THE TOP LEVEL
Based around the same frame as their Tyee enduro mountain bike, the Propain Tyee Trail sees suspension travel reduced to 145mm in the rear, while a 160mm fork leads the charge. This is achieved through a different linkage in the Pro10 suspension system, with tuned kinematics to offer the best performance for an all-rounder use case.
As with the enduro Tyee, the user can choose between a dual-29” wheel setup or mixed-wheel setup at the point of purchase, and the frame features a flip chip to convert between the two. Size Small frames feature dual-27.5” wheels to best suit small riders.
DO IT ALL?
The Propain Tyee is a capable yet efficient enduro bike in its standard guise, but with long travel and burly components, it can be overkill for day-to-day riding. Propain produced the Trail version of the Tyee to address this, offering a bike that sits between the sharper Hugene CF and enduro Tyee.
THE SAME GREAT TYEE, TRAIL-IFIED
By building around the Tyee platform, there is still plentiful gravity DNA in the Tyee Trail. However, with its lighter overall weight, reduced travel, and tweaks to the kinematics, the Trail version is a friendlier machine to cover bigger ground on or to squeeze extra fun out of mellower descents.
BLEND IT YOUR WAY
Since it shares the mainframe with the Tyee, the Tyee Trail is also available in a choice of Blend CF (Carbon Fiber) or Blend AL (aluminum alloy) frame materials. Depending on the rider preference and budget, the Tyee Trail CF frame reduces frame weight by 500g (1.1lbs) over the Tyee Trail AL, while adding €600 to the price tag.
Blend CF uses an array of different prepreg carbon fiber materials to optimize the stiffness and strength throughout the frame. This delivers a weight reduction over the AL frames, with more tightly controlled stiffness and flex to optimize the handling. With a 5-year warranty and crash replacement backing, Propain stands by the strength of the Blend CF frames.
Blend AL refers to the selection of different aluminum alloys throughout the Tyee Trail AL frame, designed to deliver a strong and reliable alloy frame without excessive weight. The Blend AL frame is considered to be more robust to elements such as crash damage, but in case of issues, Propain covers the Blend AL frame for three years.
SILENCED. SEALED. DELIVERED.
Propain focused on delivering a quiet ride with the Tyee Trail, equipping the frame with a TPR chainstay and seatstay protector featuring air pockets to kill chain noise. The downtube protector is also made of a soft rubber to prevent excessive noise from rocks coming off the front tire.
Propain continues to use their Dirt Shields on their frame pivots, keeping dirt and moisture out to increase the lifespan of the pivot bearings.
For riders with a strong stance against (or for) cables routed through the headset, Propain offers the choice at the point of purchase. Opt to go through the headset if you want a clean look, or go for the more mechanic-friendly conventional head tube internal cable routing.
TUNED PRO10 SUSPENSION
In addition to reducing the travel to 145mm, the Tyee Trail receives an updated kinematic to provide the support that trail riders are seeking. With a lower leverage ratio and reduced progression (down to a still-healthy 19%), the rider receives more support throughout the travel range. Combined with the shock tunes crafted to match the Pro10 rear end, the Tyee Trail rider can work the terrain for speed and enjoy a more engaging trail experience.
Retained are healthy Anti-Squat figures around 110% at sag in the climbing gears, ensuring minimal energy is wasted when pedaling. Anti-Rise (or brake squat) sits at 90% at sag and drops as you go deeper into the travel. This strikes a good balance of preserving the geometry and maintaining confidence in steeper terrain, without adding unwanted harshness to the rear end when braking on rougher trails.
MODERN TRAIL GEOMETRY
Propain tweaked the geometry of the Tyee Trail to offer what they consider to be a complete package suited for modern trail mountain biking. The size Small frame receives two 27.5” wheels only and a geometry package to match and best suit smaller riders. The Mix and 29” frames share geometry thanks to the flip chip.
Most geometry elements closely mirror the standard Tyee, but there are some tweaks to give a more pronounced “in the bike” feeling. Most notably, the bottom bracket drop has increased to a healthy 30mm, integrating the rider deep between the wheels.
