Propain Tyee 2020

Impression

The team at Cascade Bikes recently purchased a Propain Tyee (2020) for team rider Vasco and here is our review plus recommended upgrades from Cascade Bikes, keep on reading!

Propain bikes was founded by Robert Krauss and Markus Zander after their 2006 Whistler mountain biking vacation. Most of their bike model names origin from the British Columbia area. The company’s motto is ‘more riding, less wrenching’.

After ordering and waiting for the bike, this summer I really put this bike to the test during our 3 week holiday in Austria. Besides the ability to select your preferred components, Propain sells its bikes at a very competitive price. Take a gander at the Propain website and look for yourself. This bike, which is classified as an enduro bike, perfectly handles steep climbs and the most challenging ascends, perfect for Enduro riding. It gives you a good balance of slackness on the descends while saving energy on the climbs. It has 170 mm in the front and 160 mm in the back. On the sprints the shocks do not compress and on the descends the shocks absorb every bump due to Propains Pro-10 linkage. With 29″ wheels it rolls very nice, smooth and fast over any feature. This bike has made everything so smooth and fun that I always want to go on a nice hilly ride with this bike. I have been riding for around 6 years now (3 years competitively) and I have never encountered a bike like this. It gives me the confidence to ride anything if I have that can-do attitude. This bike is a beast. The only down side I see is that it is a bit more on the heavy side (depending on the spec). I find this a downside because I am not as strong when it comes to climbing. But this helps me push myself harder because I need to climb to get to those fun and challenging downhills.

To make this great bike even better I installed some upgrades from Cascade Bikes.

First: tires, I have Vittoria Agarro in the back and Vittoria Martello trail on the front, Agarro gives great grip in cornering. Martello is a great tire to roll over any rock garden and technical terrain
Next, to optimize the drive train even further I added a Garbaruk oval chainring to keep traction in technical climbs and derailleur cage with oversized pullies to improve shifting performance.
Finally, I added a PNW Bachelor dropper post for steep descends.

Upgrades