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Budget DH, Intense M3

C

-C-

Monkey
May 27, 2007
296
10
take one shagged out & shafted Intense M3, that had seen better days and;

1. Strip it down, sell on all the old cr*p that you have no use for.
2. Give it a Nitromors bath, and get friendly with the wire wool & various brushes.
3. Knock out all the old knackered bearings.
4. Replace the lot, along with the worn linkage bolts from the spare parts bin.
5. Throw the old Manitou 6 way in the bin, swap it with the spare DHX kicking around.
6. Replace the stickers, and built it back up again, raiding the spare parts bin & taking advantage of a couple of bargins along the way.

And finally, stand back and bask in the glory of the creation, that cost a sum total of £580 to build, or the equivalent of US $1200 :crazy:

How's that for the bargin of the century!

It came about because my girlfriend has started racing, and riding a 'freeride' bike with a scary high BB & all the wrong angles wasn't really ideal for her, so we started scouring the classifieds for bargins to put together a DH bike for her to race on, and take to France, and 3 months later, this was the end result...

Spec is:
Intense M3, small, raw finish.
Fox DHX5 coil
2008 Rock Shox Boxxer Team
Funn direct mount stem
Easton EA70 bars
Chris King headset
Thompson Elite seatpost
SDG Bel Air Ti seat
SRAM X9 groupset
Shimano XT cranks/BB/ E13 36T chainring
Easton Flatboy pedals
E13 LG1
Formula Oro K24 brakes, 203mm front, 185mm rear
Burgtec hubs onto Mavic 721 rims, DT DB spokes
Maxxis Minion ST tyres, Maxxis flyweight tubes.

Thats about it, weighed it for a giggle & it was 39.2lbs, which isn't bad considering no real effort was made to save weght, I reckon there is a good 2 or 3lbs that could come off it :)

Very pleased with how its come out.





 
ire

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
Nice! Looks like we have lots of budget minded people now that prices are increasing on everything else
 
norbar

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,369
1,605
Warsaw :/
The frame might be good priced. Especialy for uk prices but the build. Faar from budget. Especialy with burgtec, thompson etc.
 
sbstianfreeride

sbstianfreeride

Monkey
Apr 16, 2005
457
0
Charlotte, NC
if i where you i would raise the seat up about an inch the least. or else your gonna kill your saddle with the tire. Then you can move the seat back a bit so it will be more comfortable. I have a small m3, thats why i tell you this.
 
Demomonkey

Demomonkey

Monkey
Apr 27, 2005
857
0
Auckland New Zealand
Nice build. Your GF has a very bling build for a beginner racer.

Seeing your 'works' finish is making me consider the same for my Sunday which is stripped and waiting for a dip - a skinny dipper no less.....duh, excuse my lame jokes.
 
DirtMcGirk

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
That's really solid work.

Did you seal the frame with anything after stripping it down?
 
Vena

Vena

Monkey
Aug 30, 2007
103
0
Italy
It doesnt look exactly like a budget bike...
Burgtec hub, chris king, thomson and so on...

but definatly a really sick bike! Your GF will be proud of her new bike!
 
C

-C-

Monkey
May 27, 2007
296
10
sbstianfreeride said:
if i where you i would raise the seat up about an inch the least. or else your gonna kill your saddle with the tire. Then you can move the seat back a bit so it will be more comfortable. I have a small m3, thats why i tell you this.
Click to expand...
Yep, I noticed the tyre buzz when dry building it to check all the bearings were smooth with no play. I'll have a play with the seat height & see if I can get it back on the rails a bit.

Frame was not sealed after it was raw'd, same as the standard Intense raw, just looks a bit more worn than my Socom, probably because its that bit older & was attacked with various brushes.

Ref the build though, I never suggested the parts were budget, just the built cost :biggrin:

I think it just goes to show, with a bit of patience, some bargin hunting & taking advantage of the poor US$ works quite well for us right now, which makes a nice change!

First outing is next weekend at a regional. Lets hope I put it together properly!
 
Cant Climb

Cant Climb

Turbo Monkey
May 9, 2004
2,683
10
Great job on the reFurb....

One question: What technique did you sue to get the lower front trianlge bearings out..?...just curious, they are tough to get out...
 
C

-C-

Monkey
May 27, 2007
296
10
I used a heat gun to slowly warm the frame around the area, and then using a punch, tapped it out from the other side.

The spacer part sitting in the middle moves enough so you can get enough of the surface onto the bearing to tap it out. Nice & easy!
 
Cant Climb

Cant Climb

Turbo Monkey
May 9, 2004
2,683
10
-C- said:
I used a heat gun to slowly warm the frame around the area, and then using a punch, tapped it out from the other side.

The spacer part sitting in the middle moves enough so you can get enough of the surface onto the bearing to tap it out. Nice & easy!
Click to expand...
Thanks.
Will give that a try....heat gun sounds like a good idea....
 
Over-x

Over-x

Chimp
Apr 5, 2008
6
0
wow.. what a build for the money. Congratulations.

i have an m3 S too, still building it with some doubts, its not an easy frame to fit parts.

i'm 5.7 tall, what do you think of getting a seatback seatpost? is it confortable for dh riding? or complicates the movement on the bike?

cheers ;)
 
H

Henky_Z

Chimp
Oct 31, 2007
3
0
Great bike! good move to swich the rear shock. I love that (non)color. (Did it on my m3 also:brows:) The frame is that one with the 73 bracket? I find it hard to find some cranks, seems the XT's will work, right?
Over-X, I won't do the setback seatpost, the seat is leaning backwards enough allready. the tire can even hit your seat if it's to low with a normal seat post.
 
B

blackspire

Monkey
Jul 19, 2007
115
0
If I had a spare parts bin like you I would just change the 5th on my Bullit to a working shock like a DHX 5...

Your intense obviously isn't budget anywhere at all. It's a sweet bike.
 
C

-C-

Monkey
May 27, 2007
296
10
Wow, thread resurected from the dead!

Actually the frame is shortly about to be up for sale. My girlfriend is just about 5"8 and she thinks its way to small for her. I tend to agree, it feels really unstable at speed. It seems a very twitchy bike to ride, and she's not very confident at all on it, probably something to do with the silly short top tube.

She's right on the S/M frame size for most manufacturers, so it looks like its going to be a M of whatever next. She's got her eye on my Socom to have a go on, and I kind of think it may well be the right bike for her. So she's going to give that a whirl.

However, it leaves a choice as to what to replace the M3 with, as it will be either me or her riding it.

Current list is '08 DHR, '08 Sunday Factory/WC or an M6.

The thing that puts me off the Sunday is the Vivid on the WC, and the spring issues, DHR looks good, as does the M6, which my only concern is it might be a bit much for anything but full on WC courses...

Now the M3 Evo... That could be a nice choice!
 
Last edited:
C

-C-

Monkey
May 27, 2007
296
10
We've been out here since the 20th July, got another week to go. I guess you may have seen us?
 
H

Henky_Z

Chimp
Oct 31, 2007
3
0
-C-, one question, those XT cranks, they'll fit on the M3? or did you have to grind the top of the crank away, like I did now.
 
C

-C-

Monkey
May 27, 2007
296
10
The cranks fit fine, with a spacer on the drive side.

The chain line is a bit rubbish with a 150mm back end, and also pretty poor with the 135 because the chain runs very close to the upright between the chain & seat stay.
 
W

wiscodh

Monkey
Jun 21, 2007
833
121
303
went from a small socom last season to a med sunday this year. couldnt be happier. i am 5'8 too, right in the middle of sizing. Like you said the small felt unstable and the med is good.
 
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