Riding It may have a World Cup DH pedigree, but the M29 is really easy to get to grips with . Thanks to the really progressive nature of the linkage and excellent small bump compliance, chattery sections of trail where it can feel like you're losing speed are melted away underneath the M29, and tempo increases naturally. The bike accelerates really well under power, and barely bobs at all.
The suspension offers tons of support in the mid-stroke, which makes the bike incredibly responsive and maintains the ride height well without getting bogged down in the travel. This also lets the bike pop in and out of corners quickly and easily, as well as generating plenty of speed when pumping. Even though the progression of the bike reduces slightly through the travel, it still took on the big hits without issue, and I can't recall feeling a bottom out. This also makes the bike pop really high off jumps; if you are used to something much less progressive this can take you by surprise on the first few jumps.
Of course, being a super long and slack downhill bike, the M29 hauls around corners. It doesn't quite have the stability and achievable lean angle of the huge Banshee Legend, but is much more responsive and changes direction more easily. I also really like this bike under braking; the initial suppleness of the rear suspension means it sits easily into the sag point. The positive amount of anti-rise helps this, meaning that the geometry of the bike is preserved more under braking, and there is a reason why these bikes are designed to be long, low, and slack. The counter-argument to this is that the suspension is not as free to react to bumps, but I have found time after time that preserving the geometry under braking helps me to brake harder and with more control before locking the rear wheel. Part of this could be put down to me being a taller rider with a higher center of gravity, meaning more forwards weight shift under braking, so I need more help from the bike to stay centered.
What else does the Intense do well? Not dieting, that is for sure. Weighing in at 36.8 lb (16.7 kg) for the carbon framed sled, it is no lightweight, but for me, this strikes a good balance between stability and maneuverability. Again, this is bike dependent, and where the weight sits across the entire package is a factor, but for me, towards 33 lb (15kg) downhill bikes generally start to feel more sketchy, and over 39 lb (17.7 kg) a bit porky.
Standout feature? The carbon layup. The M29 looks like a chunky-tubed, super stiff race machine, but it isn't. Finding the right adjective is tough, but 'soft' is the best I can think of, although it's definitely not flexy. It's hard to describe how a frame feels, but it always tracks when you want it to and pushes back when you need support. Heading through a slippery rock garden it handles amazingly, landing sideways it soaks up the landing and puts you back on track - this is a unique trait and feel that I have not found on any other downhill bike.
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this 'review' was timed for an announcement from Intense/AG
Shhhhhhhh.
And what the hell was in those envelopes at the Bush funeral?
And then half way thru the season he starts riding a 27.5-29 combo to drive up even more sales
I'm poking fun at the current state of things in bike standards and the power of mass media.
Quit huffing the glue. If you think 29" wheels are just as easy to corner as 27'5 or 26. Cool.
But it also doesn't help me when every test/review of the M29 is piloted by someone 6'+ in height.
It takes time to get used to a “new” bike. You judge his results off his last two races after coming back from a hand injury. Look at Rachael Atherton, it took her a year to get back to prime from her injury.
You’re the type of person who would be like, “let’s try flat pedals, oh man I got 50th in this race. Time to switch back to clips after 2 race.” You need to realize it takes time to adapt.
www.instagram.com/p/BsayXuRHx6-/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=ooy6ixchv5dc
He is yet to deliver a proof to qualify him racing anyone. I am no god on the bike but I am not anonymous you can find out anything about me on my instagram @wakidesigns
My bet is, he is a boss in a tiny private company, or an employee higher in hierarchy of a bigger one. His attention to “good manners”, ability to talk down to people as teachers talk to teenagers makes me feel so. He is few lines of text away from resolving everything, text starting with “http”, but he just doesn’t do it. The thing is, if he does suck and deliver a proof of it, he is at my mercy. Other than that he can wave his glove of unrealistic duel that only an idiot would try to make happen.
A more centered position makes turns easier than the need to position yourself accordingly to manouvre a long bike (atleast thats what I believe).
Would love to hear
Cheers
Only about 10 - 20 days in a bike park per year (rest trail bike)
Slow to medium speed
Flatpedals
Too much braking in the turn instead of ahead of the turn
Not enough body or bike movement
And for me: Steep technical terrain
I feel for an average rider that brakes more often, good behaviour under braking might be a more important factor than others.
