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AH THE 6.6
Every year something special pokes its head out and we take notice. One of our favorite things this year is the Intense Six Point Six. A tremendous mix of style, fuction and simply kick-ass riding.

It all started with Cat's pearl white small and now there are three Intense 6.6 bikes out there riding together in Gord's Bike Club. Cat's (she was the first) Nat's (second) and now JF's... Here are their Six Point Six stories... Starting with the ever so lovely Cat.

MEOW
Ok, so I'm short (stop pointing it out). And yes, it's been a bit of a challenge to find a bike that feels big enough when I ride it yet without injuring me when I stand over it. I ride localy (Ingolf, Brandon Hills, Minaki, Sandilands, Spruce Woods) lots with Gord's Bike Club and I like to do as much gravity assist as I can (Lutsen, Panoama...). After much research during the winter we came to the conclusion that the Intense 6.6 was the bike for me. Lots of travel (6.6 inches) lots of standover height (27 inches) and lots of street cred, Super cool colors and highly recomened from this guy I'm currently dating (JF). I ordered it in December... and Thursday May 17th was my first ride on my baby. Built by Mike, Greg, JL, Latonas and a guy they call Sideshow James (thanks for the rotors, James!).

I Love my new bike! Getting on this gorgeous ride, first thing I noticed was the smooth efficient pedal stroke. The bike feels abnormally light considering its beefy frame and fork. An optical illusion if you will. I had anticipated it being more work to keep up with the cross-country style bikes, but had no problem whatsoever.

This thing goes down steep hills and drops like a lazyboy on wheels. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Climbing? I was pleasantly surprised at how easily the bike climbed. Going up stairs was especially smooth. Not much bounce and the natural position on the bike allowed me to get my weight over my handle-bars easily. Something that’s always been difficult for me and my Ukrainian boat-anchor of a rear-end. On my 6.6 I feel like I’m sitting on the bike rather than in the bike... I like that.

My favorite item on the bike is my “magic button”. The IT switch on my sweet new Manitou Nixon Platinum lets me drop my fork down from the original 6+ inches down to anything I desire. Allowing me to get my weight over the front end giving me better body position on steep climbs.

On Epic Rides, my new baby has been a dream to ride on. Sure, I've needed a bit of time to get used to her but now we're one with ech other. I can't wait until I tke her to Panorama. Should be a great adventure, it's already been a great season!

JF'S NEW BABY
Trust me, this was an agonizing decision to make... My job description includes a healthy dose of product testing so collecting bikes is not really an option for me. So it was time to make the move, time to find a new home for the Ellsworth Moment that I loved so much in order for me to ride something else (I know.. Whaaa) and now it's a done deal: My buddy Lorrie is now the prowd owner of my beloved Ellsworth Moment, a bike I've been riding for the past year. Hopefully he loves it just as much as I did.

The replacement ride I chose is the Intense 6.6, (the same bike that Nat and Cat have been raving about incessantly) complete with a new Fox 36 TALAS RLC fork (basicaly the same fork I had on the Moment but dumbed down) and INSANE Hope Mono 6 brakes with... are you ready? SIX piston calipers... The rest of the parts are off the 'old' Moment; XO shifting (amazing), Raceface cranks, Shimano DX pedals, Mavic Crossmax Wheels, Thompson cockpit and the simply kick-ass Shwalbe Big Betty tires...

Everyone's been asking the same thing: "SO?" "what do you think?" "you like it better than the Moment?". The answer is not so clear. First off I always felt I was the wrong size for the Moment, too big or too small... Great bike, wrong fit I think. The Intense feels a bit better (a medium) it doesn't descend or climb better than the Moment... Just differently. The jury is still out on if its a better bike, but it's looking good. While on the subject of looking good: did I mention how many "man, that bike looks SICK!" I'm getting? People seem to really like the RAW finish on the bike, it's a paint-free lacquer-free, absolutely raw finish (or lack thereof). Ingolf this weekend should shed more light. One thing is certain, these Hope brakes are "off the hook". Worth every single penny of the small fortune one would need to inherit in order to afford them. After two rides on the bike I can honestly say these brakes are the very best brakes known to man (at least this man) Stay tuned, more soon.

NAT'S 6.6
When I came to Winnipeg I was riding an Intense 5.5. On the hills I had been riding in Europe it was an absolute blast, light enough and with an excellent chassis to climb long ascents and with enough travel to make up for my skills downhill. The frame has very lively handling and well-sorted suspension so it is fun to pedal despite the travel. It is also comfortable for the multi day rides we were doing. Fast forward to Winnipeg and Gords Epic Rides, and suddenly I found the sort of terrain with all the rock ledges and drops on the Canadian Shield much more technical than I was used to. The 5.5’s liveliness that had been so fun now felt unforgiving – of course I blamed the bike for my frustrations more than my skill level…

For my second summer here I decided to find a more forgiving bike, with a shallower head tube and perhaps a longer wheelbase. I looked at a couple of frames with these characteristics and similar travel to the 5.5, but settled on the 6.6 as I have enjoyed the 5.5 and by keeping it would have the versatility of two different sorts of bike. It also came in orange.
During the wait for the 6.6 to arrive early this summer I found that over the winter my head had mysteriously got itself round the new (to me) terrain and I was much more comfortable on the 5.5 than last year, so when the 6.6 turned up I was worried that it might turn out to be too much bike. My build follows a pattern, as I have been consistently too obsessive with weight on my mountain bikes, so it has XTR for most things with (excellent) Mavic Crossmax SX wheels and a Fox 36 (air) fork. The travel is adjustable but the bike works really well in most condition with full extension. Like last year I am running a Maverick Speedball seat post. It is heavy but makes it possible to adjust the seat height anywhere within its 3” range on the fly. This is fantastic if you can see a steep descent coming up in advance, but hard to use in an emergency. I have ordered one with a handlebar lever to overcome this, but otherwise it works very well (there is a slight rotational movement of the saddle but in reality you hardly notice this).

The virtual pivot point suspension that Intense uses is set-up sensitive. Too little air and the rear wallows a bit. Above a certain threshold, however, it works really well at absorbing the bumps without you noticing that anything is going on. Since I have found that level I am really enjoying the bike. It is not quite as feisty as the 5.5 and I can feel the weight difference up hill (it built up to just over 30 pounds as opposed to 27 on the 5.5) but it is still a terrifically fun bike. It feels very well planted on the trail, solid and confident in its footing in most situations. You are perched quite high when in the saddle but it does not feel unstable. The pleasure of this frame over other long travel bikes I have tried is that it pedals really well and is an assured climber. A review I read said that there was slight pedal feedback in the small ring, but this is hardly detectable unless you jump on it. The fox shock and forks work well together and the bike generally feels very coherent as an assembly of parts.
As I get used to it I like it more with every ride. It has the fun factor of the 5.5 with a little more reassurance. It makes up for more of my deficiencies but without being a benign palliative. It works really well on the Canadian Shield, the reason I bought it.

Would I change anything? Well I have not found a pair of tyres with the combination of grip and the ability to roll that I am looking for. I suspect I will just have to accept something heavier than I would ideally like. And the XTR brakes, while providing excellent modulation, are ambiguous about how much stopping power and stamina they will eventually give,so I will try some Avid Codes (again pushing the weight up). Other than that, it is a real pleasure to ride. It has a capability way beyond my riding ability.