Propain Unleashes Shorter Travel Tyee AM

German company Propain has been making steady progress in recent years, with a number of well-received mountain bikes earning praise across multiple media outlets. One of those outlets would be us, with the Propain Tyee CF having earned a Singletrack Recommended tag when we reviewed it earlier this year. Since then, we visited Propain at Eurobike to get a first look at some of the company’s 2017 product, including the new Tyee AM.

Well, the Tyee AM is now official, and Propain is releasing the shorter-travel version of its popular Tyee range for all to ogle at. So let’s have a closer look eh?

“The AM in the name refers to the All Mountain focus of the bike. It is an agile AM weapon with 145mm of travel and incredibly fast on the uphill. Compared to the Enduro Tyee it is more responsive and will out-pedal its bigger brother. The perfect choice for a leisure ride after work, longer mountain tours or even the next crossing of the Alps.” – Propain

Propain Tyee AM Specifications

• Carbon and alloy frame options
• 145mm rear wheel travel
• 27.5in wheels
• Designed for 150mm travel fork
• Tapered head tube
• Boost 148x12mm X12 thru-axle
• High direct mount front derailleur
• 73mm BSA threaded bottom bracket
• ISCG05 chainguide tabs
• Rear brake: 180mm post mount
• 31.6 mm seatpost
• Sizes: Small, Medium, Large
• Claimed frame weight: 2.3kg (carbon), 3.05 kg (alloy)
• Frame RRP: £999 (alloy frame w/RockShox Deluxe R) – £2009 (carbon frame w/RockShox Deluxe RL)
• Complete bike RRP: £2009 – £4459

Like the regular Tyee, the Tyee AM runs the same Pro10 suspension design, which is an interesting take on the dual-link virtual pivot design. With the rear shock tucked down behind the seat tube, the Pro10 layout employs a small link just above the bottom bracket, with a compact rocker linkage at the top of the seat tube. The rear shock is compressed from both ends, so it doesn’t physically mount to either the swingarm or the front triangle.

Compared to the existing Propain Tyee, the Tyee AM shrinks the travel down to 145mm on the rear, and runs a 150mm fork on the front. Overall it’s a slightly lighter and tighter ‘All Mountain’ hauler rather than a full-blown Enduro sledder.

There are both alloy and carbon versions of the Tyee AM. The alloy version features sensible standards like a threaded bottom bracket shell and external cable routing, which will please those who like to swing their own tools. Propain give you options with the Tyee AM frame too – there’s ISCG05 tabs for the harder hitters, and there’s a front derailleur mount for rocking one of those new-fangled double chainsets that dramatically opens up your gearing range. Clever!

Rear spacing is (we think?) up to date 148x12mm spacing, though who knows. By the time this article is published, that might be out of date. Anywho, so it’s got a tidy Syntace X12 screw-in axle to tie the one-piece swingarm together, and it all looks reassuringly solid. Chainstay length errs on the stable side, with a 445mm long rear centre that isn’t chasing the uber-short measurements that are currently in fashion.

Like the regular Tyee, the Tyee AM is also built around 27.5in wheels. No official word on maximum tyre clearance, but the Tyee CF that David reviewed had room to spare with a 2.4in wide Onza Ibex tyres, so our guess is there’s a good deal of room here too. Of note for British riders who are well versed in mud-science, the Tyee AM frame features a tidy carbon fibre mudguard on the rear swingarm that helps to shield the upside-down rear shock.

Oh there’s a gorgeous carbon version too. This one has the same geometry and Pro10 suspension design as the alloy Tyee AM, but it drops almost a kilo off the frame weight by employing Black Magic. It sticks with external routing for the rear triangle, but runs internal cable routing through the front triangle. All up, it is very tidy indeed.

Want more info? Head to the Propain Bikes website for all the details, and check out the geometry chart below;