Meet the first production 650B DH Bike, The New Intense 951 Evo

Intense Bikes has long held a reputation for being able to prototype and test new products due to their impressive in-house manufacturing facilities in Temecula, California. The company was amongst  the first to play with wagon wheels in a long travel format and was very quick to introduce convertible 26″/27.5″ dropouts for their aluminum bikes.

As a result, it comes as no surprise that Intense Bikes is at the forefront of this new generation of downhill bikes with their completely redesigned 951 EVO. The frame is the first 650B downhill bike to be available to consumers and will be landing at dealers this May!

The new bike is designed for the ground up for the new wheel size and features new suspension kinematics and geometry. Drop past the break for the details…

The new Intense 951 features 8.5″ of bottomless VPP travel, integrated bump stops, and a full 1.5″ headtube.

The top tube has been increased throughout all the sizes and…

Overall, the chainstays have grown by .125″ (4.5mm), the head angle has been slackened from 64 to 62.5 degrees, and the low BB height remains unchanged. The 951 has a reputation for being more poppy than its World Cup M9 brethren and combination of relatively short chainstays for a DH bike, slack geometry, and low BB should continue the trend.

While a lot of manufacturers have jumped on the tweener bandwagon and a plethora of components will be available soon, Intense will also be offering a complete with an excellent selection of parts that are currently available.

The complete will be spec’d with Shimano Zee components, Novatec Wheels, Manitou Dorado, and FSA Gravity cockpit. The company will also be partnering with Vee Rubber to release an Intense-designed 27.5 tire. The first 25 completes will feature a limited edition “Electric Blue Paint”, Anodized Gold Links and Hubs, as well as a matching set of HT pedals.

The frame only option will be spec’d with a Cane Creek Double Barrel Shock and will retail for $2,900 USD.

Here’s the full press release if you still need your fix:

The 951Evo from INTENSE CYCLES… Because Every Second Counts.

HOLD UNTIL 4/16/13 — Temecula, Ca — INTENSE CYCLES proudly introduces the next step in the evolution of downhill racing – the 951Evo.  Made in the USA with aggressive geometry and eight and a half inches of travel, the 951Evo offers advanced features, patented VPP suspension, and the added benefit of a 27.5” wheel.

Downhill races are won – or lost – by seconds. Our long heritage of building winning race bikes continues by utilizing the larger wheel size for a faster, more efficient race run.

“We have spent countless hours designing, testing and fine tuning the 951evo.  The end result is a bike that will shave seconds off your race run…  Every second counts when your total race time is sub 3 minutes.  The 951evo has consistently dropped seconds from our test teams fastest times.”

– Director of Sales, Mike Dettmers.

The 951evo has been designed from the ground up to utilize 275 wheels.  We have adjusted geometry and suspension kinetics to create a new ride, ideal for today’s aggressive race courses.

A slacker 62.5 degree head tube angle pushes the front end a bit further out, giving the rider more confidence at high speeds, through steeps and on gnarly rock sections. We have kept the chainstay as short as possible at 17.5”. This magic number keeps the bike stable at high speeds, yet nimble while cornering. Top tube lengths have been increased throughout all sizes to allow for additional room in the cockpit of the bike.

The 951evo will come standard with a Cane Creek Double Barrel coil shock.  Our product development team has worked side by side with Cane Creek to create the best possible shock tunes out of the box. The Double Barrel shock has a massive range in tune-ability allowing the rider to fine-tune the shock to match their riding style.

Complete bike spec will include Shimano Zee Components, Novatec Wheels and an FSA Gravity Cockpit. We are also working with Vee Rubber to release our own Intense-designed 275 DH Tire. Also available as frame-only.

As an added bonus, the first 25 complete 951evo’s will be “limited edition” and feature custom Electric Blue Paint, Anodized Gold Links and Hubs as well as a set of matching HT Pedals at no additional charge.

951evo begins to ship Late May 2013.  How long will you wait to go faster?