I don't know if an average rider should value higher stability or nimbleness. I assume nimbleness because of the slower speeds.
Let me know what you think
Last year they were literally on liquidation sale online, and are sold at stores one step up from your local sports depot (REI, MEC etc.). Nothing about that screams boutique to me... Just saying.
Unno is boutique, Antidote is boutique, even Guerrilla Gravity, but a $9k bikes produced in a chinesse factory are just expensive.
Mass produced Chinese frames sold for knockoff prices is what Intense does.
Regardless of whether they offer a broad range of bikes from entry level to race spec, those are not qualities that would define any other boutique brand.
I spent about a month on the Elite M29 last fall and was completely satisfied with the build. The only thing I swapped out was the bars and a 350lb spring.
Im asking because we weight roughly the same, and while im sure you are faster tan me, I found that the settings you where trying felt really loose and undamped, aka divey or unstable.
(Im talking mostly about a float x2 and dhx2 in the some of the bikes you reviewed this year, that I happen to own or have access to, I not talking about this m29 review)
As always, very good review. Thanks!
Plus, many of the latest enduro bikes use shorter stems (30-35mm) and offsets. DH bikes are still sticking around 50mm stems and 58mm offset for the 29" forks. I think this is likely to change soon, though.
DH riders, like pro enduro riders, are at the top of their game and don't need longer reaches to improve straight-line speed (read 'feel') because they are quite accustomed to riding at crazy speeds.
Enduro bikes are the big thing nowadays and geometry is easier to push on the masses as it is a way to 'buy' speed. Pro's don't need it but anyone else who wants it can buy faster by going longer.
Also, DH bikes almost always runs dual-ply tyres whilst most trail and enduro bikes have slightly lighter tyres on the front, so less gyroscopic steering stability.
As DH tracks are 2-5 minutes long but Enduro special stages often longer and part of lengthy multi-day events, is the longer reach partially a solution for rider fatigue?
You could have two bikes with identical reach figures and head, but one with 100mm fork and the other with a 200mm fork (I know this is unlikely, but it's just for the purposes of this example). The one with the 200mm fork would feel much longer and be more rear biased, all other things being equal, yet the reach figure and head angle wouldn't tell you that.
JP
Many brands are making the reach number longer on their bikes to work for taller riders who still want to use short stems. In the past (and currently with road and XC bikes), bigger sizes came with longer stems and sometimes layback seatposts. When people realized that both of those were a silly idea, they added the stem length to the frame so taller riders get a bike that fits and handles well.
For example, I had an XL Specialized Enduro 29 in 2014 which had a 465mm reach and was specced with a 90mm stem, yes ninety! The 2019 Enduro has a 489mm reach with a 50mm stem.
Now the following maths are rough as there are other factors involved, but:
460 + 90 = 550
489 + 50 = 539
So the actual size is fairly similar. I also think MTB's never had a wide enough range between sizes due to using the stem to change the fit. So brands that are on the ball made bigger bikes for bigger people (and a massive increase in popularity of MTB means there are more tall riders to make it worthwhile manufacturing XL and XXL bikes, where these were left out of the range due to low sales).
I don't agree with brands that make all the sizes bigger, there are still people of all sizes. Personnally I would change the size the reach of the bikes by 40mm, something like 400 - 440 - 480 - 520, rather than 20mm increments that is more common. Then with changing stack height, bar width/roll/sweep and stem length would allow for a wide range of fit.
Also, a shorter reach makes for a playful bike. This helps make this 208mm travel beast a bit more playful, which is desirable for days on A-Line, aka not racing. Enduro bikes can pull off longer reach values because their shorter travel, 2009 era DH geo and lighter wheels make for the loss in playfulness from the longer reach.
Essentially, imo, DH bikes are targeted more towards expert riders, Mountain Bikes (enduro) being targeted more towards all skill levels. Longer reach= less chances of weight going over front axle as gee atherton explained when the previous gt fury was released. (a bike that garnered a lot of attention for it's longer reach)
DH geo should be more compact, because if one has to move more to influence the bike, one is more likely to be caught out in recovering from the movement. The larger the rider, the slower his/her rebound. The more compact setup favors jumping--so park.
Exception: short reach Sam Hill. But he's a lighter, smaller fellow.
