WILL’S INTENSE TRACER 29 PRO £5,799 (+ shipping)

Our former staff writer is now driving a 170mm-travel monster truck

I was excited to see the revamped Tracer 29 and even more excited to ride it! Intense have stuck with a carbon fibre frame and twin-link suspension, but the shock is now driven by the lower link, which pivots around the BB to help keep the centre of gravity low.

First ride impressions on the blue runs at 417 Bike Park were great. Corner-schralping was made easy by the bang-on geometry, including a 480mm reach and 64.4-degree head angle (large size, ‘high’ setting). Fox’s 38 Performance Elite is a great fork, with the same stiff chassis, Float air spring and GRIP2 damper as its more expensive Factory sibling (just without the gold Kashima coating). The rear end is pleasantly progressive, with a predictable ramp-up in the latter half of the stroke that stops the bike from sinking too far into its travel.

Spec-wise, you get e*thirteen kit including an 800mm bar and 170mm cranks, Shimano XT brakes and gears, and triple-compound Maxxis Assegai tyres. Due to over-exuberance and poor judgment, I destroyed the rear e*thirteen LG1 rim at BikePark Wales on (you guessed it) Rim Dinger, trying to stay ahead of Ben Deakin. The team at Intense UK were quick to sort a replacement (thanks guys!), but it did leave me wondering if speccing 28-spoke wheels on a big enduro bike was a contributing factor. The only addition I’ve made is a set of blinglooking PEMBREE D2A flat pedals.

Hitting Revolution Bike Park (keep an eye on the BikeRadar YouTube channel!), the capability of the 170mm-travel Tracer really shone through. It doesn’t quite have DH-bike levels of ‘plantedness’, but is far more capable and composed than you might expect a lightweight enduro bike to be. Its brawler nature means high-speed berms, steep terrain and rough braking bumps are dispatched with ease, allowing me to focus on the next icy root section with confidence. A lovely bonus is the comprehensive tool kit supplied with the bike (as Intense now sell direct), including a shock pump and torque wrench.

I’m looking forward to trying the ‘low’ geometry setting and spending time tweaking the suspension and cockpit set-up to see if there’s room to improve the handling even further. https://uk.intensecycles.com