Ironic timing. I managed to order a set from
@SMP11 (THANKS!) but I also unexpectedly due to a series of circumstances landed some direct from Intend. I was sick with COVID, not sleeping, and happened to be on the site when they dropped so I snagged a pair for my wife's bike after I had agreed to buy his. Her brakes suck, now they don't. The irony is I was complaining about timing because mine hadn't shipped yet, but they showed up at my door about an hour after my earlier post, 9 days after ordering to the US (NC), so not bad.
A few thoughts.
Install was easy. I like the way you can disconnect the hose barb, although I wish they'd publish a measurement or something you can use to know it's fully seated. Pushing the barb in was super easy even with a janky tool. The front came close to the perfect length for my 150mm RXF36 m.2, so I just left it alone. The rear was empty, so I trimmed it to length and bled it, which was easy-ish. I like how the bleed block just drops in and stays in place, that is really clever, but I did have some issues getting air out of the caliper. It wasn't as straightforward as shoving fluid back and forth, it took ~5min of sucking and blowing to get it all out. I've had way worse, so I can't complain, it was pretty painless if you compare it to some brands, but it being empty makes it require more effort than some that come fully bled. I really like that they have a second screw to close the bleed valve, this is something only SRAM does similarly and I wish others would do, I know it's probably hard to manufacture but it would make bleeding a lot cleaner/easier. I'm not a huge fan of slide on levers, but it is what it is, again I'd like to see a hinged lever mount here but it's a minor gripe. I do wish they used standard screw sizes instead of small Torx also, it's gonna be tough to adjust on the trail if you need to, although my larger multitool has it on there.
The lever feel is really light, the deadstroke is short, and the pad retraction is good. The lever feel isn't as light as the Maximas is especially when the pads engage, but they seem to ramp up faster for the lever distance you pull. The deadstroke on the Intends is much much shorter, not Radic short, but close. Where the Maximas require a bit longer lever stroke, these come on a lot quicker and more powerfully, it feels like the power available is more usable, but at the expense of lever force once they engage. It's marginal and really light feeling, I'd say better than most brands, but not as light when the pads engage as the Hope T4 V4 or Maximas are. I think how this works for people will be a matter of preference. The pad retraction is better than the Maximas and getting them drag free was trivial, easier than MT7s or Maximas, on par with Dominions/Shimano/SRAM. I found them fairly easy to modulate but they aren't a super long, linear lever pull to get power out (like Codes).
The available power is really good. I think the Maximas might produce more power, but you have to run the levers further out to obtain it due to the more linear pull and amount of deadstroke, it comes on faster with these, more like the Mavens or possibly Dominions, just with a lighter lever feel than both. I feel the power is more usable, in other words, unless you like long lever strokes. The lever ergonomics are a little different, I think it's easier to grip than the Maximas (which has a smoother lever), but the hook tip can be painful if you have them positioned inboard.
There is one point of caution though. The usable lever blade is short. What I mean by that is the position between the brace on the lever reservoir and the tip of the lever is short. If you use really large grips or like your levers positioned really close to the outside of the bar, then these may not work for you. I had heard this from someone else and while they are fine for me, I can see how they'd be a problem for others especially if you use really wide grips. The flip side of this is that, more than the Maximas or Mavens, you have more flexibility with dropper/shifter position. I had to move the body of the lever close enough to the grips that if I bumped the shifter/dropper lever against the lever, it would be way too far outboard, so this is an improvement over those options that required me to run the other controls further in than I'd like, but again, if you need your levers really close to the grip you may have problems.
I didn't get the noise mentioned previously with the white pads and new Trickstuff rotors. They were largely silent, quieter than the Maximas, but I also didn't ride in the wet yet, just one very dry smokey ride thanks to burns and a moderate ride today on some chunky stuff but nothing super steep.
