT Coil Complete Mountain Bike you'll attack the downhill courses and send it on the biggest freeride lines in the park and rugged backcountry terrain knowing that the bike can gobble up anything in its path. That suspension and gravity-inspired geometry, that's longer and slacker with the ability to fine-tune its riding feel with an adjustable flip-chip, will have you riding faster and with more confidence than before, helping progress your skills and ultimately have more fun. This version of the Nomad Carbon CC continues with all of the redesign features of the previous Nomad that were implemented in 2018; it just gets a fresh coat of paint so you'll have the freshest looking whip on the mountain.

As we noted above, the previous generation Nomad was aimed squarely at enduro dominance, while this latest version is less of a dedicated race bike and more of a gravity rig that you can actually pedal uphill without feeling like a pig like some other long-travel sleds. We wouldn't hesitate to hit up shuttle laps on the gnarliest downhill trails in the morning, perfect our park laps in the resort in the afternoon, and pedal some rugged alpine terrain the next day. Its 65-degree head tube angle (in the high setting) and long reach keep provides calm, cool, and collected composure on terrifying descents, while the steeper 75-degree seat tube angle places you right over the cranks for efficient pedaling without wrestling the front wheel around on steep climbs.

The flip-chip integrated into the swingarm provides the ability to fine-tune its geometry to your riding style and current terrain. Keep it in the high setting for slightly sharper handling and a more direct pedaling response that still tames blistering descents and steep climbs. Or, switch it to the low setting for an even slacker geometry (head tube of 64.6 degrees) that's purely aimed at downhill laps at the resort and shuttle runs up the pass where climbing isn't an issue and the ability to plow is. Ultimately, its adjustable geometry gives you a mini-DH bike on lift-accessed days or a touch more all-mountain machine for earning your turns deep under a canopy of trees.

Moving to the revised shock placement, the engineers at Santa Cruz sought to achieve a more linear shock rate with the fourth-gen Nomad, much like you'd find with the V10. The VPP suspension is driven by a lower-link mounted shock, marking a radical departure from the likes of the 5010 and Hightower. This revised shock placement eliminates the Nomad's previous tendencies to wallow in the middle of its travel, meaning it feels more active and tracks to the ground noticeably better across steep descents and rugged terrain. And even though its shock rate and coil spec are more linear, it doesn't sacrifice support deep into the travel, so it never feels harsh on bigger hits and downhill runs. It's truly a DH bike that you can still pedal.

This Carbon CC XO1 Eagle gets you a Carbon CC frame, which shaves some weight over the C frame and makes up some ground on the coil shock weight penalty. Carbon CC frames typically come in between 250 and 280 grams lighter which is about half a pound in common parlance without sacrificing one bit of strength or stiffness that makes Santa Cruz carbon frames a leader in the bicycle industry. For the group, Santa Cruz specs the crisp-shifting XO1 Eagle 1x12 drivetrain offering a massive range of usable gears from its 10 to 50-tooth cassette. Race Face's ARC Offset 30 rims roll on smooth spinning DT Swiss hubs and plump up the Maxxis Minion rubber to appreciable sizes. Knowing that aggressive riders will be putting this bike through its paces in demanding terrain, Santa Cruz graciously hooked it up with a smattering of protective bits like a shuttle guard that keeps your downtube safe while bouncing down a dirt road on a tailgate pad, a mud-blocking shock guard, and an aluminum chainstay guard that prevents dropped chains from damaging the rear swingarm.