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Andi speaks with Declan from Intense Cycles UK about the new Intense Tazer e-MTB. The Tazer is the first Intense eMTB to be released and like the rest of the Intense range uses a carbon main-frame. In this video you'll learn about the reasoning behind the mismatched wheel spec, why Intense used Shimano Steps, and what that large door in the downtube is for.
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[Music]
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everyone this is Andy from singletrack
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magazine and I'm here with Declan from
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intense cycles UK hi guys and we're
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gonna take a look at the brand new
0:10
intense taser so this is this is intense
0:14
is firstly by Kirsten is Andy yes
0:16
absolutely a little time in the making
0:18
something that Jeff's sort of wanted to
0:20
do for a long while but yeah he's he's
0:22
come in heading hard with the first bike
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for sure he seems pretty chuffed with it
0:25
looking at his Instagram account he
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seems to be always out on his e by now
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yeah normally you have these sort of
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these long-winded sort of their secret
0:32
sort of campaigns ready to launch a bike
0:35
but Jeff is so excited I couldn't keep
0:37
it back so you'll notice that through
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his Instagram account so yeah yeah so
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let's talk about X so Jeff we all know
0:43
Jeff steeper is the guy who found it
0:45
intense and even although now the bikes
0:47
made from carpet he still makes all the
0:49
a lie test mules doesn't mean literally
0:50
yeah right behind his house I mean this
0:52
bike is no difference in the way that he
0:53
delivered it as far as a project it
0:56
started with an alloy mule and they
0:57
shared at the back of his house yeah he
0:59
done three alloy prototypes before they
1:01
sort of find exactly what they wanted
1:03
out of the bike and then that fourth one
1:05
was being the carbon sort of they they
1:07
got the mix right what they want from
1:09
all the pieces to bring it together we
1:10
actually did an article on DS based you
1:12
know thanks to it Jeff's the Instagram
1:14
account and we can see the different
1:15
variations and we saw that the battery
1:17
moved from from the top so underneath
1:19
and now it's inside this down tube and
1:22
what's really cool about this is what a
1:24
door on there so I'll open it up to show
1:27
you so if you pop in here you can open
1:29
up here and you've got access to your
1:32
Shimano battery what's the idea behind
1:34
this why have you made it so easy to get
1:35
in and out there's a couple of different
1:37
ideas behind this and the first one
1:40
really is what Jeff's Jeff's idea for
1:42
this is you know people can use as a
1:44
performance bike they can use it as an
1:45
adventure bike so if you have the bike
1:47
and you have a spare battery and you're
1:49
on a really long ride that means you can
1:51
change the battery at the trail side
1:52
nice and easy here take the other in the
1:54
pack and carry on the next reason for
1:57
this was that it's really easy for
1:58
charging actually in the bike there's no
2:01
need actually for taking the battery out
2:02
and going somewhere else so as long as
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you've got a plug socket normally where
2:05
you keep your bike plug it in keep the
2:07
battery in the bike nice and easy
2:08
perfect and what's really I mean this
2:10
door I know it's just a door but it's a
2:12
really substantial
2:13
piece of plastic isn't it it's like it
2:15
so the whole thing is carbon fiber and
2:17
this is you look how thick that is
2:19
there's no rattles or wobbles and it you
2:21
couldn't bend that no and it's and it's
2:23
well damped as well and it's got the
2:24
sealer in the antenna but to protect it
2:26
against the elements especially here in
2:27
the UK yeah so you know a lot of thought
2:30
into the smaller details
2:31
