The story of the new Intend Hover Opt. shock began five years ago in Italy. At the BIKE Festival Riva 2019 Intend boss Cornelius Kapfinger presented a prototype of the Hover damper to the MTB community for the first time. The first small series parts were available to buy in 2020 and 2021. In order to save on milling costs, the Hover started out with a rough design, but over time it became much more filigree and refined. Intend himself lovingly describes it like this:
In the meantime, thanks to larger quantities and the further development of the designer's skills, it has become a lively, harmonious product. - Intend about the Hover damper
And what a product the Intend Hover has become! All over the world, high-end enthusiasts are not only licking their fingers for the spectacular upside-down forks from Intendbut also after the unconventional damper. So the small German company has probably not lacked demand since 2019. Intend has used the expertise it has gathered over the last five years to make the much sought-after shock absorber even better. Fittingly, the latest version of the shock absorber with the unusual look is called Hover Opt (for optimised).
Details of the Intend Hover Opt. damper
- Prices: Hover Opt. dampers: 1079 Euro | Bushings: 25 Euro / side | Refrigerators: 49 Euro / set
- Installation lengths: Trunnion: 165 mm | 185 mm | 205 mm | 225 mm / Metric: 190 mm | 210 mm | 230 mm | 250 mm
- Stroke: 45 mm | 55 mm | 65 mm | 75 mm
- Possible stroke reduction: 2.5 mm | 5 mm | 7.5 mm (e.g. 65 mm can be reduced to 62.5 mm, 60 mm and 57.5 mm)
- Bushings: 20 mm | 21.8 mm | 22.0 mm | 22.2 mm | 25 mm | 30 mm | 35 mm | 36 mm | 40 mm
- Weight (manufacturer's specification, without bushings): 165/190 mm: 390 g | 185/210 mm: 406 g | 205/230 mm: 422 g | 225/250 mm: 438 g
- Settings: Rebound and compression damping, air pressure, response behaviour, lockout, progression
- Range of use: downhill to trail
- Refrigerator cooling fins available: 230/250 mm metric & 225 mm trunnion (2 sets) | 210 mm metric & 185/205 mm trunnion (1 set)
Initial product Intend Hover: Different from the others
Unlike other dampers, the damping and air spring in the Intend Hover are not arranged in parallel, but in series. This keeps the oil, which heats up during the movement of the shock absorber, separate from the insulating spring. The oil remains on the surface and cool. Cannondale and Scott pursued a similar concept with earlier Pullshock dampers, but these were not particularly durable. Unlike other manufacturers, however, Intend has not scrapped the design, but has constantly developed it further. Most recently, for example, with the "Refrigerator" fins, which can further reduce the operating temperature of the hover by increasing the surface area of the shock.
On the hover damper, Intend separates the negative and positive chambers using the so-called "fine tune dial". The connection can be opened and closed using a small wheel. When open, both chambers can be filled; when closed, only the negative chamber continues to be filled. Intend uses this trick to make the response behaviour of the Hover shock independent of rider weight, tolerances and the kinematics of the frame. The negative air chamber was designed to be as large as possible for a linear characteristic curve. The Intend Hover is available in all metric installation lengths and is tuned by hand in Freiburg to personal preferences, weights and frames with a customised tune. Intend therefore promises a shock that fits straight away and includes a one-off adjustment in the purchase price. You can find out whether a frame is compatible with the Hover shock via the Intend website.
Intend Hover Opt.: Making good things better
Intend does not manufacture the hover damper parts itself, but commissions suppliers to do so and assembles everything by hand in the small Freiburg headquarters. Intend is very meticulous in its choice of suppliers. The decision to switch from the previous German manufacturer of the piston rod for the Hover damper to another was therefore a well-considered step. The new piston rods come from a specialist in Taiwan and should be just as precise and wear-free, but also more colourfast. In line with Intend's high standards, the new polished and hard-anodised parts proved to be both functional and durable in laboratory and practical tests. Thanks to the one-piece design of the piston rod and damper eyelet, the risk of breakage and weight have also been further reduced. Even though the "old" piston rods have never broken in six years, Intend's motto with the Hover Opt. is "the better is the enemy of the good".
Unlike many other dampers, the Intend Hover only has three dynamic seals instead of four. These include two double-acting hydraulic seals on the cylinders and one single-acting seal on the piston rod. Intend has also found a new supplier partner for these, who can deliver according to the appropriate requirements. The seals are made of a special, soft PU elastomer, which can reduce friction in the damper by reducing contact pressure. The seal grooves have also been optimised for the new Hover Opt. The seal on the main piston now sits firmly in its groove. Intend had to do a lot of experimenting to prevent the so-called "seal slap" and thus a jolt in the system. In the new groove, the entire seal gets the right pressure to sit firmly in place.
The fight against tolerances
Intend makes no secret of the fact that their products - as with all bike parts - have certain tolerances that cannot be avoided. However, the Freiburg-based company tries to combat tolerances in the hundredths of a millimetre range. A perfectly fitting connection between axle, bushing and housing is utopian. For the Hover Opt., Intend relies on six different bushing axles, which differ from each other by 0.01 millimetres. Kornelius Kapfinger and his team try out all six options for each damper and only the optimum pairing is sent to the customer. Should bushing play develop one day, the riders of a Hover Opt. can eliminate it by changing to the next larger bushing axle.
In the Intend Hover, a single damping piston is responsible for compression and rebound damping. One side of the "Dual Acting High Flow Damping Piston" operates the rebound, the other the compression, without the need for an additional valve. This should enable particularly smooth and harmonious damping. The clever design and high-precision production of the small green part should not restrict the oil flow of the damping piston, even during fast hits on the trail. Typical Intend: optimisation processes flow seamlessly into the production of small series parts for the small label. The dampers in the "Optimised" stage have already been delivered for six months and can be recognised by their black piston rod. Most of the features, such as the new seals and the optimised damping piston, have already been installed in the Hover dampers, which were purchased a year ago.
Jan Timmermann
Editor
