First Look: Intense's New 29er DH Bike
Intense just dropped the news: they’ve been working on a dedicated 29er project, which they insist is not, “just a bandaged, modified M16.” According to Intense, key components of the welded aluminum frame's architecture were specifically designed and chosen to both accommodate 29-inch wheels and allow for the geometry and wheel path Intense was looking for. There are plenty of visual cues to support that. First off is the lower swingarm rocker, which pivots concentric with the bottom bracket. That, in conjunction with a seat tube tunnel, allowed Intense to minimize the longer chainstays needed to accommodate 29-inch wheels while providing ample clearance for DH-width rubber and muddy World Cup venues. The shock is positioned low in the chassis and most of the linkage elements are tucked out of view inside the tunnel or behind the crankset. It is apparent that Intense has been working on their 29er DH project for quite a while.
The obvious question is this: "When will we see these on the trail?" Actual production bikes are a ways off. Intense is still in the active prototyping stage, as evidenced by all the raw, aluminum frames you can see here. Intense riders, however, will be racing the bikes this season. Intense is making no claims about carbon versions at this time. Molds are a long way off at this point, as the company fully expects to make changes as the race season progresses.
What is absolutely clear, is that the team sees the benefit of going big with the wheels. During Intense's team camp, racers did back-to-back testing with identical 27.5 and 29-inch wheel prototypes.
What is absolutely clear, is that the team sees the benefit of going big with the wheels. During Intense's team camp, racers did back-to-back testing with identical 27.5 and 29-inch wheel prototypes.
Some of the key elements that brought Intense's latest 29er DH bike into existence: The CNC-machined link that pivots concentric with the bottom bracket is in the lower center of the image, and above that are the two halves of the seat tube tunnel. When it comes to fabricating a rolling chassis, Intense has one of the industry's better R&D facilities. RockShox's ability to provide a dedicated 29er fork, however, was the most critical piece of the puzzle.
The concentric lower rocker link is tucked inside of the frame's bottom bracket housing.
The bike's tunnel shock design and fully triangulated rear end make for strong, flex-resistant structures.
Small head tubes require a lot of reinforcement, but help to reduce the tall stack height dictated by 29-inch-wheels.
 | Dedicated 29 DH forks with proper offsets have improved the trail numbers and, in combo with the head angle, it does not handle like a big bike at all. We looked at a lot of different suspension configurations this time around, as we had an opportunity for a clean slate. In the end, what worked best for us on a pure race-focused bike was the best balance of all. |
Jack Moir rocks an Intense 29er prototype in Southern California during the test sessions.
From the Designers
Axle path: We wanted to keep the wheel path manageable, where we had a nice rearward trajectory, but without need for extra gadgets or a wheelbase that grows exponentially and alters geometry, like on high-pivot systems. We were able to get a nice initial rearward wheel path, with good bump compliance.
Kinematics: Basically, the suspension rate is linear with a nice supple beginning, solid support at sag, and good bottom-out resistance. That provides good tunability at the damper.
Architecture: Fully triangulated front and rear sections to keep these independently stiff. The tunnel configuration up front allows a really solid connection of bottom bracket, headtube, seat tube, and it supports all the pivots well. The large concentric pivots around the bottom bracket for the main link makes for an extremely stiff setup and allows more room at the chainstay yoke for better clearance and correct geometry.
Axle path: We wanted to keep the wheel path manageable, where we had a nice rearward trajectory, but without need for extra gadgets or a wheelbase that grows exponentially and alters geometry, like on high-pivot systems. We were able to get a nice initial rearward wheel path, with good bump compliance.
Kinematics: Basically, the suspension rate is linear with a nice supple beginning, solid support at sag, and good bottom-out resistance. That provides good tunability at the damper.
Architecture: Fully triangulated front and rear sections to keep these independently stiff. The tunnel configuration up front allows a really solid connection of bottom bracket, headtube, seat tube, and it supports all the pivots well. The large concentric pivots around the bottom bracket for the main link makes for an extremely stiff setup and allows more room at the chainstay yoke for better clearance and correct geometry.
Secret weapon: Intense partnered with Cesar Rojo, the founder of Cero Design in Barcelona, Spain. Cesar has been instrumental in developing their new kinematics and geometry.
Wheel-travel: We ended up at 180 to 200mm travel (so far), as we feel the 29-inch wheel's ability to maintain momentum and roll over and through obstacles negates the need for more travel. Keeping the wheel travel reasonable also stabilizes the geometry during the course of a race run.
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Norco will use 29...maybe
I haven't found a new frame beautiful enough to change my Sunday with...
Aluminum is still ace despite what all the manufacturers tried to say circa 2013.
Those are fighting words towards Santa Cruz using a 27.5 front triangle and doing a custom 29er rear triangle.
"JS Tuned is a refined suspension system, designed to work with each individual Intense bike model to optimize its individual kinematics, geometry, wheel size, drivetrain and component spec. The system is a culmination of the real world experience of the Intense Cycles founder and designer Jeff Steber, the Intense engineering team, the Factory Team riders and other experienced brand test pilots."
