First Look: Intend's Upside Down XC Fork Uses a Carbon-Tubed Damper
High-end mountain bike suspension isn't exactly holding most of us back, but what if you're looking for something a bit more exotic? That's when you might turn to someone like Cornelius Kapfinger, founder of Intend Bicycle Components and very-low volume maker of boutique suspension forks, shocks, and other parts. Intend is probably best known for inverted forks, and today the German company is releasing their short-travel Samurai which is available in four distinct configurations.
We first saw the Samurai at Eurobike and on the front of one of Dangerholm's crazy creations, but we've got all the details in this third look, including on the carbon-equipped CC model that weighs just 1,390-grams. The XC fork uses a RockShox Charger RD damper and also has 120mm of travel, while the 130mm TR model gets Intend's own damper cartridge for riders looking for more travel. If you're wanting the opposite, there's even a Samurai GR for the front of your gravel bike.
The XC and GR forks cost 1649 €, the TR model is 1799 €, and the CC will sell for 1949 € when it's eventually available.
The XC and GR forks cost 1649 €, the TR model is 1799 €, and the CC will sell for 1949 € when it's eventually available.
Samurai details
• Intended use: Trail, cross-country, gravel
• Travel: 120 - 130mm
• Air-sprung
• CC, XC, GR require RockShox Charger RD damper (rebound, lockout, LSC)
• TR comes w/ Intend damper (rebound, LSC)
• Weight: 1,390 - 1,555 grams
• MSRP: 1649 € - 1949 €
• More info: www.intend-bc.com
• Intended use: Trail, cross-country, gravel
• Travel: 120 - 130mm
• Air-sprung
• CC, XC, GR require RockShox Charger RD damper (rebound, lockout, LSC)
• TR comes w/ Intend damper (rebound, LSC)
• Weight: 1,390 - 1,555 grams
• MSRP: 1649 € - 1949 €
• More info: www.intend-bc.com
Yeah, but is there carbon inside of your fork?
Samurai Models
Samurai TR - The 130mm TR is the fork for more aggressive riding, Intend says, and it skips the RockShox Charger Race Day damper for one of the German brand's own designs in order to get that extra 10mm of stroke. The body is a carbon fiber tube, because of course it is, and it offers rebound and low-speed compression adjustments but not the external lock-out lever found at the top of the Race Day unit. Essentially, it's a tiny version of what's used inside Intend's Hero trail bike fork, but in a 130mm-package that can be lowered down to just 80mm in 10mm increments. The TR costs 1799 € ready to ride.
Samurai XC - The 1,515-gram XC fork uses the same chassis as the TR but there are two important differences: It has 120mm of travel and requires RockShox's excellent Charger Race Day damper with lockout control that can be had on the fork crown or the handlebar... But you'll need to find your own Charger damper because the XC doesn't come with its own. Like the other Samurais, it also gets the updated crown and dropouts, and it can be fitted with the also-new 180mm post-mount brake adapter. The damper-less XC costs 1649 €.
The 130mm Samurai TR is air-sprung and uses Intend's own damper.
If gravel isn't weird enough, here's an inverted fork with 50mm of travel.
Samurai CC and GR - Riders wanting all the fancy and less weight might be into the Samurai that comes with a carbon fiber steerer tube from suspension outfit ND Tuned that weighs around 95 grams. That's roughly half the weight of an alloy steerer, which ND Tuned also offers for those who may have only measured once before cutting... The other carbon bits on the CC are the hose guides that Intend sourced from HOPP Carbon Parts. The 120mm CC also needs RockShox's Charger damper that not only has a lockout lever but, very conveniently, weighs 30 grams less than Intend's version.
All that adds up to just 1,390 grams (with the flat mount), making it one of the lightest 120mm forks on the market. The CC costs 1949 € (not including the Charger damper) and will be available later this year.
Weighing more but having just 50mm of travel, the 1,450-gram Samurai GR is ideal for your no-holds-barred curly-bar build that needs a ton of tire clearance. It retails for 1649 € but, like the XC and CC forks, you'll need to also source your own RockShox Charger damper.
All the new forks use updated crowns and dropouts.
The Samurai CC gets a carbon steerer tube and weighs just 1,390 grams.
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That is some beautiful machining, or molding, or whatever they did to turn out such a perfect-looking piece of
fork-art.
I'd be scared to ride such a beauty!
Seriously, gravel bikes are probably some of the most eye-roll inducing things since calling regular bikes “acoustic”
@andrewbikeguide : Is that a reasonable assumption? Sure it is likely to be an XC racer who gets the fork but the SID is only one of the models on the circuit, isn't it? If it is a large fraction of them then yeah, it seems fair that SID owners can save a little and at least recycle part of their fork. But from what I read, it wouldn't be odd to assume that the very reason someone replaces a SID fork is because of that very damper cartridge. Replace the entire fork but keep that one part that they hate.