well actually saying that I mean I just
2:32
cleaned this bike after riding it and
2:34
the door was on and you can see there's
2:35
nothing's gone in and I was spraying at
2:37
the hose pipe so it's nice and nice and
2:38
secure so yeah I mean you've gone with a
2:40
Shimano system is there any reason
2:42
behind that yeah I think you know Jeff
2:43
looked at sort of many of the different
2:45
sort of variations that are in the
2:47
market at the moment and and from
2:48
feedback and from testing he just felt
2:50
that this suited what he wanted from the
2:52
project and everyone saw a lot about
2:56
Shimano steps already so it seemed like
2:58
the obvious one to go with yeah and this
2:59
is the e 8,000 3000 yeah right great yes
3:02
so the 8,000 is quite a nice little
3:04
system it's very compact it's got a
3:06
really narrow q factor on it as well so
3:08
it feels like a normal an analogue bike
3:10
yeah yeah there's like a regular bike
3:12
can you get on it with the Shimano step
3:15
system we've got a screen up here and
3:17
being the e 8000 this is a color screen
3:19
and we've also got this paddle shifter
3:22
here but I believe this might change ed
3:24
well yeah it'll be updated to there the
3:25
toggle button it's just really to clean
3:27
to clean up the cockpit you can run an
3:30
under a bar yeah drop or as well it just
3:32
means a lot of the time when people are
3:34
coming to the end of the battery you
3:35
start to manage your use more yeah
3:37
you'll find that you will be using those
3:39
buttons a lot more so just to clean it
3:40
up easy use yeah and also that being
3:43
able to use an under paddle shifter is a
3:44
bit nice there isn't it much very much
3:45
nicer okay so if we go over it I mean
3:47
obviously this is a cut full carbon
3:49
fiber frame it is yeah do you know what
3:51
size this is this is a medium and the
3:53
reach they reach them this one is 450
3:55
450 so that's pretty decent I mean if
3:57
you look at modern modern trail bikes
3:59
now 450 for a medium is is longer isn't
4:02
it it's great yeah not overly long but
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it's longer than most friends yeah I
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think you know the idea behind this bike
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was to keep the geometry pretty modern
4:10
yeah and you know not to the extremes
4:11
but certainly pretty modern so 450 in a
4:13
medium was yes bottom yeah I mean this
4:16
so far there's three models available on
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the intense website there's a small with
4:20
a four to five reach the medium with 450
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and a large with 475 and just to give
4:25
you an idea my personal and
4:27
bike pedal bike is a 475 reach but I get
4:30
on with the medium 450 much better yeah
4:33
it's it's it remains playful you've got
4:35
that extra weight and this weight is
4:37
nice and low down it's really low center
4:39
of gravity so you still get that planted
4:41
stable feeling of a longer bike
4:43
absolutely but you can check it about
4:44
easier because it's a shorter here
4:46
perfect now there are a few neat
4:48
features there other than the battery
4:49
door and the motor yeah we've got odd
4:52
sized wheels yeah 29er on the front yeah
4:54
plus on the back yes what's the reason
4:56
behind so the again as with everything
4:58
on the bike Jeff Jeff sort of he built
5:01
it up piece by piece and he tried
5:02
different or a wheel set up said through
5:04
there the different alloy mules so he
5:07
actually found having that 275 bigger
5:09
tire in the back means just more
5:11
traction so when you're putting the
5:12
power down it means that you're making
5:13
motions to the power the front going to
5:16
29 it just keeps the front of the bike
5:18
positive precise and feeling more like a
5:21
traditional bike or a name like bike as
5:22
you'd say yeah yeah again going back to
5:26
Jeff's Instagram I did see this bike
5:28
with plus wheels for an enriched you can
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see that there was that experimentation
5:32
you know and and personally yeah I can
5:34
see it 29 at wheels they just go over
5:36
rocks and bumps much easier don't they
5:37
yeah absolutely and you know I've tried
5:40
