INTENSE TRACER FACTORY
£9,999.99 Obscenely spendy but utterly capable enduro ripper
Mention Intense Cycles and it’s easy to get lost in a cloud of ’90s DH racing nostalgia, but in recent years they’ve staged a comeback, with a big investment in carbon fibre and loads of new models. The new Tracer is said to be the cherry on the cake – a hard-hitting machine on the descents, with 165mm of rear travel, that can still be pedalled to the top.
The frame
Intense’s Je Steber collaborated with engineer Cesar Rojo – best known for his work on Mondraker’s ‘Forward Geometry’ concept – on the suspension and geometry, so it’s no surprise the new Tracer has a much longer reach than its predecessor (460mm on the large). That’s not Mondraker long by any means, but it’s spacious enough for most, while the 65.5-degree head angle and 75-degree e ective seat angle are bang on-trend for an aggressive enduro machine.
The top-end Factory bike gets a high-modulus ‘SL’ carbon mix (there are no alloy Tracers) and a carbon upper link to drop weight without compromising strength/sti ness. It’s single-ring only, with Boost 148 rear spacing. The pivots run on large-diameter bearings, and the lower link gets a Zerk fitting for easy relubing.
Intense’s ‘JS Tuned’ suspension keeps the counter-rotating links of the ‘VPP’ platform they once shared with Santa Cruz but has its own axle path and kinematics. Here, that means a nicely progressive curve.
The kit
As you’d expect for £10K, the parts are the crème de la crème, including a top-end Fox fork and shock, 1x12 SRAM XX1 Eagle drivetrain, carbon Race Face cranks and Shimano XTR brakes. Part of that painful price tag is down to the wheels – carbon ENVE M70 HV rims on DT Swiss 240s hubs. These cost thousands on their own but are sti with fast pick-up and a shape that gives a good profile to
the incredibly sticky e*thirteen TSRr rubber.
The ride
While the tyres dampen the ride when climbing, it’s a well-mannered bike uphill. The feel through the pedals is neutral and even with the shock run fully open it’s no bobbing pig. Although the pretty slack head angle requires you to pay attention, the low stack height stops the Tracer wheelieing away from you. It’s got a good pedalling position too. Sticky tyres do make it a bit of a chore to pedal for long distances, though, and they’re pretty hefty too, contributing to an all-in weight of 13.1kg.
Climbing isn’t what the Tracer is about, though, and once it’s time to don your goggles and launch yourself down the trail, it starts to come alive. The first thing you notice is just how quiet the bike is. Save for the odd wheeze of a shock or scrape of a tyre, it’s a silent killer. There’s an incredibly well-damped feel to the frame too, with little harshness or buzz being filtered back to your hands.
More importantly, the angles make you feel immediately at home. Sticky tyres and superb shocks help, but the Tracer is neutral in the best way – it gives a blank canvas for you to work with, whether you want to go Jackson Pollock or Leonardo da Vinci on it! It devours rock gardens, with little loss of momentum, and dives into the gnarliest steeps with abandon. The back end is brilliant too, refusing to get hung up on rocks or feed back chatter to the pedals, and o ering excellent support when cornering or hucking to flat.
If you want something pretty exclusive and superbly made, and you’ve got this sort of cash burning a hole in your pocket, then you may be able to justify the purchase. But there are bikes that perform with similar aplomb for a third of the price. Think of this as a private jet or a superyacht – not a rational purchase, but that doesn’t detract from its appeal.