NBD: Propain Tyee 29C XL

Propain had a sale offer before Christmas that I found irresistible. 25% off frame and shock, and all other parts moved across from my old bike. The forks were switched from 150mm to 170mm travel.
A Propain is not such a common sight in UK, but they are popular and well regarded in Germany and Switzerland. It is one of the most common bikes on the shuttle trailers in Finale Ligure for example.

The order experience wasn’t exactly great. I ordered it with an advertised 4-6 week delivery time. After 6 weeks I sent an email to only then be told it would be another 4-6 weeks. It took a second email to confirm the shipping. The actual delivery time was 14 weeks.

The current model Tyee is now 3 years old, and far from bleeding edge in terms of geometry. Although I was gelling well with my LLS Bird Aether 9c, I was curious to try some more travel. The reach on this XL frame is a full 50mm shorter than the Bird. I have pursued aggressive geometry by immediately fitting a Works Components angleset to reduce the head angle by 1.5 degrees. It is now sat at 63 degrees. When paired with the longer forks this means the wheelbase of the two bikes is pretty similar.

The headset was the first job, and quite simple to fit. Second was a tedious Ride Wrap job. I doubt anyone enjoys that job. There are a handful of small bubbles, so it’s not cosmetically immaculate, but it is at least functional. I made an error by leaving the frame in the workstand overnight clamped by the top tube, which rucked up a big crease. This took another half hour to fix on the second day.

I needed a new rear brake mount, which a local shop was able to supply.
The new air shaft in the Lyrik was a very simple fit, and gave me chance to complete an overdue lower leg service.
I mistakenly fitted a 6mm offset chainring, and foolishly modified the chain device to suit. The old cranks are pretty battered anyway, and the BB is on the way out. I don’t like the DUB stuff, so I have new cranks (Unite, silver), BB (Hope), chainring and chainguide on order to make this area a bit smarter.

One widely reported niggle of the Tyee is the cable routing, which is internal in downtube and chainstay, but needs a loop of slack to remain under the BB. Here the cables are prone to damage from rocks, and can be a source of noise as the suspension moves. This is exactly the same as the Aether 9c. I have bypassed the issue by just running the gear cable and brake hose externally with cable ties.

I am about 90kg fully kitted up. I went for the 550 spring on the Formula Mod shock. He shock has very tight clearances, but can be removed on it’s own with some manipulation. The adjusters are out of the way, but reachable.
The frame and shock and headset and seatclamp weigh 3.95kg together. The shock and spring are 800g of that.

I am 190cm tall. I have fitted a 213mm BikeYoke dropper. The collar of the dropper is 40mm from the seatclamp. The actuator of the seatpost must be rotated in a particular orientation to fit past the flat part of the seattube, but I could run the post at least 10mm lower if I needed.

The frame arrived on Wednesday, and with some work I was able to get it completed in time for a planned trip to Finale on the weekend. That delivered some intense and memorable first ride experiences, and also some nice photos.

I will come back later with some initial ride impressions.

I have a new brake hose to fit, but I wanted to use he old battered one to test the length… and I’m glad I did because it’s a nadge too short

Looks great and nicely specced.

I think you’ll like the Formula shock, I’ve got one on my Bird and it’s been great so far.

I’ve got home now and stuck the bike on the scales. 15.2kg = 33.5lbs

Current set up with a Schwalbe Magic Mary 29×2.6 Super Trail on the front, and Continental Kryptotal 29×2.4 Enduro casing on the rear. No Inserts.

A couple of weeks in, 188km and 12,500m descending. Loving it.

The ride is dominated by the supple suspension. The MOD shock has a reputation for sensitivity, and in this frame that’s certainly true. I have measured the sag at 30% with the 550lbs/in spring, which is spot on.
However I was surprised, and maybe a bit disappointed, by how much movement there is from the suspension when spinning on the road. All reviews praise the pedal manners of the Tyee, but I am getting quite a bit of movement, even with shock locked out. It feels more like a resonance issue rather than suspension deflection caused by the chain tension. I played around with the rebound damping, with little change on this trait. The compression damping does help, but I’ve ended up with it wound full closed. However this setup seems to work really nicely all round, so maybe not a problem at all.
I have also tried the bike with an RS Deluxe Select+ air shock. This doesn’t seem to bob in the same way, but I haven’t taken a lot of time to set it up… it was still a bit soft at 185psi. I will swap the shocks about a bit to get a feeling for how to set up the coil shock. The MOD has a huge bottom out bumper, so judging full travel is difficult. Certainly nothing off putting even as my speed and confidence grow.

I have the forks set with 2 tokens, 75psi, rebound 5 clicks open out of 14, HSC full closed. My previous set up was HSC full open, so I’m trying something different to see what I notice. I need to do some proper bracketing to get the rebound dialed front and rear.

