Ok, So I have put the dh bike for sale… and soon my hustler will go to… it has been 5 years but I think it is time for a change….

so I have just built up a c456 thanks to some people of here… so that will do the main trail duties

thing is I want a full susser for the big days out on the moors, the odd shuttle / uplift ad trips to the alps.

I a thinking a carbon nomad would fit the bill… but haven’t ridden he Vpp platform that much…

would the nomad be a good choice… or stick to the dh bike and the hustler… ???

cheers.

I’ve decided to sell my 5in bike after getting a c456 and bloody loving it.

Got a Cube Fritzz (160mm travel AM bike) for proper mountains.

Also got a freemince bike, but would be happy with just the other two for everything if I had to stick to just two.

Hope that helps in some vague way.

I’m just about to sell my Freeride bike – a Santa Cruz VP-Free. Since hurting my back, I’m just a bit scared to ride it as it should be ridden…

Rachel

Hey up Neil.
Doug has a nomad i’m sure he’d let you try.

Seems pointless though? A carbon nomad costs how much? £5000? Could you not just have a £2500 dh bike and a £2500 5 inch trail bike?

Seems pointless though? A carbon nomad costs how much? £5000? Could you not just have a £2500 dh bike and a £2500 5 inch trail bike?

If you spec one up properly then yes. And then it won’t be as good as a 2.5K DH bike on the downs, or as good as a 2.5K trail bike on everything else…

chakaping – does, ie that is the bike setup I am looking for and sound like it works well… I am not sure if a 160mm bike is total overkill.

Del, thanks for the heads up, also I was going to / will email you later on… got to give the c456 its first outing.

david… it wouldn’t be costing me 5k… no way I would pay that ie this would be a swap and effectively wouldn’t cost me anything.

Hardtail
Shortish travel FS
DH/FR bike

with those 3 bikes you will have a tool specific to all types of riding you’re likely to do.

If you change it to:

Hardtail
Long travel FS (like a nomad)

you may regret not having a full on DH for the uplift days, or having a nice shortish travel FS for epic days where you do a lot of climbing.

One bike for more than one type of ridng = compromise

One bike = compromise

thats what’s in the back of my mind…

I am officially middle aged now, I just got a new job with a company car ineveything… is this a stupid midlife crisis moment?

I am not sure if a 160mm bike is total overkill.

Might be in some places but it’s bloody good fun.

Perfect bike for doing Snowdon weekend before last, for example.

Personally I feel like I’ve finally got the “right bikes” after a few years of chopping and changing quite a bit.

EDIT: But I can’t really address whether a 6in bike would do you for DH, as I am keeping my Froggy for that side of things.

thats what’s in the back of my mind… I am the first to point and laugh at someone mincing about on a big old bike…

I am officially middle aged now, I just got a new job with a company car ineveything… is this a stupid midlife crisis moment?

It might not be as big a compromise as you think though.

Sit down and think about all the riding you actually do (not necessarily what you think you might do in future).

If it’s fairly close in terms of types (e.g. all around trail centres, or big days out in the hills taking in lots of different riding at once) then one bike might be the answer.

However, if you’re like me and spend Saturday wearing a full face and trying to kill yourself in Wharncliffe and then doing a 26 mile XC loop in Calderdale on the Sunday, you would probably be better with 2 bikes.

I’ve had more do it all bikes than I care to remember, and whilst some of them are outstanding, nothing beats being able to walk into your garage and pick out a DH bike for an uplift day, or your hardtail for a play around your local woods, or a shortish travel FS for epic days in the hills.

I’ve only had a short ride on a friends new nomad carbon, very nice bike, pedals exceptionally well and very plush. He’s bought it to replace a G-spot and a blur lt, has more travel than both and also lighter than both, seems to climb very well too (better than my blur 4x at any rate).

Wont descend like a full on DH bike though.

I’d worry about other bikes chewing up your carbon frame on uplifts, I have a good cut out of a weld on my alu bike from the uplift at the weekend.

if you’re like me and spend Saturday wearing a full face and trying to kill yourself in Wharncliffe and then doing a 26 mile XC loop in Calderdale on the Sunday, you would probably be better with 2 bikes.

thats excatly the riding I do. long days on the moors, and uplifts at triscombe mainly with the odd trip furthur afield (scotland and the like)… the hardtale will cover the local trails at haldon and woodbury.

nothing beats being able to walk into your garage and pick out a DH bike for an uplift day, or your hardtail for a play around your local woods, or a shortish travel FS for epic days in the hills”

thats where I am at now… and the set up works well… great infact… change for change’s sake????

hummmmmmm…

Del – Member
Hey up Neil.
Doug has a nomad i’m sure he’d let you try.

Dont subject him to Doug’s bike and its interesting characteristics… 😯

I guess it depends on how much proper DH’ing your going do as that’s going to push the Nomad (and you on it) out of its comfort zone most.

I think that you should stick with what you have, big travel trail bikes are just a compromise on the two bikes you really need and already have, a DH bike and a proper trail bike. You might get one bike without much net outlay, but you sure won’t be able to go back the other way without forking out a shed load….

