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2021 Intense 951 (XC/Trail) owner's thread

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#121 ·
I bought one of these (trail) for my daughter (12 yo) earlier this summer but then my son grew out of his 26er and I decided to build a pair of 27.5 wheels and let him have it with the 951. It was just a bit too big for him with the 29ers, so I swapped in 27.5x2.6 tires with large volume so I think it is maybe a 1/2" lower. Man does he smoke the trails on this. I was amazed how well the Rhythm fork can perform when I lower the pressure down to about 50 for his light body. He's a really good rider and it was fun to hear him hooting and hollering on my tail as we went through some technical chunk where he couldnt keep up with me on his old bike. He had a bit of adjustment on the big flowy berm trails, he said it was a bit more work to get into the turn correctly due to the length of the wheelbase, but it was doable. I can understand why people might want the XC model if they are not on at least some stuff where the long/slack geo is of value. I think I cut 1/2 lb off going to some 28h wheels with Shimano XT microspline, although added some back on with a Minion DHR on the back, but those stock tires are not really suitable for what we ride.

We took it on a couple of jump lines and he said it flies nicely. Also had good things to say about the brakes. This is a legit bike, the pricepoint is really solid for full carbon even if a couple of the components are a bit weak.

On sizing, I am surprised what people are saying about medium. It is a long bike for him when sitting no doubt, but as soon as he turns it downhill and is standing, it is really on the money. And height wise, with the 27.5s on he is not quite flat footed with the dropper post shoved all the way down, but close enough. I cannot imagine being an adult on a medium, but then again I ride a really long wheel base frame myself and it probably depends on the terrain you ride.
 
#122 ·
Does anyone know what the torque setting should be for the through bolt that holds the rear shock to the top tube on the XC? All the pivot bolts and basically every other spot on the bike has the nm setting, except for this one.
 
#123 ·
Dtumd said:
Does anyone know what the torque setting should be for the through bolt that holds the rear shock to the top tube on the XC? All the pivot bolts and basically every other spot on the bike has the nm setting, except for this one.
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Per the manual Bolt number 25 is 7nm. In back of manual has parts list exploded and all NM are listed for each bolt.
 
#124 ·
Took my old Niner to the shop and it was going to be $1000 to get it back up to riding condition. I decided to just scrap it but didn't want to pony up $6500 for a high end bike so took a gamble on the 951 XC and so far I am super happy.

A buddy of mine had an extra set of ENVY wheels with much better tires and Cushcore installed already... which instantly upgraded the ride. It is a bit odd having a $1800 wheel set (I didn't pay that) on a $3200 bike with low end bits, but I'll upgrade the rest slowly.

Gotta say the tires are probably the weakest part of this bike as shipped, replacing those was a huge upgrade in ride quality.
 
#125 ·
Greetings all, I waited till I had some time with this bike before reviewing. Found this thread and there’s some useful information here. Thank you all.
First , let me apologize if this turns into a wall of text. I tend to over write sometimes.
Bought the 951xc from Costco. Came a week later , no issues. Built it up. Again no issues. But here’s my peeve. The bike is branded as XC. Cross country. I’ve owned several xc bikes. This bike is not xc, it’s down country which I’m not going to get into cause it would take forever.
The bike is portly. Mine weighed over 29 lbs without pedals. Accurate scale. That’s heavy for carbon xc. It has 34mm forks. Xc typically has 32. Rims. 27mm internal. ? Too wide and heavy. 4 pot brakes , which is nice but not necessary adding to more weight. Tires. Too heavy. Travel is more than your typical xc bike too. And there’s a few other areas.
That being said, I knew what I was ordering and I’m happy with the down country bike. upgraded alot so far. The bike can be ridden well as is. But really benefits from carbon wheels. I took mine from my hardtail and it helped a lot with weight savings and feel.
I cut the bars down. Longer stem. And put all the tube spacers on top of step. More aggressive riding position. Put oval chainring on. Changed brake pads and rotors. Both were awful imo.
Suspension feels good but took awhile too dial in. Dropper post works but is nothing special.
the NX groupset also works but will get upgraded
Soon.
I got the bike weight down to 27lbs and feels a lot better. It climbs very well and speeds downhill.
I’ve ridden a dozen rides and I’m liking it more and more.
Let’s keep this thread going. Great info.
 
