The new 2011 Intense M9 has been making quite a stir in the industry with its highly adjustable frame and world cup success. We got to take an up close look at the M9 in person at Whistler and take a few rides on it. Check inside for more details.

We previously covered a majority of the M9 details in Intense’s press release on the bike. We’ll continue to expound on the M9’s numerous features so riders can better learn how they work.

Features:

The M9 is an adjustable travel bike with 8.5″ / 9″ / 9.5″ travel settings. A 9.5″ x 3″ FOX RC4 provides damping duties on this sled.

During testing Intense has had the Chain Reaction Cycling team racing the bike during the past 2 World Cup seasons. This bike is an evolution of the M6Evo. Intense found that some riders like Matti Lehikoinen really like to tinker with the adjustability of the bike while others like Chris Kovarik set the bike up how they wanted and left it the same for each course. The M9 gives riders that ability to set and forget or tweak to your own delight for each course and riding conditions.

The adjustable travel is changed via a “travel adjustment module” in the lower link. As seen above it is set in 9.5″ mode.

Along with adjustable amount of travel, the M9 also has adjustable shock curve. The three holes drilled at the front shock mount allow the rider to change the progressiveness of the shock rate. This comes in handy as it lets the rider determine the type of ride they’re after. It also allows them to tailor it to various courses with jumping or other features to tune the bike to the ride characteristics they’re after. In the 9.5″ mode that I rode it in, with the shock in the front hole the bike was a bit like a hyprid of a m6 and a 951. In the middle shock curve hole in the front triangle it didn’t feel as progressive as a 951, but didn’t feel as linear as an M6. The tune-ability of this bike via the shock and geometry wise should be great for the person looking for a bike that can to be setup to suit not only their local trails, but any trail.

The rear of the bike had ample mud and tire clearance for the 2.5″ Maxxis tire in the middle G3 position. We didn’t get a chance to move it to the forward hole to check clearance, but it certainly should give more clearance against the top strut in this position than the 951 did. The lower shock eyelet does look closer to the rear wheel so this could be a potential areas for mud to collect if you don’t have a fender here.

The M9 is equipped with Intense’s G3 dropout system but production dropouts will change slightly we’re told as it will have a more conventional 150mm hole without the slot and won’t need spacers anymore. Like their other G3 bikes, it is adjustable to change the chainstay length (through 3 positions) of the bike up to 1 inch. This allows the bike to be set up a bit shorter for technical and twisty courses or a bit longer for high speed courses. The dropouts will be replaceable and fully enclosed to for strength and stiffness.

The full 1.5″ headtube on the frame is also adjustable via Cane Creek’s AngleSet. A simple pinch bolt allows easy adjustment of the headset to the preferred angle (includes .5°, 1.0° and 1.5°). One of the quarrels of an adjustable angled headset is getting the top cup lined up correctly. Since the AngleSet’s top cup is secured with the bolt you can see below, aligning the top cup should be a cinch. The 1.5″ head tube is designed so that it is easy to line up the AngleSet precisely so it doesn’t creak, bind, or wear unevenly.

In Action:

The M9 is highly adjustable and that can be both a blessing and a curse in my opinion. Riders should be able to find a setting they’re comfortable with, but this may take some time. Not only do you have the shock settings to play with now, but you also have 3 travel positions as well as 3 positions that modify the shock curve. Add to that the balance of having the right spring for various setups and you’ve got a bad-ass swiss army knife… but it can be hard to find the small tool that you’re after that swiss-army knives often hide away.

The time spent on the M9 was just a day, but here’s a few thoughts on it in the 9.5″ setting and the middle shock hole in the front triangle with a 450lb spring. Pedaling felt good, small bump absorption was also impressive. I was immediately able to charge the bike into sections comfortably as it felt stable right out of the gate through small chatter. If I had some more time, I would’ve liked to have tried it with a 500lb spring and tinkered with some of the shock settings a bit more to get it even more balanced once the pace picked up. Through rougher chunder, the bike tracked well and stayed up in the travel pretty well. For my tastes the 450lb was perhaps a little soft in the initial part of its travel. Towards the end of the travel felt like there was a little bit of progressiveness that was missing from the M6. Popping off of jumps was much easier and the M9 in this setup felt much like an M6 but with more progression to help the rider get the bike up and over obstacles without as much body English.

The 951 is a bike some guys felt was too progressive and this M9 is a bike that can be setup a bit more to their liking. Although I didn’t get a chance to setup the M9 in the other settings, this bike is one that I think has a lot of potential to be setup to please a lot more people.

A few other things I noticed on my time on the M9. The rear seat stays on the M9 I felt had much better heel clearance than say a 951 as they used a straight tube now instead of a bent one. This let me move about on the bike a bit more and pedal a bit more freely on-board the M9.

The M6 bottom bracket was definitely low for its time and the M9 felt a bit higher as I never felt the bash guard or pedals graze anything on the same trails that I’ve rode the M6 on. Pedaling in rougher sections was easier and I think they’ve found a good spot for it on this bike for a wider range of riders and courses. Riding the M9 definitely has me itching to get some more time on one. If you get a chance to demo one, you’ll need it for more than a day as this bike can be setup in so many ways. Hopefully when this bike is available for public consumption later this year Intense can give riders some good starting points based on the setup they’re after as this bike can be setup to suit quite varying tastes.

Views:

See more below, and be sure to check out the Intense M9 details post we posted earlier to learn more about the bike. The M9 is still made in the USA out of Temecula, CA and comes with a Cane Creek AngleSet as well as the RC4 shock for an MSRP price of $2999.

[2011 Intense M9 Gallery] [Intense Cycles Website]