Treat yourself to a few tasty upgrades to scratch the itch! 🙂

ddmonkey… you have a point…. thing is to answer Burchy1, I am doing less and less dh, full days out uplifting are becoming less o an option with kids… shame I know but thats just it…

Ass.

no no no no

n+1 innit

you need a dh bike, a short travel fs AND a nomad

Hi,

I have a Nomad Carbon and it is an awesum bike – have thrashed it down DH and it’s pretty good for the climbs – I do have a more trial specific setup – 2*10 and Fox 32’s (yes most of u hate the fact I have 32’s on it but it works for me). It’s a fantastic bike, IMO you can’t go wrong with it and a tidy HT in the shed for long rides is ideal ( Pace RC104 for my long rides).

Overall Nomad, depending on build, would be a great bike with a HT in the shed.

I’ve a Nomad as my only bike with a 1×9 set up.
Works well at trail centres (not that I frequent them very often), no problems keeping up with mates on light weight xc bikes.
All day xc rides, again no problems keeping with other riders on hardtails/shorter travel bikes.
Works exceptionally well on the local DH track (though admittedly, a full on DH bike is a bit overkill on this track).
Works well in the Alps, had lots of fun blasting past DH bikes in Morzine!
Rode a few World cup DH tracks on it too, again no issues.
Fact is, aside from Fort Bill, is there any need for a full on DH bike in the UK?

Fact is, aside from Fort Bill, is there any need for a full on DH bike in the UK?

EDIT: i’m just going to go and have a coffee instead, since these statements just make me cringe now 😀

I’ll just agree completely………YES, “all mountain” bikes are better than pretty much any other bike you can buy at pretty much anything.

Ah, that feels better.

Now, i’m off to sell all my bikes and go and buy a Nomad/Mojo/5 etc

Fact is, aside from Fort Bill, is there any need for a full on DH bike in the UK?

Yeah exactly. I mean Steve Peat wins pro downhill races on rigid bikes with cantilever brakes. Who actually even needs suspension?

Yeah exactly. I mean Steve Peat wins pro downhill races on rigid bikes with cantilever brakes. Who actually even needs suspension?

Actually, he used to… 🙂

Steve Peat could ride Fatima Whitbread down a WC course quicker than most good riders on a 951. He doesn’t count 😀

Dirt did a test years back arround issue 52 while it was still finding it’s feet after droping the BMX and MOTO content.

They published climb and decent times for all the bikes tested. The then new spesh enduro (2005?)was somethign like 2 seconds off the time set by the Intense M3, and judgeing by the photos, it wasn’t a smooth track! And the giant faith got slated for being heavy with basic shock and forks (Manitou metal and junior T’s iirc) was only a second off the best on test (commmencal meta6). So feeling fast/expensive doesn’t actualy equate to more speed.

Uphill was a different matter, most bikes were fairly equal (there was a ahrdtail yardstick) but a huge drop off over 160mm or less pedaly designs.

So rather counter intuitively bike choice is more important in XC than in DH.

I’m heading towards an on-one inbred and a last herb AM or FR.
Run the Herb at 145 rear travel with 140 forks for most the year and for proper DH and the alps stick 180 forks on and a coil shock for 175mm rear travel. winner.

So feeling fast/expensive doesn’t actualy equate to more speed.

I’ve always considered DH like this:

Gravity does a great deal of the work for you. So provided you can find a good line and don’t crash, you will get down in a good time.

However, on many courses the faster you go the harder it is to keep control of the bike, keep on that good line and not crash.

Therefore, a bike which is easier to control on the rough stuff whilst doing mach 5 is generally preferable. Long, low and slack with a good suspension platform lends itself to keeping that control at speed.

I don’t doubt for a minute that really good riders could find a good line on most DH courses and handle pretty much any bike at speed. However, I can’t.

When I use a 6″ AM bike flat out on a DH course, I struggle to stick to the lines I want and I am not able to ride as smoothly, plus I don’t enjoy it as much because I feel like I’m less in control unless I pull back on the speed. For me, this is more to do with geometry than anything else. I struggle flat out with steep(ish) HA’s.

It’s just that it’s generally easier to control a long, low and slack bike when you are flat out.

peterfiles right

i can ride my 5 inch am bike down aston or cwmcarn and its fast and fun

but on my dh bike it just feels so much easier , less out of control moments and im not so beaten up at the bottom

then move to somewhere properly steep and slippery like nant G and i can barely make it down on my DH bike

im sure a nomad could manage it but itd be a lot easier and safer on a v10!

Looks like what I have got it the best solution. Thing is the dh bike is so much bike, yep I can go Mach 10 on that thing, hold lines I couldn’t on my other bikes, gives me confidence to hit all the jumps and gaps, but it is almost too good at it’s job and although I can go relatively quickly on it I feel like I am mincing down the hill if that makes sence. I convinced myself that the nomad is the best solution. Maybe time to reconsider … Hummmm