It seems the entire virtual world is beating a path to our electronic door to get some kind of tasty scoopy morsel of info on the new carbon-fibered Nomad that we will release tomorrow, complete with not quite 100% accurate pdf files slinging around the internet, and online retailers building elaborate pre-order pages about the bike based on those same not quite accurate pdf files. Pretty hectic. We got the bossman in here demanding we throw the switch right now, we got retailers calling off the hook, we got customers pinging us with emails, we got hackers trying to bust into our website and find photos. And we’ve got a hair over nine hours left in this calendar day.

In the meantime, the Wonder Twins just rolled in from the first shakedown of the demo tour, where they kicked ass and took names. And lived like Americans, fuck yeah…

See? You probably thought we were joking. Lay you money that not long after this picture was taken that they went and ate at Richard Nixon's favorite restaurant. That's how people roll in the OC.

After punching out demos in Los Angeles and San Diego, Abby picks up the tale:

Hey Everyone

We are coming at you live (ok maybe not so live) from the SCB demo van, broadcasting via this sweet new wireless thingy from Verizon.

Ariel and I are headed home today as you read this we are driving down the (yeah, Mike I said “the”) I-5. This has been a whirlwind trip. Just for the record or maybe off the record, the SCB demos are consistently more busy than any other demo we’ve ever run!
Ok down to the meat. Last Monday-Wednesday we were at Bike Co in Lake Forrest/Irvine. They ruled, 40 some odd demos in 3 WEEKDAYS! . Terry and Joe said that most people were serious potential buyers. They realized the potential with weekday demos, because customers have to schedule time off work it meant they were more serious about a new bike. Plus with a good short demo loop nearby (Whiting Ranch) customers could bang out a loop and get back to work in relative short order.
I think Ariel and Terry have a bromance, check out the hug in this photo:

Here is the XX Tallboy. People are digging the 2 by 10, most people say they don’t notice any gears missing:

One of the Blur LTc:

Ok, so Thursday was our group ride with The Path. Brian Waugh has run demos for his shop before, and you could tell he thought about all the details. We rolled into a parking spot in the shops cramped parking lot with ease as Brian had reserved parking for us. We set everyone up and then drove out to the trailhead.
We had some super stoked riders with us. These guys rode the V-10’s and Driver 8’s on the loop! It went uphill for 40 minutes! Really uphill…

(yeah, we know, you already saw this photo, but it's part of their story, and the next photo would make no sense without it, then everything after that would be all caddywumpus and it would unravel from there...)

Notice the green box on the flagpole. There was a registry. Yup, I registered the ride:

Friday we jammed to Phoenix. Saturday morning was the McDowell Mountain Park demo. Again we were slammed! Almost 60 people demoed the bikes. Specialized was there too, and they were just as busy they said. This venue is great for demo. Short mixed terrain loop, awesome for showing off the Tallboy.
We had some Minneapolis folk in town on business with their baby and now, ex soccer playing, newly indoctrinated mountain biking friend, who stopped by to demo the Tallboy. This guy was the epitome of the Tallboy rider 6’5”. Their newbie friend was so pumped on mountain biking that she asked me to take a photo of them:

Ok, hope this wasn’t too long winded. Like I said we are home tonight, and will be washing bikes and prepping for this weekends Dela demo tomorrow through Friday. See ya soon!
A&A

All in all, a pretty wholesome report. No stories of spinning donuts in the van, trashing hotel rooms, or throwing up on paying customers. We figured it would be best to start slow. Maybe work up to some more headline-y stuff. As it is, they are killing it. A lot of people are getting on the bikes, which is what we had hoped for, Keep an eye on the demo calendar, and swing a leg over a bike when they come to town. As Abby mentioned, they are gonna be right here in our own backyard this weekend. Don’t forget to bring your best frisbee-proof helmet.

From the latest issuse of Decline, apparently Santa Cruz Bikes are bringing out a carbon Nomad:

Wow, who woulda expected that?

Stay tuned, all will be revealed on April Fool’s Day. And, since this ad is already out in the latest-est Decline, it stands to reason it isn’t a joke.

(and yes, crappy iphone pictures on a company blog of a new bike that is about to be launched, as opposed to nice big glossy pdfs and websites, is all part of a diabolical and many layered nefarious marketing plan the sole purpose of which is to confuse and frustrate potential customers, eventually leaving them so completely banjaxed that they have no alternative but to numbly buy our bikes. because we strategically employed the power of subliminal suggestion throughout the underhanded campaign. if you don’t want to buy a new carbon Nomad, DO NOT LOOK AT THIS PICTURE!! oops, too late.)

Speaking of magazines, here is another crappy iPhone pic, this time of the latest issue of BIKE. That there chin belongs to none other than our product manager, and tandem master, Josh Kissner:

For the record, Jordan Manley snapped that pic, right after our lad Josh got stitched up from face-sampling some of Whistler’s finest. Good thing he’s tough.

Now, as part of our nefarious marketing plan to get you to buy a new carbon fiber Nomad, here is a picture of a snake I took on a ride last Sunday:

"buy the carbon nomad... buuuuuuyyyyy the carrrrrrrrbonnnnnnn noooooommmmmaaaaaadddd..."

What does a picture of a snake sunning itself in springtime luxury have to do with an incredibly light, incredibly strong, incredibly stout, carbon fiber, 6.5″ travel, all-mountain ass-kicking machine? Exactly!