John Hall and the Intense M1 Downhill Bike with a Pinion Gearbox 12

John Hall, R&D man at Intense Cycles, administrative assistant for the SoCal Speed team and Aaron Gwin's former mechanic, showed up to the first-ever Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series race with a prototype Intense M1 downhill bike that had a Pinion gearbox wedged into it. When we talked with John last spring, he had the prototype M1 on-hand but also had a different gearbox-equipped bike with him, hinting at the possibility of integrating it into an Intense frame. Fast-forward a year and here we are with the bike in the flesh.

Here's the thing though. John is really good at teasing and keeping us all guessing. This weekend was no different. We could see the bike and gossip about it, but he wasn't willing to say anything specific about it at all. The one off-record thing we learned is that since the YT days with Aaron, he's always wanted to get a gearbox into a DH bike he was working with. Welp, consider it a dream come true. Will we see it on the World Cup circuit in the future? We hope so, but time will tell.

photos and interview by Jack Rice