Throwback Thursdays #3: Intense M1

Intense is a brand that's synonymous with quality, good old American craftsmanship, exclusivity and the M1. The M1 was Intense's flagship downhill model from 1994 to 2004, and was undoubtedly the most wanted downhill bike of its era.

The legendary Intense M1. Photo retrieved from Wikipedia Commons, labeled for reuse.

Many people consider the Intense M1 to be the first modern downhill bike. With 8" of rear wheel travel and geometry that still wouldn't be completely out of place today, the M1 shook up the downhill market like no other product ever has, and probably ever will. It came along at the perfect time - downhill racing was really taking off and manufacturers were launching factory teams before they even had a downhill bike in their lineup. The Intense M1 was rebadged countless times by other manufacturers; if riders wanted to be competitive, they had to have an M1. Of course, Intense wasn't about to let all the other brands win everything on the bike they had built. A number of huge names raced on the Intense Factory team at some point in their career to much success; Shaun Palmer, Michael Ronning, Chris Kovarik and even Sam Hill. The Intense M1 propelled riders to some of the most memorable wins in downhill racing history.

Chris Kovarik - 2002, Fort William World Cup

Chris Kovarik in 2002. He still holds the record for the largest winning margin in World Cup history.
Photo retrieved from Vital MTB, labeled for reuse.

Perhaps the most recognisable Intense rider of all time is Chris Kovarik. Since the year 2000 the burly Australian has raced for Intense, building a special relationship that still lasts to this day. His most successful year would definitely be 2002, for it will always be remembered as the year that Chris Kovarik annihilated the field at the Fort William World Cup. On a gloomy Scottish Sunday afternoon, things weren't looking good for the spectators. Their hero, Brit Steve Peat, had failed to take the lead when he came down and the 'Alien', Nico Vouilloz, was sitting comfortably in the hot seat. Only the fastest qualifier, Kovarik, was left making his way down the hill. The commentator at the bottom of the hill gloomily announced 'ergh, we should see him come into view in about 14 seconds-', when suddenly, Kovarik appeared out of the mist. The crowd erupted, having no idea what was happening, but they knew they were witnessing something special. As he cleared the final jumps and crossed the finish line, the timing system read -14 seconds; something we'll probably never see again in a World Cup final. The 10 time world champ Nico Vouilloz could only shake his head in disbelief, having no idea how Kovarik had pulled out 14 seconds on him and the rest of the field, in a sport where races are usually won by fractions of a second. Kovarik later said that his run was 'pretty on the edge'. Animal.

Greg Minnaar - 2003, Lugano World Championships

Minnaar in 2003 on his Haro DHR - a rebadged Intense M1.
Photo retrieved from Vital MTB, labeled for reuse.

If you know your mountain bike history, you're probably thinking - hang on, Greg Minnaar never raced for Intense? And you'd be completely correct, he never did. Approaching 2003, the young South African was on the rise, having won the World Cup overall in 2001 at the mere age of 19. For 2003 he was signed to bicycle giant Haro, a name you don't usually associate with downhill racing. However, Haro had a plan - Minnaar would race on rebadged Intense M1 frames, still widely considered one of the fastest downhill bikes on the planet. And it paid off. The World Championships rolled around and Minnaar was quietly confident, later saying that the World Championships had been his focus for that year. Ten time world champion Nico Vouilloz had dominated up to that point, having won most recently in 2001 and 2002. 2003 would prove to be the end of his reign and young Greg Minnaar took the gold in an emphatic win. He said afterwards 'I didn't think my time was going to last until the last rider was pedaling to the line and I could see he wasn't going to beat my time'. It would be Minnaars first World Championship title, the next coming a staggering 9 years later in 2012.

Greg Minnaars World Championship win solidified the M1's decade of domination and was a suitable way to pass the mantle onto Intense's next downhill bike, the M3. However, the M1 will always be remembered for the way it dominated world downhill racing, and will still remain a 'poster' bike in the minds of many who yearned so dearly for it through all those years.