Intense Cycles

Tracer 275C Foundation Complete Mountain Bike - 2016

As frame and suspension designs continue to improve, it's getting harder and harder to pigeon-hole mid-travel bikes in continuously blurring categories like trail, XC, or enduro. This is especially true with Intense Cycles' versatile Tracer 275C Foundation Complete Mountain Bike, which lays the bedrock for a successful season of racing or recreation with a competent Shimano build kit and a RockShox Pike fork. If we were pressed to define the Tracer 275C, we might settle on calling it an all-mountain, all-terrain, all-day machine — but we'd rather just let it speak for itself.

Compared to its alloy predecessor, the carbon Tracer further confuses efforts to categorize it by adding 10mm of travel, kicking out the head angle a degree, and lengthening the wheelbase by half an inch. Both the front and rear triangles are constructed as a whole, rather than bonding them together from subassemblies, so the carbon wraps through key joints in a layup that requires less material but still produces a stronger chassis. The frame weight reflects this, registering a claimed 5.3lb for a size medium while maintaining the strength and stiffness necessary for the most aggressive riders to keep it pinned in terrain that would have lesser bikes shaking in their boots.

The Tracer’s geometry sheet makes its intentions crystal clear. With a relaxed head angle, a low bottom bracket, and fairly long wheelbase, it’s built to come alive at high speeds and under gnarly conditions. The oversized collet-style hardware is made in Temecula, CA, and ensures durability and ease of service — a feature that's especially important for home mechanics.