This depends on what you’re mainly riding, but both work really well. For trails with lots of rock and roots, we recommend the coil setup as it will smooth these out really well and for trails with lots of big hits the air will always feel more bottomless. Even with volume spacers the air shock does not feel harsh at the end of travel.
Using the spring rate listed below will provide more bottom out resistance than the stock link, but if you want even more, go up 50 lbs in spring rate. This will leave the small bump sensitivity feeling similar to the stock link but the travel will feel bottomless.
The recommended spring rate listed below will also provide more small bump sensitivity than the stock link, but if you would like more, go down 25 lbs in spring rate. We don’t recommend much lower than this because it will begin to make the bike sit lower in its travel than is ideal for pedaling. If you are shuttling or riding lifts, feel free to go lower though.
Longer chainstays will make the bike more stable at speed, especially through rough terrain. It’s also harder to wheelie out while climbing, since the axle is further behind you. The stock Nomad has the same CS length as the Bronson, which doesn’t make sense considering how much more aggressive it’s supposed to be. The 6 mm of added length isn’t too much to the point where the bike begins to feel sluggish, but it gives it that little extra edge it should’ve had.
No, you should not. Given normal tire size and seat height choices, there will not be clearance issues. We stick with Santa Cruz’s recommended maximum tire sizes, though.
There is not a grease port on this link. After spending extensive time on the Nomad we have found that by the time the bearings need greasing they also usually need to be replaced. As a result, the grease port not is particularly useful. We chose to go with sealed Enduro MAX bearings and forgo the grease port because the bearings will last longer in harsh conditions. The bearings are the same size so you can still use the Santa Cruz lifetime bearing replacements, they just won’t be sealed.
Yes! It still works quite well and is a noticeable improvement over the stock link. I’ve spent a decent amount of time riding it with the stock Super Deluxe and it rode really well.