My New Carbon Nomad

The long awaited new Carbon Nomads recently starting rolling into the shop. We had quite a few that were pre-sold so I had to wait my turn to get my hands on one. I also really wanted the white one, not sure why, but the bright white colour just does it for me. 

Sixc Cranks... certainly Sick!

Leading up to my frame arriving I knew I wanted to do some upgrades to the Nomad kit I had been using for the past couple of years. I was running the Shimano Hone cranks which had served me very well but were a bit on the heavy side and if you are going with a carbon frame, might as well slam some carbon cranks on too. Scott (Pilecki) picked up some of the new Race Face Sixc cranks and bars a earlier this year and I was really impressed with how they were working out for him on his Nomad. Not only were they super light (760grams), but despite his intensely aggressive riding style they were shifting flawlessly and no BB issues. The Sixc Handlebars were another big upgrade from my former Chromag OS bars which worked fantastic but again wanted to go with a wider bar for more control, and, uh, in carbon. The Sixc bars are only 220 grams and are rated highly for ultra aggressive AM riding.    

The Santa Cruz Carbon Nomad's downtube | Hot graphics and this sticker won't peel off with time.

The new carbon frame is over a pound lighter than the former aluminum model.

Look, it is so light that it appears to float in mid air | Fox RP23 Rear Shock (for now) future:: Fox DHX Air

Race Face Sniper Lock On Grips

Shimano XTR front derailleur | Shimano M-646 pedals

The fork that makes the most sense for my type of riding on the Nomad is the Fox 36 Talas with travel from 100-130-160mm. Even though the bottom bracket drops quite low and I am hitting my pedals on rocks I run the fork at 100mm for the long, steep, gruelling climbs. I then raise it up to 160mm for the descent slackening the angles to the native 67 degrees.

  

 Chris King Hubs on Stan's No-Tubes Rims      |     Chris King 1.5Headset

It's definitely love with this bike after the first ride. Immediately I was amazed at how tight it rides and how responsive it reacts in technical riding. The new Black Spire Stinger Chain Guide fit perfectly on the ISCG 05 mounts. 

I weighed up the new Carbon Nomad with my custom kit, including a KS post (which adds 1 pound) and it currently sits at 33 pounds. This is 2 pounds lighter than what my last Nomad was...sweet! 


Tonight is ride number two on the new Nomad Carbon. Can't wait!!!

-Kimbo

A Foreign Visitor

We have foreigners visit our city all the time, especially during the summer months, but its not everyday that an old man with too many kids, that used to work at the bike shop, visits from Kamloops. Well yesterday was that day! The weather was HOT! with an H, but of course its a pretty simple word to spell...
I even got a tan/burn (a burn that I think will change from red) sitting at the coffee shop after our outing on the trails.



He may not be pretty, but he gets it done. Wayne Parsons came to remind himself why the shore kicks butt. This was his second day riding Fromme. Get some variety already bud!



Kimbo is lodging Wayne, so I suppose he figure he's got to show him how its done. Its done like this. Look serious and pedal hard. We worked our way uuuup the mountain and knocked off a couple trails, including ladies. Which is totally different now. What in the funstruction is went on there?



We all took turns smiling for the camera, so that Wayne wouldn't feel like he was a male model. God help us. Here's Steve rolling a technical section with his new Kashima Fox TALAS 180 up front.



Kimbo kept it low. Back in the days he was a bike video movie star, so he has some practice. What can this man not do well? Cleans the house, and the trails!



Wayne Reigned on our parade, carving his Giant Reign 0 down the slopes of the shore like he's still got it. I guess that means he's still got it. Good job Wayner!
Well that was a pleasant morning ride on Fromme! Too bad I felt like I had to go up there later that day with some other friends and nearly get lost, narrowly avoiding sleeping with the critters, thanks to a last minute phone call with important directional advice. Who know it could be so easy to get lost, so close to home. Don't forget to pack extra food, dry clothes and water if you are looking to get adventurous!

-Scott

Sales Reps Rip Too!

We all work in an industry that we choose to be in because we love the sport. While hard at work we don't always get time to remember why we are in the bike industry. We are in the shop fixing, and selling, and allowing others to enjoy their bikes, and our sales reps are helping us keep our shop running at its best, keeping up stock in the parts that we need and getting us out of tricky situations.
Why not take an evening to get together and ride our bikes, chat it up, and knock back some beers and burgers? Exactly... there is no good reason not to!


We had a great turn out to the event. Reps were decked out in their very best riding gear waiting to hit the trails!


Although this is a casual ride, you must remember to take cycling seriously... hydration is an important part or all sport. And what is the best way to carry hydration? stack your 8-pack on the back of a free-loader. 8-pack eh?


And this is how it should look!


If you've been watching the Tour De France it probably looks something like this. We were quite the gang heading up Seymour.


