Wait. Is your bike 2 different colors? Did you buy 2 bikes?

C’mon man. Post a pic of your bike, not a stock photo.

 

Wait. Is your bike 2 different colors? Did you buy 2 bikes?

C'mon man. Post a pic of your bike, not a stock photo.

You got it.

Hardly gotten it dirty yet. Put on my Chesters and odi Eite Pro grips (which, coincidentally, seen almost identical to the Intense grips without the Intense logo).

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I got the trail. So far I've converted to tubeless, cut the handlebars down, and replaced the chainring with 28T. Still plan on replacing the grips with something like Ergons. Other than that, it's great!

 

Nice to see this thread. I have two XCs at my household. One for me and other one for my son( L and M). The bikes have been great overall. I live in SF Bay Area and XC model is great for climbing on steep hills of Northern CA. I have probably put about 300+ miles since I got mine. So far, everything has been great and better than my expectations. I should mention that, I noticed that recommended shock pressure is a little too high (could be because I use my own pump not the one that is included in the box). I had to lower about 20psi to find the sweet spot. I am about 185lbs with the gear and I am using 70 psi for the fork and 170 for the rear. At the end of long rides, I get about max %80 travel on both rear and front shock.

BTW, I swapped the sram NX chainring with Absolute Black Oval 32T. It climbs even better with the oval chainring. I also put some helicopter tape around the frame. We have very bad loose gravel all around, and didn't want it to get chipping and scratches.

 

I ended up getting the 951 Trail, but having some second thoughts that I should've bought the XC.I'm new to MTB (as my UN suggests lol), what kind of trails are good to ride in the SF BayArea as I live in the same area.

 

I bought the 951 XC, I live on Front Range of Colorado with lots and lots and lots of climbing. This bike is great on climbs and even more suprising on the downs, super capable. I rode for 15 years from 1990-2005 mostly on a Zaskar with 50 mm fork and 100 mm stem and bought a Roscoe 7 in January, super capable but HT beats me up as I like to go fast. I looked at Spur, Ripley, Signal Peak all not availble. Saw on ad on my phone for this bike at Costco, bought it Wednesday night was here Monday afternoon. Easy to set up and like they include torque wrench and tubeless conversion kits! I put a 30 tooth oval and some 3m paint film protection on frame.

 

Hey, what oval chainring did you get? Do you know the offset/drop-stop version?

 

Similar to [mention]Novice-Rider [/mention] , I'm thinking I bought too big with my Trail. I'm 5'10" (inseam usually 32" in jeans) which I thought put me well in to the range of the Large. But I found with seat at the midpoint on the rails and the seat post slammed down as far as it would go, I'm about an inch too high. I've improved it by moving the seat forward on the rails, but the bike still feels big. I definitely don't feel nimble riding it. Being that I'm traveling eastern US wooded trails, I'm thinking the Medium might have been the better fit.

I'm also out of shape and unconditioned so that could be part of it too.

Anyone around my height satisfied with the Large?

Also, anyone looking to sell the dropper post out of a Small bike. That has 125mm travel vs the 150 on the medium and up.

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I'm 5,9 and I am riding XC large. I wanted a large because it has longer wheelbase and also longer reach which I like better. I tried my sons medium XC and it felt like my arms were getting sore after 1hr of riding. I like the L much better for the kind of riding that I do. Keep in mind that trail version has shorter reach, you would definitely feel it if you go to a M with your height.

The only option that you have is to replace the dropper post with a shorter travel one as you mentioned.

 

My Trail was stolen over the weekend. But here's my experience with it while I had it.

Pros:
Climbs great and acceleration is quick. I was able to ride longer and maintain speed on flat sections.

Finish is nice. Frame looks and feels quality for the most part. Frame us also nice and quiet. Good cable management and a thick chainstay protector.

Regolith tires are excellent if you want to be efficient but still have decent grip. I wanted more front end grip so I put a Hellkat on the front. Even so, I was happy with the stock tires.

Trp brakes had decent power and are super easy to service. I like that it doesn't come with Sram or Shimano. The big levers give you a lot of leverage. Stock resin pads are powerful but seemed to overheat quickly.

The torque wrench is a nice bonus.

Cons:
The suspension tune sucks. Both the fork and shock are hyperactive and you can't slow the rebound down. You choose fast or really fast, that's it. I couldn't get 30 percent sag on the shock, even though it has a huge volume spacer in it from the factory (I'm 170lbs).

Although I liked the TRPs, they ended up leaking from the bleed screws (how I found out how easy they are to service) and was offered new calipers from TRP before it was stolen (enjoy your contaminated pads shithead!!).

The stock dropper post is really bad. It didn't want to drop unless I slammed by butt down. If I was seated and hit the lever (also bad, cheap feeling) it wouldn't drop. I would have to pick my butt up, hit the lever, then push it down. There was too much post sticking out anyway, so I replaced it with a PNW Rainier Gen 3 and Loam lever.