plus on different machines and a bike it
5:43
makes a lot of sense you've got a lot
5:44
more traction you can run a slightly
5:46
softer size you can dig it in and yeah
5:48
it's really good really very comfortable
5:49
bike other features here we've got a
5:52
carry on with the Shimano
5:53
motor we've also got a Shimano
5:55
drivetrain yes and it's SLX yeah any
5:58
reason you've gone you know I think that
6:00
this is in consideration of that you
6:02
know we know that he bikes these days
6:03
they're not the cheapest so we wanted to
6:06
sort of spec the bike with as high-end
6:09
product but not that it wouldn't be
6:11
detrimental to your pocket if you had to
6:12
replace something yeah so we know that
6:14
we're getting performance from the
6:15
shifter and and the SLX make I mean it
6:18
performs great and it's not too
6:19
expensive to replace if needs be yeah I
6:21
mean again on my personal bike I go for
6:23
SLX
6:24
for that as that reason if I hit a rear
6:26
MEK and s electro net I don't have to
6:28
worry it's not that expensive to feel
6:30
absolutely yeah and also does the talk
6:31
come into it at all with the extra
6:33
torque from the motor it does is that
6:35
coming because you would need to change
6:36
this I suppose frequently yeah
6:38
absolutely I mean just the setup to
6:40
manage
6:41
the Shimano motor self managers talk
6:43
really well anyway and I think that the
6:46
third-party manufacturers such as
6:47
Shimano were making their parts and
6:49
consideration they're gonna be used in
6:51
such like ebike so I think it's a
6:53
package it all works together
6:54
yeah so yeah SLX 11 speed group set
6:57
isolates cassette and chain but the
7:00
brakes are XT for pots which is makes a
7:02
lot of sense lately yeah I think you
7:04
know you need to I think you've got to
7:06
go a bit earlier on the brakes just for
7:07
that little bit of extra weights and and
7:09
you you want to have that confidence
7:11
there you want to know you can stop
7:13
because you want to write this bike like
7:14
a normal bike no I think that's
7:16
important yeah I mean yeah the extra
7:18
weight and you can go a little bit
7:20
quicker into things you can yeah you can
7:21
so yeah those big brakes and you know
7:24
the nice comfortable suspension and
7:26
quite a lot of suspension really isn't
7:27
there it's 160 on the front 160 in the
7:29
front and 150 in the back yeah and the
7:31
fork on this is that an e-bike specific
7:33
yeah it's an e-bike specific again I
7:35
think it's all down to the third-party
7:37
manufacturers working with the brands to
7:39
make sure that that that the package
7:41
works well together
7:42
we know that the suspension ebike so
7:45
that was going to take more abuse than
7:46
yes standard bike yeah so this is a fox
7:48
36 factory Kashima grip - dampers yeah
7:52
but it's a bit earlier the sidewall of
7:54
this tension is a bit earlier witness
7:56
because of the extra weight of the bike
7:57
movie and on the rear we've got a DP X -
8:00
yeah alright perfect air shock very very
8:03
easy to set up these there's a fork in
8:06
shock so we're really really nice as
8:07
pension very supple it makes a lot of
8:10
sense to have you know decent suspension
8:12
on a big bike anyway yeah and this feels
8:14
a bit like a downhill bike to be honest
8:16
when you're going you can ride it
8:17
anywhere basically and when you go down
8:19
you're like oh this is a downhill
8:20
absolutely yeah and that was one of the
8:22
big games - Jeff when he said about
8:23
making this bike he didn't want
8:25
something cumbersome he didn't want
8:26
something that that didn't feel too far
8:29
away from a normal bike and so it was
8:31
all about agility speed the modern
8:33
geometry yeah I think he's achieved it
8:35
pretty well it's like you mention
8:37
agility now people are going to be
8:38
watching this and they're going to think
8:39
well how agile can this bike because how
8:42
much does it weigh this one is in kilos
8:45
just it's 22 yeah and kilos is 47 pounds
8:48
yes yeah but to be honest picking it up
8:51
it doesn't actually feel that bad to be
8:53
fair it's very well balanced lately
8:54
and the weight is in the right place
8:56
it's all down here it's all centered and
8:58
riding it today you can bunnyhop it just
9:00
as easily to kind of a regular bike that
9:02
to be honest the only factor which
