Pro Bike: Daryl Brown’s INTENSE Primer 275
You probably haven’t seen an INTENSE Primer quite like this one before! The Primer is really a trail bike and it is the most versatile model in our range, “With 140mm of rear wheel travel and 150mm up front we have designed a bike with trail-flattening speed, that is assured and balanced, nimble and fun. The Primer is a bike that is equally at home on long all-day rides, laps in your local woods or multi-day adventures.”
But that is not what team rider Daryl Brown uses his Primer 275 for… oh no. You see Daryl is super talented on a bike, he can pretty much make it do whatever he wants. He’s got a bag full of tricks, a great turn of speed and he likes to go big, very big. In fact Daryl holds the Guinness World Record for the Highest Air on a Mountain Bike at 7.9 meters! He doesn’t mess around.
Hi Daryl, so tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m a Pro MTB Rider with INTENSE, and I’ve been with them for almost two years now. I live in Hailsham, East Sussex. Which is in the South East of England, an hour from London.
You ride a size Small Primer?
I actually have two Primers – this one is size small, which is my 27.5” play bike, and my second one is the 29er, which is a medium and suits my height at 5ft 11. There currently seems to be a fashion for riding massive frames, but I would always rather size down than up, it’s more playful that way.
How would you describe your riding style?
Fast, controlled, taking calculated risks rather than being a sender! Well most of the time... ha ha.
So your Primer 275, can you tell us a bit about the riding you do on it?
I would say this is my do-it-all bike – dirt jumps, pumptrack, skatepark, freeride, racing, trail riding – it can do it all really, and being a small I can really throw it around.
So is this isn’t really just purely your dirt jump bike then?
Not really. This bike was built for me to use at the Crankworx Speed and Style event. However due to Covid that has sort of gone out the window for this year unfortunately.
Do you know what the weight of the bike is?
It is super lightweight – 12.4kg used the be the weight of a light dirt jump hardtail bike, now that’s what this bike weighs! It’s pretty mental really. It feels just like a Slopestyle bike but just with 27.5” wheels.
So the Primer is our 140mm Trail bike, but this is not your usual looking trail bike? To most people this might look pretty odd?
It does look pretty different and it always gets lots of comments. People love it and I think it really stands out.
Can you tell us about the front and rear brake routing?
The rear brake cable is about a meter long with a braided hose so it can be wrapped around the stem and then unraveled when I do tailwhips and barspins. This works really well and I have used this technique for years on my dirt jump bikes. The front brake cable routes though the steerer tube with a fancy top cap which has been drilled to allow a cable to go through it. This again means that I can spin the bars without the cables getting tangled.
And what is the rear shifter doing on the downtube?
Unless you run an electric gear set up it’s a real struggle to keep your shifter on the handlebars without ruining your cable in seconds. So the next best thing is to use the bottle cage mounts. That way I can still run gears without destroying the cable.
How do you set up your suspension?
A couple of tokens in both and set up pretty hard for what I am using the bike for. I do adjust it depending on what I am riding, so it’s always changing.
Do you ever take this bike just ‘trail’ riding, as it was intended?
One of my favorite local spots is a place with some techie berms and small jumps and I always take this bike.
Flat pedals obviously, but have you ever ridden clipped-in?
I’ve never actually ridden clipped-in, but it’s something that I would love to give a go at some point. I’m not sure when that would be, but I would like the challenge!
Do you have a favorite part on the bike?
The frame design, the color scheme and the fact it is carbon.
What about your tires, do you change them up at all depending on conditions or where you are riding?
Yes I’m always changing it up, depending on what I am riding and when. For dirt jumps I would set them to 55psi, trail riding 27psi front and anywhere up to 35psi for the rear depending on how hard I am riding. I hate blowing the tire off the rim miles away from the van, ha ha.
Obviously 2020 has been a crazy year so far, but do you have any competitions or events on the horizon?
There is still not one date that is 100%, so 2020 has been a pretty exceptional year, which I hope will never be repeated again. It has been great to be home for longer than usual, however I’m ready to go back racing and to freeride events again.
What does INTENSE mean to you?
It’s great to part of a brand that has so much racing heritage. I also love the fact that Jeff still makes all the prototypes and designs from the ground up. That’s pretty rare to find these days.
| Frame: | INTENSE Primer 27.5, size Small |
| Shock: | FOX Float DPX2, 140mm |
| Fork: | FOX 34 Factory, 140mm |
| Bars: | ENVE 35mm Carbon, 760mm wide |
| Stem: | Industry Nine A35, 35mm |
| Grips: | Fabric 50to01 |
| Headset: | Canecreek |
| Shifter: | SRAM GX Eagle |
| Rear Mech: | SRAM 7 speed |
| Brakes: | SHIMANO XT, 4 pot |
| Seat: | Fabric Scope |
| Crankset: | Truvativ, 165mm |
| Chainring: | Truvativ, 34 teeth |
| Cassette: | SRAM, 7 speed |
| Chain: | KMC Lightweight |
| Pedals: | DMR V12 Mags |
| Wheelset: | Industry Nine 300 rims with Hydra hubs |
| Tires: | Schwalbe Racing Ralphs |