2016 Nomad - the beginning of a new era...

[DeBloot]

13.57kg with xt pedals, heavier than I hoped for but looking at the advertised weight (12.6 kg for the X01 bike without pedals) compared to my build it adds up. Forks are 300g heavier than pikes, cranks 100g heavier than RF next, big rotor on front is 100g more, code calipers, king hubs, all heavier than the standard build. The head angle is fine for climbing, in fact the bike climbs better than the Tracer, but most likely due to it being longer both in wheelbase and TT length, the front doesn't wander around on climbs like I expected it to and it descends like a dh bike.

What i particularly like about your bikes apart from the obvious is that they aren't weight weeny focused for the sake of it
All components are built solid for a beating and will go the distance, and if they are light as well = bonus
If i had deep pockets. i find your builds exactly as I would do them myself

 

[Mywifesirrational]

Its indeed a nice bike and build, while the Yellow SC decal looks really good, the other orange bits are garish too me! Plenty Gorge area, looks familiar?

Surprised it's not a wee bit lighter, mine scraps just under 13kg, it's making me think the scales we used are dodgy.

That bike deserves a better shock, try a coil, you wont go back.

 

[wbarronIV]

Sick ride mate! Well done!

The orange ENVE wheel graphics really tie it all together.

 

[NoFilter]

Its indeed a nice bike and build, while the Yellow SC decal looks really good, the other orange bits are garish too me! Plenty Gorge area, looks familiar?

Surprised it's not a wee bit lighter, mine scraps just under 13kg, it's making me think the scales we used are dodgy.

That bike deserves a better shock, try a coil, you wont go back.

Thanks man appreciate the comments, I was honestly dubious about this colour scheme at first but only because I thought it was too tame for a bike of this calibre, glad I went this way instead of the other green/yellow/black, the b/y/o colours really look amazing in the flesh..
So does yours weigh 13kg with a coil? I'd be curious to see your build, 13kg is awesome for a bike this capable. I had a coil on my last tracer (I have had 2 tracer carbons) and it descended amazingly but pedalled like shit - it was a DVO Jade, and for DH racing I'd do it all again in a flash. But honestly I will only race it once or twice and for the $$ to pay for a coil shock I'll just deal with it. I'm sure it would transform it but the monarch is actually a great shock that suits VPP bikes really well.
Another thing I did to my bike was put waaaayyyyyyy too much sealant in the tyres in a perhaps vain attempt to not have to refill the tyres half way through their life cycle as I've needed to in the past. Probs fair to say that there would be 150-odd ml maybe more in each tyre - all in the search for reliability I guess...
FYI my 13.57 was weighed in a shop on park scales, hopefully they were a bit out on the heavy side!

 

[PLUGGA]

G'day Burners,

It's been a while since I posted a new rig, the last few months has been an interesting time for me... 5 years of living and breathing another Californian VPP brand leaves me with mixed emotions about this deal still but hey, when life gives you lemons you paint that shit gold right? Anyway, I'm stoked with the new rig, its definitely one of the nicest I've ever owned and the graphics came up a treat. So here's the details:

- 2016 Santa Cruz Nomad, large
- Monarch + RC3
- DVO Diamond fork @ 160mm
- SRAM X01 drive train: 170mm cranks, direct mount 32t ring
- SRAM Guide RSC/Code hybrid brakes 200/180mm rotors
- ENVE M70 wheels on King hubs
- ENVE DH bar 800mm
- ENVE 40mm stem
- Fabric Ti rail saddle
- Maxxis Minion DHF II/Minion SS 2.3" Tyres tubeless
- Cane creek 40 series headset

- 13.57 kg with XT pedals

The bike pedals well for a 165mm bike, but it's no xc whippet.. The geo is dialled I was sliding it around without brakes to assist after about an hour on the bike, its a weapon. Stiff as fuck, super composed, jumps like a champ. Very happy indeed. Also happy I sized up from medium to large as well, it feels great straight away, going from medium with 55mm stem to large with 40mm stem gives me 10mm more length in the top tube and I couldn't be happier.

