#!markdown
Daddy,
In a certain sense, you're asking to have the cake you also want to eat. It's
really hard to compare bikes like you have above (in not too many words, so I
have to make assumptions here) without considering whether they were setup
similarly: suspension, tires, pressure, etc. Tire pressure alone and inferior
rubber could give you that skittish feeling in the wet. As for the Monarch, I
wonder how much you've played with the tune? Did you add spacers? I've run as
many as six in the Monarch Debonair Plus on the Nomad and it makes a notable
difference in the mid stroke both at high speeds on the way down as well as
staying supportive and providing traction while climbing. So…try that before
switching bikes because that's the cheapest and simplest option available to
you. Here's an article I wrote about it: <http://nsmb.com/rock-shox-tuning-
camp/>
Ok, that said, the SB6 simply goes uphill better than the Nomad, and I've
found the Nomad feels better going down - across a variety of setups on both
bikes (but I have way more time on the Nomad even though I recently rode a
differently-equipped SB6). The thing about the Yeti is that it's truly race-
bred, so it feels like it. I didn't feel quite as confident on it as the
Nomad, but it was quick and it gobbled stuff. For racing, it might be my
choice. In your case, with stages that feature 20-30% pedaling, it's the
obvious choice. You'll gain more time with less risk of crashing if you focus
on the flats and climbs rather than trying to push 10% harder on the way down.
So if it's between both bikes and you've exhausted tuning options with the
Nomad and aren't yet happy, race the Yeti, and tune it to enhance your
weaknesses, not your strengths (or the bike's weaknesses for you, if you know
what I mean) and you'll get the best race times. I do not think a coil shock
will give you better pedal performance on the Nomad - and certainly not better
than my suggestion of playing with your spacers in the air can.
Hope that helps. Happy to nerd out some more on it with you though.
April 7, 2016, 8:31 a.m. - Pete Roggeman
#!markdown Daddy, In a certain sense, you're asking to have the cake you also want to eat. It's really hard to compare bikes like you have above (in not too many words, so I have to make assumptions here) without considering whether they were setup similarly: suspension, tires, pressure, etc. Tire pressure alone and inferior rubber could give you that skittish feeling in the wet. As for the Monarch, I wonder how much you've played with the tune? Did you add spacers? I've run as many as six in the Monarch Debonair Plus on the Nomad and it makes a notable difference in the mid stroke both at high speeds on the way down as well as staying supportive and providing traction while climbing. So…try that before switching bikes because that's the cheapest and simplest option available to you. Here's an article I wrote about it: <http://nsmb.com/rock-shox-tuning- camp/> Ok, that said, the SB6 simply goes uphill better than the Nomad, and I've found the Nomad feels better going down - across a variety of setups on both bikes (but I have way more time on the Nomad even though I recently rode a differently-equipped SB6). The thing about the Yeti is that it's truly race- bred, so it feels like it. I didn't feel quite as confident on it as the Nomad, but it was quick and it gobbled stuff. For racing, it might be my choice. In your case, with stages that feature 20-30% pedaling, it's the obvious choice. You'll gain more time with less risk of crashing if you focus on the flats and climbs rather than trying to push 10% harder on the way down. So if it's between both bikes and you've exhausted tuning options with the Nomad and aren't yet happy, race the Yeti, and tune it to enhance your weaknesses, not your strengths (or the bike's weaknesses for you, if you know what I mean) and you'll get the best race times. I do not think a coil shock will give you better pedal performance on the Nomad - and certainly not better than my suggestion of playing with your spacers in the air can. Hope that helps. Happy to nerd out some more on it with you though.