JS TUNED YO.......
From the patent abstract:
"The system directs the rear wheel along a predetermined, S-shaped path as the suspension is compressed. The path is configured to provide a chainstay lengthening effect only at those points where this is needed to counterbalance the pedal inputs of the rider; at those points in the wheel travel path where there is a chainstay lengthening effect, the chain tension which results from the pedal inputs exerts a downward force on the rear wheel, preventing unwanted compression of the suspension. The system employs a dual eccentric crank mechanism mounted adjacent the bottom bracket shell to provide the desired control characteristics."
I agree that Intense should ditch the carbon and go back to what made them great - beautiful aluminiun bikes.
@pinkbike it should says "pivots concentrically around the bottom bracket".
p.vitalmtb.com/photos/users/2/photos/36005/s1600_bike.jpg?1338333107
I think it was more of an expirament.
Im pretty sure in 2009,there was a 29er dh bike called the 2951.
Its called Google.
I could be wrong though
Does anyone remember him?
rant over,
get back to it................
Why are BMX wheels 20"? Is it in the rules, like wooden cricket bats?
www.factionbikeco.com
faster than 20" and more agile than 24"
LOL!!! Even BMX has MTB BS!!!
>acts condescending
>complains about reading the comments
>complains about moaning condescending comments
Literally your comment is just "waaah waaah it's my opinion that you all should stop having opinions" this whole "does anyone even ride or just complain" argument is stupid, writing a positive or negative comment (or a self righteous one like yours) takes the exact same amount of time and it's not like you're telling the positive comments to stop commenting and go ride. There isn't even all negative comments it's a mix of both, if you don't wanna be a part of the discussion don't go to the comments, click the little x in the top corner and choose another one of the 13 trillion webpages available to you.
And yea I am writing this as someone who owns three 27.5 bikes and has only just recently completed the costly switch from 26. Like I say I aint hating on this or any other new bike
My hardtail which I ride 80% (Honzo ST/140 travel) of the time is a 29er. I also have a 16' kona 153 that I use when I need to which is 27.5.......Horses for courses................. just ride and enjoy it man
I've had enough of it. I'm keeping that Nomad until I die and guess what? Instead of trying to change my bike or parts to make me a faster racer, I'm going to upgrade to a bigger engine.
HIIT. Gym. Swimming. Giant TCR SLR road bike. Professional bike fitting. Cleat wedges.
f*ck wheel size. It's all about smile size, muscle size and mitochondrial density from here on out.
For anything besides a dedicated DH bike, I don't see why you wouldn't want 29". It will be interesting to see where 27.5 fits in, but I honestly can't see myself buying another one.
For the rest of us, buy what you like, keep it as long as you want, and run what you brung, just like always. 29" wheels becoming dominant in another discipline doesn't mean your 27.5" (or 26") wheels don't roll anymore. And maybe a few years from now, for your next bike, you decide a 29er is what you need. Or not.
I can't really fathom is all being a "me-too" trend. If there weren't some actual advantage to the wheels, we'd have never seen 29" DH bikes. There was no consumer demand for them, actually they're being largely rejected, DH bikes are a dying market segment that 27.5 didn't save. Killing 26" in DH made sense because the wheel-size was dead in all other disciplines of cycling, no point in keeping 26" around just for DH racing which is just a tiny, tiny sliver of the market. As it happened 27.5 was faster than 26", so all the better. Because 27.5 is faster than 26", then it stands to reason that 29" could be faster than 27.5 if you get the rest of the bike sorted out.
I dont get the same feeling from plastic (carbon fiber)frames.
So nice to see some aluminum frames from Intense.
this bike, an all new badass-looking desing, is the 1st DH 29er wich is not hated. People complained a lot on previous ones, people negated the change.
it seems we're getting used to the idea...
Simple geometry... big wheels rolls over
Ask yourself why in motocross/enduro they use 21 and 18 wheels and in motogp 17/16?
Many years just to know what everybody already know... but first.. sell useless 27half... and then... wooowww 29er are faster...
Is incredibile that pro's can't have the best to go at top speed... like in F1 or motoGP....but just what the market said...
Remember proto honda with Minnaar????
What's with........ all the puncutation marks?........
.........?
Or it could just be our heavy gold chains hitting the . on the keyboard as we type.
i actually don't mind the look of this but i wish every company who moves solely to 29dh bike production should post an apology for help misguiding people into thinking 27.5 was better for dh than 29 as im pretty sure there was a lot of testing done for this conclusion to be drawn and now its incorrect.....or better still....shhhhh nobody ever said that. just buy our new bikes please.
(Coming up next, intense dh29" pedals like an xc bike, shreds like a v10 29")
This makes perfect sense when racing against 650b, but when all the big players are on 29 then they all have the same "advantage" which will level the playing field and races will still be won be .010 of a second.
How's that crow taste?
Sincerely,
The Bicycle Industry
Much like the early oval rings they're all built wrong. They're all about grip and fk the turning abilty.
Run the belt around the wheel and a smaller set around the bottom bracket and then you'll get some proper rollover and supple suspension :p