It’s a bike that’s seen some legs, many legs of various power and skill. On its competitive days away last year it won a round of the Gravity Enduro series and the Irish Enduro series races. In fact it placed third overall in the UK Gravity Enduro series. On more relaxed ventures the Tracer has been all parts north and south, a weekend away with Jerome Clementz, a bash down some Lakeland rockery. Earlier this year it was taken on the carbon DH test to San Romolo and used as a scouting bike and then smashed down Molini in what was possibly the most action packed day of the trip. Many think a bike like this wouldn’t last in the depths of Ligurian maquis (Ed note: north–western Italian scrub to you and me), but those environs are this bike’s quarry.

Lets not get over–pumped here though. The Tracer is mellow in its poise. It’s a bike that will cruise through carnage, glide the inclines. At 140mm it is one of the longest travel trail/enduro 29” bikes on the market. Without doubt the inclusion of a Cane Creek coil shock within a rugged chassis is one of the contributing factors that brings the magic to this bike, but just remember we are not giving a broad endorsement that coil makes all 140mm bikes this good, because few exist.

Rob ‘Box’ Cooksley (owner of Bad Ass Bikes near Bristol), was the man (as mentioned above) that took this very bike to third overall in the UK Gravity enduro series last year. He’s ridden a few bikes in his time and had this to say about the Tracer, “You’ll never ride a more flattering trail bike that makes up for your inadequacies, you really need to readjust your ideas on how much grip you get on flat corners. Yes, it is definitely the most flattering trail bike I’ve ridden in my life.”

DETAIL

EASTON HAVEN CARBON 29” WHEELS
Quite possibly the wheels off which everything else falls into place, without these wheels the Tracer would not have gone to the places it’s been. With an impressive ‘two years, no questions’ guarantee the Haven’s have confidently and flawlessly piled into all the action thrown at them. Longevity of hubs, which we have not been quite so impressed with on a few of Easton’s 26” offerings, have been faultless. One of the most restricting elements of 29 is wheel strength and the Easton’s answer that problem in no uncertain fashion – brilliant. The 21mm inner rim width has allowed us on occasion to fit wider tyres but the Ardent 2.25 has been the soul mate of this bike.

MAXIS ARDENT 2.25 LUST TYRES
Nothing compares to the outright speed and all round trail grip of the Ardent, it’s the right mix of profile and strength on this bike that makes it so compatible for general trail duties.

FOX 34 FIT RLC 29 FORK
Before things went awry with this version of the 34 was arguably one of the best forks that Fox have ever made. It holds, it damps, has enough adjustability, just about the right chassis dimension and travel, and has been nothing but reliable. Such a shame that Fox seem to have lost all the years of experience by producing the current CTD design which has no muscle whatsoever. Whilst this fork is no longer available you can still ask the guys at Mojo (UK importers) to give you improved compression on the newer fork.

SHIMANO XTR COMPONENTS
The imperious components are here, there and everywhere on this bike. Reliability of the XTR Race M985 brakes is flawless, the control immaculate. Ergonomically they have gone a shade too far on the lever which for me is a about 5mm to short and the brake action feels slightly better on the XO trail. However they work today as well as they did when new, the pads are super hard wearing and they have not once had to be bled even though they have been bagged around Europe for 18 months upside down and faced healthy disrespect.
The same can be said if the crank and bottom bracket. No squeaks, rattles or loosening, still in 100% working order after two winters. Gearing has been left alone and the clutch derailleur is now a prerequisite for any hard–hitting bike worth its mettle. There’s been a slight weakening of the spring–loaded mechanism, but overall there have been no issues.

CANE CREEK DOUBLE BARREL REAR SHOCK
There’s been a dip in performance on many Cane Creek shocks that we’ve ridden over the past few years, certainly not what we expected after the brilliance of the early years. There’s been a problem in finding harmony between damper and bike with some companies, and the new air shock is certainly not a fully polished product.
Not so on the Tracer’s coil. For many this is the benchmark by which all other 140mm trail bikes should be searching for. Superb parity, unmatched reliability of all the bikes in this travel range that we’ve ever had, and a beautifully supportive ride that grips and holds the rider quite unlike any other long travel trail bike out there. It can be battered for ten minutes and keep it’s damping, but more than anything it’s a great foil for the Tracers cragginess.

CRANK BROTHERS ADJUSTABLE SEATPOST
Pretty useless in reliability, this post drops its travel and has play by the country mile but I leave it on because its simple under–seat lever allows rapid seat height changes without any of the faff that comes with internal or external cabling to bar. No cables to tighten, no oil to bleed no cable mess on the decks. Like I said, useless but simple, and I’m not even sure they make it any longer.

EASTON HAVOC BAR/FSA GRAVITY LITE STEM/BONTRAGER RACE LITE GRIP
At 750mm it is not the widest bar, but it is a good shape and the grip a good all–weather option. The 35mm FSA Gravity Lite stem was short and sweet, and run upside down.

ROOKIE OPINION

DYLAN JENKINS, YSTRADGYNLAIS
“I’ve been riding a 26” Orange 5 for a considerable number of years now, so I was pretty excited to find out what all the fuss was about with these 29” wheeled bikes. So from never riding a 29er, to a weekend away with the boys riding the Coed Y Brenin and Climax/Dyfi trails, I was pretty revved up.
I’d heard all these stories about getting used to the feel, but as soon as I got on the bike, I felt at home. The only way to see what was going on was to hammer the trails. First thing I noticed on the singletrack out from the trail centre was how easy it just rode the bumps and holes that my mates were getting hammered with. I found that the Five suffers when pedalling these types of sections with ground clearance and I’m constantly smacking the pedals when I’m pushing, but the Tracer just oozed confidence and I just kept pedalling through the section with ease.
As soon as I pointed it downhill it was big smiles all day. I didn’t feel as though I was going any quicker, until I got to the end of a section and I was standing there on my own! Some of the lads are no slouches and it’s normally me pedalling like crazy to keep up! The Cane Creek coil shock just eats up every bump, it’s so smooth and just gives you loads of confidence to push on quicker and quicker. If it’s predominantly trail centres you ride, then I think it would have to be a 29er all the way.”

VERDICT
Like bees leaving the hive, riders are now swarming, seeking new wheel size options, hanging onto whatever they can find, sticking to their mates. The Trek Remedy, Specialized Enduro or Stumpy Evo, Yeti SB95 (although a bit thin on travel), Cube Stereo HPC 140 SLT all offer up some form of competition for the Tracer, but its burliness keeps it slightly ahead of these. Intense say the Tracer 29 was the first long travel trail/AM 29” bike and that the industry wasn’t really ready for it back in 2009. I believe many are still not ready for it.

Price: $2,280
www.intensecycles.com
www.extrauk.co.uk