yesterday the nomad retired and donated her parts to the new bike: the megatower.
i’d be the first to admit that that’s probably not a name i would have chosen. i understand that they wanted to make sure people understood that it was a significant improvement to the hightower (again, not a great name, has anyone seen police academy?), but a little more creativity would have been a good thing. the colour scheme is probably one of the better combinations santa cruz has come up with recently, but it doesn’t come close to the old nomad scheme.
the frame is not new: a mate didn’t like the way the bike rides and decided to sell it. however, he also felt the rear suspemsion wasn’t working well, and the triangle was replaced under warranty. as a result i had to wrap it again, a task i do not enjoy.
a few new parts: the zeb is new (had to upgrade because the pike can’t run 29 inch wheels) and so is the industry 9 carbon enduro wheelset – the megatower is a 29er and the old wheelset is 27.5 inch. the hope e4 brakes are not new; i believe this is the third santa cruz bike i’m using these on. the rear brake will need to be bled: on the megatower the brake hose is fed through the frame, which is very elegant, but means that the line must be cracked open for installation. oh well, at least the hopes are easy to service.
the same enve bars that came with the nomad 3 frame six years ago. they are a bit scratched now, but i can’t see a reason to replace them (i’ll need new grips, though, the old ones are knackered). the renthal stem will also continue to do it’s duty, i like my stems as short as possible. the only weird thing is that the zeb’s steerer seems to be tapered inside, and as a result i had to cut the tube quite long so i could still fit the edc tool. i don’t mind to keep the steerer a bit longer to keep my options open, but this is not ideal.
i also needed new tyres; i’ve gone with minions again this time. it’s the safe option, and until i know what the bike is capable of (spoiler: more than i will ever be capable of) i’ll stick with those. minions have heaps of grip and roll a lot better than many other tyres. i’ve gone with double down sidewalls to ensure i don’t damage the carbon wheels. i will of course also retain the xo1 drivetrain, there is really no reason to wish for anything else.
yep, santa cruz yet again; i believe this is my fourth, maybe the last. i have got a few clean up jobs left: i need to bleed the rear brake, set the bars and levers, check the derailleur. i know i’ll have to replace the chainring with a 3 mm offset part to correct the chain line (the old one is a 6 mm offset version required for non-boost bikes). it’s on order, but won’t be in for the first test ride, until then i know i’ll have some issues with the shifting precision. and finally i’ll have to set the suspension – i’ll get the shockwiz to help me with that one. i’m looking forward to our first ride.