INTENSE SNIPER T ELITE
£6,099 A trail-inspired, modern-day XC bike
With the Sniper T, Intense have amped up their Sniper XC platform to deliver more travel and more capability, and bridge the gap between cross-country whippet and trail ripper.
THE FRAME
The Sniper T uses the same carbon fibre chassis as the rest of the Sniper ‘family’. It rolls on 29in wheels and is available in four sizes. What makes this bike more burly than the Sniper XC is its longer-shock stroke, which boosts travel from 100mm to 120mm, plus its 120mm-travel fork, which also subtly affects the bike’s geometry. Its geo figures do seem dated, though, especially compared to other bikes in the same ‘downcountry’ genre, such as the 120mm-travel Transition Spur.
While the 66.5-degree head angle is reasonable for a bike with this little travel, the 73-degree effective seat tube angle is slack by today’s standards and the 435mm reach on the medium size we tested is short, although together they still give a moderate effective top tube length of 613mm. The 437mm seat tube is pretty short, so leaves plenty of space for a dropper post, while the 439mm chainstays are on the stable side, without being overly stretched out.
Frame features include titanium hardware and a carbon upper link for Intense’s ‘JS Tuned’ virtual pivot point suspension design. You also get internal cable routing, plus space for one bottle inside the front triangle and bosses for another underneath the down tube.
THE KIT
As you’d expect for this money, there’s some serious kit here, including a Fox 34 StepCast Factory fork and Float DPS Factory shock, SRAM X01 Eagle drivetrain, two-pot Shimano XT brakes and 28mm-wide (internal) e*thirteen XCX carbon wheels. This is the 2021 bike; for 2022 the frame and kit stay the same but get model-year updates.
THE RIDE
There’s no denying the fun the Sniper T delivers on flowing trails and natural tech that isn’t too steep or wild, but it will negotiate that stuff too. We were impressed by the suspension kinematics, which balance efficiency and capability very well. The twin-link set-up provides a stable pedalling platform that makes the bike eager to get up to speed, while remaining active enough to cushion trail chatter. We still flicked the shock’s climb switch on longer, smoother climbs – why not get as much efficiency as possible?
The biggest compromise with this bike is its geometry. That slack 73-degree seat tube angle feels outdated and doesn’t put you in the best position on steeper climbs, where we had to shuffle forward on the saddle to keep the front wheel tracking. Plus, our feet felt far too ahead of our hips for strong pedalling. However, once the trail points down, the Sniper T starts to shine, thanks to its sorted suspension. While there are limitations to the 120mm of travel, it’s more noticeable with the fork than the rear end – the Fox 34 is surprisingly capable and can handle some abuse, but the rear smooths out the trail better.
We’d love to see Intense overhaul the Sniper T’s geometry so it can keep up with its suspension, as this is a bike that enjoys eating up the miles whether up, down or along. And its high-end components are more than up to the task, too. Luke Marshall https://uk.intensecycles.com
A capable and fun bike that covers ground fast, but a few geometry tweaks would improve its pedalling