Intense Carbine

JMcP92

Hi all, thought I'd show you all my latest toy.

I've had this for a wee while now, finished building it in late July and went on holiday with it, was fantastic fun. It's been my first full sus and I'm loving it.

Built this all up from bits I collected slowly and there are a few bits I'd like to change in time, and moreso when money permits it, such as crank, maybe go 1x10 at some point, and the saddle, but for the moment, it'll stay as it is. Been great fun in the latter part of the year, love it













Spec:
Frame: Intense Carbine
Fork: Fox Float 32 FIT 140 Kashima
Shock: Fox RP23 ProPedal Kashima
Headset: Hope
BB: FSA
Wheels: Easton Haven
Tyres: Schwalbe Hands Dampf
Brakes: Hope Stealth Race M4 Evo
Discs: Hope F183 R160
Stem: Superstar Zephir 90mm
Bar: Kinesis Strut R750
Grips: Bontrager Lock-ons
Bar-Ends: Hope
Seatpost: Gravity Gap
Seatpost clamp: Intense
Saddle: Charge Spoon
Pedals: NC17 Magnesium
Shifters: Shimano XT 10spd
Front mech: Shimano XT 10spd
Cassette: Shimano XT 10spd
Crank: Shimano XT 9spd
Rear Mech: Shimano XT 10spd
Rear Axle: DT Swiss Aluminium 142x12

Weight: 27.6 lbs

NORTHERNSHAGGY

That looks mint!

JMcP92

Why thank you It's my baby, hopefully get it out a few times before the real-cold weather closes in.

DCR00

very nice indeed

love Intense frames

question: have you routed the rear mech cable under the BB ?

JMcP92

Nope, it goes down towards the BB but instead of going below it then goes upwards towards the rear linkage and then down the seatstays. Got to be my only complaint with the frame, even when building it, went seeking advice from my LBS also but it seems the cable routing is pretty poor, not very tidy at all but I suppose not a big deal on the grand scheme of things.

JMcP92

Some mods just ordered and on their way for 1x10

X01 crank
X01 32t ring
Shimano XT Shadow+ rear mech
KMC SL10 Gold chain
Bontrager Evoke RXL Carbon saddle

All this stuff should be fitted early-mid November, can't wait
Also, I've been determined it's not needed, but was riding with a bunch of mates at Glentress all weekend and now I feel I'm missing out without a dropper post. It may happen in the near future

rockmonkeysc

Thats nice. I do like a nice Intense.

JMcP92

Small change to the above plan, X01 cranks were not available in 168 Q-factor so XX1 cranks and ring instead, an extra £7! The horror! :P
Should be here sooner now, so all is well.

lawman

You could have just fitted a narrow/wide chainring from the likes of raceface or works components and saved yourself the best part of £200!

JMcP92

Very true, however I have kind of liked the look of the XX1 crank, tbh preferred to X01 crank, hence why I intended to get that first off, but was happy to change it about, drop weight and look nicer, in my opinion of course

Anyway, it's done, I like

lawman

Presume you're using a clutch rear mech as well?

felix.london

Very nice. Shorter stem?

JMcP92

I had a 50mm and a 90mm when I built it, and it (oddly) does infact feel better to ride with a 90mm, which it seems a few folk who have ridden it have infact agreed.
I myself find it odd, but it feels pretty good to ride

+Aye, XT clutch on it now

felix.london

JMcP92 wrote:

but it feels pretty good to ride

That's all that matters at the end of the day!

JMcP92 wrote:

but+Aye, XT clutch on it now

Me too - on a 2x10 - great bit of kit

JMcP92

felix.london wrote:

JMcP92 wrote:

but it feels pretty good to ride

That's all that matters at the end of the day!

Damn straight! It's great fun, supposed to be riding an enduro race in mid-November with uni, should be good fun. I mean, I'm quite sure I'll come stone dead last but so long as I don't break the bike or myself I'm ok with it

ej2320

JMcP92 wrote:

felix.london wrote:

JMcP92 wrote:

but it feels pretty good to ride

That's all that matters at the end of the day!

Damn straight! It's great fun, supposed to be riding an enduro race in mid-November with uni, should be good fun. I mean, I'm quite sure I'll come stone dead last but so long as I don't break the bike or myself I'm ok with it

How did you afford that being a student? I'm off to uni next year and I can barely afford my Covert.. Lovely bike though!
Which Uni are you at? I'd love to get into enduro

JMcP92

ej2320 wrote:

JMcP92 wrote:

felix.london wrote:

JMcP92 wrote:

but it feels pretty good to ride

That's all that matters at the end of the day!

Damn straight! It's great fun, supposed to be riding an enduro race in mid-November with uni, should be good fun. I mean, I'm quite sure I'll come stone dead last but so long as I don't break the bike or myself I'm ok with it

How did you afford that being a student? I'm off to uni next year and I can barely afford my Covert.. Lovely bike though!
Which Uni are you at? I'd love to get into enduro

I afforded it with a lot of graft and looking for good deals, unfortunately my bank account got utterly destroyed in the process but I suppose that's what I get for playing on bicycles.

