While the tactile chain referenced feel in the early part of the stroke is great for managing grip, the mid to end stroke is a ‘Trophy Truck’ triumph. The new kinematic and shock changes mean the rear suspension handles big hits better than before, with the VPP axle path helping to take the sting out of initial contact. That says a lot about the level of use/abuse that Santa Cruz is expecting Nomads to receive and with 170mm of travel on either end it's undoubtedly a phenomenal park play bike.
The lower link gets a Zerx port for injecting fresh grease into the bearings between strip downs and the bearings and frame get a no questions asked lifetime warranty. Santa Cruz has always championed screw-in BBs and they’ve kept an ISCG chain guide mount on the shell too. Cable routing now runs through the head tube face so you can run brakes either way round without paint rub. There’s more 3D armor on the rear stays to stop chain damage as well. The shock gets its own fender and the frame also has an extra rubber armor pad on the down tube to protect against pick up truck uplifts. The suspension geometry has also been changed slightly to work with a longer stroke shock, reducing overall leverage but adding more ramp in the last 10% of the 170mm of rear-wheel travel. As were primarily attacking steeper terrain we generally ran it low for a 63.9-degrees head and 77.9-degrees. The big bearing shock mount bolts into eccentric chips which change geometry by 0.3-degrees and BB height by 4mm.
The Nomad inherits the clever lower link position shift from other recent Santa Cruz bikes, which gives different effective chainstay lengths while still using the same rear swingarm. There’s also a more regular ‘inch per size’ reach increase from the 500mm XL down to the 425mm small. The head tube is also slightly taller, while seat tube lengths get shorter so you can run a longer dropper or size up for more stretch. Up close though the shock tunnel in the seat tube is sharper-edged with reinforcing ribs creating a deep trough under the shock and there’s an extended web behind the head tube to add stiffness there too. From a distance, it’s hard to see what’s changed on the Nomad as the overall low shock layout is unchanged.
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