THE NEW INTENSE M1
THE NEW INTENSE M1
THE LEGEND RETURNS - SPRING 2024
Introducing the all-new INTENSE M1 – 8” (203mm) of travel, 279 mixed wheel, designed around a 6-Link, High Pivot, TIG welded 6061-T6 Aluminum frame. A race-proven, winning machine. Available Spring 2024.
THE MAGIC NUMBERS
The 6-Link suspension platform is the key element to the overall performance of the M1, but of course it is the geometry that is equally important. You can’t have one without the other. We worked with our team riders, testers, designers and engineers on the M1’s geometry. Partly based on hard facts, but also very much on feel and a knowledge that has been built up over many years of riding and racing bikes. We sought a middle ground, a universal opinion that would please the team. We’ve honed the M1’s geometry to what we believe to be the correct set of ‘magic numbers’ to work perfectly with the suspension platform and downhill use.
A NEW APPROACH
Back in 2019 the INTENSE Factory Racing (IFR) team started prototyping and testing new bikes. First was the M279, a mixed wheeled version of our classic M29 downhill bike. This started a four year research and development process that would eventually see our design and engineering teams completely reinvent our downhill bike offering. Gone was the classic VPP/JS Tuned design, and in would come something completely different.
HIGH PIVOT DESIGN
At the beginning of the 2022 season the M279 HP1, with it’s 4-Bar High Pivot design, appeared at the first World Cup of the year. This was revolutionary for us at INTENSE. Nicknamed (by some) the ‘gravy boat’, because of its interesting-looking downtube, it saw success at World Cup level. Our experiment with high pivots had worked, but the bike itself was to be short lived, because at the end of the ‘22 race season the team went straight onto another new bike, the more complicated 6-Link prototype M279 HP6.
SEARCHING FOR SPEED
The HP6 felt good from the start. It was fast, stable and had a suspension platform that could be adjusted to suit the rider and terrain... it was awesome. Everyone was happy. The team had the whole of the off-season to dial-in and tweak the new bike to perfection, and when IFR team rider Dakotah Norton took second place at the 2023 Loudenvielle World Cup the race pedigree and the bike’s capabilities were clear to see. Three weeks later and Dak was back on the podium, this time winning the Fox US Open. The bike had proven itself at the highest level.
REBIRTH OF A LEGEND
For some at INTENSE the name ‘M279 HP6’ didn’t quite hit the mark. The idea started to circulate that it might be cool to go back to where it all began. Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s the INTENSE M1 was the bike that everyone wanted, it was iconic and it was everywhere – on top of podiums winning World Cups and Championships, and it was on everyone’s wish-list. We believe that the original M1 is still the most legendary downhill bike in the history of the sport, so what better way to celebrate its racing pedigree, legacy, and the fact that 2023 is our 30 year anniversary, than naming this new bike after it?
FURTHER INFORMATION
- 6061-T6 Aluminum frame with 203mm travel
- 6-Link High Pivot suspension design
- 279 wheel set-up (29" front, 27.5" rear)
- Linear and progressive shock mount positions
- External cable and hose routing
Complete bike specs are subject to change