Apologies for the average photos but it's been overcast and rainy here in Melbourne the last couple of days so I can't quite get an image of the true finish of the bike - the black is actually matte raw carbon and looks amazing.

Oh....my....god. That's the best thing I've seen all day. Porn. *EDIT- MEANT TO HAVE THE PICS THERE. BAH!

 

[Mywifesirrational]

Thanks man appreciate the comments, I was honestly dubious about this colour scheme at first but only because I thought it was too tame for a bike of this calibre, glad I went this way instead of the other green/yellow/black, the b/y/o colours really look amazing in the flesh..
So does yours weigh 13kg with a coil? I'd be curious to see your build, 13kg is awesome for a bike this capable. I had a coil on my last tracer (I have had 2 tracer carbons) and it descended amazingly but pedalled like shit - it was a DVO Jade, and for DH racing I'd do it all again in a flash. But honestly I will only race it once or twice and for the $$ to pay for a coil shock I'll just deal with it. I'm sure it would transform it but the monarch is actually a great shock that suits VPP bikes really well.
Another thing I did to my bike was put waaaayyyyyyy too much sealant in the tyres in a perhaps vain attempt to not have to refill the tyres half way through their life cycle as I've needed to in the past. Probs fair to say that there would be 150-odd ml maybe more in each tyre - all in the search for reliability I guess...
FYI my 13.57 was weighed in a shop on park scales, hopefully they were a bit out on the heavy side!

http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/sho...o-cut-my-balls-off-start-of-a-new-build-essay

That's the details of my bike... currently running a CCDBA, looking at the build differences, just a few things here and there that explain the weight difference, mostly tyres + less stans, cranks, and brakes maybe. First thing I did was pull the monarch off, I tried one on another nomad, was not impressed.

Another thing, I run 175's you'll not experience as many crank strikes with 170's, I wise move unless your 190cm. Interesting to see it looks like the saddle is pushed a fair way forward.

How much sag are you running, I ended up at close to 35% the bike seems to ride a whole lot better a bit deeper in the travel.

 

[saltzzz]

@op I mentioned baller build not weight weenie build

Have fun plowing with the machine and welcome to the nomad club

 

[NoFilter]

http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/sho...o-cut-my-balls-off-start-of-a-new-build-essay

That's the details of my bike... currently running a CCDBA, looking at the build differences, just a few things here and there that explain the weight difference, mostly tyres + less stans, cranks, and brakes maybe. First thing I did was pull the monarch off, I tried one on another nomad, was not impressed.

Another thing, I run 175's you'll not experience as many crank strikes with 170's, I wise move unless your 190cm. Interesting to see it looks like the saddle is pushed a fair way forward.

How much sag are you running, I ended up at close to 35% the bike seems to ride a whole lot better a bit deeper in the travel.

She's a beaut. Love your spec, especially the suspension combo. Also love that black on black, I would be all over it if there were any left. In a perfect world I'd get a ccdb in mine too and that would cover all bases but I'm kinda thinking of a vivid coil for when I go DH racing on it.. FYI I'm running 30% sag on the monarch, vpp bikes generally prefer to run around that mark or a little more depending on the kinematics. I'll give mine a go at 35 and report back.

@op I mentioned baller build not weight weenie build

Have fun plowing with the machine and welcome to the nomad club

Thanks man you too? Got a link? Don't worry I hear you on the baller thing, honestly if I was building from scratch I would have done thinks very differently, and number 1 on the list would have been a set of those sweet cranks!

 

[SOTTA]

Mint looking rig! I reckon the colours look great. But I do like some colour on my bikes :clap2:

 

[PaulBo]

Your bike ... :love:
I wish I could build such beautie one day !
How long did you spend on it, from conception to final touch ?

