Colourful Intend suspension forks and components are found only on the very best high-end mountain bikes. The Intend range is handcrafted in Germany, comes with a high price tag and is highly sought-after. If, on rare occasions, an upside-down suspension fork was available in a colour other than black, it was almost certainly destined for some flashy show bike. Now Intend is launching a new sub-brand called “Unicorn”, which aims to make these colourful components more widely available.
Conclusion
Intend’s parts, which are manufactured locally in Freiburg, are absolutely brilliant even in the standard version. Mountain bike enthusiasts worldwide are salivating over the coloured versions. Until now, you’d have to be very lucky to get your hands on the limited special editions. Although supply remains limited, thanks to Unicorn, the availability of these awesome bits could soon improve. - Jan Timmermann, editor at BIKE
For end customers only
Coloured Intend parts have always been strictly limited in number – and this will remain the case with the Unicorn range. The difference is that the Unicorn range is sold exclusively on a business-to-consumer (B2C) basis; retailers and bike manufacturers will still have to join the queue at Intend. Whereas around ten red Flash 36 forks were previously available, it was not uncommon for a large retailer to order five of them for its display bikes and a frame manufacturer to purchase a further three for its trade fair bikes. As a result, only two red forks reached the market for end customers. Even Intend products bearing the Unicorn label will only be offered in batches of, say, ten or twenty units. However, they are all intended to be sold to individual mountain bikers.
Still made in Freiburg
Like all other Intend components, Unicorn products are hand-built in the same small workshop in the heart of Freiburg. However, for sales and service, customers now have a different point of contact to the one they’ve had previously. This person is also based in-house at Intend, but operates separately from the rest of the day-to-day business. The project is set to launch in November 2026. Intend expects the first Unicorn components to be available this winter. These will, of course, include the upside-down forks, as well as the Trinity brakes and the ceramic-coated Hover shock in the Cerakote version. Further parts, such as brake discs with aluminium spiders and stems, could follow. The range will start with the colour purple, though gold and silver could also be produced. Intend fans can also submit requests for specific special editions to Unicorn. If there is sufficient interest, the Freiburg-based company will then produce them.
Upside-down carbon suspension forks
Around three years ago, Intend attracted attention with prototype carbon forks. Unicorn now intends to bring these to market. Instead of manufacturing the upper section from aluminium tubes, these limited-edition special versions utilise carbon tubes. These are manufactured for Intend by a Czech supplier. The Intend carbon suspension forks promise further improved stiffness and, consequently, a particularly good stiffness-to-weight ratio. This should allow cyclists to choose a fork with a smaller steerer tube diameter. For example, Unicorn claims that the carbon version of the Intend Flash 35 offers stiffness comparable to that of the aluminium Flash 38.
What do you think: have you ever tried to get hold of a special coloured version of the Intend parts? How do you like the anodised parts? Let us know in the comments!
Jan Timmermann
Editor
