The Spider - Some Thoughts

It's been my goal to make a solid effort to get the Intense Spider on all of our local trails when weather and time permit. While conditions are less than perfect, the window for riding has been open. I'm having a ton of fun on this bike, but now that the newness of it has passed, I'm beginning to experience some of the bike's capriciousness.

I've spent a fair amount of time fiddling with the rear shock, trying to get the pressure /sag just right. I eventually wound up with 200psi, with the ProPedal set on 2, and leaving it on. This seems to do the rear end of this creature a lot of justice, especially since that once it's set, no more fiddling (yay!). It climbs amazingly well, and has a springy snappy ride. To me, this is the perfect setting. Funnily enough, a customer from out of state came in with a Spider he had bought elswhere, and I set it up for him. Just one ride later, he also agreed this was the best setting.

Me, 230lbs, sag at roughly 2o%, which is Intense's recommended setting. I found that the sagged angles of the bike feels far more relaxed than you would imagine, as steep as it's static angles are. The bike will still steer through just about anything at any speed. This can also somewhat of a drag, as the BB drops as the suspension sags. On my very first ride, the first thing I noticed was sporadic pedal strike. Now that I have it set up in "the zone", it is far less pronounced, but my feet still tag the ground from time to time.

It's on sustained high speed rutted downhills however, the bike seems to lack progression in the rear shock. The rear shock has a very short stroke for the amount of travel it has, which leads me to the first thing I would change about the bike (if I were to a> have that power, and b> have only one bike).

I'd do whatever it took to get the shock travel ratio to 2:1. The rear shock seems over worked on big hits, and I have now noticed that the back end seems to wind up on any of our regular local Waterbury rides. Seems to me that a longer stroke shock could handle different types of bumps at varying speeds, which leads me in to the second thing I would change...

...which would be to update the design with the new fancy 15mm axle pivots of VPP2, as seen on new Santa Cruz Blur LT bikes. It would be a welcome addition to the construction of this bike. Our local stuff is quite ledgy, and there were a few times that the rear of the bike felt like it was going a different way than the front.

Despite these gripes, I have no doubt in my mind though, that Intense achieved what they set out to do, which was to create a lightweight race bike, that is dependable enough to get the job done. While this bike is slightly less adequate for our local trails, it shines on others. I'll be riding it this Saturday on our local race loops, and will hopefully be comparing it to a couple of other bikes.

BTW, I'm totally going to race this bike on Wednesday at Catamount, which will be the first time I get to do so this year. Nat has gotten fast (and cocky!), and needs to be put in his place!

Intense Spider - First Ride

While the rocker issue on the Jet 9 is truly frustrating, I've decided to take the opportunity to get to know one of the other bikes we sell, the Intense Spider. These bikes are similar in that they are both geared towards XC riding and racing, so the comparison should provide some interesting results.

This bike is one of our demo bikes. It is a large frame, with a Fox RP23 rear shock and F29 100mm fork, SRAM X9 shifters and derailleur, an old but perfectly good set of XTR M960 cranks, a sweet looking set of Bike 29 Royale wheels (pewter hubs, black spokes, red nips on Arch rims), Easton EA 70 stem, Monkey Lite carbon bars and EC90 seatpost, and a white WTB Deva saddle. I originally had the white Juicy Ultimates on the Jet, but since it is grounded, I pulled them off to replace the Juicy 7s I had on the Spider. The bike has a lot of white on it, which I hear is the new black, so I have decided to name it "The White Shadow".

This weekend's weather was perfect for staying indoors next to an air conditioner, high 80s, and the air so thick you could eat it with a spoon. I'd been as sick as I've been in a long time all week, and I was certainly not in the mood to push it. It seemed as the most logical choice would be to head to Stowe Town Loops, which is ironic, as this is typically my new bike proving ground.

So how does it ride?
I will preface this by saying I am not really in any condition to "push" a bike to it's limits, but I was able to get a good measure of the bike's qualities, based on my familiarity with the terrain.
The ride starts with a gradual climb that will make you suck wind if you are out of shape, so I spun up in an easy gear. The hot muggy air didn't help either. I did all of the sustained climbing with the ProPedal on, and was rewarded with a firm ride that moved on only the biggest obstacles. I rode a the medium Spider way back in 06, which was definitely too small for me, but I was impressed back then at the climbing prowess of this bike. Perhaps there is something in the name...?

Once the hill crests, the trail rolls down some rocky double track, before turning into rooty rocky single track through a pine stand. This is where it gets fun. It's relatively flat, but still rolly, you can really milk your momentum. There are some large decomposing shale outcroppings to negotiate your way up, which can end up in disaster it you fall the wrong way.
Ont the right, there are hard rocks and tree roots, on the left, about a 70 tumble down a steep ravine into the Little River. Well, I did not make the first big outcropping. I had to put a foot down about halfway up. I attributed this to the back end being too firm.m I used this opportunity to turn the ProPedal off, and ran the shock wide open for the rest of the ride (with the exception of the last climb out).

That was much better. The biggest thing I noticed, is the the bike took on a slightly different personality. With the ProPedal off, the bike sank a little deeper into it's travel. It pedalled very well in the rough stuff, bumps large and small disappeared and the bike seemed to levitate over the trail. I was expecting a fair amount of feedback from the ground, but was pleasantly surprised to find it was minimal. The VPP suspension design does a very good job of soaking it all up, and the F29 was dialed in. Not once did I feel a hard bottom out, despite how deep into the travel I was sitting.

Climbing with the ProPedal off was no problem, the back wheel stayed on the ground for the short techy climbs that are sprinkled throughout the ride. This was a relief, as I seldom have the presence of mind to flip the switch when I need to. As we climb up to the "upper" Town Loop, there are a series of bridges that take you over some very mucky ground, and the terrain becomes a little more difficult as the root and rock population increases.

It was here that I found the single thing that I found to be a negative on the bike. Pedal strike. While not a persistent problem, it is enough to get your attention, and on one instance I came right out of my right pedal at a time that was less than convenient. As I spend more time on the bike, I will likely adjust my riding style by timing my pedal strokes a little better. Like I said before, I was definitely not on my game, so some of it could have been attributed to that.
With my one gripe out of the way, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

The suspension is very plush, and handling is very predictable. It almost has a playful feel to it. While last minute course corrections are a snap, it isn't quite as fractious as the Jet. This was appreciated, as I was on the edge of control on the fast single track descents.

The crucial piece of hardware I attribute the playful handling to, is the Chris King Tall Baseplate. It adds 5mm to the axle to crown height, thus slackening the head angle by about a degree. The Spider is renowned for it's aggressive 74° head angle, which some find too twitchy. This baseplate and correct sag on the rear shock makes the bike very manageable.

All in all, I'd say that if you were in the market for an XC bike you can race or ride all day, this bike would certainly get the job done, and is well worth a good look.