It looks like Intense boss Jeff Steber has been busy with his welding equipment and has made himself an Intense e-bike. Or two.

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If you’ve been wishing for a return to good ol’ US-made aluminium Intense Cycles mountain bike after their recent wholesale move to Far East carbon bikes – you’re in luck.

If you’re not a fan of e-bikes – you’re out of luck.

Caption: jeffsteber “Good progress on this project over the last year , getting out on some E pic rides, good times on two wheels !!@intensecycles @steber_guitars @intensefactoryracing“

And yes it is aluminium but should this bike ever turn into a retail reality it’s unlikely to be a US-made alloy affair. This clearly an prototype (there actually appears to be two different prototypes pictured) and the finished e-bike would almost certainly be made from carbon fibre in the Far East, as with all other Intense models now.

What can we learn from these Instagram teaser pics?

Not much. But enough to kickstart some gossip!

First of all, what we guess is the earlier prototype (which looks like an modified old alloy Tracer) was a proof of concept, complete with battery mounted under the down tube. This was no doubt to fit everything in around the typical Intense virtual/floating/twinlink suspension arrangement. And the later prototype looks like its moved the battery (which looks like Shimano STEPS battery) into the more usual place of inside the front triangle on top of the down tube, which has required a radical reworking of the frame’s top tube in order to position the rear shock up in there.