2017 Intense Tracer - Review

Intense says that their most popular model has been the Tracer. Since its inception in 1999, the Tracer has been a vanguard trail bike, and its evolution is a living history of Intense, beginning as an aluminum, 26-inch-wheel dual-suspension chassis, designed by founder Jeff Steber and manufactured in the Temecula factory—and ending with the made-in-Asia carbon framed Tracer 275c, a breakthrough long-travel design that debuted on same day that Intense announced to the public that it had reorganized the business under a management team led by Andrew Herrick.






The new chassis shares some of the trademark profile of Rojo’s Unno trail bike: a slim, ovalized top tube; clean, angular frame members; and a deeply sloping top tube with a triangulated seat mast. There is, however, no mistaking that it is an Intense.

Talking suspension, this Tracer has 165 millimeters of rear-wheel travel and sports a 160-millimeter-stroke Fox 36 fork. The dual-link configuration that used to be called VPP has been dramatically reconfigured to provide kinematics near those of a dedicated downhill machine. Gone is the regressive starting rate, intended to minimize pedaling bob and to guarantee firm pedaling. The new suspension curve progresses gently through the mid stroke, with a more pronounced rising rate to control bottoming at the end-stroke. The feel is huge and bottomless, but unlike its predecessor, the suspension doesn’t coddle its rider’s legs. If you want snappy acceleration or climbing, you are encouraged to employ that blue lever on the Tracer’s Fox X2 shock.



Construction

Two carbon layups are offered. Both frames emerge from the same molds, but the top three SL models use a lighter and thinner layup, made possible by stronger carbon materials. Intense offers four frame sizes (small, medium, large and X-large) and five different build options ranging from the $10,399 Factory model we review here, to the “entry level” $4599 Foundation model.



The quality of construction and finish are impossible to discern across the price range, with the only visual cue to define the high-end SL models being carbon fiber upper links. Expert and Foundation models feature an aluminum link. The rear suspension rocks on full-compliment angular-contact bearings and all the critical pivots use Intense’s adjustable collet system. Perhaps the most unique aspect of the chassis design is the suspension’s lower link, which extends from well below and behind the bottom bracket shell, over the top, to a pivot location on the down tube. The only explanation of the unusual link design is that the Tracer’s suspension kinematics dictated the forward pivot location.



Key construction details include substantially oversized seat and chainstays, braced by a matched pair of vertical struts – a configuration made possible by the elimination of the front derailleur. The swingarm has clearance for tires up to 2.4 inches, and any chain-slap should be silenced by a large rubber guard integrated into the drive-side chainstay. Cable routing is internal, and lightweight plastic tubes are installed inside the frame to facilitate easy component swaps. Down below, a 92-millimeter press-fit bottom bracket assembly is flanked by ISCG-05 mounting bosses that are squeezed between the crankset and the lower suspension link. Intense did not make any provision for a frame-mounted water bottle, which could be a deal breaker for fashion-minded riders who can’t picture themselves wearing lumpy cargo bib-shorts or hydration packs.



Geometry

Geometry is a moving target in the long-travel all-mountain and enduro categories, and at present, exaggerated reaches and mega-slack head angles are taking center stage. Intense’s collaboration with Cesar Rojo handily puts that debate to rest. Rojo was the man who designed Mondraker’s Foxy back in 2012, arguably the first production design to meld an exaggerated top tube length and slack head angle with an ultra short stem. Mondraker called it forward geometry – and since then, Rojo has been perfecting the concept. As a result, the new Tracer’s geometry is deeply rooted in the rider-forward school of design, but not to the extent that only the world’s fittest and most capable riders can enjoy it.

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INTERVIEW

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There’s a story here, but rather than feed you the information second-hand, I asked Jeff Steber and Cesar Rojo to comment on the Tracer’s geometry and design.


leading edge. We have been working on a DH project with the new Intense Factory Racing Team as well as some other exciting projects, and mostly on the longer-travel bike projects.

We also have some projects with Thomas at SEED - one that I personally am very excited, as it is a new category for us at the other end of the spectrum. We currently use both SEED and CERO as developers of the carbon bikes and, depending on the type of bike segment, they both have their strengths. They are both important parts of our development teams and work through alloy prototyping here at our factory, through developing those into carbon models, and through the manufacturing process. The whole process is overseen by our product manager, Chad Peterson.

RC: Did the new Tracer begin as a clean-slate design, or is it a continuing evolution?

Steber: The Tracer has always been one of our strongest brands within our brand, so really it is a redesign/evolution, but at the same time, Enduro has become a very strong global segment, so it was a perfect time to push Tracer a little further.

We have the Recluse in the line that really sits solidly in the trail bike/all-mountain segment - where the Tracer used to be, as far as its geometry and suspension feel, and it is still using our Trail Link setup. Whereas the 2017 Tracer has the new Enduro Link with suspension kinematics and geometry that are optimized for enduro.

RC: Now that Intense has a model dedicated to the genre, when will you announce an EWS enduro team?

Steber: We are currently focused on Intense Factory racing and pushing DH bikes to next generation for the next season. It just so happens that some of our DH team members are quite good enduro racers, especially Jack Moir, who placed really well in a couple of EWS events last season, including a second place in stage six and eighth place overall in La Thuile, Italy.


be a step back from the more exaggerated numbers that we would expect from you. Can you explain?

Rojo: Well that initial Forward was developed around a ten-millimeter stem, so we did compensate the bike length for that. But, once Mondraker went back to the 30-millimeter stem, they never compensated, so the bike was 20 millimeters longer that it was designed for.