The headset has been loose a couple of times, but hopefully that’s just bedding in and a result of the rigors of shuttle trailers.

The DUB BB was a couple of years old and getting graunchy. I was pleased that the Hope 30mm BB I ordered for my new cranks also included spacers to make it DUB compatible. It’s now fitted for a few weeks until I have my new cranks arrive.

The EXC 1501 wheel had some loose spokes, which was disappointing on a new wheel. I have re-tensioned them and will keep an eye on them. The rim is still arrow straight.

The Kryptotal tyre has so far been very impressive on the rear. It ‘feels’ quicker than my previous Big Betty, with no downside. The tread looks a bit like an Aggressor, but it’s way better than that. I did have the rear wheel block with very sticky mud at one point. The clearance at the back is average, so I blame the tyre rather than the frame, but I don’t think this will be much of a problem for me as I don’t ride very muddy trails too often.

I have fitted some silver EMRG all bearing levers to the Formula brakes, which feel very nice. They’ve removed all the lever play and added a stiffer feel to the bike point. I still need to change the brake hose though.

I have fitted Acerbis hand guards to see if I notice a benefit.

The best photos are on Insta:
https://www.instagram.com/hark_at_the_birds/

Photos look great. Where are you based?

I have also tried the bike with an RS Deluxe Select+ air shock. This doesn’t seem to bob in the same way, but I haven’t taken a lot of time to set it up… it was still a bit soft at 185psi. I will swap the shocks about a bit to get a feeling for how to set up the coil shock.

I only ever ran my Tyee with an air shock, but would agree that it climbs very well and tends to blow through travel so needs a firmer set up than you would think. Interested to hear your thoughts on the air / coil testing.

he MOD shock has a reputation for sensitivity, and in this frame that’s certainly true. I have measured the sag at 30% with the 550lbs/in spring, which is spot on.
However I was surprised, and maybe a bit disappointed, by how much movement there is from the suspension when spinning on the road

I have one on a different bike (a Bird).

It doesn’t bob much when open and the lockout is very firm (which I love).

Is your lockout the same?

I presume so. I only know of one model.

I’m a little concerned about the cable/hose when deep in the travel, would running them down the downtube and above the BB not be better or is the linkage a trapping hazard, the frame design really doesnt help to achieve good routing, I totally agree about the loops under the BB shell, propain need a re-think about routing.

The current route along the seatstays is tested without the shock in place. It’s not perfect that the cable does a S bend like that, but it seems to work ok.

Propain have ‘fixed’ the routing on the more recently released Spindrift and Hugene. There the cable pops out from the the top surface of the bottom of the downtube, and then enters the chainstay behind the chainring.

I can not mimic that route without because the the cable is very close to the tyre or the chain.

Sorry, cross over from the Bird Aether 9c thread.

I have one on a different bike (a Bird).

It doesn’t bob much when open and the lockout is very firm (which I love).

I reckon this is the Bird suspension kinematic at least in part.

They’ve clearly sent you a 27.5, not a 29er 😉

They’ve clearly sent you a 27.5, not a 29er

🤣

I know what you mean. Thank goodness I can buy some proper sized bikes at last. 541mm reach of my A9c sounded insane until I tried it

I reckon my medium looks bigger on me! (And the wheels look massive of course).

Sadly I don’t have a picture of myself looking awesome on it. Must remedy that…

I have just had the pleasure of opening the pivot and checking the bearings. I am impressed at the general design. It seems robust and easy to work on.

The shock bolts are single piece, steel. They are easily removed without a punch.

There are 8 bearings in total, all a good size. Only two types to stock. They are all pressed in to the aluminum links, which means that they can easily be removed to the bench when it comes to the time to change them, and all cable routing can remain in place on the bike. There are good notches at the back of the bearing to access the outer race with a punch. The bearings are Acros branded, and seem to be stainless steel which should last well.

All the pivot hardware is aluminum. They are ‘plain’ axles, with split wedges to hold angled recesses in the carbon holes. There is a bolt on either end of the axle. There are no threads in the frame.

On the two pivots where the links with bearings are ‘outside’ of the carbon frame, there is a additional seal under the bolt head. The pivots were assembled with plenty of grease. Just one of the bolts seemed a bit looser than the specified torque, but they are simple to check. There is just one down behind the chainring. This can be checked with either the crank removed or the shock removed.

I like this arrangement a lot. More parts than a Santa Cruz for example, but they are nice simple pieces, and no threaded elements in the frame like that either.

So far, very happy.

I hear Propain have a new model very close on the horizon. This will fix the cable routing issues, and be Transmission compatible too.