For 2011, Intense Cycles took their venerable Tracer full suspension mountain bike, added up all the great ideas they could come up with and built what they’re calling the ultimate trail bike. With new reinforcements and tube shapes, they made it stiffer. New grease ports and pivot systems made it smoother. And a new replaceable, swappable rear dropout system makes it compatible with any standard out there, current or future.
Jump in for lots of photos (including some inside-the-factory production shots of the frames being hand built) and full specs and details…
Hand built in their southern California factory with the same genes as the original, and likely incorporating some of the things they learned making the Tracer 29er (glamour shots and specs here, our photos and weights here), the Tracer 2 gets a lot of changes. Here’s what’s new:
- NEW CanAm Yellow color (shown above)
- NEW Improved bearings with EZ-lock binder-bolt main pivot system
- NEW Rear dropout mount system accepts 142×12, SyntaceX12, or standard 135QR dropouts.
- NEW Threaded, replaceable zerk grease fittings
- NEW Redesigned yoke & lower link machining for added rigidity and strength
- NEW Redesigned proprietary hydroformed downtube reduces weight and adds strength
- NEW 8.5″ x 2.5″ FOX RP23 shock damper spec
- NEW Machined ‘boxbrace’ seatstay bridge adds swingarm rigidity for a far more stable ride
The replaceable rear dropout system should make the bike pretty well future proof for as long as the frame will last. The frame ships with standard 135mm QR, the other axle options are available separately from Intense.
The grease fittings are now threaded, making them easy to replace if they get dinged up or clogged. The Tracer maintains the VPP Virtual Pivot Point suspension design.
Other specs include:
- Adjustable travel 5.75”-6.25” (145mm-160mm), easily set at the upper link
- Wide range geometry settings for aggressive trail or fast XC riding
- Full 1.5″ head tube to accomodate all steerer and headset options available (which theoretically means you could use Cane Creek’s Angleset to easily change the geometry)
- ISCG-05 integrated into fully machined BB shell
- World Cup, National, and World Championship winning VPP suspension platform
- Standard colors are ’White’, ‘Gun Metal’ and ‘Works Raw’; 14 other upgrade colors available on request (may require longer lead times)
The frame will retail for $1,999 and includes a Fox rear shock.
When they say “handmade”, they mean it.
It is us, or is this just a gorgeous photo?
Check out more production photos on the Intense Cycles blog.
