Intense Cycles

Carbine 275 Expert Complete Mountain Bike - 2014

When designing the Intense Carbine 275 Expert Complete Mountain Bike, the California-based gurus knew that it had to be tough, aggressive, and lightweight. The slack head angle and low bottom bracket were fine-tuned around 27.5-inch wheels, to carry you over rocks, through braking bumps, and down sketchy descents way faster than your friends. That translates into plenty of abuse, but the low frame weight means that pedaling it back to the top won't be a chore. You could call it an Enduro race bike, but that interpretation seems to overlook the fact that at its core, the Carbine is a fine-tuned fun-seeker hell bent on putting a smile on your face.

Like the rest of Intense's lineup, much of the Carbine's controlled ride can be attributed to its VPP suspension. It's a suspension platform that's widely beloved among riders in-the-know for its blend of pedaling efficiency and trail-erasing smoothness. VPP employs two aluminum counter-rotating links to achieve this balance. The upper link provides most of the rotation as the bike compresses into the sag point. This yields a vertical wheel path, which you'll notice in the form of a firm feel during acceleration. As the bike compresses deeper into the suspension, the lower link activates, moving the axle path rearward. The rearward axle path enables the rear wheel to travel out of the way of square-edged impacts. If it sounds like an ideal blend of characteristics, well, that's because it is, and countless riders agree.

While Intense is best known for its American-made aluminum bikes, the Carbine is built from carbon fiber. Knowing that carbon fiber can be finicky to work with, Intense brought in consultants from the composites wizards at SEED to make the best possible use of the material, and then handed the manufacture to one of Taiwan's finest composites manufacturer. The Made in USA ethos still stands though, thanks to the fact that all the links, dropouts, and hardware are built in Temecula, alongside Intense's aluminum models. This ensures that your bike benefits from the best of modern composite construction, and maintains the soul you'd expect from an Intense.

Both the front and rear triangles are constructed as a whole, rather than bonding them together from sub-assemblies. This construction method not only minimizes unnecessary material, and accordingly weight, but it maximizes the strength of the structures as well. That's because the fibers are uninterrupted by seams, which happens with bonded constructions. Weight is minimized as excess epoxy is squeezed from the frame prior to curing, and this ideal degree of compaction optimizes the strength. Plus, it keeps the frame weight at 5.8 pounds for a medium frame. The strength and stiffness are further enhanced by the oversized collet-style hardware, 12x142mm thru-axle, and tapered head tube.

The asymmetrical rear triangle is built to withstand aggressive riding, despite its modest weight. By using an oversized upright on the non-drive side, the drive side of the rear triangle is able to be lightened, while simultaneously improving drivetrain clearance. And it gets Intense's G1 replaceable dropout system, with a modern 12x142mm thru-axle. By using a replaceable dropout, rather than a replaceable derailleur hanger, you get a stiffer mount for the derailleur, and accordingly, crisper shifts, with the peace of mind that comes with knowing you can replace your hanger should your derailleur meet a particularly grisly demise.

For the Expert build, suspension duties are handled by Factory Series FOX units, specifically a FLOAT 34 up front, and a FLOAT CTD out back. The brakes and drivetrain come from Shimano's revered XT lineup, so there should be no questions as to durability or performance. The cockpit consists of a RockShox Reverb Stealth dropper seatpost topped with an Intense saddle, while a Thomson X4 stem holds onto the FSA SLK Carbon handlebar. It rolls on Novatec Demon tubeless-compatible wheels, wrapped in Maxxis High Roller II tires.

The Intense Carbine 275 Expert Complete Mountain Bike is available in three sizes, from Small to Large, and in the colors Naked Carbon, and Naked Carbon/yellow.