After reading the article about the intense price drop on the main page they are now near my budget.what are intense like for warranty etc.is there any reason not to buy one?

I love mine, my Intense riding mates love there’s.

I’m not sure there’s much to dislike, they share their suspension design with Santa Cruz who most people cream over, if you’re into ‘the History of the sport’ few other brands have the same pedigree- I mean they invented the modern DH bike and brought Palmer into the sport.

They had a few years in the wilderness, a period of iffy quality about 5-10 years back but they’re great bikes with all the carpark kudos you could ever want if you’re into that sort of thing (for the record my bike is completely unbranded at the moment) the only downside is that even though they’re now direct – they’re still more than the equivalent YT, Bird et al who don’t exactly make bad bikes either.

Be careful where you buy from.

Be careful from where you buy from ?

Meaning?

They are direct sales now they come from saddleback in Bristol any issue is delay with by them.

Support is as good as a local bike shop they are U.K. based if there was a issue you speak to people in the U.K.
pricing is more competitive than some brands now and you get a lot of bike for your money
I have a tracer it’s ace
Easy to work on
Well made good paint finish
Can’t fault it

Go buy one!

P-Jay – Member

I’m not sure there’s much to dislike, they share their suspension design with Santa Cruz who most people cream over, if you’re into ‘the History of the sport’ few other brands have the same pedigree- I mean they invented the modern DH bike and brought Palmer into the sport.

They moved away from the Santa Cruz VPP a few years ago now as the patent is expired, the current system is their own version.

shooterman – Member

Be careful where you buy from.

They are a direct-sale company now?

I feel sorry for anybody who purchased an intense at retail just before the price hammering though – Their bike is essentially worth a fraction of what it was before on the used market.

Hope however refunded its customers when they dropped pricing.

Very tempted.got a Santa Cruz at the minute and like vpp system.

They moved away from the Santa Cruz VPP a few years ago now as the patent is expired, the current system is their own version.

Its always been intense own version of VPP. Just now the patent has expired they are free to call it what they want hence JS Tuned.

]yup, my 2016 Tracer is very similar to to the Mk1 Bronson, the new one with the lower linkage that goes over the B.B. shell is more like ‘VPP 2’ and hopefully better suited to the UK.

The grease port and open bearing thing must be wonderful in Cali, a bit useless in Wales. Swapped them for sealed bearings, jobbed.

neverbeentomoab – Member

Very tempted.got a Santa Cruz at the minute and like vpp system.

Make sure to give whatever Santa Cruz you are looking into a test-ride, some of the VPP bikes ride completely differently to others as the kinematics are not the same.

It is not so much a system, more a marketing term.

Support is as good as a local bike shop they are U.K. based

Apart from not being able to take it to your local bike shop should the worst happen.
That said Bird are the same and probably have the best after sales service going.
So all the ‘issues’ with direct sales still apply…..if that bothers you.

Their website sucks though (intense), on mobile is freezes when trying look at specs/details! Maybe just me but can’t get further than the front page for each bike…

It’s not just direct though , you can get it shipped to a local intense dealer if you want to get it built up by someone else.
I like the look of the primer .

I’m going to buy a new DH bike this year and could have finally owned an Intense M16 but the expert looks bloody awful https://uk.intensecycles.com/collections/downhill/products/intense-m16c-mountain-bike-expert-2016

I wonder how long it’ll take before the big guns make a move to direct sales. I’ve said before its hard to justify buying any high end Enduro from Specialized etc when the YT Capra (and others) exist

if you’re into ‘the History of the sport’ few other brands have the same pedigree

Haha; was that the welded on the squint in the USA pedigree?

Looking at their website, they now appear to no longer have a pedigree! No welded in the USA frames in sight! Just mass produced carbon with a fancy paint job; they may aswell be a Planet X brand. Very generic.

you can get it shipped to a local intense dealer if you want to get it built up by someone else.

I did not know that.If they are still retaining dealers,the margin must be proper poo now!

Haha; was that the welded on the squint in the USA pedigree?

Was’nt that the truth!! 😀
Was told by Intense BITD that having the rear triangle misaligned by 20mm at the lower link (had to stand on it to get the pivot in) was ‘within acceptable tolerance’ and ‘had no effect of bearing life’.

Was told by Intense BITD that having the rear triangle misaligned by 20mm at the lower link (had to stand on it to get the pivot in) was ‘within acceptable tolerance’ and ‘had no effect of bearing life’.

😆

Think they welded their frames on a Friday afternoon…..

Am honestly surprised they’re still a brand, although maybe it’s only over here that they seem to have gone out of fashion.

Am honestly surprised they’re still a brand

And I give you…………Ellsworth.

,the margin must be proper poo now!

I don’t really know about that stuff but the interview I read said it was better for shops as they don’t need to hold stock , you buy the bike from the website and then they ship to you or the shop , your choice . Pretty good idea I reckon , gets rid of the worry about buying direct and hopefully gives the lbs a bit of revenue as well .

davidtaylforth – Member
if you’re into ‘the History of the sport’ few other brands have the same pedigree
Haha; was that the welded on the squint in the USA pedigree?

Looking at their website, they now appear to no longer have a pedigree! No welded in the USA frames in sight! Just mass produced carbon with a fancy paint job; they may aswell be a Planet X brand. Very generic.

Did your Wife run off with an Intense rider?

God no.

They just cropped up a few months ago on here and I looked at the new bikes and couldn’t believe how different they were to back in the day. THey appear to have lost all their brand identity, CF probably doesn’t help with that. Probz why Orange have stuck with aluminium.

They were an interesting brand.

Not always the best warranty. But did get sorted via saddleback in the end.

I had a hard Eddie which was a super light hard tail frame. Cracked. Took a lot of sorting and had to take a different frame in the end.

A nice intense primer going cheap. Not the SL model.

davidtaylforth – Member

No welded in the USA frames in sight!

Can only be an improvement. I spoke to an intense dealer who’d taken a new frame out of the box, discovered it was squint, sent it back, got a response from Intense that the “warranty claim” had been rejected because it was clearly crash damage 😆

Beggars belief!

It’s mad they used to have so many fans, guess the made in the USA thing was a strong draw, although these days it maybe doesn’t carry the same weight.

And I give you…………Ellsworth.

😀 no way! Just seen their new one and it still has those classic Ellsworth lines aswell!

Tone’s still at it

” I don’t really know or associate with anyone who doesn’t like my bikes. It’s not that I won’t associate with you if you don’t like my bikes; it’s just that everybody I meet and know loves them.”

“Price drop” and yet can’t get a frame for less than I paid for my full (carbon framed) bike. Bargains!

My mate recently bought the carbon recluse and discovered the paint had been chpped and scraped in several places all the way through to the carbon. The wheels had no padding so the rear wheel marked the frame. Saddleback apologised saying that they were unexpectedly swamped by orders and sent a new bike before my mate had a chance to send his back, they also threw in shorts, top etc. Can’t say fairer than that. The bike looks great and being an ex Intense owner I have a soft spot for them. Who gives a shit if they have less kudos when they are so much cheaper than they were. There is absolutely no need to spend extra money on a Yeti, Santa Cruz etc as it’s the law of diminishing returns innit