{"id":196,"date":"2009-01-18T13:09:14","date_gmt":"2009-01-18T21:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=196"},"modified":"2009-01-18T13:09:14","modified_gmt":"2009-01-18T21:09:14","slug":"intense-demo-day-and-uzzi-test-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=196","title":{"rendered":"Intense Demo Day and UZZI Test Ride"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, the Intense<\/a> Demo Tour along with BikeBling<\/a> were at Daley Ranch in Escondido so I swung by to check out the scene.\u00a0 There were lots of folks buzzing around right from the start and it did not take for the 20 plus sweet\u00a0demo rigs to be set free with\u00a0test riders out onto the trails. I’m pretty sure that I saw the entire lineup of bikes go out at least twice while I was there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There was more than just the production bikes there.\u00a0 There were some prototypes and preproduction bikes to kick around as well.\u00a0 Here is a Jeff Steber science project bike.\u00a0 This is a\u00a0Tracer with a set of ISCG tabs\u00a0welded onto the bottom bracket to allow for a Hammerschmit crankset to be used.\u00a0 (Production Tracers don’t have these tabs) This is an internal geared crankset that allows you to shift under full load, while coasting or even pedaling backwards.\u00a0 It is effectively a 22\/36 crankset.\u00a0 The additional clearance this thing could give is pretty freaking crazy.\u00a0 This could also be pretty awesome if you had a bike that does not accommodate a front derailuer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There were also couple of rigs they were setback for gawk and droll.\u00a0 One of those rigs was a\u00a0preproduction UZZI in Works Blue. What an incredible looking bike.\u00a0 This one had the adjustable G3 dropouts set to the shorter wheelbase,\u00a0a Rockshox Totem fork and the new (I think still prototype?) 2010 Fox DHX-A shock. I’m not sure how much the\u00a0bike weighs but I\u00a0guess around 34 pounds or so.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Later on in the morning the guys let me put some dirt on this thing and I have to say I was pretty freaking impressed. Daley Ranch is quite hilly but really does not have all the features to put this bike through all of it’s paces.\u00a0 There is enough there to establish an impression.\u00a0 If I had to sum up my thoughts of this rig into a single sentence it would have to be this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A killer rig that will have you thinking you have much less than seven inches of travel when you are climbing and you will swear you\u00a0have much more than seven inches of travel when you are descending.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I do very little shuttling or lift-assisted riding so a rig of this size would have to be able to climb for my usage.\u00a0 Daley Ranch is an excellent place to get your climb on, and I purposely picked a route that would meet my “threshold” for climbing.\u00a0 Basically if the rig could\u00a0 climb this route without undo pain, it would meet my criteria for a “climbable rig”.\u00a0\u00a0 The sag on the DHX-A shock was not too far off for me so I only added air to the main pressure chamber to get the sag somewhere\u00a0around 30-35%.\u00a0 So you know what I comparing against, my normal rig is a 6.6 and I have ridden it with an older style (15-click propedal) Fox DHX-A, a RP23, and most recently a Cane Creek Double Barrel shock.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right out of the gate I was impressed with the small bump compliance.\u00a0 I was taking the rockiest lines I could find and it felt really good.\u00a0\u00a0 The propedal worked as it should, but I found that the climbing efficiency of the VPP design makes propedal not a major concern for me.\u00a0\u00a0 The bike was setup in trail bike mode with the adjustable G3 dropouts setup for the shorter wheelbase, higher BB and steeper head angle.\u00a0 The slacker angles compared to my 6.6 with a TALAS 36 fork where noticeable on the climbs. I routinely drop my fork down on steeper climbs but you can’t do that with the Totem fork so adjusting your body position was required on the steeper stuff to keep the fork on the ground.\u00a0 This is something I find easily adaptable.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I worked my way to one of my favorite spots that has some rocks to play on that include some drops.\u00a0 I was pretty\u00a0quite surprised when I hit the first drop.\u00a0\u00a0 The rear shock felt freaking awesome.\u00a0 In the past I was never really able to get either the RP23 or the DHX-A balanced where I could have small bump compliance and not blow through all of my travel on drops.\u00a0\u00a0 The feeling in the rearend of the bike on the landing was very similar to the progressive ramp up that you get with a coil shock.\u00a0 I was by myself, but still had to verbally say “WOW”.\u00a0 I spent a good chunk of time sessioning the drops and rocks just to keep checking out the feeling.\u00a0 This shock was not blowing through the midstroke travel like I had seen before in the older DHX-A on my 6.6.\u00a0 I have no idea what is going with the internal changes for the 2010 model but it is certainly a vast improvement.\u00a0\u00a0 Now experience wise I’m still pretty new to the coil-shock scene, but I would have to say from a layman’s perspective this new DHX-A felt very coil like.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For the downhill stuff, Daley Ranch offers only small bits for letting this rig loose.\u00a0 When those spots came, the bike as expected shined.\u00a0\u00a0 Holding lines, sucking up rocks and bumps, it was cool.\u00a0 I’m pretty sure this rig would be quite the Chunk Gnar-Meister.\u00a0 I’m betting that those G3 dropouts would be really awesome for some lift-assist action or someplace like Downieville where you could lengthen out the wheelbase, lower the BB and slacken up the headangle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I sure hope the guys at Intense will be able to get off all the drool marks both I and everyone else left on thier bikes. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

More Stuff Like This<\/h3><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t More Flight Lessons<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t All Work and No Play<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Utah Pages Added \u2013 Updated<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Rainy Day Banner<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n<\/div>