Light weight and strong frame. Amazing pedaling efficiency, when you really hammer on the pedals it feels like someone is helping push you up the hill. Great at climbing technical climbs. Amazing on the down hill.

Rear end takes some time to get dailed in. Not overly impressed with fox CTD rear shock but will sending it to avalanche to work their magic on it. I do wish they would have incorporated some more chain stay protection like whats on the evil following. Build quality is great but paint did not appear to be even.

With a fox 36 150mm talas fork this bike can climb amazing and with a simple turn of a switch it turns into an all out descending monster. I even took it up to Northstar for a day and it did better than i expected. The rear end is extremely sensitive to the shock set up so spend some time playing with pressures and settings. My riding confidence has progressed greatly with this bike and i love everything about it. My only grip is because of my long travel fork it does feel like you're sitting on top of the bike instead of in it but not as bad as some other bikes.

Similar Products Used:

Evil Following, DB Mason FS, Giant FS 27.5

Light. Great around corners. Climbs great. Rear G1 dropouts help stiffen the rear end.

Pivot bolts come loose, can cause problems.

My Spider Carbon Comp went into the shop due to the pivot bolts constantly working loose, even with loctite blue. The problem is when they work loose while riding you can damage the whole pivot assemble, and that's what happened to me. This was frustrating but Intense was sending a new swing link. The shop owner was gracious enough to loan me his 2015 Carbine 29 during the 4 weeks it took to get the repair done. (I live in Canada, maybe they walked the part over) And… the bolts came loose on the carbine as well. When they hold together the bikes are sensational. Unfortunately, these bikes are made for the smooth running trails of SoCal and not for anything rough and punishing. I’m an aggressive cross country rider and strongly urge any buyers out there to reconsider if you hammer on rough technical trails. Nothing hurts more then having a 5000 dollar bike keep failing on you. You can check bolts all you want but that’s not practical during a race or mid ride. And that’s when they fail. Buyer beware. I'm not the only one this is happening to.

Similar Products Used:

Santa Cruz Nomad, Superlight. Titus Switchblade, and many others over the years.

Amazing climber, amazing descender.
It's really a pure bread Intense steed!

This could be a strength or a weakness depending on your riding style, but it isn't a very "poppy" bike. It actually takes a lot of body language to motivate the bike to get rubber to leave the ground.

That said, the suspension grips and tracks like no other! It's really hard to get the thing to break loose!

Without a BB spacer, max chain ring size is 34T

Small creak in headset, and headset is rusted early (40 series Cane Creek)

When you wash it, make sure you flip the bike over or water sits in the frame.

One of the rear triangle link bolts comes loose fairly often even after Perma-tex Blue 232 threadlocker..I'm going to have to go heavy duty on it. To be fair though, two friends bought the same frame at the same time as me, and neither one are having the same problem....but they don't ride it as hard as me either :P

I started building this bike as my "travel" bike in November.
Originally I borrowed my custom Pacenti TL28s off my single speed. It was the only wheelset I had at the time that I had 12x142 axle for. Bike is built up with XO group and custom Atomik Carbon hoops. 720mm carbon bars and XT brakes.
It's right around 26lb as it sits. I have it in the low setting (114mm) and run a Revelation RCT3 with the normal offset. I actually prefer that offset over the 51mm that's suggested. You retain a small portion of your HTA by using the normal offset. I don't need faster steering, I carve the hell out of the bike through the corners !

Originally I had aluminum wheels on it until I got the carbons built up. I didn't realize how much flex there was in the aluminum wheels until I swapped it out for carbons. I had to drop the air in both the front and rear suspension by about 20psi. At which point I immediately say the bike come alive. It road good before, but man does it rail now! All the difference in the world. The bike is so confident in the corners. You can load the suspension going in, lean over hard and snap out, the bike just rails!

I've rode lots of chunk, and it just floats through, and loves technical climbing. It will really turn a suckfest technical situation into pure delight as it just "handles it!"

