Ready to Ride and the Nomadizer

Depending on whom you ask Samuel Levi, our newest player, rider, pack member (according to our dogs) was born on Friday 9.12.08 at 10:23 PM. My wife is recovering well, the family is thrilled and lil' Sam should be ready to rock in no time. I must say he is pretty awesome, in great shape and I am psyched to be able to do everything for him from the feeding to cleaning to changing and entertaining (we stick out our tongues when discussing politics). Speaking of politics, Tina Fey should receive an Emmy for this performance. Funny stuff no matter how you swing. Yes, I already have his first bike picked out too.

The "Nomadizer" is my nick name for my new Santa Cruz Nomad. It is my cunning lingual blending of the name Nomad and one of my favorite Fu Manchu songs, "Anodizer". This is somebodies homemade video which is mediocre, but you can at least hear the tune.



I held out on getting a new frame for quite awhile. I had been aboard my Heckler for over 3 years and it had served me well. I never felt out-gunned on it and I rode it all over the place including on my trip to Switzerland last year. It was on that trip with its high burliness factor and relentless downhills where I felt I wanted more bike. I tried Nomads before, but I originally felt they were too stretched-out for my routine riding and that would not translate well on the tight east coast single track I frequent. I was not real concerned about weight, but I kinda wanted to stay around the 35 pound mark or less. My hope was to retain all the positives of the Heckler (razor-sharp handling, and acceleration) while adding improved climbing ability and stability in the nastiness. I was well aware of the Nomad's reputation and had listened to Mo-Fun Mike rave about his since day one. Still I held off.

Santa Cruz rolled out their updated Blur LT (long travel) this spring which I spoke about here. At first it would have seemed to be an ideal choice for me with its matching geometry to my Heckler despite having less travel. However, after being assured that I would be better off aboard a Nomad for my shenanigans I set out to locate a frame. I knew that pretty much everything off of the Heckler would transfer over except for the Cane Creek Double Barrel shock so I procured one from T2. Then SC debuted their revised Nomad which would be available later this fall. I am sure it will be a kick ass ride, but I figured I would rather have the pinnacle of the original design, and the updates were not really that big a deal to me. Also I liked the looks of the original better with its hump echoing the shape of a 50's hot-rod. Last but not least I knew I would be able to locate deals on this design as shops salivated to get the new one in.

Initially I was a bit concerned after building the Nomadizer up as I was not used to the geometry which felt noticeably different than the Heckler. My first ride out the bike felt sluggish and unbalanced not to mention heavy. The frame and shock are heavier than the Heckler and with the beefy build-kit I have the weight was close to 39 pounds. I decided to speak Malcolm at Cane Creek about dialing in the shock who promptly returned my call. I remembered when Mike first had his Nomad and then later purchased a Double Barrel that it took some trial and error to find the sweet spot for the bikes suspension balance b/t solid pedalling, a plush ride over the trail chop and the bottomless feel that the VPP design is known for. Malcolm said that it would take some experimentation, but once dialed the Nomad works great with a Double Barrel. He made several simple suggestions which worked like a snap and the sluggish unbalanced feel disappeared. I then took inventory of my componentry and looked for ways to drop some weight. First and foremost, would be my wheelset which although bombproof is on the heavy side of the fence being better suited to DH (which I will save them for) versus all mountain riding. I ended up going with a set of DT 340 Enduro Trail wheels and immediately lost a noticeable pound and a half of rolling weight. All of the other components did not have as big a weight savings, however I switched my bar/stem combo to an Easton Monkey Light DH/Raceface Atlas and down-sized my WTB DH seat to a more svelte WTB Pure V Race in Camo like Diamond Dave loves. Final score: 35.6 pounds with pedals; same as the Heckle-beast. I added my "HELLBELLY" sticker on the top tube and I was ready to ride. (Part 2 soon)

Guilty Pleasures

I had a fantastic ride yesterday up at Freedom Park. I ran into some familiar riding acquaintances and met a new one. The weather was pretty much perfect, the trails in great shape having received a little rain during the previous days and I felt dialed in aboard the Nomadizer (detailed review and discussion forthcoming). One thing that riding there always re-enforces for me is my enjoyment of the kind of riding I probably should be "maturing" away from. In particular are my adorations for the sketchier technical-side of mountain bike riding versus my more efficient exercise-obsessed, light weight bike worshiping cross country riding brethren. Maybe one day I may find my way to measuring my riding enjoyment in miles covered, grams saved or faster lap times. This seems to be more acceptable to most as opposed to flying off drop-offs/jumps, careening down wheel-demolishing boulder fields or negotiating precariously narrow logs/bridges/ledges that span heights where falling comes with high consequences. They are all guilty pleasures that are just playing to me.

I felt I should share a couple other guilty pleasures that I have no real explanation for other than I am just fond of them. Feel free to judge/laugh at/condemn as you wish. The bands mentioned below have little if anything in common with most of the stuff I yap about here. "Everything She Wants" -Wham!

One of the reviews for this song says that it just rocks. I agree. It contains a stomping back beat and thumping bass with Michael Jackson-esque vocals (back when he did not suck) except with more soul. Powerful stuff. George Michael's personal antics have long overshadowed his musical output for many years, but he and Andrew hit a home run with this one. Yes, I do have this song in my iPod alongside Zeke and other aforementioned musical monsters.

"Good Thing" -Fine Young Cannibals

I loved The English Beat and I still rank "I Just Can't Stop it" as one of my all time favorite albums. After the Beat's short, but impressive career output the band splintered into General Public and Fine Young Cannibals. Although I was not really blown away by General Public I was always drawn to FYC's unique sound. I don't know why, but I love the retro-soul vocals and simple circular rhythm of the song. The video imagery which is reminiscent of Quadrophenia has a great look. Yes, I do sing these songs in the shower. Guilty as charged. We'll get back to the usual maelstrom soon enough.