- 6 weeks ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Welcome to Race Bikes, the show that takes you deeper into the world of
00:18mountain bike racing through its fastest machines. These are the bikes that
00:23redefined what was possible, pushed the whole sport forward and allowed the
00:27world's best riders to achieve the seemingly impossible. These are the bikes
00:32that matter the most. My name is Rick McLaughlin, I've been lucky enough to work
00:38in mountain bike media for nearly 20 years and I am a dyed-in-the-wool massive
00:44bike geek and over the course of the series I'm gonna be traveling around the
00:47world to track down, dust off and get hands-on with some of the most important
00:52two-wheeled projectiles to ever grace the racetracks of the WHOOP UCI mountain bike
00:57world series.
01:00We have traveled all this way to the west coast of America to see a bike that
01:10nearly won the UCI World Championships by just over a tenth of a second off first place.
01:24And where better to start anything than right here in Temecula, California. This place,
01:29the 1990s extreme sports boom, was pretty much the epicenter of two-wheeled cool. All the big
01:36supercross and motocross teams are here, some of the big stars lived here. Aaron Gwynn used to live here,
01:40five times UCI downhill World Cup overall title holder. But at the start of the 1990s, this
01:46place gave birth to a bike that would change the sport of downhill racing forever.
01:56Intense Cycles was the brainchild of Ohio-born Jeff Steber, who moved to California and in 1993 started
02:03building full-suspension mountain bikes.
02:14Here he is, the man himself, Jeff Steber.
02:17Hey Rick, good to meet you, man. Pleasure to meet you.
02:20I started this whole thing in my garage 35 plus years ago. When people would ride the bike or see it,
02:27they would always say, dude, that's intense. So it just stuck.
02:33Downhill racing was still in its infancy, but what Steber would come up with would redefine
02:38almost everything that came after. Enter the intense M1.
02:50It just so happened in that era. If you look back early 90s, extreme sports were kind of the fashion.
02:56X Games was happening. Within mountain biking, downhilling was the attraction.
03:01You know, it was exciting. It was fun to watch. The competition was pretty fierce.
03:06And the guys were riding on hardtails, basically, you know, with maybe a suspension fork.
03:10And so when they saw the initial intense bikes with full suspension, it was adapted immediately as a downhill rig.
03:18For me, it was all about helping the racers go faster and developing the product all around racing
03:25and the passion to develop the product, work with the racers, that sort of thing.
03:29So this is where the fun stuff starts. But a little bit of history here, a little timeline.
03:43Actually, going back to this bike, this was the bike that started it all, the Spider,
03:48which at the time had designed this as a cross-country slash trail bike.
03:53But we're talking, like, 1990 here.
03:55It still looks great, though. It still looks good.
03:57Yeah. And, you know, the cross-country racers, et cetera, riders, they weren't turned on to full suspension yet.
04:05So they thought it was, like, robbing, you know, energy and power.
04:08So the downhillers adapted it right away.
04:11So I realized right away there was a need for a downhill-specific bike.
04:15And then if you look in the timeline, this would probably be the next bike that came along,
04:19which was the original M1. And you can see it's very polarizing, looks very different,
04:24sealed cartridge bearings, a McPherson strut design.
04:28This pretty quickly evolved to this version, which used a linkage,
04:36we called it a swing link at the time, and kind of a four or four-bar design.
04:41Eventually, along came the coil shocks and linkage-driven.
04:44Yeah. Again, very different construction of bikes at the time.
04:48We used these, I used a monocoque construction to make the front triangle more rigid,
04:53torsionally stiff, that sort of thing. And it just kind of evolved along the time.
04:58Tell me about this thing, because I'd never seen this before.
05:01I've always tried the, I'm going to call it a culture of innovation here within the R&D team,
05:06and always trying things.
05:09This was probably early 2000s.
05:12Early 2000s.
05:12Yeah, end of the 1990s. Yeah, turn of the century.