Focusing on our size Large test bike, geometry figures are contemporary and well-rounded. A 475mm reach hits a sweet spot for Drew’s 5’11” stature, which is combined with a 634mm stack height that allows for plentiful cockpit tunability. The 446mm rear end across the M-XL size range (430mm on size S) strikes a good balance between stability and playfulness.
BUILD IT YOUR WAY
Propain Bikes offers a build configurator as standard, allowing customers to tweak everything from the paintwork and decals through to switching out components to suit their preferences. In doing so, riders can put their personal touch on their Tyee Trail, and buy a bike they are truly stoked on from the get-go. By reducing the need to switch out components immediately to satisfy preferences, the value proposition climbs even stronger.
With standard builds beginning from €2,899 / $3,299 for the Tyee Trail AL and €3,499 / $3,899 for the Tyee Trail CF, there is a good spread of configurations to suit most rider budgets.
THE WOLF’S FIRST IMPRESSION
Time aboard the Propain Tyee Trail has been limited, however, our rides have highlighted a few key areas of performance we’re not too surprised by. The signature Propain Pro10 suspension feel is present, which provides a platform that delivers some capable all-around performance. On the climbs, the bike feels quite comfortable, and while I did want to reach for the climb switch purely for the experience of comparison, I found it tough to reach while on the move. My thick winter gloves and frozen fingers undoubtedly contributed to the struggle to flip the switch, but it’s not an easy one to get to no matter how you look at it. Thankfully, I was happy enough to keep pedaling with the shock open, and didn’t experience excessive bob or wasted energy.
One area the climb switch would help is keeping the ride height a bit higher. Depending on the terrain, this could be welcomed, as the slightly low bottom bracket height meant that my crank arms and pedals had a few encounters with exposed roots and rocks. Beyond that one observation, I was rather pleased with how the Propain Tyee Trail climbed. I wouldn’t say it’s an XC rocket ship, though with its 64-degree head tube angle and 160mm fork, I don’t think many people would assume it is. Nevertheless, it’s a solid pedaler that put me in a comfortable position and meant I was ready for a good time, whether it was a short lap after work or a big exploratory day out.
After the turns are earned and it is time for the downs, the Tyee Trail feels inspired. Without sounding too obvious, it rides exactly like a Tyee, but with less travel! Shocking, I know. I was able to get some confidence and control over the trail in the way a longer-legged enduro bike would inspire confidence, but was rewarded with a more engaging and dynamic ride feel.
Whether it was pumping undulations, popping manuals, or catching little bits of backside transition, the Tyee Trail’s shorter travel number meant it responded quicker and with less effort.
Speed picked up quickly, direction changes happened snappily, and I thoroughly enjoyed how easily the bike dipped over into successive corners. I liken the intuitive handling and cornering prowess to how Santa Cruz bikes feel. That is, pretty dialed! While the lower BB did mean some occasional pedal strikes on the way up, the cornering confidence and fun-factor is the positive on the other end of the spectrum.
I have struggled to find a happy place in the comfort and composure portion of the travel with Pro10 suspension platforms in the past, especially when hitting repetitive square-edge obstacles or choppy terrain. While an OChain or similar kickback device would reduce some of the stiffness and kickback I felt on my initial rides, I don’t think it’s the right application for many riders who want to pedal these so much. That said, I firmly believe that more time tuning the rear shock will give me some better results, with the baseline already being acceptable. On this 145mm bike, the frequency and length of these types of trail sections is likely to be lesser than I would typically attack on the enduro-ready Tyee or their Ekano eMTB.
Riders who like a direct-feeling all mountain bike with snappy engagement, an alive feel and enjoy feeling the trail beneath them will really dig the new Tyee Trail. It offers a geometry formula that makes mellow trails fun, without feeling timid on the steeper chutes that an all-mountain rider will encounter. In essence, it blends the best aspects of the Hugene and Tyee enduro rigs, and makes for a damn good time.
