I had an Intense Carbine 29r frame in my basement for 3 years as I collected parts when I could afford them. It was tedious to see her lying their, surrounded by an ever-growing collection of bike parts and boxes. Two years back, I began a search for someone to build this bike, as my *expert* took a hike out of my life (you know, personal stuff). I decided on a shop in downtown Minneapolis where I had work done before, got the build order going with a guy named Chuck (hmmm) but life got in the way and another year went by. So, there I was riding back from Mammoth on the pavement that goes over Highway 41 and spied this *new* bike shop. I decided to have a look and was greeted by not one person, but two. I had a great conversation with Dave and Todd, who said that a guy named Chuck (another one?) was the best at building anything. Something about all this was very convincing. So I packed up my beautiful frame, wheels and parts, cataloged everything, brought my spec sheets and delivered them to Dave and Todd. Dave ordered the parts that I still needed: headset, bottom bracket, stem, tires, and a lost Shimano XTR rear derailleur. When I talked to Chuck on the phone, he said there wasn't anything that *scared* him on a build and he was incredibly thorough on what we went over. The other incredible thing was...he asked if I was the same person who started a *build* with that other bike shop, because he was that Chuck! It appears he was destined to build my chariot. There were a few part changes necessary as the bike progressed, and the smaller details such as crank boots were found and cable crimps that matched my wheel nipples, not to mention removing the Fox fork and Fox shock decals to replace them with the color that I wanted. Here is another huge thing to me... my missing derailleur was found with my shifter and it was credited back, that was very much appreciated!
Lets just say it was one of the best days I have had in years when I saw this beautiful frame come to life. It was way more stunning then I could have imagined, not a scratch anywhere (I also asked Chuck to remove the shock it came with and replaced it with a Fox). This weekend I will finally ride my ultimate bike. Thank you for such an amazing job and stellar customer service. If you want someone to build you a sweet mountainbike, Chuck is the one! read more