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Intense morals; allegedly

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
While I obviously cannot speak for Europeans, but as a Murican, I can say what I and many of my compatriots think of various imported products -

* Zee Germans: Audi and Mercedes vehicles with quality issues that would make mid-90s Hyundai owners feel pretty good about their cars...but at least theres Cube bikes, which as we know is the very definition of quality!

* Swiss: Scott bikes! Those things never break all the time, and they had some great ideas about which shocks to use...Genius even.

* England: Landrovers - the most elegant, if expensive, raging bonfire starter kit ever. But hey, they do have Orange bikes, so at least there's that.

Point being, shit products can come from anywhere. Quite frankly, I haven't thought of Intense as a truly "American" bike company ever since they started making carbon bikes and moving production to Asia, no different than Specialized, Santa Cruz or Trek (NTTAWWT). When I think American bike company, I think Guerrilla Gravity, which to be fair probably has a tiny (if any) presence in Europe.
and Foes.....and Lenz.....
 

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
Only because American cars. Other stuff made in murica is pretty decent.
what else do we make here?

guns. We make good guns

Food? IDK, everything in my grocery store comes from Chile or Vietnam.

Drugs? Good weed, but even our Oxy is made of shore

tech? Whateverthefuckthatis............

paper value in stocks? I think we do that really really well.

clothes? you must be joking

solar panels? Good luck with that against china....

We can't really make shit products because we don't make any........
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
but few people believe you can succeed in the market without carbon. I get beat up about it all the time.
I wonder why people think that way. How much lighter can a frame realistically be in carbon?

I had approached Jeff about making my alu bikes in his factory. He had just sold his heat treat equipment, which the state of Cali was making him remove anyway. And the rest of his alu production equipment as well.
Did they ever consider this? The only time I know they were making stuff for others was this Haro deal, early 2000's.

That's part of the problem. We're almost not allowed to make stuff in 'murica.
Sad but true! What is worse is that all the knowledge gets lost as well. All these little details that you are only aware of if you have made things yourself and that never make it into manuals or training videos.
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,379
12,533
In a van.... down by the river
what else do we make here?

guns. We make good guns

Food? IDK, everything in my grocery store comes from Chile or Vietnam.

Drugs? Good weed, but even our Oxy is made of shore

tech? Whateverthefuckthatis............

paper value in stocks? I think we do that really really well.

clothes? you must be joking

solar panels? Good luck with that against china....

We can't really make shit products because we don't make any........
Entertainment. We make entertainment...
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,241
20,022
Sleazattle
Apparently it has been reported that supposedly the apparent firing of Intense employees was ostensibly and putatively accounted by several possibly theoretically self-styled news outlets.
Allegedly.
 

Sandro

Terrified of Cucumbers
Nov 12, 2006
3,224
2,537
The old world
The US isn't exactly Britain in terms of ditching their entire manufacturing industry. This is made in America, allegedly:



And the next time i need a nuclear aircraft carrier, i'm definitely buying American.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
In that case i'll have to take my money to Spain to buy an Unno frame instead. But in all seriousness, quite a few people on here work for companies that still manufacture actual products in the U.S.
i'm talking specifically about the nimitz class supercarriers. my dad worked on the reactors for them.

edit: i was unaware of the new ford class carriers. been out of the loop on these subjects since my old man retired. fun fact he once got to drive/steer a nuclear submarine that he worked on the reactor for.
 

KenW449

Thanos did nothing wrong
Jun 13, 2017
2,704
329
Floating down the whiskey river...
i'm talking specifically about the nimitz class supercarriers. my dad worked on the reactors for them.

edit: i was unaware of the new ford class carriers. been out of the loop on these subjects since my old man retired. fun fact he once got to drive/steer a nuclear submarine that he worked on the reactor for.
Hence the half part, we stopped making those 42 years ago. But we are still in production of carriers.
 

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
In that case i'll have to take my money to Spain to buy an Unno frame instead. But in all seriousness, quite a few people on here work for companies that still manufacture actual products in the U.S.
Yes, I know. I was being a dick because we make shitty cars and I can't afford to make my bikes here.

We make good planes and rockets.

And we make a lot of STUFF. I live in Indiana, one of the most mfg states in the U.S. We make good race cars. But they're not cheap.

And therein lies another part of the problem. We CAN make good stuff. Hell, we can make GREAT stuff.

But the minimum wage in china is $60/month. That's why big bike companies (and everybody else) are building factories in Vietnam and Cambodia, where is's only $30/month.
 

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
We make tanks in Ohio that are no longer used or sold. why? Jobs. Politics. Get elected. The rational I heard was "it is cheaper to keep it running and producing useless tanks than closing and starting it up again at a later date."
 

