[Gravitythief76]

I'm coming off a heckler and currently ride our local xc trails in the 130 setting of my 36 talas. I am considering a frame swap to a nomad c or ltc and just cant seem to decide. Both share aspects that suit my riding style.

What I am wondering from those out there who currently ride nomads w/ talas 36 is how the bike handles with the fork at 130 for tight twisty singletrack. I know how the 36 feels at 160 on a bike, as the heckler has a 67 degree headtube angle at that setting just like the nomad.

Thanks!!!

 

[supercusty]

my fork comes tomorow - you should pm me this weekend and you can check out the ltc with the 150-120 talas

right now with the f-120 on it it shreds our trails like no-other:thumbsup:

 

[Gravitythief76]

will do...ur killing me ya know!

 

[TNC]

I'm coming off a heckler and currently ride our local xc trails in the 130 setting of my 36 talas. I am considering a frame swap to a nomad c or ltc and just cant seem to decide. Both share aspects that suit my riding style.

What I am wondering from those out there who currently ride nomads w/ talas 36 is how the bike handles with the fork at 130 for tight twisty singletrack. I know how the 36 feels at 160 on a bike, as the heckler has a 67 degree headtube angle at that setting just like the nomad.

Thanks!!!

I don't know...maybe you're thinking of the wrong bike for this application. You also realize that while the head angle reduction won't necessarily make the bike unrideable, you'll also drop the BB height which I think will give you some grief in pedal smack. The Nomad is designed to run a 160 fork at the low end of its scale. Running it at 130 regularly for anything but actual climbing will result in some really annoying pedal smack IMO.

 

[macming]

I have a Nomad, and a BLT. The Nomad handles single track just fine with a 160mm fork. I think it even climbed really well at that height.

The BLT maybe better off with a 130mm. It will just depend on your riding style/terrain.

My Nomad rides a lot more plush with a DHX 5 w/ a Ti coil, and the BLT pedals a lot better, but is no where close in the plush department.

 

[mtbames190]

your gonna kill your talas doing any riding other than climbing in the 130 mode. ive done it twice. they really arnt ment to take hard hits in the lower travel settings.

 

[jschwart73]

Even pedaling, a lower fork makes the Nomad feel like it's plowing into the side of the hill. It climbs fine with a 160, just make sure you pedal circles instead of mashing.

 

[Gravitythief76]

I have a Nomad, and a BLT. The Nomad handles single track just fine with a 160mm fork. I think it even climbed really well at that height.

The BLT maybe better off with a 130mm. It will just depend on your riding style/terrain.

My Nomad rides a lot more plush with a DHX 5 w/ a Ti coil, and the BLT pedals a lot better, but is no where close in the plush department.

I guess the issue is that I have not gotten the opportunity to ride a nomad. I am an agressive rider (despite 85% of the trails I ride being XC). I do some shuttle runs and love to hit gaps and drops up to around 8 feet, skinnies, tabletops, structures etc.

I have 2 setups for my heckler. For xc I run a pushed rp23 with the big hit bottom out kit and the talas at 130, XC seatpost, clipless pedals etc.

I also have a dhx with a ti coil, flats and a chainguide for dh/fr and the talas at 160. I really am leaning toward the nomadc, but the heckler with an airshock and 130 fork is sweet on our local xc trails. Steering is very precise and the front end rarely wanders or gets light on the climbs.

Maybe I should have just asked how the nomad handles constant up and down, rolling terrain and short punchy 1/4 mile climbs with a 160mm fork.

 

[TNC]

I guess the issue is that I have not gotten the opportunity to ride a nomad. I am an agressive rider (despite 85% of the trails I ride being XC). I do some shuttle runs and love to hit gaps and drops up to around 8 feet, skinnies, tabletops, structures etc.

I have 2 setups for my heckler. For xc I run a pushed rp23 with the big hit bottom out kit and the talas at 130, XC seatpost, clipless pedals etc.

I also have a dhx with a ti coil, flats and a chainguide for dh/fr and the talas at 160. I really am leaning toward the nomadc, but the heckler with an airshock and 130 fork is sweet on our local xc trails. Steering is very precise and the front end rarely wanders or gets light on the climbs.

