Intense Spider 29er – First ride
The On-One 456 is stripped and sold; the Intense Spider 29er is born.
As Matt has been hinting in previous articles I’ve got a bit of a 29er bug. I had quite a sensible range of bikes but I’ve sort of skewed that now as I have the singlespeed (another 29er) and the Orange Five, so my winter hardtail has gone to be replaced by the Spider which immediately has no mud clearance at all. So, the Five will have to take over all-year duties!!
Lets get my initial gripes out of the way. Minor gripe No.1 is the way the rear brake hose bulges out to hit my leg as the suspension compresses. I suspect this is easily cured and may be the way I have the cable routed.
No.2 I actually managed to catch my toes on the front wheel as I turned the bars. Only once but it was a weird feeling.
No.3 There is no mud clearance with Nevegal 2.2 tyres!
No.4 There seems to be a small amount of play in the shock bushings. Again, I need to look at this to make sure everything is tight.
OK, the mud clearance is the only real issue there in my opinion.
What I like about the bike is a lot.
It climbs really well, aided by the fact it rolls well and hence carries a huge amount of pace up the hills as well. It descends really smoothly, taking root steps in its stride. 4″ of travel front and back seems to soak everything up just fine.
It’s also pretty nimble and spritely so I don’t know what all this negative nonsense about 29ers being slow to turn and slow to accelerate about is all about really. I guess if you are a pro-racer it may be there but in the Surrey Hills for a couple of rides a week I think I’m going to like this a lot!
Reba forks work well straight out of the box as does the 3-way Swinger (apart from the small amount of play). The Rebas have a Pushloc which seems to work well and provide a easy lock out facility and the Swinger lever to increase the platform offers a very effective lock out as well.
Additional Intense Spider 29er pictures are on Flickr.
| Frame | Intense Spider 29er 2008 |
|---|---|
| Forks | Reba Race 29er with Pushloc |
| Headset | Hope |
| Bars | On-One Mary |
| Stem | On One 80mm |
| Shifters | Shimano XT |
| Front mech | Shimano Deore |
| Rear mech | Shimano XT |
| Chain | SRAM PC951 |
| Cassette | 2009 Deore 11-32t |
| Chainset | Shimano Deore |
| Front brake | Shimano LX |
| Rear brake | Shimano LX |
| Rims | On One Reetard |
| Hubs | Planet X Superlight (Centrelock) |
| Tyres | Kenda Nevegal 29er |
| Rear Shock | Manitou 3 way Swinger |
| Seatpost | Thomson Elite with a 27.2 to 34.6 shim |
| Saddle | On-One Inbred |
| Pedals | Time Z platform |
About the author
Dave's been riding seriously since about 1997 and is one of the founding Molefathers — along with Matt and Mark — that came up with the idea of a MTB website for Mole Valley riders.
He's had several different bikes but it's now mainly 29ers in Dave's stable, apart from an Orange 5.
Current Bikes: Orange 5, Salsa Spearfish and Kona Big Unit
There are 5 comments on ‘Intense Spider 29er – First ride’
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Richard says:
Nice bike Dave. May just be the picture but the head angle looks really steep.
I had a similar issue with the brake cable on my old spesh enduro. I found that a zip tie securing the brake cable to the rear mech cable (which was on the opposite side of the frame) sorted that out
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Posted on July 28, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Dave says:
Thanks.
It’s 73 degrees which is 2 degrees steeper than the Inbred 29er. Doesn’t feel like it though, just feels responsive and smooth.
Going to look at the cable tie, I suspect if I just tie it further up the swing arm it’ll be better.
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Posted on July 28, 2009 at 4:38 pm
tony says:
hmmm.. chuff all clearance hmmm.. 73degree head angle hmmm.. 29inch wheels …. you’ve passed over to the “dark side and bought a road bike”
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Posted on July 28, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Dave says:
lol!
I’d like to see a road bike go over the roots one Landrover the way the Spider did!
I’d also like to see you fit 2.2 tyres on a road bike!
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Posted on July 28, 2009 at 7:49 pm
tony says:
No I was wrong Dave. I’ve just realised it’s not a road bike…..just look at those bars….It’s a Dutch City Bike!….well with a few bouncy bits. I reckon you could get down Landrover on one.
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Posted on July 28, 2009 at 8:48 pm