Santa Cruz Nomad

I was lucky enough to receive this beautiful custom Santa Cruz Nomad as an upgrade this year, and it’s fair to say he really worked his magic with this one. You may have caught a glimpse of it in the showroom this summer where it became quite a showstopper.

So here it sat for a couple of months while my brain tackled the fact I was going to have to pedal again (yep that’s right I had become an e-bike w**k**). And as spare time wasn’t something I had right then, I decided to save it for our summer Alps trip where I could easily put it to the test, and of course, have the pleasure of the uplifts.

Excited as I was, getting my head around the brand change was a big one for me, I really do overthink this stuff. I’ve been riding Trek Remedy’s for best part of the last 10 years, including some pretty, awesome custom builds. I had become fully Trek accustomed and at 5’1” the small frame always felt perfect.

So, the obvious things I noticed were the bike felt a little heavier than the Remedy but could also tell straight away this wasn’t going to be a bad thing, it felt burlier and a lot more ‘monster truck’ like. The frame is clearly (but only just) longer which again I was pleased about because although I’ve always loved a super tiny bike, there were times the latest remedy could feel a touch cramped.

The exciting part was the MX wheels! WOWZERS! After throwing a little paddy when the daughter, Summer was beating me down all the alpine trails last year, she doesn’t ride a lot and never looks like she’s putting any effort in but has the edge over me with her youth, fitness and strong footballing legs. I decided it as all down to her big 29er wheels on her glorious Trek Slash, and maybe it was time for my kids wheels to go.

I was never fully committed to go full 29 and the idea of the mullet set up complete completely appealed to me.

So first impressions all out of the way off the frame went to the workshop for Greg to fit the inviframe for fully loaded protection ready for the alps.

So excited to finally ride the rig, we first hit Super Morzine. Wow and I mean wow, smiling from ear-to-ear kinda wow. The bike feels so smooth and effortless, sizing feels impeccable, I thought the remedy was a good fit but the Nomad seems to ‘fit like a glove’. The suspension feels so plush definitely more than enough, and my big front wheel was in charge around every turn. Luckily, I had my trusty Hope brakes to keep it in check and not going to lie I don’t think I let them off for the first 2 days.

Wait A minute let’s talk about these Hope brakes (back to the Nomad in just a mo.) All my riding life I’ve been spoilt with good kit (perks of been married to the bike guru), and I never really got to appreciate how good this kit was until the last year or so when I’ve been testing out various bikes. Every stumble, mistake and crash I’ve blamed the competitor brakes. Now don’t get me wrong my riding skills or more like my lack of skills, I’m sure play a big part here and I’m not dissing any other brake brand but for me the Hope brakes are incomparable. The new Tech 4 E4's blew me away. I’ve always loved the Tech 3’s but the way you can feather that front brake on the Tech6 4’s is fine tuning at its best. I’m sure they’ve saved my life many a time this trip.

So, with my new found confidence I ventured off the blue routes and started to head down some of the more techy, rougher stuff.

This bike is so reassuring, I had my sketchy moments, that I blamed on my achy arms, but the Nomad kept me on track and sent me on my way.

As I came towards the end of the trip, Freddy aka 'Shredney' our bike mad son, wanted to have a ‘fun’ day, sectioning and filming some of the ‘big stuff he’d spotted on his ventures. With it been just the two of us I immediately realised this meant he was taking me out of my comfort zone and yes, I freaked out a little, but nowhere near as much as I usually would, plus he promised to lead me slowly down anything I wasn’t sure of. We had a great day capturing his favourite features, he even had me down a couple of the black’s. Freddy also noticed I’d began to lift my wheels off the ground, don’t get too excited, nothing spectacular but with a bit of encouragement I finally started clearing some of the smaller jumps. Yey me!

The Nomad now has a nice cosy spot in showroom, if you would like to see it in the flesh

I’d love to hear what you all have to say about my Nomad adventure, Or if you have any questions? Let me know below