Intense: 951 Downhill Pro

The 951 gets adjustable chainstays that allow three set positions--17.25, 17.5 and 17.75 inches. (This feature will trickle down to other Intense bikes in the future.) Altering chainstay length tweaks head angle (64, 64.5, 65 degrees), BB height (13.75, 14, 14.25 in.) and wheelbase (size M: 45.5, 46, 46.5 in.). You can go taller and steeper, for a tighter, more technical course, which is more common in North America; or low, slack and long for a rough, open course. Compared to the M6, you can run either a lower or higher BB, a steeper or slacker head angle, or an identical or longer wheelbase. That's all with a cockpit of identical size, with a lower average standover for more leverage. Rear travel has been reduced to 8, rather than 9.2, inches for quicker reflexes, especially when run with a steeper head angle and shorter wheelbase and chainstays.

According to Cusick, while the 951 was designed to allow other riders to emulate Hill's style, it didn't come in a single try. Steber created several prototypes for Intense racers like Chris Kovarik because, Cusick says, Intense can build one-offs quickly with its domestic manufacturing facility. "People may see one of these in a race video and say, 'I'll wait for that one to come out!' and I have to tell them, 'Don't hold your breath,' because that's not the idea," says Cusick. "We're learning from that bike, we're maybe not quite there with it."

That said, the finished product has been a raging, overnight success because the 951 is lighter, by a pound, than the M6, and far more tuneable. Also, for a World Cuplevel race bike, the 951 is relatively affordable, especially for a bike from a boutique brand.

Intense says that the 951 should be run with around 35 percent sag. Even so, Cusick says, "Longer-travel bikes like this can have the bottom bracket above the axle line, which creates some instability." That's why Steber has been experimenting with a 29er version of the 951.

"A 29er hammocks your weight more down between the bigger wheels," explains Cusick, and with a lower point of leverage and larger wheels, it's easier to roll over obstacles. But while initial feedback by local racers on the 29er 951 has been very positive, Cusick cautions that Intense is not selling these--maybe ever. "The spec limits are a problem," he says, elaborating that World Cup racers won't go this way without much better tire and fork choices. "It's not a market we can pioneer alone," Cusick says.

The stock build comes with a Rockshox Vivid 5.1 shock, Boxxer Team fork and X.9 drivetrain. There's also the option of Cane Creek's Double Barrel or FOX's RC4.

Perhaps the biggest endorsement of the 951 so far has come from other pros who've tried it. "I saw a purchase order come up from our New Zealand distributor for a bike for Nathan Rankin," Cusick says. "We don't sponsor Rankin, but the distributor called and explained they were buying him one because he'd borrowed a 951 from one of our pros and liked it so much he wanted one."

Intense's marketing guy, the 951 is in some ways for sale today because of World Cup DH champ Sam Hill. True, Hill doesn't race for Intense, but his riding style has led Intense, and a lot of other frame makers, to rethink the way they make bikes. "Jeff [Steber, Intense's founder] had the team's racers coming back and saying that Hill would bounce over the tops of rocks and use his lighter bike to shoot out of corners faster," Cusick explains. Meanwhile Intense's bigger, longer-travel M6 was meant to bulldoze through the rough, not fly over it. "After a corner," Cusick says of the M6, "it takes more energy to get back up to speed." Basically, the riders were looking for a bike to match the Hill mindset--and that was the impetus for the 951. INTENSE