The All New Santa Cruz Nomad 6 Is Now Mullet! First Look

[@timmbenjamin7063]

Not quite sure what SC is trying to achieve with this besides making $$$. This could literally be a Megatower in a Mullet option. Sad to see the 27.5 wheel-size being phased out by SC now as well. Not everybody is a racer... Guess I'll hold on to my V5, the last of it's kind.

[@m4tt12]

I just saw the other day that Trek is getting rid of their Remedy and i thought “At least we still have the Nomad for a modern 27.5 bike.” Guess i’ll be hanging on to my Nomad V4 😂

[@mikes.8305]

Maybe ride it and find out? I personally love the mixed wheel on the Bronson. I actually feel like the newer Bronson was more fun to free ride than the last nomad. 29er front doesn’t really take away any shralping or sending for me personally and you can easily slide the back or pick the rear wheel up. I rode the v5 nomad and was meh. I’m curious to try this one. I know a lot of previous nomad fans aren’t happy though.

[@LaPerraAtómica]

In your opinion, what’s the advantage of the 27.5” front wheel on the last version of the Nomad? I rode demos of the new Hightower, Bronson, Megatower and Bullitt MX. Out of the analog bikes, the Bronson was the most fun. The Megatower was probably faster,but felt less lively, and the Hightower was the most well rounded for earning your turns. I came away wanting a mullet version of the Megatower, and now there’s this Nomad. It’s probably the next bike I’ll buy.

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

We wouldn't call this version of the Nomad a 'race bike' - though that's what the V4 Nomad was when it first came out. Personally we welcome the change and really like the big wheel up front!

[@mattgoodrum3424]

It pretty much is. The front triangle is the same and they share the same pricing and spec options.

[@Onlydansmtb]

Looks like il be holding onto my V5 for some years then. what a shame the nomad is a MX now when Bronson was already a dedicated MX bike in the like up.

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

Hey Dan, you should give the mullet a try before you write it off - you could be pleasantly surprised!

[@3igger1]

Nice! Beautiful Swat box! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✌️✌️✌️✌️

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

We're a huge fan of the Glovebox too!

[@maxiK750i]

Why did they change the adder green - magsnta colourway??? It was awesome!!!

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

We loved that colour too, fortunately black is always classy, and Santa Cruz sell decal kits to make it your own!

[@TFritz82]

Nice little edit and good looking shop logo! With currently no end in sight for my Bronson V4 frameset, I'm very curious on this new Nomad release (pleasantly surprised) and what lead times are gonna be on framesets right off the bat because I'll likely get one of these if I can get at least an eta!

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

Thanks Tim! I think framesets may be tricky to get right now, however I can't be certain. For that kind of enquiry I'd recommend reaching out to our customer service team on [e-mail] - we answer all emails within roughly an hour or less during store hours. Thanks!

[@eltonloh8721]

Nicely shot vid mate 🤙

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

Thanks, appreciate it!

[@23manuel1981]

the mtb market is so confuse at the moment.. I have tried a mullet transition patrol switching all day between my nomad V5 and the patrol mullet (same build, XT, FOX38 fox float etc) guess? my nomad v5 was more fun, yes slower but way more fun... also the mullet gave me a sort of drag feeling, the 29 wheel dragging the 27 wheel... I share my feelings and I found many riders on my same page... still I am death curious to try this nomad v6

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

I hear you - it can be tough to really make a call on handling characteristics between different bikes but for sure the mullet thing can take a little time to get used to, especially coming from a full 29er in my case. Giving it a fair test ride is the best thing you can do!

[@Nomad-MTB]

Hi. Great review. I purchased the Bronson but always felt like it was a fun bike, just not a really fast one. How does the Nomad V6 feel at speed?

[@mrantone916]

Motorcycle have been doing the mullets for a very long time makes sense bikes are doing it . 🤔

[@daveyboy7305]

Not thought of it like that before

[@ofenrambo7537]

No pure 27.5" more it is sooooo sad 😭😭

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

One of the wheels is still 27.5, meaning it still has that nimble feel that we're sure you love!

[@ofenrambo7537]

@@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver i dont know it feel not the Same as a pure 27.5"

[@kingrat738]

So what happens now... with the Bronson!?

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

It's just the Nomad's smaller sibling - a little more lively and a little less travel

[@KapitanPisoar1]

Bronson coexisted wih Nomad for a decade, nothing is happening to it. And it's been mulleted years ago, which sucks!

[@jonengen1029]

How would you compare the Nomad 6 to the Megatower V2?

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

I haven't had a chance to try the Megatower yet (demo bikes are hard to get these days!) but they are fairly similar in terms of geometry, however the Megatower should be a little more stable thanks to the bigger rear wheel. I think a lot of it comes down to whether or not you want the mullet and the extra 5mm of rear wheel travel.

