2022 Intense

TRACER S

The bright red Tracer is hard to miss, but there's more to this 170mm machine than a flashy paint job.

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With a carbon frame, mullet wheels, internal storage and 170mm of travel, the new Intense Tracer has its sights firmly locked on the best enduro bikes on the market. Has it hit a bullseye? Intense Tracer 279 Expert need to know Updated enduro bike from Intense with 170mm travel Lower link driven JS-Tuned suspension for more consistent performance ‘Chad’ internal frame storage lets you stash your essentials Flip chip gives two geometry positions Integrated mudguard protects shock from dirt Four frame sizes and two complete builds (plus frame only) Intense has always followed an open door policy when it comes to prototyping and product development. While most brands go to great lengths to prevent their next generation models being spotted, Intense has courted the curiosity of the public, usually through social media posts of freshly welded mules at the brand’s California HQ, but also by building complete bikes for pro riders and telling them to go racing. Back in 2019, the embryo of this radically updated Tracer was handed to Intense’s then-pro enduro racer, Isabeau Courdurier, and ridden to victory at the final round of the EWS in Zermatt, which also sealed her the overall series victory. The chance to win on Sunday, sell on Monday was not an option at the time as the alloy bike Isabeau rode was a long way from production. But when Covid hit, any chance to capitalise on the success of the prototype bike slipped away. Monday became Tuesday and Tuesday became Wednesday until finally, nearly three years later, the finished carbon bike went on sale. Swing low sweet chariot The most obvious development on the new Tracer is the move to a lower link driven suspension layout similar to the one first employed on the M29 downhill bike. Dropping the shock in the frame and lowering the centre of gravity were key goals according to Intense, but in real terms the advantage is minimal – moving a few hundred grams down 20-30cm is less than 1% improvement when taken as part of a system weight that will typically range between 85 and 105kg. So why bother? Well, for answers we should probably look at the other key brand using a similar counter-rotating twin-link design – Santa Cruz. It moved to a lower-link design on its first trail bike back in 2018 (the Nomad), mainly to smooth out the leverage curve and bring a more consistent suspension performance that was easier to tune. This is the real benefit of what is quite a complex restructuring job. Since then Santa Cruz has adopted the design on every one of its bikes with over 120mm travel, and I’d be surprised if Intense doesn’t do the same over the next few years. Intense has not made life easy for itself, though. While Santa Cruz uses a lower link that sits just behind the BB, Intense has gone for a link that runs concentric to the bottom bracket. That means it needs a massive bearing and a huge …Continue reading »

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