Intense M6 FRO Build

Brakes:

Brakes - Shimano Saint BR-M810

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Following with the Saint theme, the Brakes used were the 2009 M810 Saint brakes. They offered gobs of stopping power. The only downside is that they have squealed a bit. You can read more about them in our 2009 Saint writeup.

Cockpit:

Handlebar - Chromag Fubar OS Flat

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Changing it up a bit from the standard riser bars we went with some Chromag flat bars. Ian, who runs Chromag, shares a passion for uniqueness and a good product. The flat bar has lowered the overall handling of the bike and is something that isn’t for everyone on a downhill bike but feels stellar on the bike for us. The flat Chromag bars were 28″ wide and have a 10 degree sweep to them. Chromag also offers a wide variety of riser bars as well to meet more needs.

Headset – e.13 Zero Stack and FSA IS2 bearings

e.13 has revised the cups with indentations to allow for easier bearing removal

Great headset. Low stack height. Lightweight. Smooth. The other option we would’ve gone with would’ve been the Hope StepDown but we wanted a deeper insertion headset for this build for a little additional security and the E.13 setup is a killer one that is just as light. Additionally, we are running the headset without a typical top cap and opted to use a few small spacers underneath the compression ring to keep the crowns low. This also allows us to not have to use a taller Boxxer drop crown.

Saddle - SDG Formula FX

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Overall this saddle proved to be pretty comfortable and durable during the testing. New this year, the FX is an evolution of the SDG I-Beam saddles in that the seat is designed to have some flex to the saddle that almost mimics the way a normal saddle can flex. Personally we liked the way this saddle felt over previous SDG I-beam saddles.

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Seatpost - SDG Micro

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To go with the new FX saddle, the new micro post accepts I-beam saddles and was quite easy to adjust with its one bolt (and no spring) setup. It is a pretty lightweight post and comes quite long so you can fit it to any bike. We ended up cutting ours down a good bit from the initial 450mm length. The post has been silent and issue free so far.

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Stem - Point ONE Racing Split Second Direct Mount

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The Point ONE stem was selected for this build. You can see our review writeup of it here. Paired with the Point time capsule (spacer and top cap integrated), it makes for a clean setup.  The Point stem is a very light stem that still offers a stiff interface.

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