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2017 Intense Recluse all mountain trail bike comes outta hiding

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2017 Intense Recluse all mountain trail bike

Following a busy summer of planned releases where we got to ride and test the new ACV 27.5+ and Primer 29er trail mountain bikes, the Recluse lived up to its name and stayed in the shadows. Where those two bikes use Intense’s adjustable rear travel to get either 115mm or 130mm rear wheel travel, the Recluse bumps it up to 140mm to fill the hole between the new rigs and the Uzzi. Or, more precisely, it becomes the boosted 27.5 version of the Carbine 29er. Now that the travel/use hierarchy is out of the way, lets see the details…

2017 Intense Recluse all mountain trail bike

The frame looks familiar, using similar lines and shapes on the monocoque front triangle, internal cable routing, downtube and chainstay Flak Guards, ISCG05 mounts, direct mount front derailleur, and…

2017-intense-recluse-all-mountain-bike-details3

…IS rear brake mounts as opposed to post mount. That’s a bit odd considering the other new bikes are all post mount. Rear axle spacing is Boost 148, which looks to be done mostly for rear wheel/system stiffness as opposed to maximizing tire clearance. All models are spec’d with 27.5 x 2.3 tires.

2017 Intense Recluse all mountain trail bike

The suspension is JS Tuned, which means it uses the same counter-rotating dual linkage design as their others, designed by company founder Jeff Steber. It uses angular contact/collet bearings with grease fittings to ease maintenance. We’ve been very happy with its performance on other bikes we’ve tested, enjoying the fact that it’s efficient when pedaling while still absorbing the hits. The Recluse’s rear travel is fixed at 140mm, paired with a 150mm fork up front.

2017 Intense Recluse all mountain trail bike limited edition

At the top of the roost is the Recluse Limited Edition, which gets an SL version of the frame using high modulus fibers and titanium hardware to save 250g over the standard version. Spec highlights include Race Face Next SL carbon cranks, XX1, Guide RS brakes, Fox 36 Performance Float fork, Rockshox Reverb Stealth and the new Intense Recon carbon wheels.

2017 Intense Recon Trail carbon mountain bike wheels

The new Recon wheelset laces a 31mm (internal, 36mm external) wide carbon fiber rim to DT Swiss 350 hubs. They’ll be available separately also, only with Boost hub spacing.

2017 Intense Recluse all mountain trail bike factory edition

The Factory Edition, which is also available in the blue paint scheme as the Limited (and vice versa), upgrades to the Fox 36 Factory Float fork and switches to the new Mavic XA Carbon wheels with an otherwise very similar build spec, including the SL frame.

2017 Intense Recluse all mountain trail bike pro edition

The Pro Edition gets the SL frame, too, plus the Intense Recon carbon wheels and Fox 36 Performance fork, only stepping down the drivetrain to an X01/X1 mix. Renthal bars and stems are fitted to all three of the bikes above, as well as the Expert build, below.

2017 Intense Recluse all mountain trail bike expert edition

The Expert Edition introduces two new paint options, the all-black shown above, and the circus clown orange and pink below. It steps down to the standard modulus frame with steel and alloy hardware. Fork is a Rockshox Pike RC with Monarch Plus RC3 high volume metric-sized rear shock, wheels are DT Swiss Spline E 1900, and the drivetrain is XT with a Race Face Turbine crankset.

2017 Intense Recluse all mountain trail bike foundation edition

The Foundation Edition is your entry point with a Sun Helix rims on Intense hubs, Rockshox Pike RC and Monarch Plus HV, SRAM NX/GX 1×11 drivetrain with Race Face Aeffect cranks and Shimano M506 hydraulic brakes.

2017 Intense Recluse all mountain trail bike geometry

Pricing TBA.

IntenseCycles.com

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Nick
Nick
7 years ago

Why the IS brake mount?

Lloyd
Lloyd
7 years ago

Everyone else is reporting the prices:

Five models: $9499 Factory, $7899 Elite, $6999 Pro, Expert $5899, and the $4599 Foundation build

And then the comments section goes nuts

Piddles
Piddles
7 years ago

Possible new mottos for intense:

“All our bikes look the same!”
“Our bikes are for everyone – as long as you’re male, between 18 and 27 and kind of a bro”
“American made bike prices for Tiawan made bikes!”
“We have a line of bikes which all kind of overlap but hey – throw it against the wall and see if it sticks…”
“Our price points are random and our entry model is 5k! With Diore!”

Anthony White Rodriguez
Anthony White Rodriguez
7 years ago
Reply to  Piddles

if you buy a intense you´re buying more than a bike, you´re buying history,art and a lot of nice culture! They can be expensive but i´m sure it´s worth every penny

Giver eh!
Giver eh!
7 years ago

Now sold at MEC in Canada…Which seems insane. Can’t see many Canadians paying premium prices for a bike from the CO-OP. Short term gains. Brand wont survive up here with those prices and as MEC for a shop. They do a good job with the bike shop thing but selling overpriced under speced bikes is not going to fly

professorwheeler
professorwheeler
7 years ago

Not really a bike-related response, but…selling bikes at this price is the best possible way for MEC to communicate ‘elitist’ as clearly as possible.

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