Interesting points that make perfect sense now I think about it. What is the benefit of shorter stays and longer reach on a trail/enduro bike then?
But how a bike handles (riding DH) is more than just one value, it's a combination of HA, BB drop, rear and front centre --> wheelbase
Also another huge factor is axle path, or may I say 'active chainstay length"
For example the stumpjumper evo has a 445mm CS but that becomes 430ish when riding it.
I would argue that experienced riders prefer a shorter reach and longer cs because of their ability to ride steep tracks with more body english. the opposite is true for less experienced riders, the longer reach keeping their weight centered.
At the end of the day, bike geo is a temporary band-aid for untrained riding skillsets.
Yup, there is such a thing as too steep of a sta
To me reach number is not a goal, but a byproduct of front center length + HA.
When they moverd the headtube forward they coupled with a shorter stem, because the goal wasn't to stretch you out, but have a longer wheelbase for stability. Now stems can't get any shortwr, reach is getting longer because WB is getting longer, not the other way around.
Now, in a DH bike; you have a 200mm travel fork on a 63 HA, if you use enduro reach numbers you end up with the wheelbase of a schoolbus.
Also, short stems. Thanks to larger wheels and slacker HA, you got much higher value of front-wheel trail which enhances stability of bicycle, but because of milelong reach numbers you gotta need shorter stems in order to maintain ETT usable, but with shorter stem you're loosing advantage of calmed down steering behaviour. Maybe, we'll see short-offset teleforks, to gain even higher front-wheel trail for the sake of sticking to short stems.
On 26" teleforks, FOX had been using 37mm front-axle offset, and RockShox a 40mm offset.
On 29" telies, now FOX offers 44mm as SHORT-OFFSET OPTION! Lyrik 29" uses 51mm offset.
I just checked other AS graphs and nothing weird in that matter (check out nomad 3's). About the peak at 2/3 into the travel instead of around 1/3; this bike will be ridden at 30-35% sag, and pedallling will be sprinting, so progressive AS all the way makes sense too.
But nevermind, in the end the graph is probably just botched. if you make a mirror image, the high point of as falls just at 33% i.e. sag. And also the shape of the curve makes much more sense (rising swiftly then dropping off more smoothly farther into the travel). Duh.
Stomping the pedals at 35%sag in a plush bike you can go easily to 50%, that's why progressive AS makes sense. Also, kickback is a bad thing pedalling at low speed (uphill), but has no effect in a downhill, as explained by Antonio Osuna:
linkagedesign.blogspot.com/2012/12/kickback-en-bajadas-wm.html?m=1
What am I missing?
Meanwhile other brands sell $9k+ bikes with complex damper adjustments have most of their unwitting weekend warriors pedaling around on shitty tunes with go-pros... Kinda funny.
Did you change to longer pins? I found the originals pretty short
Thanks man
Neil
2 things to look for in a bike and a life partner.
I’m sure some are very nice people and all have unbelievable skills.
Mountain biking was a counter culture movement. Now if your bike is not Carbon and cost minimum 6K , no one would say hi to you on the trail. God forbid you are riding in your tennis shoes and white socks.
f*ck , come on people. Wake up and smell the coffee.
Stop consuming everything, got hav the latest and greatest.
It will not make you happy, the opposite is true.
Please just ride and have fun
Perhaps I'm exceptionally lucky (in addition to being extraordinarily handsome), perhaps you're not.
Maybe it's a matter of not letting a few jerkoffs ruin your perception of the world around you.
thoughtful.
Beautiful looking bike.
Do you use longer pins in the catalyst pedals? I believe they come with 2 sets of pins now.
Thanks
Neil
It sounds like this is the same suspension the Intense team runs and they do not neuter the bike for the paying customer like Santa Cruz does?
www.pinkbike.com/news/intense-m16c-pro-build-review-2015.html
pedalinginnovations.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxsfm0Pjt3wIVGrbICh3BkAmtEAAYASAAEgLQrfD_BwE
What's next, 30.5"?
Doesnt seem to matter what bike people are riding the gaps for us normal riders seems to stay pretty much the same.
I wonder what the investment is from some riders to still not win or move up the pecking order in regional races.
... oh but this intense is beautiful, so we can let if off no matter how it rides
Topic: The M29 design is for ME the Bike of the Year!
maybe it's like me and my jeffsy? the bond, the connection among two of us?