Conor Macfarlane Signs with Intense Cycles

 Just the tip of what's to come!

 @dhrider38: that's what she said

 Very good move I can't wait to see just how hard this guy can rip on bikes like Intense has to offer! Kovarik and Macfarlane edit is needed!

 @Kre1985: What Kre said!!! Need edit promptly!

 The race team lives like Boy Scouts - intense.

 @Kre1985: kovarik opens the trail and conor rides it!

 LOL

 Whoa, whoa...keep your shirt on...

 I'm dead

 Bourdon?

 @hollowing2000: On YT

 @diego-b: He rode a few Rampages on Intense SS frames back in 2008/2010 I believe.

 @simcik: thank you lol. Also Andrew Shandro in 2002, Kyle Strait in 2001 and 2002. Also there was that "haro" that was a mix between the m1 and the uzzi in 2003 with Strait and Greg Minnaar.

 @SnowshoeRider4Life: Oh yeah, there was all of those too

 Coincidence? They started in snow.

 Because he's from down under it pretty much says that all the time. (FYI I know NZ is not Aus but I had to make this joke work somehow)

 Is Marzocchi still a thing one can love independent of just loving Fox + some old school cred?

 @dangerwank: dunno. I am running a Marz 350 that I acquired about four months before they closed up shop. It's fantastic. I have no idea what's happening with the brand right now. Everyone predicted they would just become the low-end Fox stuff. Maybe that's still the plan. I hope not, but I can't see what Fox stands to gain by making Marzocchi awesome through continuing and separate research, development and innovation.

 @herzalot: here's hoping!

 @dangerwank: well, Grip damper was developed using a lot of prototype marz stuff supposedly...

Marz shocks and current forks are quite different right now. We'll see what the new stuff is like. Hopefully not the Marz Transfer. Haha

 @herzalot: I wouldn't say low end. Now Marzocchi is owned by Fox. There will be still a big part of market that prefers buying Marzocchi for good money instead of buying Fox, that claims to be a "top quality" and much more expensive. There's a spirit of Marzocchi still in hearts of many bikers an FOX knows it, so they gave it a chance and get the profit. Anyway, I've got a 350CR, and it is a perfect value for that money.

 @Bersekr: I had a 55CT and it wasn't that reliable, but I would love to swap my 36 float for a 350ncr ti... as long as I could swap back if it turned out to be not as good

 @jaame: never had 55, but people say that 55 series was problably the worst that MZ did.Since 2008 as they moved their production to China, it was bad. But recently, the whole structure of company and production has changed and there is a new generation of forks now. Time will show...

 @Bersekr: Marzocchi were made in Taiwan, not China. The forks I had, perhaps were a duffer set. They did replace the failed rebound damper under warranty, but then the return spring on the check valve popped off so I had to rebuild it again. It was cheap and it worked well when it worked. I replaced it with a fox 36 second hand, for about the same money. It has been a lot better than Marz in reliability but not a lot better in performance... at least not to a layman like myself

 So far, Fox has largely left the forks alone. That's both good and bad as Marz needs a more complete line of forks pronto (still no 29er options). They ditched the "espresso coat" and gave the higher end forks black ano, but other than that, AER/DBC have not been replaced with FIT or GRIP, and they claim that won't happen. On the other hand they did just give Marz a rebadged Transfer dropper at the same price point, and didn't even bother to change the name (WTF?)...so the skeptic could easily be lead to believe that next year's fork line will consist of the Marzocchi 32, 34, and 36 in Float or TALAS versions. That would be beyond stupid but even I wouldn't rule it out.

 I rocked 2007 888's for 6 years without any problems, then ran 2013 888's evo ti which were buttery smooth until I sold the DH sled last year. Wouldn't hesitate to pick up another Marzocchi fork again

 @avcb: I also would go there again. I think for a lot of people as well as myself, there has to be the belief that when it breaks, which light weight high performance products have a habit of doing, you can get it fixed locally. That is why I don't buy suspension parts or droppers online.

 Fox**

 Life choices.

 @moosyb: i wouldnt trade my knolly for an intense... but best of luck to conor.

 @whitebullit: I bet you would if someone paid you to!

 @whitebullit: me too sir!but.....if I was paid to ride an intense I would be stoked.

 yeah but i wont hold my breathe lol

 @sheesha you must love Maple flavored Kool-Aid

 @norcal77: Nope just not a fan of intense. Their products have a notoriously fluctuating quality.

 @whitebullit: I'd trade any Knolly for a small bag of weed and a six pack.

 you cant get a response from their warranty department...................riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight! I think thats a load of crap. Intense bikes freaking rock, their bikes are technologically only 2nd to Santa Cruz bikes in my opinion. If you bought your bike new you should have your LBS or the retailer helping you with your warrenty anyway. Ive seen them run through the roughest terrain in the country and yes i have seen warranty issues...and they were honored.

 @norcal77: You must work for Intense... Or at least happy with your purchase... no lies bro, zero response. The bike was purchased in CA and I now live in CO. So what good can my lbs do? Any other suggestions? Speaking of which, it appears that more people have had a negative experience rather than positive. You are quite literally the only person I've conversed with who has loyalty to Intense.

