Whether we are doing after-work laps at the bike park or are shooting gaps and railing berms in the foothills, the Santa Cruz Nomad takes our heart as our go-to, long travel slayer. With its do-anything capability, mixed-wheel design, and plush yet efficient suspension platform, the Nomad is just at home getting a chairlift to the top of the mountain as it is opting to be its own lift service for the day. With 170mm of VPP suspension, the Nomad can bomb down the roughest and chunkiest double blacks we can find and is still efficient enough to climb back up and do it all over again. The mixed-wheel design allows for the best of both worlds, giving us monster truck rollover capability with the 29-inch wheel up front and a playful and agile back end with the 27. 5-inch wheel in the rear. Proportional chainstays and seat tubes allow for a frame with the perfect pedaling position and stability no matter what size frame we have. The latest Nomad features a lower leverage ratio and a more linear suspension curve, allowing for better traction, stability, and a more sensitive ride. A slack 63. 8-degree head tube angle gets our front wheel far ahead of us on descents for maximum stability, and a steep seat tube angle, averaging 77. 7 degrees, gets us upright and over the pedals for efficiency when climbing. With a Flip Chip in the shock link, we can make the Nomad even slacker and lower for extra confidence when taming the chunkiest of descents or bike park sessions. An integrated Glovebox frame storage allows us to keep our essential ride items in the bike's downtube, and an integrated downtube protector, chainstay protector, and shuttle guard protect our frame from damage. The GX Eagle Transmission Reserve build is perfect for riders who want quality components without the hefty price tag. First up, Santa Cruz's Carbon C frame is stiff, lightweight, and made to the same standards as Santa Cruz's Carbon CC frame. Next, SRAM's GX Transmission AXS drivetrain is the latest i...