It was sketchy but most of the beers managed to stay in place for the ride up...


...Except for these two hooligans that manage to snipe a couple old styles


Once one rider started to push the whole group was on a mission to pin it to the top of the trails. I guess the whole casual ride idea got tossed out the window. But, we still had a great time, and of course, no one was left behind.


Once we all got to the top it was a choose your route down. We had a blast! there were some laughs had one a couple clumsy falls, and some sweets rips as well. Some of us chose to take a bonus round out, and it was well worth it.


Back at Casa De La Steed we could all mingle and get some food back in us. Reps and staff, reps and other reps. It was a great time.


Smiling Norco rep.


Smiling Race Face rep.


Smiling Giant rep.


Smiling Sugoi rep. You get the picture we all had a great time. Because really, who can have a great time riding with a bunch of cool people who share the same passion that you do.


The staff were havin' a laugh too. Its not often we get to harass each other outside the shop.


Anyone need a beer opened?

Thanks for everyone who made it out, we'll see you next year on new trails with the same idea.

-Scott

Summer Hummer - It's not what you think...

I was tired, in a great way, it was raining, but we were on a mission. A mission to ride from the lowest point to the highest trail on the three mountains of the north shore. Some call it a triple crown, some pain and suffering, in July we call it the Summer Hummer!



From the Bean Around the World at Parkgate Village, we consumed much Java and a few morsels of food, and looked at what was in front of us. It's Canada day, we have the day off work, there are some great riders and friends, good coffee, but pretty glum looking weather conditions. We all showed up though. The rain was had thinned out, so why not just ride!



Seymour was the first mountain to tackle on the Summer Hummer. Since we had a mighty long ride ahead of us, we chose to ride up the road rather than crawl the old buck up to the road. We set off at a good pace, and I took photos so that people could take their pain or anger out at the camera.



the sun made an attempt to ride along with us on this hummer. This is about as far as it got. No, the hummer does not come with a chick magnet...



CBC, in all its glory. Were we ready to tackle the root strewn favorite of the 50lb. shuttle bike category? Well we may not of liked it, but yes. We actually put the proverbial hammer down hard enough to pass some of those shuttlers, one on a perfectly spec'd Banshee Scream!



After that lovely piece of trail (I'm sorry I put you through that bike), we loaded the start gate of Ned's, which recently had a BC Cup DH race run down it. Tristan used Chocolate Milk as his grade A, Number 1 choice, super spectacular, recovery drink so that he was ready to pin it again, this time on his "xc bike". We finished up Seymour with a Bottle-Top, then it was across Twin-Bridges to Lynn Valley! One down, two to go.



If I have learned anything about commitment its from my friend Jeff Hunter. No matter if you're tired, or hungover, or just don't feel like it, if you committed to it then you can show up and do it. As you can see Jeff Anchored us on the Summer Hummer. Jeff couldn't actually make it, but maybe we'll see him again for the Fall Haul, and possible a new addition the Winter Sprinter...



After stopping for refreshments at the End of the Line Cafe on the Lynn Valley road. We hustled up the Fromme road, waaaay up. Our buddy Dan's dad Jake joined the Summer Hummer this time around. Jake made sure to keep us at a good pace.



Riding up the Road onto Grouse past the trails on Fromme is something I have to suggest that you do if you haven't yet. You get a great perspective of our beautiful city Vancouver, and of how far we've pedaled our butts! I tried to time my pedal strokes with the churning of the windmill spinning near Grouse's peak. Not really, but the windmill was turning.



We had make it to as high as we had to pedal on this mountain. I figure that if you can make it this far than you can finish it off. This was my marker for the Fall Haul last year. If I could make it this far and still feel like I had gas in the tank, then I can do this! Our bud Kyle had made it this far, we knew he could do it all now.



A little proof that we all showed up to hammer. Again, the views from Grouse are top-notch.



And down we came, to complete TWO! of the THREE! mountains we would conquer. It's Canada day dammit, let eat some sushi and drink some celebratory Canadians!...because we would use the carbs...



Now full of rice, and raw fish (this would be bad if anyone puked) we cross the Capilano dam on our way through the British Properties you see.



We traversed our way over to Cypress where we would pound the pavement to the ski parking lot.



Yaaa more pavement to hammer... But don't worry it'll be well worth it! I tell ya those Larsen TT's slay on the road, and they got be down some rouwdy, more than what I would classify as cross-country.



Ya budz! we made it, now just to get down. The whole crew made it this year, and it was great!



a pay phone! wow, classic. In case you need an innertube, or maybe a loft home. This pay phone could come in handy.



Congrats everyone for a great Summer Hummer! I'm impressed we all made it. 11.5 hours from start to finish, probably about 9 hours on the bike. And a deserved beer crush at the end. It helps you recover. We rode some awesome trails, with cool people, all on our home turf. Until next time,

-Scott