05:15Kind of an iconic bike here, you know, kind of maybe one of the most famous second-place bikes.
05:24For bike geeks like me, in terms of race bikes, the M1 was like all those other cliches,
05:30like what the Beatles were to popular music,
05:32or what the Mona Lisa was, the portraits of people looking indifferent.
05:36It looked fast, and it simply oozed Californian motocross cool.
05:42This is unheard of nowadays.
05:44It's obviously intense, but it's bad just a mongoose.
05:47Yeah, so this, and you'll see these spread around the shop, and there's many of them.
05:52In fact, in the back, we have a whole container full of prototype bikes.
05:55This was Eric Carter's bike when he was on this mongoose program.
06:00Mongoose at this era, and Haro raced this version of the bike,
06:04and it's actually a similar version that Greg Minar won his first world championship on.
06:11And then Toby Henderson and the Iron Horse team.
06:15There's a huge list of pro riders that use the M1 chassis.
06:21In the era, we were a little bit maybe ahead of the curve.
06:23The way it worked, as long as it said intense on the seat stay, I was supplying these frames.
06:29I'm just seeing over your shoulder a really, really special M1 as well.
06:33This is also, for me, as a fan, it's kind of tied in intrinsically with the intense mystique.
06:40Jeff Emig, famous motocross racer.
06:43Again, a product of the era, and being intense located in the Inland Empire at the time,
06:49which was kind of home base for a lot of the supercross motocross stars and training tracks, test tracks.
06:56And even to this day, within a 25-mile radius, there's five, six, eight motocross tracks, you know?
07:03And a lot of these guys cross trains, and a lot of them, you know, had ridden BMX and raced BMX and rode bikes in general.
07:10It was just kind of a natural progression, and the look of the bike, I think, had a lot of ties to motocross.
07:16The association with some of those racers, like Mike Metzger or Randy Lawrence, that introduced me to Sean.
07:22But it would be another 12 months before the most aggressive bike ever would be paired with the most aggressive rider ever.
07:32Sean Palmer detonated into mountain bike racing like no other athlete had done before him.
07:39He had the tattoos, the piercings, the baggy motocross kit.
07:42He was your big brother's cool mate, the one your parents don't like.
07:47And part of that whole mystique was the bike he rode.
07:50And this is it, then. This is what we've come all this way to see.
07:55Now, I would contest that you could put this 30-year-old pile of metal and rubber in front of just about anybody on Earth,
08:03and they would understand that it's something pretty special.
08:13The most visually arresting thing about M1s has always been that really chunky top tube section.
08:19I mean, look at it, even by today's standards, that's still a big whack of metal.
08:24And it was there for a really, really good reason.
08:27It allowed Jeff to employ much bigger welding surfaces, which kept the whole front of the bike much stiffer,
08:32it tracked the ground better, it cornered better.
08:34And crucially, it meant that the bike was strong enough to stand up to multiple runs of a UCI World Cup downhill track.
08:41You should remember, in those days, year after year, they were getting bigger and burlier.
08:45The downhill was progressing probably faster than the industry was to support it.
08:50When these moto-influenced guys came on board, they were like,
08:54dude, we've got to get a linkage and we've got to get the bike a little more active and plush.
08:59I had quite a bit of experience myself from motocross, so it was an easy transition to like, okay, that's the next step.
09:05The second generation of the Intense M1 used this, still used today, horse-linked style faux-bar back end.
09:15150 millimetres of rear wheel travel, that was a huge number in 1996.
09:20In fact, so big, there wasn't a suspension fork on the market with that much travel.
09:25Allowing the M1's back wheel to make short work of the chunkiest of rock gardens.
09:31The frame geometry could be changed by moving the shock position.
09:35This meant that rider size and preferred riding position could be dialed into the bike.
09:41It was at the time revolutionary stuff, which most mountain bikes still feature today.
09:46And look, here is some of that adjustable geometry.