#127 ·
You need to check your expectations here. It’s a $3200 bike. Of course it’s “heavy” and has low end components. This is priced in bargain/ beginner territory and it’s a damned good bike for that money. When I unboxed it I was pretty happy about the weight for the cost. I did replace the wheels right off, but fortunately I had a use for the stock wheels and… for $3200 didn’t expect a whole lot more.

As for the rest. I’ll let the pedants argue about the differences between “Down Country” versus Cross Country. The specs are on the site so it’s not like there were any big surprises about what you are getting. It pedals quite well… surprisingly well for the price as far as I’m concerned.

I do agree about the brakes though. Not so much that I expected something better, but they are not great and it is a little frustrating that the housing goes through the frame. That’s cleaner, but harder to swap out. Likely my biggest complaint about this rig.
 
#128 ·
Ogre said:
You need to check your expectations here. It’s a $3200 bike. Of course it’s “heavy” and has low end components. This is priced in bargain/ beginner territory and it’s a damned good bike for that money. When I unboxed it I was pretty happy about the weight for the cost. I did replace the wheels right off, but fortunately I had a use for the stock wheels and… for $3200 didn’t expect a whole lot more.

As for the rest. I’ll let the pedants argue about the differences between “Down Country” versus Cross Country. The specs are on the site so it’s not like there were any big surprises about what you are getting. It pedals quite well… surprisingly well for the price as far as I’m concerned.

I do agree about the brakes though. Not so much that I expected something better, but they are not great and it is a little frustrating that the housing goes through the frame. That’s cleaner, but harder to swap out. Likely my biggest complaint about this rig.
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I actually like internal routing. But where they enter the frame is kind of a fail. Basically, just drilled holes. I see a lot of cable rub at the headset already. Time will tell if that’s an issue.
better to put a small triangle opening with a cover.
 
#130 ·
brex17 said:
It's a short travel trail bike, but called the XC because it is the Sniper T frame. It's heavy because it is a low end build, put on lighter components and you get the Sniper T elite model.
It's a great entry point for an XC or short travel trail bike.
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Agree with both: Had Niner RKT 2 Star build (top 5 Star $8,000) so lower end components. 100/90mm, it was 26.5#, steep head angle, super nimble, fast on climbs. Rapid fire 2' deep ravines at 14-15mph were a handful and 4' drops too much drama. This 951xc as mentioned is not the Sniper, it's the Sniper trail and that's good because the Sniper xc asymmetrical chainstay triangle is sketchy for anything rough. It feels to me a lot like a YT Izzo but climbs better and lighter. Agree NX is heavy. If you don't want to pay $2,000 for a 32mm fork, they are too sketchy for anything hard so the Fox 34, while heavy, is ok. I did tubeless, kept the Regoliths on until I wear out but went 2.4 on front. My last pair on the Niner were highly rated and pricy Maxxis Ardents and, somewhat surprisingly, these Kendas have better control on lose and rough stuff. 951 65deg head angle has saved me from a few handlebar jumps. For me, a 120/120 full squish carbon that climbs efficiently, handles everything I ride fast, has ok dropper and costs $3300 is a huge value.
 
#131 ·
Lawdog67 said:
I actually like internal routing.
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Only reason I dislike it is because I have a nice set of XT brakes I'd like to swap onto this and it's a bit of a headache. Clean is nice until it hurts maintenance and repairability.

lindseyp said:
For me, a 120/120 full squish carbon that climbs efficiently, handles everything I ride fast, has ok dropper and costs $3300 is a huge value.
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I had the bad-timing to purchase a JET 9 in 2014 right as all the new geometry XC/ trail bikes were coming onto the scene. I loved the bike, but a few years ago I bought a Honzo and fell in love with more modern geometry bikes. Ended up riding the Honzo a lot more than the JET because the advantage of the geometry was better than the advantages of full suspension on a lot of trails.

This bike is a really nice mix of the things I love about both of those bikes. I probably should have just bought a higher end bike because I'll end up (already have) upgrading the hell out of it, but I can do the upgrades over time rather than one big hit.

The NX components perform surprisingly well.
 
