The XC1, despite its working title, errs on the side of predictable trail handling rather than out-and-out cross-country performance. That’s thanks to Intense’s love of sticky C3 rubber and a tubeless-ready carcass that tips the scales at 810g – rather than the 698g claimed.
We opted for a tubeless setup, and suggest potential owners do the same to unlock the best of the XC1. Adding a tube simply mutes the lively, responsive feel.
We fitted this tyre primarily to front wheels to give a broad-shouldered, predictable ride, and it gave plenty of useful feedback in the corners. It will work in the rear, but on dry trails we didn’t need all that tread.
Its large-for-its-stated-size volume helps add a good amount of extra suspension too – hardtail riders take note. And because the carcass isn’t super-thin you can run it fairly soft without too much flexing and rolling.
The tread hooks up to most dirt types, although in deep cack we like something more open. We’d like a 1.9 or 2.0in version with finer tread to complement this one for rear use. One for adventuring trail riders.
This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.