Ok, if you're like me, you want to ride your cross-country mountain bike up the hill, and have your DH bike strapped to your back for the ride down. For years, I've been searching for the perfect marriage of the long travel and beefy framed bike to the climbing benefits of a true cross-country.

The Santa Cruz Nomad may just be the perfect bike for you and me. It has 165mm of super plush rear travel with a strong frame design. Yet it still has a 135mm spaced rear dropout, a trail-friendly wheelbase, multiple chainring support, and the steady pedaling VPP suspension.

The curved frame design isn't just for looks. It has allowed the engineers to shave the bike's total weight down to about 32 pounds without sacrificing strength.

I'm hoping to get my hands on one of these soon.

For more information and specs on the Santa Cruz Nomad or their other bikes, check out their website at http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/.