The Californians make no secret of the fact that the Intense Tracer 279 was designed primarily for enduro racers. Standard details such as a storage compartment in the down tube and a flipchip for geometry adjustment are also on board.
The Intense Tracer shines with a top chassis
The grip on the wide handlebars and the view of the solid carbon frame immediately give the rider a confidence boost. Compared to other current race enduro bikes, the geometry with its slack head angle but short reach is not fully geared towards attacking. The Intense Tracer responds willingly to the small 27.5-inch rear wheel and encourages you to pull away at every edge of the terrain. Nevertheless, it remains planted on the trail even in nasty root and rock fields. The excellent suspension is primarily responsible for this. The fork and shock from the Fox Performance series respond reliably and sensitively. However, at 155 millimetres, the steel spring shock offers significantly less travel than Intense claims.
Its low positioning gives the Intense Enduro Bike a low centre of gravity, which means that the 279 scores highly in cornering. On flat sections, it is surprising that the US bike still accelerates well despite its extreme weight. The Tracer moves forwards efficiently and without any disturbing suspension influences. However, the total weight of almost 17 kilos pulls the bike downhill with its compact riding position. The favourably priced groupset quickly makes the rider sweat on steep sections with its low gear range.
Summary by Jan Timmermann, BIKE volunteer:
The Intense Tracer 279 features top suspension and a well-made carbon frame that will delight downhill riders in particular. Despite its racing ambitions, the enduro bike from Intense remains easy to manoeuvre. The weight is unacceptably high for touring use. Narrow range of use.
Technical data and grades of the Intense Tracer 279 Expert
Manufacturer information
- Price: 5499 Euro²
- available by mail order
- Material / Size: Carbon / S / M / L / XL (44.5 cm, tested size)
Measured values
- Weight without pedals: 16.64 kg
- Frame weight without shock: 3276 g
- Weight of wheels: 5839 g
- Acceleration of running wheels: 4225 kg x cm²
- Handlebar width: 800 mm
- Frame rigidity (absolute): 35 N/mm
Equipment
- Wheels: eThirteen LG1 EN
- Tyres: Maxxis Min. DHF / DHR II 29 / 27.5 x 2.40
- Fork:Fox 38 Float Performance Fit Grip
- Shock: Fox Float Performance Elite DHX2
- Front / rear suspension travel: 167 / 155 mm
- Brakes: Sram Code R 200 mm / 200 mm
- Gear system Sram NX Eagle 1 x 12
- Gear ratio / bandwidth: 30; 11-50 / 454 %
- Tele support / stroke: Intense Recon / 170 mm
Valuation
- Driving behaviour uphill: 15 from 20
- Chassis efficiency: 16 out of 20
- Rolling resistance: 8.5 out of 10
- Weight: 1.5 from 15
- Inertia impellers: 4 out of 10
- Bottle cage: 3.5 out of 5
- Driving behaviour downhill: 34 from 40
- Rear suspension: 21.25 out of 25
- Front suspension: 21.25 of 25
- Saddle retractability: 10 out of 10
- Brakes: 12 of 15
- Tyre grip: 12 out of 15
- Driving stability: 2 out of 10
- Total uphill: 48.5 out of 80
- Total downhill: 112.5 out of 140
- Other: 20 out of 30
- Ease of maintenance: good
The BIKE judgement reflects the laboratory measurements and the subjective impression of the test riders. The BIKE judgement is independent of price.
²Price may be subject to additional costs for packaging, dispatch and coordination.
BIKE judgements: super (250-205 P.), very good (204.75-170 P.), good (169.75-140 P.), satisfactory (139.75-100 P.), with weaknesses, unsatisfactory.
Jan Timmermann
Editor