Luckily, nothing is wasted. They won't build a fork they won't sell so it doesn't hurt to have the option I suppose.
Why yes there is. Fork oil has carbon, the air I inflate it with has carbon, all the O rings probably have carbon, even a coil spring most likely is high carbon steel!
And if so, is there a definitive reason for this? Someone once mentioned the lack of a fork brace, then another says that the thin wall tubes are stiffer than the lowers..
Great, but when most all motorized 2 wheel race machinery on this planet run USD forks, why is it so taboo for bikes again?
But then again, I am not a Pro.
Maybe, but if you replaced the previous fork on the same bike with the Intend fork, you may the leading expert on that specific swap!
I think I remember USD motorbike forks being heavier when they came along. And I believe the upper tubes were huge compared to the forks they replaced.
But I also remember complaints of USD forks being too stiff, hence my confusion.
It took Honda many year to go USD on the XR650. That, and dumping the steel frame for aluminum made it more of a racer rather than a “play bike”.
I think overall stiffness can be higher on a triple clamped USD fork but from a weight efficiency per unit stiffness point of view RWU is still better (Weight was reason why original fireblade had RWU)
I guess then that on motorbikes overall stiffness became a priority over a bit of extra weight...or just that the fireblade was an exception.
My understanding is a USD single crown will just be either be flexier or heavier due to lack of brace ...which becimes more important on a single crown fork (as you mention). I also think they look rank!
Yes the lack of a bridge makes the structure significantly less stiff on an USD fork.You can overcome that by over-engineering the tubes and axles. Crconception made a fork as stiff as a standard fork, before disappearing.
I think intend makes some quite flexy forks compared to others by a significant margin on a lab test. But the total torsional stiffness of your steering is driven by the front wheel in most of the events. So there is a good chance you can't feel much difference on a blind test; specially with XC wheels and tires.
If you can't feel the lack of stiffness of a fox 36 relative to a rockshox 32 mm chassis, there is a huge chance you can't feel some of the USD forks lack of stiffness. Some, on the other hand, are a joke, like the shiver SC 2003 that can't even brake in a straight line.
When you reach elite status, that's when torsion matters.
This seems like more of Mtn bike following Moto weirdness..
I wouldn’t compare if this parallel didn’t exist. It almost seems like the more “Moto” a bike looks, the better it “must” be.
Yeah, the weight penalty is real, so now we have carbon uppers. Anything to keep the Moto in biking,
Yup!
When the alum frames first came out from Honda (1997) nobody liked it....too stiff. Lots of bikes still use steel, particularly the KTM/Husq/GG, they are every bit as racy as the alum ones.
I know a guy who owns the same fork and also has a Fox36 (both 160mm) and he only feels a difference in lateral stiffness when he uses a front wheel with a carbon rim.
I think there is a lot of benefit for USD forks in MTB, but may not be as big of deal as moto and may not be worth the $ relative to how big of a difference it will make on a MTB.
Of the people I've known that had the Shiver's back in they day, they all liked them, I think the 'flexy' rumor is more rumor that reality. I didn't find them flexy when I rode them nor did many.
The "flexy rumor" isn't a rumor considering the shiver SC. I have one from 2003. it's in my house right now. You can't brake in straight line because that's enough to twist the fork. I had to find a 160mm adapter from the era to ride it as 203mm was a joke. But being USD isn't the only shit engineering that cause it, but I never had another fork that noodly ever. More recent ones (204 or 2005+) have been corrected so they may be a bit better. The DC were ok. the SC from 2003, you have to turn your bar 15-20° more than where you want your wheel to be, and before you want to turn. That's insane and not an exaggeration. I should have filmed it when I could.
These forks has well adjusted sliding bushings and open bath cartridge, metal coils. They were "striction free" for the era (still not garbage today but you can find much better now). so of course you'll find people that liked them. Hey, I'd love riding mine on light trails... If I could find proper 30mm seals.
USD forks can do only one thing on a MTB: increasing bushing overlap if it's a dual crown. That's a huge benefit tho. Any other benefits you can read are often plain false or not as relevant as you'd think.
If there’s nothing to compare then why do professional Mtn bikers train on motorcycles?
Arron Gwin came straight from Moto to dominate, and a lot of guys and gals use Moto bikes for all out speed training.
Hydraulic disc brakes..
Twin tube dampers..
Linkage suspension..
A modern trail bike looks more like a motorcycle than a motorcycle from the early 1980’s!
I sent it as a continuation of your point..
It’s not.
Take a Mtn bike, put an electric motor in it..
Much of the tech from moto has enabled what we see in MTB.....
Or have they prevented any further innovation by protecting the idea with patents?
A nice 30mm axle and 2 beefy pinch bolts per side would surely cure all the torsional flex issues?
Those early 2000s style guards at the steerer tube were hideous and made worse by people calling them "moto style".
Whereas fork arch mudguards, many people run year round now because they are unobtrusive and neat.