Brightonmtb.org

Freedom Bikes Intense Tracer

Our good friends at Freedom Bikes in Brighton lent us their two Intense Tracer demo bikes for a couple of days riding around our local singletrack. The large size model was put together with a XC build while the medium had a burly build. Its worth repeating that every demo bike we have had from Freedom has been spotlessly clean with brakes, gears etc adjusted to perfection and these were no exception.

XC Build

Large size frame with Fox 32 TALAS forks, Shimano XT cranks, mechs, shifters and brakes, Easton XC One wheels with Hutchinson lightweight tyres, a thomson seatpost and a 70mm stem.  I like a reasonably relaxed head angle so the shock was bolted in the 6 inch travel setting to make the front less steep. The bike weighed in at about 28lbs with my Time pedals.

Burly Build

Medium size frame with Fox 36 TALAS forks, Shimano XT kit, Easton Havoc wheels with Hutchinson Enduro tyres, Easton Havoc Stem and Easton bars and seatpost. It weighed at 31 lbs with my Time pedals. The shock was bolted in the 6 inch travel setting.

Demo Rides

The ride loop contains a couple of fireroad climbs, one rocky drag of a climb and lots of singletrack. The singletrack varies from smooth and flowy to steep off camber and rooty with plenty of fallen trees and obstacles to get over.

XC Bike

Intense Tracer large size with XC build

On the fireroad climb the XC bike didn’t feel particularly light or heavy and was easy to pedal; however on the flatter fireroad sections I soon noticed that I was going along in a couple of gears higher than usual and the speed just seemed to increase effortlessly. After 5 minutes it was apparent that the ride position is noticeably stretched out along the 24 inch top tube and that the front end is low. No doubt this ride position helped when getting the power on but it was not particularly comfortable for me. In contour hugging  smooth flowy singletrack the XC bike was amazing in fact the major problem I had was going too fast! The low front and the riding position put a lot of weight over the front wheel, which was perfect for getting the front to dig into the corners. The steering is very sharp and the head angle is noticably steeper than my own bikes (a 456 Ti and a SC Blur LT2). I did notice that the steep front with long top tube and rider weight distribution made the XC bike awkward to jump off or over things and was nowhere near as friendly as my own bikes on steep descents. It took time to gain confidence to rag it about but once I was in the swing of things  the bike was rocketing up the hills or it felt like it and just flowing over smooth singletrack at a fair speed.  The long top tube and steep headangle with the Fox 32 fork would make the bike tiring on my neck and shoulders on a long ride. The XC bike felt almost identical to the Intense 5.5, a bike used exclusively for two years a while ago.

Burly bike

Intense Tracer medium size with burly build

I really thought this would be too heavy, and too cumbersome for me to like and I only took it out to make a direct comparison between the two builds. In summary, I absolutely loved this bike.  I was laughing out loud as I hooned it about for 3 hours of singletrack blast. The burly bike has a higher front and a riding position that is almost identical to my SC Blur LT2. The bottom bracket is just right height to clear logs etc but it feels 100% planted and the shorter frame with the higher front end rides like a completely different bike compared to the XC build. Smooth flowy singletrack was just cruised, rough sections were just swallowed and technical stuff was ridden with so much ease it was almost unfair to have to go back to another bike. The weight did become an issue on climbs but I soon got used to spinning up hill and saving my strength to hang on when I hit the singletrack. The balance of the bike was perfect for jumping off and over things, I’m no serious or skilled jumper but it was as easy as my Blur LT2 to get into the air. I had so much fun that I didn’t stop to take any photos of it. For me this bike is a fun machine for 2-3 hours of singletrack blasting, I think the weight would be noticeable on a long ride or a XC trundle.

Conclusion

The XC and Burly builds are so different that you really getting two different bikes for the money; however the low front and stretched top tube combine for a riding position on the large size  XC build that would rapidly become uncomfortable for me. Combine this with the lack of fun I had on the xc build compared to the burly bike and the XC build is not an attractive option for me. It must be said that a medium size frame would have a shorter top tube and therefore may just be a better fit for me in general. The moral of this is most definitely to try the bikes for size before you commit to buy one. On the other hand the burly build was fantastic fun for 2-3 hours of full on blasting it but the weight would become an issue for me on a longer all day ride and the bike is just made to blast! Having said that the burly build is 100% the one I’d go for and I have asked for a price on the frame and fork, no doubt it will be wallet drenching!

The Tracer frame has fantastic details and is a world away from the functionality of the SC Blur LT2. The machined and cast sections across the seat and chain stays will add bags of  rigidity and also look great. The grease ports on the Intense and SC bikes are also very different. The SC has large grease ports that stand proud of my bash guard while the Intense has very small descrete ports that are tucked out of harms way. It is the these small differences in design together with the ‘Handmade in USA’ sticker that shows where the money has gone on the Intense frame. However the main difference between the SC Blur LT2 and the Intense Tracer is the rides they offer.  If you are looking for a racey bike with lots of travel then no doubt the XC Tracer is awesome. The burly build Tracer and the SC Blur LT2 are very very similar, both have an upright riding position with relaxed front ends and feel capable of a lot more than I am likely to do on them, one point is that the Tracer takes a Fox 36 fork much better than the LT2. The LT2 is the more neutral and ‘safe’ feeling bike but it is not as quick as the XC Tracer uphill or as quick as the Burly Tracer downhill or in singletrack, On the other hand I have done 50 mile rides on my LT2 without any problems or tiredness.

Many thanks to Alan & Ben at  Freedom Bikes, contact them (01273 681698) to sort a demo on clean and working bikes and a cracking deal on builds.