 

[NoFilter]

Mint looking rig! I reckon the colours look great. But I do like some colour on my bikes :clap2:

Cheers Sotta your Tracer was a stunner, shame you don't have it anymore..

Your bike ... :love:
I wish I could build such beautie one day !
How long did you spend on it, from conception to final touch ?

Thanks man! I'd say the longest part was the wheel and shock decals, deciding which way to go with the combinations, but the actual build took almost 2 days in my garage without a bike stand, in between babysitting duties.. A lot of the time was taken up by the need to redo lines for the post and rear brake as they were shorter on the last bike. It's a labour of love though, I love building bikes like this.

 

[iUDEX_nCr]

Great build!

I'm running DHRII Front, and HRII rear... looking for something a little faster rolling than the HRII's. How do you find the Minion SS?
Also, did you get it local? might grab one to try

 

[NoFilter]

Great build!

I'm running DHRII Front, and HRII rear... looking for something a little faster rolling than the HRII's. How do you find the Minion SS?
Also, did you get it local? might grab one to try

Cheers!

I love the Minion SS as a rear. It's a little drifty, but not out of control. Way more predictable than the HR2, I find the side knobs fold too easily under my weight during g-out corners on HR2. Minion SS Rolls great I'm very happy with the tyre. Much better support on the side knobs as they are Minion side knobs, but be mindful the side knobs are further spaced than DHF/DHR2. Yes they are available locally, I purchased mine from Cycle Station in Albury, but My Mountain in Brunswick has them in stock I was in there the other day.

 

[Jim Junkie]

That is one hell of a sexy bike, I love the matte finish with bright highlights.

I keep seeing more & more of the Minion SS's pop up, might have to give it a try for my next rear instead of the HRII I've been on. How do you find it on climbs?

 

[NoFilter]

That is one hell of a sexy bike, I love the matte finish with bright highlights.

I keep seeing more & more of the Minion SS's pop up, might have to give it a try for my next rear instead of the HRII I've been on. How do you find it on climbs?

Thanks man! Not gonna lie the Minion SS doesn't climb or brake like a HRII does but rolling resistance for me is appreciated in my current (low) state of fitness. Truthfully it's fine everywhere except the steepest, loosest climbs. Once I'm back up to speed I think I might try the DHRII on the rear, it rolls great, honestly feels faster than HRII and corners way better, much more predictable.. I'd advise to go the DD case on the rear, I wish I did on this tyre. Heavier carcass allows a bit less pressure to maintain sidewall integrity which I need every bit of at 88kg. Highly recommend this combo though it's ace.

 

[iUDEX_nCr]

Cheers!

I love the Minion SS as a rear. It's a little drifty, but not out of control. Way more predictable than the HR2, I find the side knobs fold too easily under my weight during g-out corners on HR2. Minion SS Rolls great I'm very happy with the tyre. Much better support on the side knobs as they are Minion side knobs, but be mindful the side knobs are further spaced than DHF/DHR2. Yes they are available locally, I purchased mine from Cycle Station in Albury, but My Mountain in Brunswick has them in stock I was in there the other day.

Thanks mate!

P.S: what made you go for the DVO? I'm looking for new forks... something with independant high/low compression for a bit of fun

 

[NoFilter]

Thanks mate!

P.S: what made you go for the DVO? I'm looking for new forks... something with independant high/low compression for a bit of fun

The DVO choice was made easy for me for a couple of reasons:

- Met Bryson Martin sr and his business partner in SoCal last year at an Intense distro ride day up on Snow Summit. He helped me setup a DVO equipped 951 EVO and was very helpful and knowledgeable about the products and ended up chatting to him for some time. Was skeptical of an USD DH fork due to flex (I was running a Dorado equipped EVO back home) but he assured me the DVO was not flexy and in fact rode as stiff as a 40. The skeptic in me challenged it so I rode the bike and found myself to be completely wrong. It's an awesome fork.
- Intense then announced the DVO Tracer, so I got one and was blown away by the fork, but only after spending time on setting it up and then trying a Pike again. The Diamond is streets ahead of the Pike in performance, the separate LSC/HSC is rad, but the OTT adjustment is what makes the fork. Coil negative spring FTW. Plush but still super supportive. Sold that bike to another user on these forums and decided to run it again on the nomad, so I bought a black one from NS Dynamics who are an absolute pleasure to deal with. FWIW the Diamond is around 3oo grams heabvier than a Pike, but the performance is well worth the weight gain.