In the latest years, I have been jumping around some Mondrakers we still have in the office, and other not-so-extreme long bikes and the main difference for me was that those extreme long bikes are super stable, give lots of confidence, but also take away fun due to being so long and hard to maneuver - even more if you are not so strong.

So, in the end, when you buy a bike (at least from my point of view), fun to ride is on the high side and performance, for sure, is super important. But, since I am not trying to win EWS’s, I put the fun part as a quite important one. So, in the end, it is all about compromises, and those [long] bikes have advantages, but for a certain, very small group of persons. And, they still need to be proven by winning races. As you know, in downhill, Mondraker has no forward geometry, so really, no wins on long bikes yet.

RC: Why did you abandon the regressive starting curve that characterizes the kinematics of the modern trail bike, in favor of a continuously rising rate?

Rojo: That was the hardest part to achieve. What I found out of the regressive curve, is that when you are braking or riding light, the bike gets kicked all the time due to the very harsh initial part. So, this regressive made sense when XC bikes used to be ridden with zero-percent sag, but nowadays, you really don’t want this anymore for pure suspension performance. What you want is a suspension that can start moving with the smallest of the bumps, so this is what we tried to do here. And, it wasn’t easy, because it is something that is inherent of VPP with top-link driven shocks. But, I believe we have succeeded and this gives the bike a completely different riding feel than any other VPP out there.

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Key Components

Ten thousand dollar mountain bikes are equipped with most rider's dream list of components, and Intense's Factory build is exactly that: Fox's 36 fork and X2 shock are sitting at the top of the charts at the moment. SRAM Eagle 12-speed is both desired and necessary for a softly-sprung long-travel machine that is required to earn its turns. Renthal has become the must have among the sport's most talented descenders, and who's going to argue with an Enve wheelset that costs more than the shuttle trucks that some future Tracer owners drive? The Tracer's lofty component spec is the main reason that it hits the scales at only 28.7 pounds.


The Factory Build

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Intense gave Pinkbike a medium and a large sized Tracer for this review. I typically ride mediums, and initially, I felt stretched on the medium Tracer, but found it to be comfortable after I had some time on it. Test rider Harold Preston chose the large and reported a similar adaptation period. Taking the advice of Intense team mechanic Chappy Fiene, we set the shock and fork towards the stiff side of supple, which initially feels like it will result in a choppy ride. Once you build up some speed, however, the suspension delivers a supple, extremely quiet ride that is sensitive over the smaller hits, and with a lot of support in the mid-stroke. I prefer to set my shock at 30-percent sag, but the nature of the Tracer's gradually rising rate is such that increasing or decreasing the shock pressure simply moves the rear suspension to a different ride height while delivering a similar suppleness off the beginning of the travel. That blend of supple and support translates to predictable traction, and the Tracer's ability to claw its way around corners is the first hint of its descending talents.

Before you can enjoy the Tracer, however, you'll need to follow a couple of rules. The first is to keep your weight over the stem. There is no escaping the effects of the bike's 65.5-degree head tube angle, tiny stem, and long reach. Until you learn to take the reins and direct the Tracer where you intend to go, it feels a little cumbersome. The second rule is (as fellow test rider Harold Preston remarked), you have to be the boss. You have to make a conscious effort to push the front of the Tracer into the ground, unless you are descending steeply, in which case, your body falls naturally into position, more or less centered between the wheels, and with a noticeable amount of pressure on the handlebar grips. Reproduce that feel and the bike will do just about anything you ask of it.



It should be no surprise then, that the bike's rider-forward geometry favors much steeper and more technical descents than its 2016 cousin. Spend enough time on it and you will begin to seek out rowdier trails - the ones that used to be the domain of DH sleds. While that may seem like journalist's cliche, the latest Tracer would be at home in any bike park, and by the same token, it isn't much of a trail bike. Descending trails that don't trace the fall line, however technical, can be a little boring.

Speed makes the Tracer happy. When you start doubling rock gardens and airing drops that you would normally roll, the Tracer awakens and the real fun begins. Push it hard through the turns and the worse you'll get is a grippy rear-wheel drift. It will slam through a nasty set of boulders, or if you choose, you can finesse your way through—as long as you keep your momentum up, all things seem possible.



As important as it is to keep the front end weighted when maneuvering in earnest, the Tracer is a forgiving platform for jumping. Think wheel high and the front end will stay up, keep an eye on the landing and the Tracer's front end will arc towards it. It saved my bacon by shrugging off a few landings that should have tossed me. The better jumpers who rode the Tracer reported similar results—that it didn't buck and that they were comfortable jumping from uneven, natural terrain.

What the Tracer doesn't do all that well is climb. Its rear suspension never settles into a spot where pedaling feels efficient without switching the Fox X2 damper into climb mode, and even then, it is not all that inspiring. Once you get it and stop racing to the summits, the Tracer settles into a more luxurious pace and actually feels OK on the legs. Of course, the Tracer doesn't care about the work required to get to the top. All it wants is another crack at that short, sweet dive to the bottom.



Technical performance

The Tracer's big numbers were on the money. Its 75.5-degree seat tube angle seems just right for muscling up steep and techy climbs and its front end is slack enough to take on scary vertical without causing the steering to go haywire on slower trails or seated ascents. Its smaller numbers were also well executed. The bottom bracket was just high enough to keep the pedals from smashing everything in sight. I only had a handful of pedal bashes and none so great that it sent me off line. I had to research the chainstay length (they are remarkably short, at only 17 inches/432mm) to discover how the rear tire could find grip on wet boulders while I was leaning over the front of the bike.





Pinkbike's Take: