Santa Cruz Nomad

Since July 2005 my main bike has been a Santa Cruz Nomad. It has been my bike of choice for 99.9% of the rides I have done in the last 14 months, including singletrack bashing, epic South Downs Way and 'all mountain' riding. The Nomad is suited to all these types of riding, although it does have its compromises for epics. It is built-up with FOX36 Van forks, Hope M4 mono brakes, FOX DHX5 coil shock, and XT kit. I don't know what it weighs, its not light-weight but on the trail it pedals a lot less than it is.
The geometry is very relaxed but not ridiculously so; however in combination with the FOX36 Van forks keeping the front wheel on the trail requires a little effort on very steep climbs. Cruising long distances (30+ miles) is very relaxed and it just swallows all the general trail bumps and dips; however I never get to the top of the hill first, but I do always get there! Going downhill the Nomad is fantastic and very quickly reaches speeds that are on the dangerous side of my limited ability. Rocky descents are a breeze and technical singletrack with rocks and logs are made very easy. Truly brilliant.
The VPP suspension really digs-in on climbs and technical climbs in particular are often despatched while a couple of buddies give up on their bikes (Specialized Enduro, Scott Ransom & Kona Dawg), when we swop bikes they make it and I don't. On long steady climbs I find myself at the back of the bunch, the bike doesn't feel heavy but obviously it is more effort to pedal than those of my buddies. The Nomad is not a XC or enduro-race bike. One of our gang has a Santa Cruz Blur and this just flys up all the climbs.
I changed the bearings in May of this year, I don't think this is unreasonable after 10 months of riding including through the 05/06 winter in South Downs mud.
Would I buy a different bike after the Nomad, no for my general riding this is perfect. A couple of things to be aware of if you are considering the Nomad or Santa Cruz Blur LT. The Nomad requires more effort to ride uphill than the SC Blur LT (one of our gang has an LT) if you are a light-weight rider or don't have strong legs go for the LT. Going down hill the Nomad reaches phenomenal speeds very quickly, I would recommend always staying on the side of caution and within your safety limits until you are sure of riding a tricky section and get big brakes with at least 180mm rotors.