Now I find that the Monarch is lacking in comparison to the front, and I will have a CCDBA in the rear of the bike before the year is over. Build will then be complete.

 

[iUDEX_nCr]

The DVO choice was made easy for me for a couple of reasons:

- Met Bryson Martin sr and his business partner in SoCal last year at an Intense distro ride day up on Snow Summit. He helped me setup a DVO equipped 951 EVO and was very helpful and knowledgeable about the products and ended up chatting to him for some time. Was skeptical of an USD DH fork due to flex (I was running a Dorado equipped EVO back home) but he assured me the DVO was not flexy and in fact rode as stiff as a 40. The skeptic in me challenged it so I rode the bike and found myself to be completely wrong. It's an awesome fork.
- Intense then announced the DVO Tracer, so I got one and was blown away by the fork, but only after spending time on setting it up and then trying a Pike again. The Diamond is streets ahead of the Pike in performance, the separate LSC/HSC is rad, but the OTT adjustment is what makes the fork. Coil negative spring FTW. Plush but still super supportive. Sold that bike to another user on these forums and decided to run it again on the nomad, so I bought a black one from NS Dynamics who are an absolute pleasure to deal with. FWIW the Diamond is around 3oo grams heabvier than a Pike, but the performance is well worth the weight gain.

Now I find that the Monarch is lacking in comparison to the front, and I will have a CCDBA in the rear of the bike before the year is over. Build will then be complete.

One thing I've found a little tricky to setup for me with air forks, is I'm only about 64kg kitted up. How much does the DVO rely on it's air pressure/air spring?

 

[NoFilter]

One thing I've found a little tricky to setup for me with air forks, is I'm only about 64kg kitted up. How much does the DVO rely on it's air pressure/air spring?

It relies entirely on the air setup due to it being an air sprung fork. The beauty of the DVO system is in the OTT system, which is an adjustable coil in the negative side of the Spring. The more you preload the coil the larger the negative chamber becomes, making the bike plusher off the top (OTT) of the travel. It's a great system for lighter riders due to this adjustability and it has a great damper in it too. It's just heavier due to a few things: the coils in the fork add weight as well as both the damper and air Spring assemblies are mounted inside "cartridges" or tubes meaning they don't use the inside of the stanchions to hold everything in place. This is good as the cartridges come out of the fork without completely disassembling the fork for tuning etc, but the extra tubes inevitably add weight to the system.

NS dynamics would be able to describe it a bit better than I could but I've been inside them a few times so I've seen the guts of them. It's all nicely made inside.

 

[iUDEX_nCr]

It relies entirely on the air setup due to it being an air sprung fork. The beauty of the DVO system is in the OTT system, which is an adjustable coil in the negative side of the Spring. The more you preload the coil the larger the negative chamber becomes, making the bike plusher off the top (OTT) of the travel. It's a great system for lighter riders due to this adjustability and it has a great damper in it too. It's just heavier due to a few things: the coils in the fork add weight as well as both the damper and air Spring assemblies are mounted inside "cartridges" or tubes meaning they don't use the inside of the stanchions to hold everything in place. This is good as the cartridges come out of the fork without completely disassembling the fork for tuning etc, but the extra tubes inevitably add weight to the system.

NS dynamics would be able to describe it a bit better than I could but I've been inside them a few times so I've seen the guts of them. It's all nicely made inside.

Done a bit more reading since your previous testimonial... I'm pretty much sold LOL. Shame NS is in QLD. Did you opt to have the shim stack custom tuned for you?