9:04
limits how well you can bunnyhop this is
9:06
just how you know what much trouble
9:09
you've got you're just pulling more
9:10
travel yeah okay yeah the way of the
9:12
ebike specific features include the we
9:15
mentioned the wheels but these are
9:16
hybrid wheels aren't there yet they're
9:17
actually the ebike specific DT Swift
9:19
wheels
9:19
absolutely again yeah you know just
9:21
noting back to that that third party is
9:23
all working together for that package to
9:25
make sure that the the components can
9:27
handle what they're the frames throwing
9:29
at it so perfect a few features so we've
9:32
mentioned that maybe this will change
9:34
the production version yeah and also if
9:37
you look underneath here where the
9:38
battery is before this little window and
9:39
that's for turning the battery on and
9:41
off and that might change to by area but
9:44
we think that when that comes into the
9:46
warehouse it'll be black I mean it's not
9:48
until they're all end you know that
9:49
these changes right there may be but the
9:50
intentions are just to make sure that it
9:52
continues that clean look on the dime
9:54
chip yeah yeah and one other thing that
9:56
I found really neat was this built-in
9:58
intense what god yeah and we've got the
10:00
one on the front here but does this come
10:01
with the bike this doesn't come with the
10:03
bike so in ten cycles UK we try to make
10:06
sure that when you're buying your bike
10:07
that we can give you the package you
10:08
know those things that you don't have to
10:10
go searching for so at the time you can
10:11
you can add the mudguard on for a small
10:14
cost you can add pedals on for a small
10:17
car okay we'll tubeless the wheels for
10:19
you to take out the hassle for 25 pound
10:21
fee so yeah just trying to make it as
10:23
easy as possible from there for the end
10:25
consumer that actually brings me onto a
10:27
good point because now you're by direct
10:29
ID yeah we are yes and I noticed that
10:31
with the with all new intense it's not
10:33
just the Taser yeah you get a really
10:34
cool torque wrench and a pump with them
10:37
no yes absolutely yet what we really
10:39
want to do is to sort of give that real
10:41
good aftermarket service so that that's
10:43
start with getting your bike the box it
10:45
comes in the tool kits and the way that
10:48
we set up a bike when you actually
10:49
purchase it so we do a full shakedown
10:51
football check rebleed on the brakes and
10:54
we'll actually set the bike up specific
10:56
to your needs all right so when you're
10:57
purchasing your bike at the basket stage
11:00
we'll ask for some rider details now
11:01
this help from mechanic to set it up
11:03
specifically for you so when it comes so
11:05
you order it online it comes take out of
11:07
the box
11:08
twist the handlebars product.we alone
11:09
and that's a tiger set we were tiger set
11:12
we'd put the right amount of tokens in
11:14
the suspension and we set the bike up
11:16
for the information that you give back
11:18
so I'm just so I'm gonna stay in true to
11:19
your weight and everything else and
11:21
giving us the right number as we can we
11:22
can set it up pretty spot-on
11:23
yeah yeah yes yeah you've got to be
11:24
truthful all right perfect
11:27
if I wanted to buy one of these how much
11:29
would it be so this come on it's six
11:31
eight nine nine ninety nine yeah it'll
11:32
be available in early 2019
11:35
the exact off date we don't have just
11:37
yet yep yeah I expect to see it early
11:39
nineteen so I mean obviously wife I
11:41
don't like yellow is there gonna be
11:42
another color so they might I can't
11:44
might confirm or deny but yeah I'm
11:47
pretty sure there's gonna be some new
11:48
color waves coming along so for those
11:50
who are really interested in the bike
11:52
but perhaps want something a little bit
11:53
more stealthy or a little bit bald old
11:55
I'm there yes yeah I come back to see
11:57
new colorways perfect okay thanks very
11:59
much if you've got any questions please
12:01
put them in the comment section below
12:02
and we'll do our best to answer them as
12:04
quickly as possible and watch out for a
12:06
bike check and a full review on single
12:08
track magazine very soon awesome Jake
12:10
thank you Andy Cheers
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