Santa Cruz Nomad, is it worth the $$$?

Question

I am about to purchase a Santa Cruz Nomad and was quoted $5,000 for the Free Ride build. I know that discounts on these bikes rarely happen, they just sell too well...

Either way, I am ok with the price and will likely buy it. Before I do, I just wanted to check here if anyone would share their view on this bike. Is it worth the money? Is it a poor purchase and if it is, what would be a better one?

In the last week I tried quite a few bikes:
Specialized SX trail
Santa Cruz VP Free
Norco Shore
Norco Six SE
Decinci something ... didn't quite like it, and a few others that just didn't do it for me.

I plan to ride some free ride (not hard core), some DH (also moderate) and quite a bit of trails like North Shore's finest hehe.. Looking for a versetile bike and Nomad seems to be just it.

Anways... post your opinions.

Thanks.

Some more details:

SX Trail felt like a tank and it isn't meant to be this heavy.

I test rode everybike listed, but I can't take them on the trail or anything like that, just the parking lot - best I could do was go up and down some stairs.

Answer 1

Heck yeah, it's worth it! $5K seems like a lot, but I don't know what it's being spec'd with. It's an AWESOME bike, though. I have a friend with one that's built up for light all mountain, and he swaps parts for heavier trails. In the light version, it's a mean 28lb machine....very very sweet ride and it handles great. With the dh parts on it, it weighs in around 39 pounds or so. I think he's running a Revelation fork. Very nice. He had a V-10 for awhile and ditched it for the Nomad. I assume you're talking about the current Nomad frame....I rode an older one and it was still great, but the new design blows it away. Plus, it looks sexy as all get out.

I've heard great things about the VP Free, too, but I don't think you'd dislike anything about the Nomad unless it's just too much bike for what you want....but it doesn't sound that way. The Intense 6.6 would be another one to look at seriously if you have those around you.

You might check out the reviews and forums at www.ridemonkey.com and www.dropmachine.com to see what others think. But really, you could buy the Nomad sight unseen and still love it. It's that good.

Answer 2

Sweet rig. You could do worse. But of course no bike is actually worth that kinda dough!

Why didn't the SX trail push your button?

And one hyper link for you. If you liked the Nomad, over the SX I would make the time to get on a Highline demo before you seal the deal.

http://www.turnerbikes.com/

Answer 3

Usually, you get what you pay for. All the reviews I've seen on the Nomad are more than positive. It kinda makes it one of the top bikes, probably.

Either way, can you test ride one before buying? Fit is very important, and before paying that ammount of money try it.