Cornelius Kapfinger and his team build bike parts in the heart of Freiburgwhich are very popular in the scene due to their strong performance and elegant boutique charm. In addition to the well-known upside-down suspension forks, this also includes shocks, stems, headsets and cranks - but no brakes so far. Before founding his own brand, Intend, Cornelius was the main developer at Trickstuff responsible for legendary disc brakes, such as the Trickstuff Piccola and the Direttissima.
When Cornelius left Trickstuff, boss Klaus Liedler asked him not to switch to the direct competition as a brake developer. A few years later, Trickstuff was taken over by industry giant DT Swiss. Klaus Liedler has since left the company. And now Intend is launching a new high-end brake on the market with the Trinity.
We take a look at the new Intend Trinity disc brake. In an interview with BIKE, Cornelius Kapfinger reveals what makes his new brake so special and looks into the future of brake development at Intend.
Noble stopper: This is the new Intend Trinity MTB brake
The new Intend Trinity disc brake is aimed at a range of applications from trail to downhill and is made from 7075 aircraft aluminium. The individual parts of the brake system come from all over the world. The stoppers are assembled by hand in small series in Freiburg.
On the Trinity, Intend combines a lightweight, CNC-machined brake lever with a two-piece, solid brake calliper. The downhill version of the Trinity differs from the enduro model with a cooling fin insert called "Refrigerator".
The new Intend Trinity brake system uses four 17 millimetre pistons at the front and rear. In order to achieve a compact size despite the piston size, the pistons have been offset. In the Enduro version, a spacer compensates for this offset, while in the Downhill version, the heat sinks called Refrigerators take over this function.
When bleeding the brake, the pistons are completely flushed. According to Intend's "Painless" philosophy, this should ensure particularly relaxed bleeding. In the case of the brake pads, Intend looked to the competition: the shape is identical to the Sram Code. This means that a variety of versions are available.
A gear ratio of 46:1 should provide plenty of braking power. The brake lever is hard anodised for durability and has four ball bearings. Cornelius designed the pressure point with a maximum short free travel. In contrast to the lever width, the pressure point of the Trinity is not adjustable.
Facts & figures about the Intend Trinity MTB brake
- Price: 950 euros (Enduro) / 995 euros (Downhill)
- Weight including brake hose and pads: 244 grams (Enduro) / 257 grams (Downhill)
- Available colours: Black
- Brake fluid: Putoline 2.5W mineral oil
- Scope of delivery: Brakes (not filled), brake pads, bleeding kit, mineral oil, line fitting, Torx 10 spanner, spare seals and screws
- Availability of next batch: expected June - July 2023
Cornelius Kapfinger on the new Intend Trinity in a BIKE interview
BIKE: You're considered a real brake mastermind in the scene. Your former boss Klaus Liedler has left Trickstuff and Intend is now launching its first own disc brake. Is there a connection?
CORNELIUS KAPFINGER: No, it's close in time, but it had absolutely nothing to do with it. I've been working on brake design for around 2-3 years. I actually wanted to get started six months earlier, but as it always happens, everything takes longer. When I left, Klaus only asked me not to go to Trickstuff's direct competitors and develop brakes for them. If, for example, Tune or another high-end component manufacturer had also brought out a brake just one year later, this might have made business difficult for Klaus. The fact that I would never be allowed to work on brakes again was never an issue.
What is a cobbler supposed to do if he is no longer allowed to make shoes? - Cornelius Kapfinger
What prompted you to develop a brake again?
Clearly the fascination of the subject of brakes in perfection. It's the same thing that drove me at Trickstuff back then. What is the best, most superior way to design a brake? The success of the Trickstuff brakes that I was allowed to work on confirms this. Doing it yourself is always better than watching others do it.
What can the Trinity do better than its competitors?
Actually everything... But to put it more cautiously: If you know all the problems that normal brakes have and find a solution for virtually all of these problems, then the result is a good product. That doesn't mean that the Trinity is perfect. There are always things where one thing would be good, but the opposite is necessary.
We have solved almost all the problems of conventional brakes for the Intend Trinity brakes. - Cornelius Kapfinger
The first batch was limited to 50 brakes and is already sold out. Demand for the Trinity is likely to be extremely high. How big will the next batch be and will there be a waiting list?
We'll make 100 sets in the next step and try to take it slowly. I'm not going to order 500 in the second step. A product like this has to develop. We learn from brake to brake. For example, we can optimise the mountability and the like. There won't be a waiting list. We will make the various batches and when they are available, we will sell them.
What are Intend's plans? Will we see more brake models in the future?
We are taking things slowly and trying to grow with our tasks. We also have a few dozen other products that we have to sell, assemble and dispatch every day. Customer service also takes time. Brakes are only a very small part of our activities.
Jan Timmermann
Editor
