Joined
·
400 Posts
And I'm even more confused now. I was leaning towards the Nomad going into it, but after riding both bikes, albeit on a short section of trail, I'm leaning more towards the BLT now.
Both bikes had their strengths. I've been riding a dated Klein FS XC bike, so it was really eye opening to experience VPP technology in action. For the most part, I ride XC, but I make the occaisional trip to Moab/Fruita, where it would be really nice to have a do it all type of bike like the Nomad. Plus, I may be more inclined to ride the lifts here if I had a bike that could handle it; although, I think the BLT could handle occasional lift access riding with the right build. I also got back into road biking in the last year, and I really had a hard time motivating myself to ride with the old inefficient suspension design of my XC bike, so I was thinking that getting a versatile bike that could do it all would make mountain biking "more fun" again (not that it wasn't).
The Nomad was so plush that it seemed like a beach cruiser as it just rolled over bumps, logs, roots, etc... The Float R shock on it was setup really plush, almost to the point that it felt sloppy, so I'm probably going to have to go back to the shop when I have more time to really get a feel for it with the suspension setup how I'd like it... Plus I'd like to take it out for an extended climb to see how it feels. The build was a bit on the heavy side at over 32 lbs, but the upright cockpit geometry on the large frame felt really comfortable to me. I had a hard time riding up a steep embankment though. It could have had to do with me not setting myself up properly over the bars, and I probably could have lowered the talas fork as well. I did like the slack head tube angle and the way the fork just soaked up obstacles, but at the same time, the stretched out wheelbase felt a little too long for tight turns and switchbacks.
I rode a large Blur LT, and the cockpit geometry was a little too stretched out for me. I'd probably wind up with a medium frame on the BLT. I was really impressed with how nimble, responsive and light the BLT felt. The Nomad almost felt sloppy by comparison, but again, it may have had to do with the way the shock was setup. The Blur LT also shined when I went to climb up the same embankement that gave me trouble on the Nomad. The Float RP3 shock stiffened up as soon as I got on it, and it accelerated right up the slope. I immediately noticed that the steeper headtube angle didn't give it the ability to roll over logs and other obstacles like the Nomad did. It was equipped with a 130mm Vanilla RCL fork, which got me thinking that a fork with a little more travel and A-C height, like a Marzocchi AM1 would be better suited for this bike. The cross brace on the seat tubes was the only thing that concerned me, as there was about 3mm of clearance between it and the tire with a 2.35" rear tire on the bike. I'd like to see if SC has corrected this problem, because I'd like to run as big of a tire as possible.
The Nomad is a really intruiging bike, and I can see why it's garnered all the hype that it has received, but the BLT was equally as impressive to me. I'm really starting to think that the Blur LT is going to be the way to go for me. I like that it leans towards the XC side, which I'll be doing 70-80% of the time, but that it can handle all mountain type riding as well. I'd love to hear opinions on how the bike feels from people who've put longer travel forks on their BLT's like the AM1, Talas 36, etc.
Both bikes had their strengths. I've been riding a dated Klein FS XC bike, so it was really eye opening to experience VPP technology in action. For the most part, I ride XC, but I make the occaisional trip to Moab/Fruita, where it would be really nice to have a do it all type of bike like the Nomad. Plus, I may be more inclined to ride the lifts here if I had a bike that could handle it; although, I think the BLT could handle occasional lift access riding with the right build. I also got back into road biking in the last year, and I really had a hard time motivating myself to ride with the old inefficient suspension design of my XC bike, so I was thinking that getting a versatile bike that could do it all would make mountain biking "more fun" again (not that it wasn't).
The Nomad was so plush that it seemed like a beach cruiser as it just rolled over bumps, logs, roots, etc... The Float R shock on it was setup really plush, almost to the point that it felt sloppy, so I'm probably going to have to go back to the shop when I have more time to really get a feel for it with the suspension setup how I'd like it... Plus I'd like to take it out for an extended climb to see how it feels. The build was a bit on the heavy side at over 32 lbs, but the upright cockpit geometry on the large frame felt really comfortable to me. I had a hard time riding up a steep embankment though. It could have had to do with me not setting myself up properly over the bars, and I probably could have lowered the talas fork as well. I did like the slack head tube angle and the way the fork just soaked up obstacles, but at the same time, the stretched out wheelbase felt a little too long for tight turns and switchbacks.
I rode a large Blur LT, and the cockpit geometry was a little too stretched out for me. I'd probably wind up with a medium frame on the BLT. I was really impressed with how nimble, responsive and light the BLT felt. The Nomad almost felt sloppy by comparison, but again, it may have had to do with the way the shock was setup. The Blur LT also shined when I went to climb up the same embankement that gave me trouble on the Nomad. The Float RP3 shock stiffened up as soon as I got on it, and it accelerated right up the slope. I immediately noticed that the steeper headtube angle didn't give it the ability to roll over logs and other obstacles like the Nomad did. It was equipped with a 130mm Vanilla RCL fork, which got me thinking that a fork with a little more travel and A-C height, like a Marzocchi AM1 would be better suited for this bike. The cross brace on the seat tubes was the only thing that concerned me, as there was about 3mm of clearance between it and the tire with a 2.35" rear tire on the bike. I'd like to see if SC has corrected this problem, because I'd like to run as big of a tire as possible.
The Nomad is a really intruiging bike, and I can see why it's garnered all the hype that it has received, but the BLT was equally as impressive to me. I'm really starting to think that the Blur LT is going to be the way to go for me. I like that it leans towards the XC side, which I'll be doing 70-80% of the time, but that it can handle all mountain type riding as well. I'd love to hear opinions on how the bike feels from people who've put longer travel forks on their BLT's like the AM1, Talas 36, etc.
