Superbike-off

Who wins…..

(join the queue with the orange 5 comments 🙂 )

In the looks department….Mojo HD

Lots of threads over on mtbr about this, lots of varying opinion, but my take on it is that the nomad c is a slightly better descender while the mojo HD is a better climber, but some would no doubt argue this, usually mojo HD owners

I have a mojo HD and its a very good climber and descender,I haven’t ridden a nomad.

I’ve been sniffing round the HD a bit lately, ready this a couple of days back on MTBR, thought it was a good insight:

I bought an HD around 2 months ago and have a lot of time on it so far, I ride about 5 days a week, mostly on pretty chunky DH style stuff that you have to pedal to access.

Before the HD, (which is freaking phenomenal good), I rode a Nomad for 4 years, 5 days a week, 9-10 months a year. I had the first gen Nomad for one season and the 2009 Nomad for almost 3 seasons. I LOVED the Nomad, in the end that bike was like an extension of my body as I knew exactly how it handled in just about every imaginable situation. I had the Nomad built up in just about every configuration you can imagine. Ive had 3 different forks (36 Talas, Lyrik and a Totem) and tried 4 different rear shocks over the seasons, some used specifically for XC or DH . I raced it in XC races and used it as my main park bike for almost 2 seasons, obviously with totally different setups. I have a season pass at highland bike park for the last few years, and now own a DH bike in addition to the HD. Anyway I think I have a pretty good handle on both Bikes.

For me, there is absolutely no freaking way you can say one is an overall better ride than the other (Nomad vs. HD) They both subtlety do certain things better than the other , and both are incredibly versatile.

Again, this is just my opinion but here is how I would compare them. I really think that they both can perform in a number of different ways depending on how you have the shock set up, and what shock you have for that matter. Because they have subtle differences in Geometry, and how the suspension actually progresses through their travel, my pick for nasty, chunky DH stuff is the Nomad. The Nomad feels slacker when you sit on it with the same sag as on the HD. When you are moving down the trail it rides further into its travel and I love that feeling for nasty, fast, steep DH stuff. It also helps for me that the large size nomad has a shorter seat tube than the HD, so I can get behind the Bike easier with my dropper post slammed. The nomads slightly longer wheel base gives you a bit more stability as well. I also think that the suspension of the Nomad is a bit more progressive in the very end as I did not have as many bottoming issues with it. The HD bottoms very easily on bigger hits, but its no big deal as you can address this with the shock set-up or modding. I certainly do not think the HD descends poorly, in fact certain types of descending it smokes the nomad. Because, you are over the front end of the bike more I think the HD carves the corners incredibly well. The DW Links action is also quite different than the Nomads and for chunky stuff that is not super steep the HD is significantly more controlled.
In the end, I feel like you can tell that the HD was influenced by a guy like Lopes, for ripping turns and flowing over stuff, and the Nomad was likley influenced by guys like Steve Peat, flat out DH’ers.

I really like how the HD jumps, its shorter wheelbase and stays help here. It also has quite a bit more pop than the nomad so its a bit better off the lips. The longer seat tube on the large is again a bit of a tough adjustment as I sometimes have a hard time passing the bike through my legs in the air, with the seat slamming me in the ass and the front end going down a touch.

Climbing and sprinting, Id give the edge to the HD. Its absolutely stiffer than the Nomad and it has a bit more scoot to it when you stand up and smash the pedals. I feel you can get pretty damn close to that feeling with the Nomad and the right shock set-up. I certainly never felt like the Nomad lacked stiffness, it simply does not, its just that the HD is outrageously stiff. It is so stiff that I had a hard time adjusting to how reactive the bike was and I think it took me at least 5 rides before I felt good on the bike as I was so accustom to the Nomad.
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Holy long post, yikes.
Anyway, you cant go wrong with either bike. You just have to decide what attributes of each frame are important to you and how you are going to ride the bike. I’m certainly not gonna sell my HD to switch back, then again my nomad frame is hanging up in the basement because I cant bare the thought of parting with it!

The Mojo Hd has been a hit with the Keswick Tuesday night riders,I had a wobble round the car park and it felt great size wise,not tried one off road yet but I am watching this thread with interest..Its a great looking bike for sure.

I am doing the Biketreks Santa cruz demo ride so it will be great to compare the Nomad..

I test rode an alu nomad and really liked it. However 160mm travel was too much for me.

NOMAD C of coarse, not an over designed arty thing like the Mojo, the Nomad is a bike.. and an amazing one at that.. it looks like a bike and rides like one.

What you ridng btw ? I’ve got a Blur TRc and the Nomad C, I think the Blur is enough for 90% of my riding in the end.. less is more.