Does anybody know anything about the new Intense V8 freeride bike? I have only seen a photo on mbaction and it looks sweeet. From what i saw it has a 1.5 inch headtube which would allow for the Manitou sherman 170mm fork. Any news would be helpful.

The V8 is scheduled to be a 2005 model and will feature 8" of VPP rear wheel travel and a 1.5" headtube. According to Intense, as of right now, there's only one in existance, and the final production version may be slightly different that what you see in the photo.

Intense still has to finish the final touches on the M3 before they can devote the attention needed to finish the V8. I'm sure that it should be ready sometime around or after Interbike.

Eric

Thanks for the information. Can't wait until it stars production, u can run a 170mm fork without being forced to use a dual crown and has eght inches of rear wheel travel plus the vpp design for the uphill, simply awesome.

hmmmm, looks familiar. oh yeah, santa cruz already built this bike. right, and its cheaper and every bit as good. ouch.

hmmmm, looks familiar. oh yeah, santa cruz already built this bike. right, and its cheaper and every bit as good. ouch.

The VP Free may be very Intense-esque, but according to Steber, the VP Free was built as a huck bike, and the V8 is a freeride bike for people who want to ride down the mountain, and possibly up first. Similar looks, but different handling. Again an example of Santa Cruz and Intense not stepping on each others toes.

Ole.

hmmmm, looks familiar. oh yeah, santa cruz already built this bike. right, and its cheaper and every bit as good. ouch.

You're wrong. What makes them the same? Similar travel and VPP? Are every single pivot bike with four inches of travel the same?

hmmmm, looks familiar. oh yeah, santa cruz already built this bike. right, and its cheaper and every bit as good. ouch.

They look very similar but there are only so many ways you can make a certain suspension design look. Just look at the FSR interrupted seatpost type design. Titus, Intense, Specialized, and many others make them. They look the same but are not. Looking at the V8 its pure Intense though. The rear triangle is the same design as the Spider and 5.5 only bigger, and the front end is very similar to both as well with the classic intense headtube reinforcement. The only thing that looks similar is the seat tube gusset. If anything I would say the VP Free looked more like an Intense knock off since they abandoned the Blur style design.

Hmmm, maybe the most important difference is the 1.5" headtube. I personally feel that if i was upgrading from my 5 Spot this would be a natural step if i wantde to be knarlier.

The VP Free is lovely and all, but maybe the dual crown fork hints that its less of an all round bike than the Intense. Maybe, I'm just speculating.

Either way, I think I would probably prefer the V8 simply because it has a 1.5 headtube so I could run an SC, or DC if I really wanted too. And I prefer the look... :)