With the new Nomad, Santa Cruz is turning a new page visually. The bike has been developed from scratch, and that's where the unique design comes from. This is deliberate, because even though the old Nomad was a successful model, the new one comes with some features that have nothing in common with the old bike.

Brief overview

• 170mm VPP travel, front and rear
• Progressive lower-link shock configuration
• Metric shock sizing
• Shuttle guard bolted to the down tube as well as additional impact protectors and shock fenders
• Compatible with air and steel spring shocks
• High and low geometry settings via flip chip in the bellcrank
• 27.5-inch wheels
• Santa Cruz Reserve 30 Carbon wheels as an upgrade option
• Colors: Tan & Black, Ink
• Available in CC and C Carbon, Aluminum available in autumn
• Lifetime frame and bearing warranty
• Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL
• Sales start: 15 June 2017
• Weight: XX1 Reserve (L/air): 13.39 kilograms, 13.88 kilograms with steel spring shock

Rear triangle: the heart

Looking back at the old Nomad, its spring characteristic was rather degressive, i.e. the natural hardening of the shock when compressing came very late. As a result, the rear end was very forgiving, but didn't offer its rider much support in the mid-stroke range. The suspension acknowledged this with an unpleasant bottoming out, especially when riding uphill in technical terrain.

With the new Nomad, the rear suspension should be very sensitive at the beginning, but then act much firmer in the mid-travel range. This means that the rear suspension should support the rider better in playful terrain, when riding over obstacles and on powerful rides through berms. Above all, the energy-sapping bottoming out remains absent on crisp climbs.

In order to achieve this characteristic, the damper has been moved downwards and is articulated differently - so that the suspension system works perfectly with both air and steel spring dampers. With a good 170 millimetres of travel, the system offers more suspension travel than the previous model had.

Longer and slacker but still 27.5 inches

There are also differences to the old Nomad in the size subdivision. The respective frame sizes of the new Nomad each have the reach of the next largest of the predecessor model. For example, the 460 millimeter reach of the 2017 X-Large model can now be found on the 2018 Large frame. Despite Santa Cruz following the "long and slack" trend, this is not as extreme on the Nomad as on bikes from Pole or Nicolai, for example.

At 64.6 degrees, the head angle is only slightly slacker, and only when the shock is mounted in the low position. In the "steep" position, the steering angle is still 65 degrees. The difference in the seat angle is also negligible. This is 74.1 or 74.5 degrees in the low or high setting, while the 2017 Nomad had a fixed 74.2 degrees. This marginal difference should therefore hardly make any difference to power transmission.

There is also a marginal difference in the length of the chainstays. Depending on the damper position, these are 431 or 430 millimetres, i.e. only two or three millimetres less than before.
On the other hand, the fourth generation of the Nomad has plenty of tire clearance up to 27.5x2.5 inches with a Maxxis Minion DHF Wide Tire for rim widths from 30 millimeters.
27.5 inches? With the Hightower, Santa Cruz is focusing on the Twentyniner track and is therefore deliberately keeping this on the small wheels.

Strega - the witch

Mountain bikes don't usually go well with witches. In the case of Santa Cruz's Juliana version for women, however, they do, because what the Nomad is for men, the "Strega" - the Italian name for "witch" - is for the ladies.

The freeride witch Juliana Strega has the same genes as the Nomad. In contrast to the latter, however, it does not come in five frame sizes from XS to XL, but in three sizes XS to M and the model variants are not available with steel spring shock absorbers, where with the Nomad you have the choice of whether you want to shoot over the trails with air or steel suspension. On the other hand, the Juliana Strega models have a damper tune for lighter riders, which is already very responsive off the shelf.

From the given shock setting to the chainring size to the grips and saddle, everything was selected by numerous Juliana testers.

A brief overview

• 170mm VPP™ suspension travel
• 65 degree steering angle
• 150mm Reverb compatibility on the M frame, 125mm on the S and 100mm on the XS
• Full carbon frame and rear triangle, with lifetime warranty
• Suspension adapted for lightweight female riders
• Lower standover height
• Progressive lower-link shock configuration
• Shuttle guard bolted to the down tube as well as additional impact guards and shock fenders
• High and low geometry settings via flip chip in the bellcrank
• 27.5-inch wheels
• Santa Cruz Reserve Carbon wheels as an upgrade option
• Color: Wicked
• Available in CC and C carbon
• Lifetime frame and bearing warranty
• Sizes: XS, S, M
• Sales start: 15 June 2017
• Weight: XX1 Reserve (M) : 13.2 kg