Okay got a new bike, a complete that I have been watching for a while hoping a good deal would get better. An Intense951 XC - its like a Sniper TR but with cheaper parts. Available "on sale" as Open Box or Refurbished. I watched a long time waiting for a Refurb at $3200 but when no XLs showed and all the L's began to disappear, I grabbed an OpenBox for $3500.
The bike showed up a week earlier than expected, just after Boggs 2022, another story. I snuck it home and into the shed, unpacked and built it up. I finally took a ride on it this morning with the resurrection of the WMD, it pedaled well.
Loving the buzz of the quick ride and new bike legs, I rode it to work to show it to the office MTB crew.
I convinced myself I really wanted the frame and would swap parts to sell a member of the fleet, then it seemed I would keep it whole. I am ending up somewhere in between.
First I swapped out the saddle - the one sent along seemed very short and just a hair to wide. Volt 142 was fine. The standover is super low, but the fully extended 170mm dropper was a hair long riding flats with Vans. Shimano XT lipless and Sidis with the Volt a little forward are all working great.
NOW the wheels. The bike shipped with tubes, then valves and fluid were delivered with a nice toolkit by Intense. HS at the office got the torque wrench and shock pump.
Boost front and back, and 12 speed with a steel NX cassette, the rear wheel had to weigh a ton. Really? Then lets move the Rekon/Icon combo from the Meta HT "race bike"'s big Light Bicycle hoops to the Santa Creme's 30mm Light Bicycle boosted hubset.
The only instantly compatible swap is from the Intense to the Santa Cruz. But I wanted the Meta HT's tires on the Santa Cruz hoops. Got that? And the disks - too big on the Santa Cruz @ 203 and 180. Put on the old/hanging 180/160s centerlocs.
And lets check the weights, focusing on rear wheel:
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| 2675 (thought it was 2800+)g: intense hub 28h, wtb i27 rim, Kenda 2.0 w Tube, 160mm rotor, 12sp NX steel cassette |
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| 2530g: 11sp cassette, XT hub, 160mm bolt rotor, LB carbon 38mm wide, Maxxis Icon |
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| 2549g: 30mm LB, 180mm Magura Rotor, 12sp slx cassette n hub, Maxxis Icon |
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| this should read 2450g: 30mm LB, 160mm Shimano Rotor, 12sp six cassette n hub, Maxxis Icon |
I thought it was a 400g savings rear wheel alone, nearly a pound. Then I moved the Rekon to the front SC 30mm LB hoop, and put on the 180mm centerloc shimano, probably saving another 250g.
Next, swapping out the bar with the Niner RDO carbon bar that I cannot seem to sell.