09:51Different holes that the shock could be moved around into, camp the front triangle, backwards and forwards.
09:57Now, this bike differs from, at the time, a stock M1 because Jeff welded it up,
10:02especially for Sean Palmer and that track in Cairns.
10:06The geometry on that bike was tweaked a little bit, maybe a little steeper head angle, that sort of thing,
10:10to maybe accommodate better handling.
10:16Asonic Go Fast bars and Shure East Stem.
10:22Again, you've got to look at this stuff in the context of the time.
10:26This was cutting-edge downhill technology.
10:28Higher-rise bars, more material used in the stem for better steering inputs.
10:33This was Sean Palmer's office.
10:36And check out this fork.
10:38This is so, so special.
10:41An original RockShox Boxer prototype downhill fork.
10:46This fork had 150 millimetres of travel, which was huge by those days' standards,
10:51and the first fork that could match the back end of the M1.
10:55This fork, as I say, prototype, how do you know that?
10:58Black stanchions.
11:00Secondly, check out this little tab round here.
11:03Disc brakes were in their infancy,
11:05and there was no standard spacing for the bolts that attached them to the fork.
11:09So what did RockShox do with their prototypes?
11:12Just weld on a little tab here, let the mechanics drill the holes themselves.
11:16I think just in the nick of time, some of the big guys started stepping up the travel and the rigidity of the forks,
11:22and there were some options all of a sudden.
11:24The first Boxer was coil and oil sprung.
11:28Now, that doesn't sound that impressive by modern-day standards,
11:31but at the time, this was game-changing.
11:33This bike raced against bikes that featured elastomer sprung suspension,
11:38so that's just dirty, great lumps of rubber in the fork that had to absorb all the impacts.
11:42This thing could handle heat changes, cycle through its travel more consistently,
11:46steer better, handle better, absorb bumps better.
11:49It was a huge advantage.
11:52There are a few key details on this bike that scream 1996,
11:57but none more so than these things, the Magura Raceline hydraulic rim brakes.
12:03Now, modern-day mountain bikes run hydraulic disc brakes,
12:06but back in 1996, this was full-on about as good as braking got.
12:14Hydraulic fluid flows through the cable
12:16and pushes the pads into contact with the rim itself.
12:21Everybody wanted a slice of that fluoro yellow goodness in 1996.
12:27Another little pro-only part.
12:30Look at this little brake booster that Jeff obviously made for the bike as well.
12:34Little alloy cross brace that links the two pistons together,
12:37keeps things nice and stiff,
12:39and would be designed, I guess, to keep lever feel consistent for Palmer
12:42the whole way through his run.
12:43In the fledgling world of 1990s downhill racing,
12:46stuff broke, and it broke a lot.
12:49One of the things that broke the most was wheels,
12:51and you weren't anyone unless you had a set of these.
12:54Mavic 121 SUP ceramic rims.
12:58Look at the little ceramic digital logo there,
13:01just so iconic off its time.
13:03And if you look closely,
13:05each of the nipples alternates between black and silver,
13:08indicating that these were handmade for Sean,
13:10along with the little intense custom graphics on the rims too.
13:15Total race bike stuff from the mid-90s.
13:19Shimano XTR shifting.
13:21Just about the only concession to weight saving on the whole bike, actually.
13:27XTR was already established as Shimano's top-of-the-line four-racing group set,
13:33and the speed it could bang through the gears in 1996 was unparalleled.
13:38This one still works perfectly 30 years on as a testament to the build quality.
13:43Finally, we need to talk about that paint job.
13:46I mean, Stars and Stripes, Sean Palmer,
13:49Troy Lee Designs, Intense M1.
13:51This is the origin of species.
13:53This is what modern downhill race bikes stemmed from.
13:57And 30 years on, this still looks absolutely iconic,
14:01and that's not a word I like to throw around lately.
14:06Sean Palmer, unheard of 12 months ago,
14:09now one of the top contenders in 1996.