[@jonengen1029]

@@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver Thanks for the reply! I'm debating between these two at the moment for a more downhill focused bike but that has reasonable climbing capabilities. Currently leaning slightly towards the Nomad because I gather the mullet will be more nimble. Hoping to demo them both first!

[@UnsponsoredUk]

A good one bike does it all trail bike?

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

Hey Phil, that depends what your rides look like honestly! Here on the North Shore where the terrain is pretty steep and tech it could totally fit the bill if you mostly find yourself riding black trails or harder (I ran a Nomad as my only bike for a while and could do it again). If your terrain is flatter and don't ride super-gnar as frequently, the Hightower or Bronson are the bikes I'd look at - you can still chuck them down silly trails but they pedal better and will be a little more fun on flowy blue trails.

[@frohrers281]

🤘

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

👌

[@lightning655]

Could you put a 27.5 on front if you wanted

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

Unfortunately not, that would have some pretty negative effects on the geometry

[@lightning655]

@@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver are previous years model still available can't make mind up on the look of a mullet setup

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

@@lightning655 The previous model year is discontinued, however we do have a couple of them still in stock at a discount steedcycles.com/collections/sale-items/products/santa-cruz-2022-nomad-5-cc-x01?variant=39613797957680

[@noahlara13]

All bikes are going to same with a 10 mm travel difference and SC will say its an entirely different bike

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

Santa Cruz do tune the suspension differently for each bike, and obviously the geometry is different too. While they may all look very similar (and this is no bad thing) and be close in terms of travel, they do ride quite differently.

[@noahlara13]

@@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver They tune it differently then we (the riders) retune it with tokens and rebound compression settings so it's irrelevant. The geo is within mm of each other now. The line up is going to morph into mid-long travel 29r quite soon just because pro's get faster times on 29".

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

​@@noahlara13 while shock tune, compression/rebound settings and air volume do affect suspension feel, they work completely independently of suspension leverage ratios, and there's only so much you can do to change that. ie you could tune the heck out of the shock on a high pivot bike (for example a Forbidden) but it's not going to make it ride like a VPP bike. You'd also be surprised at the amount of people that don't get super deep into things like that - in our experience most people take the base settings and then set and forget.

[@noahlara13]

We are talking about Santa Cruz bud not cherry picking extremes like high pivot bikes for comparisons. Point is all SC bikes are nearly indistinguishable and the Nomad becoming MX is not a good step forward.

[@daniel.studio8945]

What Is the frame size in the video?

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

Hi Daniel - Sam is 6ft tall and he's riding a size Large in the video.

[@mrmrspricerealestatestilha520]

Take my money!!

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

Happily! Keep an eye out on our social media and website for these coming into stock!

[@martsmarts]

So it's an evil twin of the Bronson?

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

exactly, muahahahaha

[@topspot4834]

Very disappointing ... nothing distinct, might as well just get a Bronson or Megatower. With no 27.5 enduro, SC is no longer an option unfortunately.

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

The 27.5 rear wheel on the Nomad 6 still does all the playful things you know and like. Give it a try, maybe you'll love it!

[@pinoyurbantactical3374]

we need a nomad ebike !😀👍👍🍺

[@lakaldrak]

Bullit👍

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

Yep that would be the Santa Cruz Bullit! Same travel, mixed wheels and very similar geometry.

[@noahlara13]

👎

[@noahlara13]

Nope

[@Branco1792]

​@@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver @noah lara 's point exactly, I agree with your point. I also understand what Steed Cycles said about getting super into the fine tuning so maybe that does make a difference but imo its mostly for the pros

[@MarkRuiz-p8u]

Jajajaja ese bigote 😂

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

¿Qué pasa amigo?

[@MarkRuiz-p8u]

Nada yo solo se que amo a mi esposa esmeralda

[@byrond123]

Awesome another bike you will not be able to get for like 16 months haha

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

We just had 6 ship on Friday and 3 more on Monday so total of 9 arriving in store this week.Take your pick!

[@byrond123]

@@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver any that are not already presold and not size small or xxl

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

@@byrond123 That I'm not sure of but shoot an email to [e-mail] and the customer service guys will figure that out for you ASAP

[@ofenrambo7537]

I wait for my V5 since 1.5years and now my Dealer Say it will not come 😭😭

[@KapitanPisoar1]

Front wheel gives you NO traction...

[@pcarts232]

Ridiculous price bike ! Orbea is £3000 cheaper and unless you ride like Gee Atherton you won’t go any faster on a ridiculous £10’000 bike trust me!

[@SteedCyclesNorthVancouver]

We haven't ridden an Orbea so can't comment on quality or ride, however here in Canada the top spec Rallon is priced pretty much the same as the top spec Nomad with Factory suspension, comparable drivetrain (XTR vs X01 AXS) and carbon wheels for $14k. Both also have an entry level build at half that price, so it really is your choice - we're happy to live in a world where there's so much choice between awesome bikes these days! 🤟