[JHANguyen]

Anyone have experience with these bikes? I just built up a Santa Cruz Nomad, and while I like it a lot, I've always loved Giant bikes. I'm considering doing a trade.

With both bikes built up to a similar spec, how would they compare?

 

[phatfreeheeler]

I rode both before I got my XO last year - I liked the Reign a lot more. The Nomad never felt like it had nearly as much travel except when landing a drop. Coming from long 4 bar bikes like FSR and Ellsworth, the Nomad felt like it had 5.5" of travel until you really hit something hard. The Reign felt like a 6+" bike, especially over small bumps. Of course the Nomad climbed really well, but with a touch more chain tension over bumps. This translated to really good traction, but the Reign wasn't bad either. Also, the Nomad's cockpit didn't suit me as well for my longer arms. Kept me too upright at proper leg extension (Higher BB added to this). I would have needed a layback seatpost and my gravity dropper is straight. I didn't want to lose that.

Also, while both specs say 67deg HA, the Reign felt slacker. The BB is about 1/4" lower too which can be a negative for clearance but does make the Reign corner just a touch better IMHO.

Obviously I'm biased at this point. The '09 Nomad with better pivots and grease ports might have got me on board since I bet it's stiffer than the X rear end, but the older one wasn't enough of a draw to get me psyched.

 

[JHANguyen]

Thanks for the info.

I should probably test ride the Reign. I think the thing that bugs me about the Nomad is the slack angles. It's a nice ride for sure, and it feels great riding down, but it feels a little sketchy climbing. That's pretty much the only complaint I have about the bike. That being said, I'm running a 180mm Totem up front, so a fork with less travel will surely help.

 

[YoPawn]

Nomad does feel really wandery on climbs compared to the Reign X.

Reign x rides better in every way IMO. Although the Nomad is a bit more durable.

I've had a good amount of time on both BTW.