Posts
856
Joined
12/26/2014
Location
Fruita, CO, USA
Edited Date/Time
5/6/2019 8:30pm
I rode the Intense Tazer Ebike yesterday at the Fruita Fat Tire Fest. It was so much f'n fun I could hardly believe it! Dungey just dropped some coin into Intense and I gotta think this is why. I mostly ride mtb to train for moto, but this bike made me so much faster everywhere, downhill included.
Never could get used to jumping bicycles, even though I think I built my first dirt kicker at the age of 6. Seems to me that pedaling in tends to set me up with my weight balanced to one side or the other and I come off jumps squirrely. So there are 3 on the fly power settings, and the third, I think they call it Boost mode, delivers a good hit with your pedal stroke. Essentially you can time your stroke, set up for the jump and it will accelerate you right up the face, or over some rocks. Because the Tracer weights 47 pounds I immediately felt more comfortable in the air vs. my Pivot Mach 6 that weighs 30.
Its also set up like a dirt bike with a larger 29" wheel on the front for roll over abilities and smaller 27.5 on back for traction. Makes sense to me and it works well, front end traction is awesome and so is stability. Again, for me the weight of a regular mtb makes turning a bit sketchy compared to my moto. But this bike feels really well planted without sacrificing quickness in tight s turns or switchbacks. The front never wanted to wash out in corners either. Not real sure about extremely hard braking situations, but would think it comes spec'ed with some over sized disks.
Imo its not a great looking machine and could maybe use some spring forks and shock instead of the Fox air kit it has on it. And for 7500 bucks it costs as much as a nice dirt bike. But I live in one of the best riding areas on the planet for both moto and mtb with endless options to ride. Next time I go to drop this kind of coin on 2 wheels, will definitely have to consider this bike. I mean it does cost about the same as what my Pivot was and maybe $500 less than my Sxf 270, and each of those provides a certain kind of fun. So because the Tracer can crawl up single track, bomb across the flats, pop you over jumps, provide fitness that comes from pedaling and not piss off the neighbors while doing so, it might represent the very best value on 2 wheels!
Never could get used to jumping bicycles, even though I think I built my first dirt kicker at the age of 6. Seems to me that pedaling in tends to set me up with my weight balanced to one side or the other and I come off jumps squirrely. So there are 3 on the fly power settings, and the third, I think they call it Boost mode, delivers a good hit with your pedal stroke. Essentially you can time your stroke, set up for the jump and it will accelerate you right up the face, or over some rocks. Because the Tracer weights 47 pounds I immediately felt more comfortable in the air vs. my Pivot Mach 6 that weighs 30.
Its also set up like a dirt bike with a larger 29" wheel on the front for roll over abilities and smaller 27.5 on back for traction. Makes sense to me and it works well, front end traction is awesome and so is stability. Again, for me the weight of a regular mtb makes turning a bit sketchy compared to my moto. But this bike feels really well planted without sacrificing quickness in tight s turns or switchbacks. The front never wanted to wash out in corners either. Not real sure about extremely hard braking situations, but would think it comes spec'ed with some over sized disks.
Imo its not a great looking machine and could maybe use some spring forks and shock instead of the Fox air kit it has on it. And for 7500 bucks it costs as much as a nice dirt bike. But I live in one of the best riding areas on the planet for both moto and mtb with endless options to ride. Next time I go to drop this kind of coin on 2 wheels, will definitely have to consider this bike. I mean it does cost about the same as what my Pivot was and maybe $500 less than my Sxf 270, and each of those provides a certain kind of fun. So because the Tracer can crawl up single track, bomb across the flats, pop you over jumps, provide fitness that comes from pedaling and not piss off the neighbors while doing so, it might represent the very best value on 2 wheels!
but yes shimano does the electronics and it works pretty well. a bit of overrun in boost mode you have to watch out for going into tight corners. almost needs a clutch.
the fat rear tire works on the ebike.
27.5 rear 29 front is doing really well in alot of enduro races (and i think DH?) right now.
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Also, there is arguably more technology in an eBike than there is in the OP's SXF.
stock motocross bikes are built pretty cheaply in reality. honestly the aluminum frames on the japanese stuff wouldn't cut it on a walmart mountainbike.
On a side note, the issue Intense is facing is that their sales are more-heavily influenced by marketing and customer loyalty than other brands because Intense is using a Direct-to-Consumer strategy. This is why they just hired Dungey and Gwin and re-structured their management. This led to them slashing prices by about 20-25% a year or so back, while ending relationships with most local dealers.
The hope is that marketing can revitalize Intense and that big names like Gwin and Dungey can drive sales and make up for the loss in sales that came with ending their dealer relationships and switching to a DTC model. They were banking heavily on Gwin generating sales through wins at the World Cup of DH, but he finished 6th at the opener which was quite surprising if you follow the sport.
Their bike builds are comparable to other DTC companies like YT and Canyon, but Intense has a specific focus on DH which is an appeal for some, but obviously limits their influence. The DH focus on Intense can be seen across their lineup of bikes, frame geometry is most obvious. MTB is super competitive right now in terms of bike builds and price point - and Intense has some noteworthy competition in Pivot, YT, Canyon, Specialized, and Santa Cruz.
I'm very interested to see how this company develops.
Dirt bikes are a huge bargain for what we get, people will drop $1000 on a TV, $2500+ on a gaming computer, $5000 for a bicycle frame, $50,000 for toy hauler, and $60,000 for the truck to pull it. But the $9,000 dirt bike making 160hp per liter is overpriced...
intense was failing for many reasons. there's a good podcast with steber over at vitalmtb.
marketing and customer loyalty is EVERYTHING in the MTB world. see: Yeti.
Avid doesn't exist anymore. Hello.
Specialized is evil, but has some great innovation in there in places.
MTB frames don't cost $5K, only boutique road frames (ironically) that are marketed to dentists. you can argue brands like pinarello are worth it simply because they have soooo many sizes. more sizes = more molds = more capital expenditure.
there aren't many *cast* aluminum parts on a good MTB, if any.
get back to me when motocross bikes are using EPS or RTM carbon for the mainframes.
I was around during the formative years of MTBs, and there were (and still are) issues with trail access to wheeled vehicles. The electric power adds another dimension to that.
Pit Row
I’ll keep my carbon hardtail and I’m sure I’ll still ride it too but I am loving the idea of getting some longer rides in. I don’t have the fitness for it.
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