14:12You're talking Nicholas Views, you know, 10-time world champion winner,
14:16and Sean was determined to beat him.
14:18This is going to be extremely close.
14:21Got him! He's really reaching out.
14:24Look at him come in!
14:25452! 453!
14:28Palmer's at second place!
14:31By an agonizing 0.15 in a second,
14:34two unparalleled not happy.
14:36It was so close.
14:37People started coming up and congratulating me,
14:41and it's like, wow, okay.
14:43It's kind of like, well, Intense has kind of arrived.
14:45That was kind of a huge moment.
14:47A quarter of a century after Palmer's close brush
14:50with the UCI rainbow stripes,
14:52the new M1 tasted victory in the rain of the UCI World Cup
14:56underneath Italy's Eleonora Farina in Leger.
15:00That win in that day in Leger,
15:03that moment was unbelievable.
15:05The explosion of emotion and everything.
15:07I was super stoked and super happy
15:09enjoying with the team and with everyone.
15:11Farina's M1 was bedecked in the iconic scarlet
15:14of Intense for the MS Intense Racing Team.
15:18The MS stands for Marcus Stuckel,
15:20who himself rode for Intense in the 1990s
15:24and has broken land speed records
15:26on specially built Intense race bikes.
15:29In short, you couldn't have written
15:32a better woven Intense fairytale comeback.
15:38So, this is the area I like to call my office.
15:43Wow.
15:49There's a lot of history here.
15:51Well, that's, I mean, on that stand,
15:53some very recent history.
15:54That's an Intense that Aaron Gwynn,
15:57Dakota Norton got on a podium together on.
16:00They both podiumed us third and fourth,
16:03I believe, on that track.
16:04Yeah, on the podium at Valdesau.
16:05This thing can eat up a lot of impact.
16:09Yep.
16:10Through the rough stuff
16:11and maintaining speed and momentum,
16:13it was amazing.
16:15But, you know, it had some limitations
16:17and what we really wanted to develop
16:19was a really well-rounded bike
16:20that worked in all conditions
16:22and was really easy to push to the edge.
16:24So, how much of this
16:25went into what's behind?
16:27So, that's the latest M1.
16:28So, that's carrying the legend on, really, isn't it?
16:31And was that the goal of this
16:32to make a bike that worked everywhere?
16:34Yeah, just really perfected it.
16:36And then also,
16:37we went a little less aggressive
16:39with the pivot height for the high pivot.
16:42So, we went to more of a mid pivot
16:44where that bike was a little bit more of a high pivot.
16:47So, you can have too much of a good thing,
16:50you know, in a sense, you know.
16:51This bike was really designed
16:53around this backbone type of construction
16:56where this was all one piece.
16:58So, the idea behind that
17:00was all the key structural points
17:02and linkages that need
17:04to maintain concentricity
17:06are all on one machined bracket.
17:10I like to call it the backbone.
17:12And we were lucky enough
17:14to do a collaboration
17:15with Trump Corporation out of Germany.
17:18They were on the cusp
17:19of some new technology
17:21and a new material,
17:22this Elementum 6061
17:24printable alloy material.
17:27Printable alloy.
17:27That is weldable
17:29and heat treatable
17:30and retains the same
17:31mechanical properties
17:33as CNC machined alloy.
17:35So, how excited do you get
17:38about new processes like this?
17:39Do you know what I mean?
17:40Is this still what sort of lights your fire?
17:42It is.
17:43And I do see
17:44these kind of processes
17:46more and more being used in the future.
17:49The old M1's DNA
17:51is still apparent in the new bike.
17:53It now has 212 millimeters
17:55of rear wheel travel
17:56but retains the adjustable geometry,
17:59aggressive angles
18:00and unwavering commitment
18:02to maximum attack
18:03just like Palmer's bike
18:05from 1996.
18:06How many frames do you think
18:08you've made
18:08since you started?
18:09Oh my goodness.
18:10I've lost count.