#132 ·
Lawdog67 said:
For the record. I do love the bike. Not knocking it. Just pointing out certain aspects for other riders.
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Well....buying a bike isn't really a good move for riders like you and me. I also need to have the bike just like I like it, so I only buy frames. Cuts down on the extra parts, since I would have to replace all of them haha.

30lbs is a good weight at this price point. My 27.5 Primer is 30 lbs with custom everything. I have about $6k into it; got the frame for $2k.
 
#133 ·
TylerVernon said:
Well....buying a bike isn't really a good move for riders like you and me. I also need to have the bike just like I like it, so I only buy frames. Cuts down on the extra parts, since I would have to replace all of them haha.

30lbs is a good weight at this price point. My 27.5 Primer is 30 lbs with custom everything. I have about $6k into it; got the frame for $2k.
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i like your idea, at this point in my life I could definitely do my own build. but I'll probably wait a few years seeing how parts are hard to source and just make the most out of the 951.
 
#134 ·
I have a Trail on order, kinda wondering if I've bought the wrong bike. I didn't want that much travel as I do a lot of climbing, but I like my saddles pretty far forward and the seat angle was kind of a deal breaker for me on the XC, especially when combined with the lower stack, I have to run my seat up pretty good to fit and it pushes it back. Does it sit as far back as it does on paper? My Process 111 has a similar seat angle and when I'm at proper saddle height my knees are way behind the spindles when level cranks. Other bikes I considered were a Polygon T8 (loved it on paper, but I just bought wife a bike from them and they've been horrible to deal with some shipping damages) and an Abajo Peak (not the best components, and the next model up wasn't that much better). The good news is I ordered from Costco, so if I don't like, it shouldn't be an issue.
 
#135 ·
kendunn said:
I have a Trail on order, kinda wondering if I've bought the wrong bike. I didn't want that much travel as I do a lot of climbing, but I like my saddles pretty far forward and the seat angle was kind of a deal breaker for me on the XC, especially when combined with the lower stack, I have to run my seat up pretty good to fit and it pushes it back. Does it sit as far back as it does on paper? My Process 111 has a similar seat angle and when I'm at proper saddle height my knees are way behind the spindles when level cranks. Other bikes I considered were a Polygon T8 (loved it on paper, but I just bought wife a bike from them and they've been horrible to deal with some shipping damages) and an Abajo Peak (not the best components, and the next model up wasn't that much better). The good news is I ordered from Costco, so if I don't like, it shouldn't be an issue.
Click to expand...
I bought the trail, liked it but the shock robbed power on climbs unless it was closed and it's still heavy. Others felt it climbed well. Test it on long hard climbs, if you find it ok it's a great bike and value. I returned and bought xc. I too thought xc seat would be issue but I'm 5 10 and the large is just right, didn't adjust dropper height or seat rails. It's a bike I wouldn't want on huge drops or massive downhills but I don't ride Whistler, climb and power is great. Both bikes have similar head angles. Trail version made ravine-filled downhills super smooth, more so than xc but I was same speed down on both and xc significantly faster on flat and climbs. If you lock out front and back on xc, you think it's an xc drop bar 700mm bike that's a bit heavy.
 
#136 ·
lindseyp said:
I bought the trail, liked it but the shock robbed power on climbs unless it was closed and it's still heavy. Others felt it climbed well. Test it on long hard climbs, if you find it ok it's a great bike and value. I returned and bought xc. I too thought xc seat would be issue but I'm 5 10 and the large is just right, didn't adjust dropper height or seat rails. It's a bike I wouldn't want on huge drops or massive downhills but I don't ride Whistler, climb and power is great. Both bikes have similar head angles. Trail version made ravine-filled downhills super smooth, more so than xc but I was same speed down on both and xc significantly faster on flat and climbs. If you lock out front and back on xc, you think it's an xc drop bar 700mm bike that's a bit heavy.
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Thanks for the reply, we'll see, I'm a Clyde and not a fast climber anyways, but I keep up with the little guys OK on the level and downs. I ride mostly old school rough trails, not parks. I just got back from a tour of UT and CO riding my Kona Process 111 and really didn't have any complaints. The only time I wanted more was in Pisgah, but that was a rough trail.
 
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