Aaron Gwin & Neko Mulally Join Intense Factory Racing

Rumours of Aaron Gwin and Neko Mulally riding aboard Intense bikes for 2019 have been slung around the forums for months now. But now it's official! The two American racers will join young Australian and veteran Intense team rider, Jack Moir for 2019. Intense has an incredibly steeped history in downhill racing and hope to get back to the processes that made them successful. Top racers on their bikes equate to great R&D, which in turn they hope to turn into even better bikes. 

Jeff Steber, founder and CEO of Intense Cycles, is looking forward to working with the team on new bikes and pushing the brand back to the top of the sport where it once stood proudly. We have an interview with the team dropping anytime now, so stay tuned for more. Until then, the full release from Intense is below. 

January 23rd, 2019

Intense Announces 2019 Factory Race Team

Intense proudly announces the 2019 Intense Factory Racing (IFR) Program. The new roster includes returning IFR team member, Jack Moir (AUS), American National Champion, Neko Mulally (USA) and multi-time World Cup medalist, Aaron Gwin (USA).

“As a brand, we’ve spent the last year doing a lot of soul-searching. It became clear that what made Intense great in the beginning was our commitment to racing. Our biggest benefit was derived from having top riders competing in the most challenging conditions as a part of our R&D process” says Intense founder and CEO, Jeff Steber. “We made a promise to ourselves and to our company, that we would reclaim our spot at the top of the World Cup circuit. As soon as we did that, choosing the roster was easy.”

It’s not always as simple as choosing a roster, though. With so many teams and only a handful of riders capable of bringing home top results on any given weekend, it’s a seller’s market on the World Cup these days, and top riders have their pick of solid programs to choose from.

For Aaron Gwin, though it wasn’t a hard decision. “I’m stoked to begin this new chapter of my career with Intense Bicycles and my fellow teammates Jack and Neko. I’ve been buddies with the owner Jeff for a while and having the opportunity to work together now is super cool. We share a lot of similar passions and our love for racing and riding—developing fast bikes has been a big part of both of our lives. As a rider and team owner, I’m excited to run such a legendary race program. We’ve put together an awesome group of people and I’m looking forward to the years ahead.”

Neko Mulally was another top pick for Intense. Gwin and Mulally were teammates in past years and bring a solid working relationship to the team. “As an American racer, I’m excited to race for an American brand with such a strong heritage in downhill racing,” commented Mulally.

Jack Moir is an IFR veteran, and 2019 will be his fourth year with the program. At 24, Jack is the team’s youngest rider and rose to stardom under the IFR flag when he played a pivotal role in developing the M29. In 2017, Jack spent the entire season on a different prototype at nearly every race.

“Prototyping in public isn’t for everyone,” says Steber. “Anything can happen with prototype bikes. Jack’s ability to ride the bike for its strengths and really embrace the development process during the World Cup Series showed his true professionalism.”

The team will be managed by long-time trainer of Aaron Gwin, Todd Schumlick and Cathy Zinck. The duo has a long history of working with athletes and running successful race programs at both the privateer and factory racing levels. The IFR Technical Team will include John Hall for Aaron Gwin, Daniel Paine for Jack Moir and Sam Yates for Neko Mulally. Brock Van Heel has been hired as the team videographer.

“As Aaron’s trainer the past six years, we’ve had a chance to develop a strong relationship,” stated Schumlick. “We agree that for a race team and its riders to perform at their best, there needs to be confidence in everyone involved. For this reason, I was thrilled to come on board as Team Manager and take on this new challenge. I’m very excited to start the season. I believe the Intense M29 is an exceptional bike and I am eager to get the ball rolling for the 2019 season and help our team reach new levels and milestones for the Intense brand.”