StiHacka

Compensating for something
Jan 4, 2013
21,560
12,504
In hell. Welcome!
i don't believe those are still in production.
i'm talking specifically about the nimitz class supercarriers. my dad worked on the reactors for them.

edit: i was unaware of the new ford class carriers. been out of the loop on these subjects since my old man retired. fun fact he once got to drive/steer a nuclear submarine that he worked on the reactor for.
Ford class is basically Nimitz with boost, plus tires and metric shocks.
 

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
I wonder why people think that way. How much lighter can a frame realistically be in carbon?



Did they ever consider this? The only time I know they were making stuff for others was this Haro deal, early 2000's.



Sad but true! What is worse is that all the knowledge gets lost as well. All these little details that you are only aware of if you have made things yourself and that never make it into manuals or training videos.
People think that way because they're told to. It's crazy, of course carbon can be light, but my 160 mm travel bikes, with not the lightest parts (DVO sus, alum wheels) end up being 30-31 lbs with pedals. If I put light parts on, I can get it under 30 easy, maybe 28 lbs. Go look at the Vital reviews of all the latest carbon superbikes in the category. Very few are below 30 lbs and most are around 32. And $7000 ad up.

I think they all had to start porking up the carbon frames to make up for manufacturing inconsistency.

I think I just missed with Jeff. I've known him for a long time, I think he would have loved to help and keep his mfg options open. But I was too late. And maybe the sate of Cali was making it very difficult to make stuff. A ledge a bully.

My son can run a manual lathe and mill. He's rebuilt carbs and ignition points distributors. and engines.

When the sunspot storm kills all computers and electronics, he'll be king.
 

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,346
190
Vancouver
Some other stuff Canada makes really well:

-weed
-terrorists (or they move here and we make them better)
-high taxes
-health care system that sorta, somewhat, not really works
-allowing foreign money to drive up housing costs to the point where areas of the country are unaffordable unless you're super rich

I agree though, I always thought carbon frames would be crazy light but you can get an aluminum bike pretty close to carbon bike weight.
 
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jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
Some other stuff Canada makes really well:

-weed
-terrorists (or they move here and we make them better)
-high taxes
-health care system that sorta, somewhat, not really works
-allowing foreign money to drive up housing costs to the point where areas of the country are unaffordable unless you're super rich
so it's like america but instead of meth and painkillers its weed
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,192
19,158
Canaderp
so it's like america but instead of meth and painkillers its weed
nah, its like America, complete with the meth and painkillers, just with less literal killers and a few polar bears tossed in for fun. I mean, up until perhaps later this year, weed is more legal down there than it is up here.

Did anyone here see what the minimum wage is here in Ontario now? lol's
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
nah, its like America, complete with the meth and painkillers, just with less literal killers and a few polar bears tossed in for fun. I mean, up until perhaps later this year, weed is more legal down there than it is up here.

Did anyone here see what the minimum wage is here in Ontario now? lol's
sorry, eh. buddy.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,241
20,022
Sleazattle
Pretty sure that have been two mass murders recently in china using knives.
Imagine how much worse it would have been if they had a bunch of guns.

Fewer people in China are murdered each year by any means than are murdered in the US with guns. Last I checked they had a whole lot of people too.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
A thread about Intense turns into a gun discussion....mmh, has this something to do that they are 'murican or the name of their bikes? ;)
 

Tantrum Cycles

Turbo Monkey
Jun 29, 2016
1,143
503
I believe Switzerland ranks #1 for guns per capita. That's what kept Hitler from invading. But they have one of the lowest gun crime rates.

I'm not a gun nut, just the facts.

So....larger population of assholes, more chance of that......

better

On the other hand, I'm sure Jeff was told by his advisors or ceo or whatever that he needed to switch to all carbon. He's not a snake or a con artist. More like an artist trying to make a living. Like Brent Foes. But Brent, I'm pretty sure, still welds all his frames himself. And prides himself on "made in 'murica"

Jeff did too. But Brent stayed small and Jeff grew. I'm guessing he has shareholders and boards of directors and all kinds of people to make happy. Maybe that's why he fired the ceo and took it back. Who knows. I have no info, just sayin.

And all these investors want "growth". They can't stand carving out your market share and rolling along. So it becomes less of an "art" and more of a biz. I'll bet any money Niner was in the same boat.

You get money from people so you can grow, then you are obligated to keep them happy. And maybe you overreach, misjudge the market or just plain get bloated. I really don't know whether to feel good or bad for niner...being bought by Huffy....time will tell

Brent Foes does what the hell he wants. And makes high end camera trolleys for the movie industry on the side. Not to mention used to make bad-ass Baja Trophy trucks. A true old school artist fabricator till the end.

But I can't get him to race either. or Jeff.