Bike Build: Intense Socom FRO (part 2)
Friday, April 4th, 2008
Bike Build: 2008 Intense Socom
The last 4 pages of the build article are published now. We hope you enjoy the article and hopefully was worth the wait. Let us know what you think. The full Socom review will be published later on in the season. Check it out.
2008 Intense Socom
The winner for the build weight prize is James who guessed closest at 34.9 lbs (34.88 actual).
Click more below to see the last 4 pages.
Special thanks to:
- Competitive Cyclist
- e.thirteen components
- Formula Brake USA
- Gravity
- Intense Cycles
- Mavic
- Obtainium Performance Products
- PUSH Industries
- Red Barn Bikes
- Sapim
- Stan’s No Tubes
- Sunline
- Shimano USA
- THE Industries
- Thomson
[more]
April 4th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
34.9!!! Thats crazy light!!… Well to me anyways… Anyways super nice build-up!!
April 4th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Great build guys! The boxxer looks too much like an old race with the colour & sticker combo and detracts from the custom set up. It would also be nice if you guys gave a price break down and waiting time on specialty parts. Last but not least you guys should create a step by step on how to make the custom beer top cap for our headsets. I know it’s silly but it’s pretty awesome.
April 4th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Not that we don’t believe the weight…..but……can you put the FULL bike on a scale and snap a shot and put it in the article.
Proof is in the pudding.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
We could, but it ends up lighter believe it or not. Those hanging scales aren’t as accurate as weighing each individual part.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
exquisite
color sober
perfect
April 4th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Nice! Pabst Blue Ribbon Top Cap!!!
April 4th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Sweet build Sicklines. I’m in the process of building a large Socom and I have similar goals in terms of weight and durability. I’m wondering if you can send me an email with some elaboration on the chain guide mod you had to do to make it clear the VPP. I also will be running an LG1.
Thanks and good work. Have fun on that beast.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
We used a wide backplate for the LG1 as this usually alleviates any clearance problems you may have. Feel free to talk to e.13 about it as well and they’ll sort you out quickly. They are very helpful.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Big mistake on those bars and post.
Go with the new control tech carbon dh bar,and post . The bar alone is 194 grams!
And thats the way to get weight from the top of the bike.
April 5th, 2008 at 3:30 am
How do the PUSH tuned forks compare to stock? I have mine tuned by TF Tuned in the UK and that did make a significant difference (they loosed up the bushings, tweaked the compression circuits etc), but I wondered what the PUSH tuning was like.
April 5th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Big mistake with a Thomson seat post over a carbon post? I think not.
Greg: I’ve never rode a TF-tuned Boxxer. The PUSH one we have is still in development but should be officially done soon. So far though it is smooth and responsive. Right now the main difference is the PUSH vault-damper seal housing and dual guide bushings that let the fork work freely easier (help prevent binding under heavy use/braking) as well as an upgraded urethane rod seal. More later once we get a more complete/finalized version.
April 6th, 2008 at 11:11 am
That is an awesome build. The fact that you can run 2.5 inch Maxxis tires on a 35 lb bike is killer! I have an old M1 and I run both 2.5 and 2.35 Maxxis tires. Luv the 2.5s but they slow down the climbing just a bit. I bet that bike also climbs pretty well too, believe it or not - just stiffen the suspension up a little. I ride my M1 all day (its a Small) and it climbs up every hill except the steepest ones. Going down of course is like butter! Is it possible to run a front dahrailer on the Socom? (although it may not be needed at 35 lbs!) - I like earning my downhills. Tell us how it does climbing just for grins and always take the sickline going down.
April 6th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Thanks!
There will never be a front derailleur on this bike.
I’ve seen a few people fanagle a front derailleur on them before so it shouldn’t be too hard to do.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Is there much of a trick to adjusting the dérailleur to avoid dropping off the wheel side? is it just the adjuster screws? could you put a guide up of how to do it for the home mechanic, or a link to a pre-existing one?
thanks!
April 8th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Just out of curiosity what top cap is that you’re running on the steerer tube?! I want one…
April 9th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
clock - you should be able to do it with the current screws in your derailleur. If they’re too short to set the limits you can get a longer screw
April 21st, 2008 at 7:25 am
sweet build! does anyone no how much it would cost altogeter. wish i won it but never entered comp cos dint no it was runin!