The NX derailleur is absolute garbage. Slaps around making a god-awful noise and shifts worse than my cheaper Advent X.

Personal notes:
I like the Fizik saddle but I didn't get along with it on 2+ hour rides.

Changed the low stock bar to a 38mm rise.

I wish it could fit a bigger water bottle (size medium fit 22oz max).

 

My Trail was stolen over the weekend. But here's my experience with it while I had it.

What happened?

 

Oval chain rings are very new to me.

When I look at Absolute Black’s website, there appears to be two model chainrings for the NX setup. One with a 6mm offset and one with a 3mm (called BOOST).

Can anyone share which is applicable to this bike?

And would I maintain a 32t setup to match the original? I am pleased so far with the gearing on the bike and would like to retain it as much as possible.

Thanks!


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Oval chain rings are very new to me.

When I look at Absolute Black's website, there appears to be two model chainrings for the NX setup. One with a 6mm offset and one with a 3mm (called BOOST).

Can anyone share which is applicable to this bike?

And would I maintain a 32t setup to match the original? I am pleased so far with the gearing on the bike and would like to retain it as much as possible.

Thanks!

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You want the 3 mm offset which is for boost wheels aka 12x148. The 6 mm is for non boost. I am not sure of max chainring size you can ask Intense via their chat but it looked like you could do the 32 oval. I went with 30t oval as I had one on hand.

 

Damn that sucks. Do you have any pics of the thief?

 

Yeah I have a video but he was covered up.

 

I can't find the XC anywhere? My local Costco doesn't have any clue to when they will get them. Any ideas or Costcos elsewhere that have them? Thanks!

 

They are only sold online.

 

That's a nice looking bike !!!

 

They are probably returns to costco that are refurbished

 

They must be since Costco was the only place that initially sold them. Iirc these were only available for preorder on Intense's website up until last week.

There were 10 bikes on their site last night. I would imagine these were the ones that made the cut. I have a feeling Intense changed their mind about restocking Costco after seeing the number of returns.

 

Has anyone done the tubeless conversion on their bike?

I remember a few on the Slickdeals threads having issues with the tires sealing properly.

I've never run tubeless. First thing I saw was a little bit of the sealant coming through a seam in the wheel right at the logo point (right above the T in WTB). Is this of concern or is that just part of a wheel and tire sealing up?

Thanks

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I did when I got my bike, front sealed up great, back I had tiny pin holes near bead and could not get it to seal and lost pressure overnight so I bought another tire. Intense did say I could get a new tire but I figured I would keep it for spare with a tube if need be. Once you do the conversion take it for a ride off curbs etc to force the sealant into all the crevices and yes you will see some at the bead which helps seal it to rim.

 

My sons leaked at the seam just a little but sealed right up with an little shaking of the wheel.

 

Thanks. This was the back wheel, same exact location.

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Liked my Niner RKT for years 120 front and 90mm rear but just kept runing out of suspension. Stuff I ride is not rocky drops but I ride it fast for my age and XC geometry and components are just too light, small ravine hits at 15mph were a handful and Reba air 32mm a bit twisty. So 3rd week on 951 Trail, did tubeless yesterday. I've riden 130-150mm range from 5-10 years ago, all slow, clumsy, hard to climb with exception of Yeti. Everyone is trying to hit the downcountry sweet spot and this Primer is close. Fairly nimble, follows line easy, swallows hits. I'm 145 so my rebounds are set to 11 and 9, getting sag right is tricky, maybe a spacer issue. Can't complain about anything but weight and most of that is from me riding a 26# bike for years. And maybe the pedal bob. I know everyone brags about their counter-rotating, uber-tech rear suspension but I feel like only firm setting works for efficient climbing. On steep climbs, this Primer/951 L reminds you of it's 33.5 weight on climbs and that's with carbon bar and light light spd's. Will keep trying to tune the bad out but...

 

Costco.com had all sizes of the XC in stock right now.

 

A million thank you's!!!!! Just ordered the gf her bike!

 

I've been feeling my Trail is a bit big in the Large size with me at 5'10". I've got a seatpost length issue that I'm trying to work with Intense right now. But one thing I noticed when looking at the specs is that the Small and Medium bikes have a 32" standover height, with the Large being 32.2" and the XL being 32.5". Do these bikes tend to run a little tall or is that common of most 29" bikes nowadays? Just wondering, because with the 32" inseam I have, I think I'd even find the Small would feel a little big to me. I know there is more to sizing a bike, including the geometry and reach, but it would still seem you should be able to straddle it comfortably for mounting and dismounting.

