Dean Lucas and Charlie Harrison have both confirmed they will be parting ways with Intense Factory Racing for 2019. The past three years have seen the Californian brand became a a podium force once again with one of the prettiest bikes on the circuit in the M29 but it seems it's time for this era to come to an end.
| Cheers everyone for an awesome 2018 season! Farewell to our boys Charlie Harrison and Dean Lucas, they surely are gonna be missed! And also to our Team Manager, Bernat Guardia, good thing is that he will still be involved with us at Intense Cycles. We will keep you updated soon with the 2019 team roster—Intense Factory Racing |
Dean LucasDean joined the Intense team three years ago from the Devinci Global Racing Team. Despite being struck with injuries a number of times, he finished second at Mont Sainte Anne last year, third at Losinj this year and followed it up with another top ten in Mont Sainte Anne.
Dean said: "All good things must come to an end at some point and god this was a good thing! From being on a team with a close mate I grew up racing with since we 14 to being surrounded by young positive America teammates, we had a lot of good things going.
"It definitely became more of a family than a team and that’s why it saddens me to say that 2018 will be my last year with Intense Cycles.
"It’s been one hell of a ride though over the last 3 years with lots of ups and downs through injury’s and podiums but there’s still not a lot of stuff I’d want to change!"
Charlie HarrisonCharlie joined the team two years ago and was soon consistently delivering top 20 results. He backed it up this year with his first ever top ten in Mont Sainte Anne and a Crankworx podium in Innsbruck.
Charlie said: "Intense Factory Racing has made these last two years unbelievable. My first factory team, my first time racing a full World Cup season, first top 20 overall, first top 10, and tons of other firsts. The people that helped contribute these last two years have given me smiles and laughter to last a life time. The relationships and bonds that we formed will go far beyond the race track. Not only was I blessed with a fantastic staff, but I was lucky enough to call some of the most special people I know on this earth not only teammates, but brothers. We went through ups and downs, individually, and as a team.
"I wouldn’t trade the experiences we got to share for the world. Thanks to Intense, I was able to reach the next level in my racing and progress as an athlete. My gratitude goes beyond words. With that being said, I have decided to move on for 2019 and beyond. It’s been one heck of a journey. I’m ecstatic to share with you guys within the next few weeks of where I’m headed for the future. I honestly couldn’t be more confident and excited to see what the future holds with my new team!"
You know, from all the zeros on the check and stuff
2016???
Maybe the new team will ride 3 year old bikes to prove how timeless their bikes are???
Sorry my English is not too good.
Ironically there are more and more bikes that are always released that actually do look like one, but that is besides the point.
www.scribd.com/document/387037155/Men-s-overall-2019-DH
However the American market is much more open, especially with Intense's move to add a direct sales system. A lot of Us kids are going to buy an Intense instead of a YT or Commencal with the market presence that both Gwin and Neko bring. I love watching Gwin ride a bike, and Neko is hero in the east coast MTB scene.
In one move Intense managed to put them back in the conversation as one of the top US brands, a position they used to hold and certainly have fallen from despite their bikes improving at the same rate as Santa Cruz, Trek, or any of the more dominant US brands. Also I'm sure intense remembers if paying top dollar for Shawn Palmer was worth it or not.
AG makes around 3m USD/Yr. it’s certainly about money especially now that he gets a cut from both ends.
Stop making an ass of yourself.
The DH world is a game of Plinko