May 14th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Very sweet bike and build. I’ve been reading about very slow warranty work on manufacturing problems (months). Rumors or truth?
Tell me its not true, and that I can expect NO issues with Intense if I need support. I’ll go buy one today.
A great bike is nothing without great support from the manufacturer behind it.
May 14th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Thanks James. Why should (sicklines) guarantee you that exactly?
That sounds more like a deal you should be discussing with your Intense dealer. Indeed support is necessary from the manufacturer and we’ve had great support from Intense.
Should you have a problem, Intense will do what they can to get you rolling as soon as they can. Its impossible to give you something they don’t have so sometimes waiting is in order.
Buying the frame from a reliable reseller makes the experience that much easier! If they have an issue they can deal with any hassles before you even get the product. A good reseller won’t give a customer a defective product. if you’re looking for a very competent Intense Dealer that isn’t just interested in “getting your money” we highly recommend Competetive Cyclist.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Wasn’t asking for a garuntee, just maybe some feedback on these issues from a reliable online source, like yourself.
I ordered one from Competetive Cyclist.
Why exactly did you choose the Vivid over the stock upgrade DHX 5.0? Specifically.
Thanks for the recomendation and the very inspiring build-up.
-James Hetfield
May 16th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
We picked the Vivid because its a new shock we hadn’t tried yet.
The Intense we got was properly setup and was a piece of cake to put together. The headset / bb were all propelry faced/reamed/etc. The rear dropouts were spaced properly but I have seen some that weren’t perfectly 135mm/150mm.
We haven’t ran into having to warranty our Socom so I can’t say what the timeline would be on that since we didn’t have to have this Socom warrantied.
Warranty work in the past that i’ve dealt with from intense has been good provided they have the part in stock.
If they don’t, (or you have a special color), a longer wait may be in order as they do production cycles (i.e. they make Socom’s/6.6SS’s for xyz weeks, then m6’s for xyz weeks, then 5.5, etc)
They don’t purposefully make you wait in my experience but due to demand and limited stock, sometimes a wait is in order especially if you’ve got a non-standard color, etc.
If you order your bike from a reputable dealer they’ll help you out more (possibly take a part off a complete bike so you don’t have to wait for the warrantied part). Lots of shops i’ve seen will make the customer wait for warranty work and wont’ go above/beyond even though you’ve just spend a good bit of change.
As an example, if your car breaks (Honda/BMW/Ford/etc) you don’t go complaining to Honda Japan about the issue, your dealer takes care of it for you. Professional dealers take care of their customers and warranty issues are handled through the shop and not the manufacturer directly. Bike shops tend to be not quite the same in terms of professionalism as shops often lay blame to the manufacturer(s) to make the customer continue to buy goods from them.
We could write all day on what we’d change in the “industry” and this point only skims the surface. The bike market is cut-throat and for some reason consumers feel they have the right to warranty work when they damage a product (not saying you are). It has become the norm to expect a bike company to “warranty” a part you broke.
Bike companies are semi-forced to “warranty” user damaged parts. The ones that are made overseas typically can and will give you a replacement part should you break/damage yours even after a year of abuse. They can often do it quicker (or already have the spare parts) than the more boutique dealers like Intense.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Excellent.
Do you know what the changes from 07 to 08 are?
Thanks again.
-James
May 20th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I called Intense yesterday. The person I spoke to on the phone in sales said the 07 had a 65.5 degree HA and the 08 has a 66.5 degree HA. That was the only change he said was made.
Build some more sweet bikes. How about an AM sub 30lb all coil 6″+ Super D dream machine?
Your website rules.
-James
May 20th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
James,
Yea we love building bikes… but here’s the catch. We can’t build everything we like due to $/resources available to us.
If we could build every single bike out there we would! The focus will be on dh type bikes mostly, with a sprinkle of the other bikes.
But rest assured, more sweet bikes are on the way. It takes time to put these projects together as well as $/resources.
We’re doing the best we can with the given resources so hopefully you enjoy it! If you know anyone that needs to dump a ton of money into a killer website, send em our way