 Right there with ya. I've had similar issues. For the price of their frames they should have details like this worked out.

 You spent $3k on a boxxer? That's what you should be pissed about.

 So how does this work? At night, when nobody is looking, your frame bumpers come to life and start kicking dents in your fork?

 @cvoc: Do you have a 951?? Because if you don't, you wouldn't know what I'm talking about. Trust me.....I'm not the only one with these issues. The frame bumpers fully compress when the bars are at full turning radius. The bolt that holds the bumper in place then hits the stanchion and dents it. Intense thinks you should use fork bumpers WITH the frame bumpers. Ha!!! Then you're left with zero turning radius.

 @FindDigRideRepeat: Bro, I'm from Canada. Everything costs $3000 here.

 @jory666: Wow that's an easy fix too, just get them made out of a higher durometer rubber that wont deform enough to allow the bolt head to hit it. Intense could easily fix that, but they'd rather stick to their reputation for having poor QC and customer service I guess.

 @MTBLegend92: Agreed. And yes that is the fix that we're trying, however, that doesn't replace the dented stanchions. Overall, it doesn't affect the bike's performance but it's just the principle. I guess I've ruined my chances for frame trade with y'all but f*ck it.....Offer's still on the table. And, Intense, I know you're reading this. Send me some new stanchions and shape the f*ck up!!!

 Yeah man got a M9 a while back brand new. Turns out wasn't welded straight. Drove on down to the headquarters and they did not give a f*ck really. Like oh yeah were really sorry I would feel disappointed too if I were you. Literally the guy said that. I told em to replace that shit and they said they wouldn't because it wasn't that bent and it was within tolerance. There building tolerance must be 1" or something . My shock wouldn't even bolt without bending the shock, it was that bent. I told them I was very disappointed as I thought I was getting a top quality handmade frame. And the guy said don't expect it to be perfect, they are handmade. What a hilarious excuse. Handmade should be higher quality held to higher tolerances and at least checking it before it leaves the door. They did bend my frame back for me though, but still for a brand new frame I had to take back to get straightened out? I will never buy another intense bike again.

 @jory666: Take the bumpers off of the frame and just run fork bumpers then?

 @Lkeenan22: Tried that. Not enough turning radius. Even with super low profile ODI bumpers. There are these metal nubs that are welded onto the frame that the frame bumpers sit in. I may actually have to use and angle grinder and cut them off and then just use fork bumpers.That'll surely void any warranty. Not like I trust their integrity anyway.

 @scottyrides5: I hear ya, bud. I'm gonna splatter this shit all over social media. If I can sway a half dozen peeps here and there from buying intense, I'd be satisfied.

 Here's my story:
forums.mtbr.com/all-mountain/anonymous-criticism-1030559.html

Post #28 summarizes the issues I've had.

 My buddy broke the frame on his aluminum tracer a few years ago. They had him send it back. They had it forever, and when he finally got it back, they had welded his frame back together...

 @skelldify: lol

 @skelldify: you gotta be kidding.... Professionalism 101.

 @skelldify: 1000 apologies for the giant thumb accidental down vote ????

 @skelldify: bud. You just said it yourself, you're big and ride aggressive.
You have to be more realistic about the bikes you buy.
This has been known about intense forever.
But to be honest. The whole bike industry mostly produces shit.
Maybe get into motorbiking? Those things are built to last.
The bike business is making bikes for people that ask for them to be lighter and lighter every year.
And for some reason they just don't listen to the people that know they need to be stronger.
They listen to magazine editors that ride like little pansies.
Long story short. Buy a bike from a company that can afford to warranty you frames endlessly.
Probably a giant.

 Same with the Lapierre DH Team....

 @jflb: My issue is that they sell these bikes as being able to do anything, and meant for aggressive riding, but clearly they aren't. To your advice though, I just bought a Santa Cruz. The lifetime warranty sold me on it.

 @jory666 Same issue here, along with a couple others. The Fox 40 that came with my bike got annihilated from the built-in bumpers. Bought a 2016 Fox 40, pulled the built-in bumpers and put on the Fox bumpers instead... first ride and the bumpers got split open and ripped off from contacting the frame. Bought the ODI bumpers... same issue on the first ride. Also had a 2015 Intense Tracer... dented my frame right on a weld and Intense had this to say, "It should be fine as long as the frames integrity hasn't been jeopardized." We'll isn't that your job to determine, Intense? Tried to send it to them for inspection and got denied. They haven't even responded to me regarding my 951.

 @skelldify: didn't you say that they warrantied the frame and sent you a new one?

 @geerumm: Well......We now know what we'll do differently next time time we're in the market for new sled, huh?...

 @jory666: Through the misery comes the wisdom. I second your idea about exposing Intense and steering people away from their product, but first I have a 951 to sale.

 @skelldify: funny thing is, Knolly also do lifetime frame warranties!!

 those 888s so juicy...so noisy haha

 Oh, does Conor forget to send out replacement parts as well?

 Fark YEAH!

 That's it right there.

 Dude has to make a living right?

 The importer for the rest of his sponsors is the same one that does Intense. Who he has been riding for, seemed odd he was on Knolly.