I have a Santa Cruz Tallboy Carbon bought in 2010. It's been reliable and just a solid bike to ride. I took a trip out west and found it's limits fairly quickly, so I thought it was time to complement my ever growing stable with a "travel bike".

The Tallboy is faster, no question about it. It feels lighter to ride despite having heavier (American Classic AM) wheels and about the same weight bike, and it's more efficient as long as the trail permits. It climbs faster..but it really is a different class of bike. Through rough sections, the Intense floats through and you retain a lot more exit speed. I do like the way the back of the Intense responds to climbing better than the Tallboy..they both have VPP but different shocks and shock curves. The one that Intense uses is more desirable. That said the Tallboy will get you up there faster.

I haven't had much problems with the exception of what was listed in the "weaknesses"
I feel that I am being completely honest with my assessment, and concentrate on the characteristics of the frame rather than the rest of the components. Makes no sense to review the Intense and state the brakes are junk....
I did mention the wheels only because it dramatically chanced the way the bike rode. So much that it was very important to note.

Similar Products Used:

I've rode the Devinchi Atlas 29 which I absolutely liked a lot! Great alternative to the Tallboy.

I've rode the Specialized Stumpjumper Expert EVO carbon. Nah...if you're going to get into this class of bike, don't waste your time.the brain is a joke, and you'll be looking to upgrade a year or two down the road.

I've road the Yeti SB-95. Not bad, but no Intense for sure! The suspension has a real odd ball feel. I think that's why they the Switch Pivot system was short-lived.

I've rode the Santa Cruz Tallboy LT. That's a monster truck comparatively speaking. It just lofts you around through the trail. Occasionally popping you up in the air. It pedals good for feeling like a much bigger bike.

Kona Process. Cool bike, but if you want the real deal...dual small link rear suspension.
Giant Trance 29, meh...probably about the heaviest of all of them to ride. More travel but it would really need some serious upgrades to get it up to snuff. Couldn't find a stem to get a good fit for Overdrive system.

The Spider has the perfect balance of climbing, downhill, and turning ability.

Minimal. My Spider had a very short stem (70mm?). If I were going to do a cross country race with steep climbs, I’d put a slightly longer stem on it to keep the nose down. But for most rides, I would keep it just the way it is.

The bike looks awesome. I love the built-in rubber protector at the bottom of the downtube by the bottom bracket, and the internal cable routing.

I was wondering how a long ride would be on a 125mm rear wheel travel bike. As a downhiller in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, I thought anything with more than 100mm travel would be inefficient. The Spider didn’t feel inefficient at all. From an efficiency standpoint, it climbs VERY similar to my Spearfish, and this is a compliment considering the Spearfish has only 80mm of rear travel. It has an advantage over a hardtail on rocky or rooty climbs, because you can keep pedaling the whole way without the rear wheel skipping. Although the top tube is a hair smaller than that of the SF, the wheelbase is 1” longer, which seems to keep the front more planted on the steep climbs.

The bike felt GREAT going downhill and turning, and pedaling through rock gardens. I’ve read countless magazine reviews saying how certain bikes isolate pedaling forces from rear wheel action, but I feel like the VPP really has it nailed. The dropper post helped too – once I remembered to use it, it really helped me get lower for turning and descending. It was perfect when I came to some drops in Fountainhead - they are small enough, and have great transitions, so you don’t really have to lower the seat to drop them -but the lower seat gave me the confidence boost to hit them.

The Revelation was soft the first day, I felt like it was diving a little too much in rock gardens. That was easily fixed with more air pressure before the 2nd ride. However when I first added air the fork bottomed, and stayed bottomed, 5 minutes into a gentle ride on a bike path with the kids. When I added air again, it held. Perhaps the shraeder valve was loose the first time? I went on a 2 hour ride after that and it felt great.