18:11Put a number on it.
18:11Put a rough number on it.
18:13Probably several hundred.
18:16I could probably get this thing
18:17all tacked up in an hour.
18:19Cut tubes, tubes mitered,
18:21you know, for a one-off.
18:22Even if I'm making something
18:23for myself,
18:25I like to take it
18:26to the finish point
18:27because for me,
18:29that's the high I get out of it.
18:30That's the buzz I'm going for.
18:32There's actually, you know,
18:33the process of creating it
18:35but then also then
18:37building it up and riding it.
18:39I would like to be
18:40constantly creating
18:41because if I'm not creating here,
18:42I'll be creating somewhere else.
18:44I'll be building guitars
18:45or houses or something.
18:46Yeah.
18:46You know?
18:47It's not finished.
18:48Electric motorcycles.
18:49Yeah.
18:49But if I can keep my focus here,
18:51I would consistently have something
18:54on these welding tables.
18:56I'm sitting here talking about this.
18:58I can't be taking all the credit,
19:00you know?
19:00It's like there's a team of people
19:02that I work with
19:03of really talented engineers
19:05and designers
19:06and, you know,
19:07the whole company.
19:08I'm really fortunate
19:09to have a really good crew of people
19:11that put this whole thing together.
19:13So I do like to look at it
19:16more as the whole
19:17as the sum of the parts
19:18kind of approach.
19:20and everywhere from the mechanics
19:23on the team,
19:24the racers,
19:25the engineers,
19:27the product managers,
19:29the salespeople,
19:31you know,
19:31the guys in the shop
19:32assembling the bikes,
19:34the manufacturers
19:35producing the parts and all.
19:37It's, it's,
19:38they're all working
19:38towards creating these,
19:40you know,
19:41wonderful machines
19:42we're seeing now.
19:50Oh, wow.
19:52Thanks, Benedict.
19:53Here, please.
19:54Monte Cristo.
19:55Lovely.
19:56There you go.
19:56Thank you very much.
19:57Cheers.
19:58What a place to leave it then.
19:59I mean,
20:00you look at that M1,
20:03the majority of the parts on it
20:05are sourced locally
20:06from small companies
20:07that worked out of shops
20:08here in Temecula
20:09or the surrounding area.
20:12And you do just get
20:13that feeling of being
20:14an epicenter,
20:16you know,
20:16a place that changed
20:18the sport forever.
20:22And I don't think
20:23that's too much hyperbole
20:24to say that.
20:26I don't know what I expected
20:28from Intense
20:29before I came here,
20:30but it was so much more.
20:33And what is so striking
20:34is that Jeff is the brand
20:37and the brand is Jeff.
20:39I've never met anyone
20:40as completely happy
20:43and as focused
20:43on working with piles of metal
20:45to allow racers
20:47to go faster.
20:48He looks at bikes
20:49the way I have to imagine
20:50like Enzo Ferrari
20:51looked at race cars.
20:53There was a bike there
20:54this week
20:54that we couldn't fill him.
20:55It's not released yet.
20:56It's not finished.
20:57But it has the potential
20:58to be every bit
20:59as groundbreaking
21:00as the M1 was
21:01back in its day.
21:02And he's still doing it.
21:03He's still there.
21:04Still pushing,
21:05still giving racers
21:06the ability to go faster
21:07than they think is possible.
21:09I want to thank Jeff and John
21:11for all their time
21:11that they've given us
21:12with our visit.
21:13But what a really special bike
21:16and what an important brand
21:19to come and see.
21:21Never had a Monte Cristo before.
21:24But it's one of them things
21:24you always see on TV, isn't it?
21:29Oh.
21:30It's like cheese on toast.
21:32But the toast is French toast.
21:34It's an experience.
21:38It's an experience.
21:38It's like cheese onimdi over here.
21:42If you haven't left the theater
21:43or you haven't seen aскую
22:05man, he's going to leave.
22:05It's Thursday.
Comments