Maybe I should have just asked how the nomad handles constant up and down, rolling terrain and short punchy 1/4 mile climbs with a 160mm fork.

I think you'll find the Nomad to pedal very well and be very efficient compared to the simple single pivot on your Heckler. This is why VPP and many of the other dual link suspensions exist. You don't get that mush-mush feel when pedaling that you used to get with dual suspension bikes with this much travel. The Heckler is a good bike, but you'd notice a difference in pedaling quality with the Nomad. VPP bikes and other dual link designs don't usually need a bunch of lockout, travel reduction, and other suspension bandaids to make them work well.

 

[Gravitythief76]

I think you'll find the Nomad to pedal very well and be very efficient compared to the simple single pivot on your Heckler. This is why VPP and many of the other dual link suspensions exist. You don't get that mush-mush feel when pedaling that you used to get with dual suspension bikes with this much travel. The Heckler is a good bike, but you'd notice a difference in pedaling quality with the Nomad. VPP bikes and other dual link designs don't usually need a bunch of lockout, travel reduction, and other suspension bandaids to make them work well.

Great to hear. Experience is invaluable! Thanks for sharing.

 

[macming]

I guess the issue is that I have not gotten the opportunity to ride a nomad. I am an agressive rider (despite 85% of the trails I ride being XC). I do some shuttle runs and love to hit gaps and drops up to around 8 feet, skinnies, tabletops, structures etc.

I have 2 setups for my heckler. For xc I run a pushed rp23 with the big hit bottom out kit and the talas at 130, XC seatpost, clipless pedals etc.

I also have a dhx with a ti coil, flats and a chainguide for dh/fr and the talas at 160. I really am leaning toward the nomadc, but the heckler with an airshock and 130 fork is sweet on our local xc trails. Steering is very precise and the front end rarely wanders or gets light on the climbs.

Maybe I should have just asked how the nomad handles constant up and down, rolling terrain and short punchy 1/4 mile climbs with a 160mm fork.

Are you keeping your Heckler? I only have a 08 Nomad, and most of its time was with a Fox Van 36 at 160mm, and a DHX 5 w/ a Ti coil. I just put a new Float Talas on it, so I can't comment too much with the lowered front end. Just riding around the street, a Nomad at 130mm up front just feels funny. I would not run anything lower than 160mm for an extended time.

The bike pedals extremely well, and I just got back from Moab with it. We rode Porcupine Rim, Baby Steps, Amasa's Back, Slick Rock, and Sovereign.

I have mine setup with Mavic 823 w/ 2.3" UST Nevegals (1000 grams per tire). Yes, climbing was a chore, but it was down to the bike's weight. If you get a Nomad C, and put a set of 819s w/ somewhat light tires, climbing will be much easier, as the suspension is extremely well configured to climb, and is just point and shoot on the downhills.

The Blur LTc is more like a stiff XC bike, and I think a NomadC will work better for your style.

Let us know what you end up with, and if you have any more questions!

Ming:thumbsup:

 

[Nilsern]

I've owned a Nomad untill last year. I actually started riding the Nomad with a RS Pike fork (140mm). Rode with this fork the first seson. I never really missed a longer fork at that moment, but ones I tried a 160mm fork, I had to get one at ones. Had a 2-step Lyrik, and it matched the Bike alot better. I rearly used the lowering option, only on steep climbs.

Depends on the riding, but if you're going to use the 36, it will IMO suit the Nomad better then the LT. Go for the Nomad, and use the lowering option only for climbing.

 

[mtbmarkymark]

You might consider the Lyrik coil U turns. I've got the 2010's on my Nomad 2. The only think i can fault about them is the weight ( 2490g ). They feel very solid and the maxle lite is easy to use. I find being able to drop the travel a bit is useful. In tight singletrack i run them at 145 ( sag to about 130mm ). If i'm on a long steep hill i drop them a bit more to about 130mm and i find this stops my back from aching as much when climbing.

Picking up on the point mtbames190 made.... with the coil u-turn lyriks the design is such that you can run them in a shortened travel mode as much as you like without any damage to the forks

There is a good range of adjustment with high / low speed compression damping and rebound. The floodgate is useful. You can lock the fork for road climbs but the floodgate will open if you start descending and have forgotten to unlock the forks