Going on adventures to unknown lands lends itself to the Santa Cruz Nomad Carbon C S Mountain Bike. Baring itself to the namesake of those who look to new adventure the 170mm travel supported Nomad is built for allowing us to get deep past our comfort zones. The bike comes well-equipped with a carbon frame dropping grams and adding to ride quality while being hooked up with VPP suspension controlling the rear. The Nomad is purpose-built to send it at the bike park all day and go on a slow-paced epic the next. VPP suspension supports dynamic pedaling and offers a predictable platform when things get steep quick. The Nomad's geometry linked up to this carbon-framed beast is adjustable to a high and low setting, but being the park rats we are we generally keep it in low. A slacked-out 64-degree head-tube angle is paired with the 27. 5in wheels to efficiently roll over obstacles without feeling sluggish through technical trail. When we're going out for big pedal days the steep 77-degree seat-tube angle is appreciated and used to keep our backs and bodies pain-free on fire road climbs. The bikes 27. 5in front and rear wheels would normally lend themselves to a shorter wheelbase, but not wanting to sacrifice high-speed stability Santa Cruz keeps that number at a relatively long 1256mm in a size large. Kit with the Nomad is aimed for high-mileage and big sends down steep lines. The 170mm of front and rear travel is supported by a mix of Rockshox and Fox suspension components. A burly Fox 38 takes in hits upfront and refuses to flex with the RockShox Super Deluxe smoothly soaks in all the trail roots and rocks we can find. SRAM's Eagle drivetrain is provided in a budget yet quality GX options, giving huge amounts of range with a 10-52t cassette outback. The bike is quickly put to a stop with aggressive 4-piston brakes and huge 200mm rotors front and rear. The Santa Cruz Nomad is a bike that's squarely at home when we're hitting the bike park for the 3rd weekend in a r...