I'm at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, North East of Scotland, plenty of stuff up this way to run Enduro rides on

lawman

Being Scottish he doesn't pay tuition fees like the rest of us

ej2320

JMcP92 wrote:

ej2320 wrote:

JMcP92 wrote:

felix.london wrote:

JMcP92 wrote:

but it feels pretty good to ride

That's all that matters at the end of the day!

Damn straight! It's great fun, supposed to be riding an enduro race in mid-November with uni, should be good fun. I mean, I'm quite sure I'll come stone dead last but so long as I don't break the bike or myself I'm ok with it

How did you afford that being a student? I'm off to uni next year and I can barely afford my Covert.. Lovely bike though!
Which Uni are you at? I'd love to get into enduro

I afforded it with a lot of graft and looking for good deals, unfortunately my bank account got utterly destroyed in the process but I suppose that's what I get for playing on bicycles.

I'm at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, North East of Scotland, plenty of stuff up this way to run Enduro rides on

Haha, good answer.. I've been collecting pennies for half a year now and I'm still £300 short!

Lucky sod, there's too much awesome riding up North

JMcP92

ej2320 wrote:

JMcP92 wrote:

ej2320 wrote:

JMcP92 wrote:

felix.london wrote:

JMcP92 wrote:

but it feels pretty good to ride

That's all that matters at the end of the day!

Damn straight! It's great fun, supposed to be riding an enduro race in mid-November with uni, should be good fun. I mean, I'm quite sure I'll come stone dead last but so long as I don't break the bike or myself I'm ok with it

How did you afford that being a student? I'm off to uni next year and I can barely afford my Covert.. Lovely bike though!
Which Uni are you at? I'd love to get into enduro

I afforded it with a lot of graft and looking for good deals, unfortunately my bank account got utterly destroyed in the process but I suppose that's what I get for playing on bicycles.

I'm at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, North East of Scotland, plenty of stuff up this way to run Enduro rides on

Haha, good answer.. I've been collecting pennies for half a year now and I'm still £300 short!

Lucky sod, there's too much awesome riding up North

This is true but the downside is that it is rarely accessible without a car, I don't drive and live in a city centre, makes getting places difficult, however the uni cycling club helps with this.
I have ridden down England-way a few times and there is some pretty good stuff, but too much flat, nae enough hills down there for my liking

JMcP92

Sadly it seems the leading edge of my pedal snapped off yesterday, not sure how but oh well (I blame Wiggle), so looking for new recommendations, something reasonably light but a little sturdier. I may end up with Wellgo's but see if someone else has some better ideas

CitizenLee

SuperStar Nanos or one of the rebranded variants are a safe bet for under 40 notes.

Good to see another Aberdeen rider too. Where do you normally ride?

DCR00

+1 for Nanos. I'm on my 2nd pair.

Although i saw on FB yesterday that they have a new pedal coming out

Looks like a bigger platform

Around the £50 mark though

JMcP92

Aye, I saw that too, the Delta, looks interesting indeed:
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=866

Aye, Aberdeen too Often ride up Pitfichie or Bennachie, occasionally Scolty and the like too. Was at Glen Tanar yesterday doing long pedal-tastic XC-ness, killed me poor legs not done any endurance cycling in so long :P

qooqiiu

You can't have anything superstar on that amazing bike. I got a pair of white nanos for my hybrid and the paint started to flake off very quickly. Quality is just not there.
DMR vault are still the best looking flat on the market. Shimano saint have a good following and look good.

Would love to see more pics of the carbine

JMcP92

Only have a couple I grabbed yesterday after the ride, nothing special, just muddy bike abandoned in a hallway to avoid dirtying my carpet :P



+The pedal in question



Also, it's a Superstar Stem I don't see the issue with them not being a major name brand, used their stems and wheels and such before, only thing I've ever had an issue with is I had one of their headsets before and the bearings went within a few hundred miles of use, between that and their BB's they have no other issues. I'm happy with it

Lewis A

I'm really liking my new Shimano Saints, they're not light but feel very solidly built and are a nice balance between grip and being able to reposition your feet on the bike. They come in a nice box too.

JMcP92

JMcP92

Just some props to CRC, I e-mailed them about the pedals as I bought them from CRC. I didn't expect much, it's been over a year since order but I thought I'd e-mail them and just say so, expected to be told basically nae chance. However they've just got back to me saying if I send them back they'll put them through warranty and seems likely I may get a refund, very impressed another good customer service story for CRC

apriliarider

Nice build :-)

Note you comments about rear mech cable routing - I have a 5.5EVP and the routing for that works really well.

The cable runs underneath the top tube, through the shock mounts and then goes straight down the diagonal chainstay to the mech - needs very little slack in the cable to accommodate suspension movement and looks neat

Cheers

MW

JMcP92

Superstar Delta pedals ordered, they do seem pretty good, and should be more sturdy for more bicycle shenanigans to come. Shall get pictures of the bike and pedals when both arrive back here
Will also keep you posted on the progress with the CRC warranty, see what happens

And thank you all for the nice comments