The 1x11 gearing was great and I would consider running that permanently. I’m a big fan of dropping to the small ring at the last second before a technical climb, but I occasionally drop a chain doing that. The 1x11 seems more reliable. I would happily run fewer gears with a larger ratio change between gears if that were available. I almost always change more than a gear at a time anyway in the rolling hills where I ride.

The Intense jumps and bunny hops better than my personal ride. If I compressed the suspension before a jump I would get a nice bounce, but it did not feel bouncy through faster rock sections. I’m not sure if that is a difference between rebound settings, or the suspension itself, but it was noticeable.

The Ardents were great. I had confidence on rocks and turns, so I might be switching to Ardents in the future.

Overall, the Spider is a great bike. It truly is a one-bike-does-it all bike, because I feel like I could race cross country on it, or even throw it on the back of a chair lift. And it is undoubtedly a perfect choice for long days pedaling through rocks with your friends. Now I just have to explain to the wife how badly I need one!

Similar Products Used:

Salsa spearfish

Stiff yet not harsh; solid climber; awesome chunky down-hiller (point n go); quiet - no chatter riding. Flippin gorgeous

if you've got the cash, none so far

previous reviewers have done a good job. i'll just add that after riding for 21 years and 9 bikes, I'm a much better rider on this bike. Riding the chunky stuff here in AZ is a pleasure on the Spider Comp. Bikes keep getting better - but the gap from this and my previous 575 is enormous (and I LOVED my 575). I have the confidence with this bike to take on anything here in AZ. It likes it when you just stay off the brakes and let it feast on the rocks. I did a 2 hr, 28 miler with a couple of intense uphills this past weekend. I wanted more - much more… I wouldn't hesitate do very long,epic rides on this bike. Rather, I'm looking forward to them. Muy Bueno Intense!!

Similar Products Used:

RECENT BIKES: Yeti 575; Yeti SB95 Alum; Blur XC; Orbea Alma carbon 29er; Niner SIR 9

I agree with all the previous writer posted.

Virtually none.

Again as previous poster wrote.

Climbing
Technical downhills
Finish
Switchbacks

Adjustable geometry

I purchased one of the original spider VPP bicycles back in early 2003 or 2004. At the time I thought it was for the best bicycles I have ever ridden. Fast-forward nine years. I rode a spider 29 comp for several hours and have to say it might be the best bicycle I've ever ridden. Obviously bikes are very personal in nature. Here is my profile. If it works for me and you have a similar profile it might work for you. I ride many endurance events. I race cross country races. I love long jaunts in the saddle. I am faster uphill then down. I got a 29er because it is so efficient to ride. I find that on a 29er I can keep up with my more skilled friends on the downhill because of the way a 29 or gobbles up rocks. That said, on very steep descents, my Tallboy was a bit too tall. As I added more all mountain riding to my routine I was investigating a bike that would be more appropriate for some of the gnarly terrain I am now riding. I was looking for a bike that would allow me to go downhill even faster without negatively impacting uphill and cross-country performance.

The Spider comp is that bike. First off, the bike is gorgeous. Intense has built some of most beautiful mountain bikes ever and the spider comp is no different. It has some serious bling factor. Okay - the ride: uphill: combination of short chain stays and big tires: you will run out of legs before the bike runs out of traction. The bike will roam a bit so you need to pay attention but that is a small price to pay for the added downhill stability.

The bike does very well descending - it can cut tight turns and the combination of 5" travel and 29" tires eats up baby heads and allows you to take the most aggressive lines through rocky terrain. I was surprised at the turning radius as well - just about equal that of my Tallboy.

The only negative thing I have to say about the spider is I do not understand why there is adjustable travel. It seems like a gimmick. I doubt people could tell the difference between the two settings and more importantly at Max travel the bike performs so well there is no need for adjustment.

If I could not have two bikes I would likely simply decide upon the spider comp. However, since I'm fortunate enough to be able to have two I believe that for pure cross country racing the tallboy is better suited for that task. But not by much.

You can't go wrong with a Spider Comp.