 

So are you having trouble dismounting with the seat down? Stand over doesn't matter anymore, on modern bikes. Seat tube length matters more, but only pertaining to dropper length. Unfortunately, intense doesn't spec long droppers. My medium 951 trail came with a 150mm dropper and I switched it out to a 170 so I could slam it. I'm 6ft, but I got a medium so my 5'7 girlfriend could ride it too. It was perfect for her and a fun playful bike for me. Small, but not too small.

 

^ I had the same thought, but when visiting my local bike store they stated this stand over fitment is normal. The crucial thing is when the dropper is fully extended, how does your leg bend when pedaling. The reason is b/c FS bikes need that ground clearance for suspension range.

 

At 5’5” I’m right on the borderline between frame sizes. After talking with an Intense rep I went with the S and am glad I did. Even so I benefitted from a proper fitting at my LBS. Bike no longer feels as big.

 

I was one of the guys on Slickdeals that had the leak in the rear tire at the rim seam. It took two days for mine to seal up. My bike mechanic said that it was not an issue, so I have not worried about it since. It has not gone flat since I made the conversion.

I got the Trail.

I also just wrapped it with Vvivid Vynil wrap. Just the down tube and top tube. I did a crappy job, as I followed some bad advice and tried to apply it dry. I will leave it on for now, since I want to ride. When I have a little downtime, I will pull off what I applied to the top tube (the down tube is acceptable) and redo it with a wet application. The vinyl was cheap and I still have enough to do the important parts again.

So far loving this bike! Much more stable and balanced in the air. Much more rigid than the 2014 Giant Trance X 29er I was riding. Not bad pedaling up. I am not a strong climber and I don't really care how long it takes me to make it to the top of the hill. This intense eats the rocky terrain we have here in Utah much better.

I did have to get a new rack for the back of my Jeep, since my old rack was not a tray style. My GF calls it a dangly. I ended up going with the 1-Up Super Duty. If anyone is in the market for an excellent top-of-the-line rack, I highly recommend the 1-Up. You will definitely not regret it. All aluminum and priced the same or less than any of the plastic racks all the other brands are selling.

 

I was looking at 1up but they seem to be out of stock on their website. I was looking at heavy duty 2 racks. Where did you buy it?

 

Apply vvivid dry, wtf?

 

I too wrapped my bike with vivid 3m, but did a wet application. Definitely much better value then some of the precut kits.

 

So who has changed out tires on your 951 Trail, and what did you go with (and where do you ride)? Not digging the Kendas so much so far.

And did anyone squeeze larger than a 2.4" in the rear?

 

So who has changed out tires on your 951 Trail, and what did you go with (and where do you ride)? Not digging the Kendas so much so far.

And did anyone squeeze larger than a 2.4" in the rear?

I really liked the 2.4 Regoliths but the front end grip was lacking. I swapped the front out for a 2.6 Hellkat. The 29mm wide rim was a little narrow, but I gifted the tire so I just ran with it. Not sure about wider since 2.4 is my preferred width on the rear.

Oh and I ride in the Bay Area and Santa Cruz, CA.

 

Returned my 951 Trail, really like my 951 XC. After getting it on some technical and rough downhills, I'd say it's a competent 'downcounty' bike for fairly skilled riders that want speed or avg riders who prioritize lightweight over plush ride. The entire rear suspension of 951 Trail was bobby, squatty, power-robbing and heavy; 951 XC which is the Intense Sniper T 2021 version (symmetrical rear triangle) can handle anything except 3' rock drops and you will pass everyone climbing that hill. I run a 2.4" front and yesterday tested a 2.4 rear, fit fine. Rode hard yesterday 7 trails 1 hour from easy Serpentine single-track to 3 marked difficult. Removed 2.4, installed stock 2.2 on rear and rode them all again. Significant improvement in speed on downs, flats and climbs, better control, no loss of traction. My lines were more refined, nimble, tossable. 2.4 vs 2.2 on front is key for reducing front slides. Most climbs with 2.2 rear were in 1 cog smaller than half hour earlier (and fresher legs) with 2.4 rear. Use the manual's air pressure and rebound settings for your weight, they were just right for me. Go tubeless and 20#. And the stock Fox Float 34 fork 120mm can take a 130mm air tube for those wanting a little more travel for $35, note that will change head tube angle slightly slacker. 2019 Fox Float 34 Air Shaft Assembly, 130mm Travel

 

FYI, just found out the standard Fox Float 34 Air Shaft Assembly won't work. If you want to change the travel on the 951 XC you need this part which is specific to the Fox Float Rhythm fork the bike comes spec'd with.

 

^riding the 951 trail I have been debating on switching over to the XC. The trails/routes that I ride are hardly anything technical. In fact I also use my bike for short commutes too. While I do enjoy the plush ride I do find the rear end a bit overly plush and power robbing (I came from a hard tail). From what I keep reading, the XC version (Sniper T) is more than just the average XC bike and should be more than capable enough. For those that had both, has anyone preferred the trail over the XC? I recall reading two instances now where people who bought both returned the trail.