For 2011, Intense Cycles took their venerable Tracer full suspension mountain bike, added up all the great ideas they could come up with and built what they’re calling the ultimate trail bike. With new reinforcements and tube shapes, they made it stiffer. New grease ports and pivot systems made it smoother. And a new replaceable, swappable rear dropout system makes it compatible with any standard out there, current or future
Hand built in their southern California factory with the same genes as the original, and likely incorporating some of the things they learned making the Tracer 29er ,the Tracer 2 gets a lot of changes. Here’s what’s new:
NEW CanAm Yellow color (shown above)
NEW Improved bearings with EZ-lock binder-bolt main pivot system
NEW Rear dropout mount system accepts 142×12, SyntaceX12, or standard 135QR dropouts.
NEW Threaded, replaceable zerk grease fittings
NEW Redesigned yoke & lower link machining for added rigidity and strength
NEW Redesigned proprietary hydroformed downtube reduces weight and adds strength
NEW 8.5″ x 2.5″ FOX RP23 shock damper spec
NEW Machined ‘boxbrace’ seatstay bridge adds swingarm rigidity for a far more stable ride
The replaceable rear dropout system should make the bike pretty well future proof for as long as the frame will last. The frame ships with standard 135mm QR, the other axle options are available separately from Intense.
The grease fittings are now threaded, making them easy to replace if they get dinged up or clogged. The Tracer maintains the VPP Virtual Pivot Point suspension design.
Other specs include:
Full 1.5″ head tube to accomodate all steerer and headset options available (which theoretically means you could use Cane Creek’s Angleset to easily change the geometry)
ISCG-05 integrated into fully machined BB shell
World Cup, National, and World Championship winning VPP suspension platform
Standard colors are ’White’, ‘Gun Metal’ and ‘Works Raw’; 14 other upgrade colors available on request (may require longer lead times)