Intense Tazer. For mountain bikers who have been involved in the sport of biking and its downhill disciplines for a while, these two words will bring a smile to their faces. The Tazer once chased Shaun Palmer around the fourcross courses of the World Cup circuit. Erm, no, the discipline was still called dual slalom back then. A while ago. In any case, the US cult brand has developed a certain charisma during this time. Intense has been a little quieter on the German market in recent years. Now the Americans are also getting involved in the e-bike business.
The Tazer is a full-blown trail bike with a Shimano Steps motor. The idea behind the bike: it should ride like a normal mountain bike. The Americans around company founder Jeff Steber designed the development with this in mind. The result is a bike with a 160 millimetre fork and 150 millimetres of suspension travel at the rear. Intense relies on a wheel mix of a 29er front wheel and 27.5 plus on the rear wheel and categorises the Tazer as an E-Enduro.
The facts about the Intense Tazer:
- Shimano Steps E8000 motor
- 160 / 150 millimetre suspension travel (front / rear)
- MX wheel mix: 29 x 2.6" front, 27.5 x 2.8" rear
- Full carbon frame
- Moderate chainstays, 450 millimetres
- Price Intense Tazer Pro: 7499 Euro
- Weight: 21.52 kg (manufacturer's specification, size M)
- Available from mid-December 2019
- Direct sales via intensecycles.com
- Sizes S, M, L (XL to follow)
A special feature of the Tazer is the battery integration, where Intense goes its own way. A classic, actually external Shimano battery with 500 watt hours (BT E8010) is sunk into the carbon down tube and disappears behind a flap. In this way, the Americans avoid the heavier and longer Shimano BT E8020 Intube battery and keep the bike's centre of gravity low. Visually, the battery is still fully integrated. Moustache uses a similar type of integration with a Bosch battery, also Trek sunk the external Bosch battery in the down tube of his old Powerplay models.
Ride report: The Intense Tazer on the trail
First things first: Intense has achieved a great success with its debut album. Sit on it and feel good, that's the motto of the Tazer. The successful mix of smoothness and playfulness is particularly impressive, as is the strong chassis. In demanding terrain, the bike provides a lot of security and encourages you to leave the brakes open. In bends, however, it requires an active riding style. On the undulating trails in the hinterland of Barcelona, the Tazer invited us to play around. Drifting around corners, pulling the bike up into the air on edges for a flying manoeuvre - the Tazer is easy by E-MTB standards. Pulling the bike onto the rear wheel also works, but requires a little more effort than on E-MTBs with very short chainstays such as a Canyon Spectral On or Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay.
Our test trails only had a limited amount of rough sections to offer, but the few root fields and rocky passages that the Tazer encountered, it mastered unimpressed. The rear suspension is very plush and irons out bumps with ease, but there is still enough feedback from the ground. Impressive: Despite its high sensitivity, the rear end remains very quiet when pedalling uphill and hardly bobs at all, the VPP rear suspension works excellently. Reaching for the shock's platform lever is almost unnecessary. Only on extremely steep climbs is it pleasant when the rear end is even higher in its travel. This is the case in the platform position. Overall, the Tazer climbs very well, the riding position is centred and the front wheel remains firmly on the ground. However, the bike with its rather short chainstays is not a real climbing specialist. When things get extremely steep, the Tazer loses some pressure on the front wheel and is a little more difficult to keep under control than the best climbers in the class.
Too bad: The pre-production test bikes that were provided to us for testing were noticeably noisy. The cables rattled in the frame. This should not happen on a bike in this price range. Intense promises to make improvements for series production and get the problem under control. The Tazer has a very modern, long and flat geometry. It is tall. If you are not explicitly looking for high reach values and are between two sizes, you should go for the smaller size.
The geometry of the Intense Tazer E-MTB:
The equipment of the Intense Tazer:
The Tazer will initially only be available in one configuration variant, the Pro Build. This will cost 7499 euros. The choice of equipment is harmonious: The high-quality Fox suspension elements stand out positively on the trail, the powerful XT four-piston brakes with 203 discs are a match for the full-throttle bike. The cheaper SLX drivetrain doesn't exactly inspire enthusiasm for the price, but there are hardly any functional losses. A second, slightly more muted colour variant of the Tazer will be available in spring.
- Motor: Shimano Steps E8000
- Battery: Shimano BT-8010, 504 watt hours
- Remote: Shimano Steps E6000
- Suspension fork: Fox 36 Factory Grip2, e-bike optimised
- Shock: Fox DPX2 Factory
- Gear system: Shimano SLX, 1x11
- Brakes: Shimano XT four-piston, 203 mm front and rear
- Cranks: Shimano XT, 165 mm cranks
- Wheels: DT Swiss H1700, 30 mm, 29" / 27.5"
- Tyres: Maxxis Minion DHR II, 3C, Exo+, 29 x 2.6 (front), 27.5 x 2.8 (rear)
- Seatpost: Fox Transfer Factory with Race Face Shifter
Since January of this year, Intense has been fully focussing on the direct sales channel to the customer in Europe. In other words, like Canyon, Radon and Co., Intense bikes can only be purchased online directly from the company, i.e. on www.intensecycles.com. Each bike is supplied with a detailed manual, a shock pump and a comprehensive torque spanner set. This is intended to make assembly easier for the customer on the one hand and encourage them to familiarise themselves with their bike and the technology on the other.
Conclusion on the Intense Tazer
Top riding characteristics, low weight, intelligent battery integration: The Intense Tazer plays in the upper league of modern E-MTBs. We are excited to see how it compares directly to the top dogs and what values the EMTB lab elicits from the Tazer. The price is fair by Intense standards, but the spec can't keep up with the competition. In return, you get a high-quality carbon frame with a very strong rear triangle.
Florentin Vesenbeckh
Editor CvD
