Intense Tracer - Review. Intense says that their most popular model has been the Tracer. Since its inception in 1. Tracer has been a vanguard trail bike, and its evolution is a living history of Intense, beginning as an aluminum, 2. Jeff Steber and manufactured in the Temecula factory—and ending with the made- in- Asia carbon framed Tracer 2. Intense announced to the public that it had reorganized the business under a management team led by Andrew Herrick.

Through those six iterations, the Tracer remained true to a single purpose—the ultimate dual- suspension trail bike. The 2. 01. 7 Tracer breaks that evolutionary chain. Jauja (2015) Movie Theatre more. It shares a number of coils of its namesake’s DNA, but it is a whole different animal: longer, slacker, more aggressive, and a magnitude more capable on the downs. Its suspension kinematics are not tempered to broaden its usefulness.

The new Tracer is a gravity predator. It climbs like a bird of prey, circling up the mountain, unhurried, thinking only of the next chase and a 2. Tracer Factory Build Details. Previously, Intense handled the suspension kinematics and frame geometry, and drew upon the composite design resources of Germany’s SEED Engineering. 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 1.

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Fox 3. 6 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 $1. Factory model we review here, to the “entry level” $4. 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. Cable routing is internal, and lightweight plastic tubes are installed inside the frame to facilitate easy component swaps.

Down below, a 9. 2- millimeter press- fit bottom bracket assembly is flanked by ISCG- 0. 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 2. 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.

INTERVIEWThere’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. JEFF STEBER: Intense Founder. RC: What was the motivation for using Cesar Rojo and the CERO Studio instead of the folks at SEED to develop the new Tracer? Jeff Steber: I had been wanting to work with Cesar on some projects for a while and now, with our European headquarters in Barcelona where CERO design is located, it also seemed like good timing.

I have always admired Cesar’s design vision and him pushing MTB suspension, geometries, and design forward. This is right in line with the Intense design philosophy and pushing our new models to the. PB imageleading 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 2. 01. 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. CESAR ROJO: Cerro Design. RC: The new Tracer rides like an entirely different bike than last year's 2. Did you have any time on the original before you began work on the 2.

Cesar Rojo: Of course. The first thing we did was to get me on the old Tracer to understand how it rides and also because I never before had a chance to ride any type of VPP suspension. So, it was really good to see the strength and weakness and try to work around them to hopefully improve it.

RC: You pretty much established the rider- forward geometry movement while working with Mondraker. The 2. 01. 7 Tracer, however, seems to. RC photobe 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 3.