On Test | Propain’s Tyee enduro bike has a wild floating shock suspension design

Propain has been around for longer than many people probably realize, the German company was founded in 2006 by Robert Krauss and Markus Zander.

Krauss, an engineer who was racing downhill at the time, came up with the unique suspension design, dubbed PRO10. The first bike from Propain was the Rage downhill bike, and DH was the focus of the brand for several years. However, the lineup has since grown, and there are now 12 models across the four categories, DH, freeride, enduro, and trail.

Propain Tyee
Propain offers the Tyee in a dizzying number of configurations. On test, we have the carbon, full 29er with a 170mm fork.

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The German company has recently launched a new e-bike and also has a lineup of hard-charging kids bikes too.  Those who follow the bike industry closely would be familiar with Propain bikes through the likes of Remy Metailler, the former Red Bull Rampage rider who now blows minds with wild POV footage on the technical trails around the Sea to Sky corridor in Canada.

Of course, Propain was also the springboard on which the Meier-Smith brothers hit the World Cup riding for Propain Factory Racing before both signing with the Giant Factory Off-Road team in 2023. The brand also has its own DH race team, the Propain Positive Crew.

Tyee Overview

Ride by Instinct sent us Propain’s recently updated Tyee Enduro Bike. Released in 2023, this is the eighth iteration of the bike, and it is designed to take on rowdy enduro tracks while still providing riders with loads of fun carrying speed down flowy trails.

With integrated cable routing, adjustable geometry, a unique rear brake calliper mount, and double-sealed frame bearings, there is plenty to talk about on the Tyee.

The PRO10 linkage is quite a sight with the way it squishes the shock.

There is extensive chain stay protection and some beefy downtube protection; the Tyee has a threaded bottom bracket and tool mount under the top tube. A flip chip is located at the front of the rear triangle, enabling riders to swap between a 27.5-inch or 29er rear wheel.

However, the most eye-catching part about this frame is the upside-down rear shock tucked away behind its dual-link suspension layout. Propain claims that the PRO10 suspension floating shock configuration creates a highly responsive platform with a high progression curve, allowing riders to run either a coil or air shock. The anti-squat and pedal kickback have been revised in this edition to improve efficiency and the bikes’ ability to plough through the rough stuff.

Rear cables are routed through the headset under the stem. Propain says this new design seals out any water and dirt, however, it does make changing cables a more involved operation.

We don’t love the headset cable routing; however, at least Propain has taken steps to seal the elements out.

Propain Tyee geometry and setup

The Tyee platform is versatile and can be configured as either a dedicated 27.5in bike, 29er, or mixed-wheel setup.

The Tyee will come as a 27.5in bike for riders on sizes extra small to small. Size medium can opt for any of the three configurations, and large or extra-large frames can choose either the full 29er or mixed wheel option. The Tyee has a flip chip designed to maintain geometry between the mixed wheel setup and full 29er/ 27.5in modes.

Riders can also choose to run either a 160mm or 170mm fork across all sizes. The sheer number of configurations is a bit daunting at first, however, if you start by selecting your correct frame size you can start to narrow things down from there.

The flip chip in the linkage allows for the bike to be run in a number of wheel size configurations.

What is distinctive about the Tyee is that you won’t be stuck with the combo you select when purchasing the bike. You can always swap out the wheels or fork at a later time. Granted, this will cost a bit more to do, but it does increase its versatility and could help extend the life of your bike through a refresh of components a couple of years down the track.

It’s not just the wheel size options and forks that you can choose from, there are two frame materials options as well. The Tyee can be purchased with an alloy or blended carbon frame and several frame and decal colour options. This level of customization is rare and only adds to the boutique feel of the bike.

Geometry-wise, the numbers are modern but sensible. With so many configurations available, we’ll focus on a large-sized full 29er with a 170mm fork, as that’s the bike we’re testing. The head angle is 64.1°, with an effective seat tube angle of 77.1°.

Stack on our large clocks in at 633mm and the chainstay is a modest 445mm. With the 170mm fork on, reach comes in at 476mm, and the wheelbase is a decent 1,264mm. None of these numbers stand out as either too long, low, and slack or too conservative. The Tyee sits nicely in the middle with its geometry.

Propain Tyee Geometry
The geometry of the Propain Tyee isn’t pushing the boundaries but sits within a well-established and well-performing zone for a bike in this category.

Propain Tyee first ride impressions

We have a Tyee Shred2 on test at the moment from the local distributor Ride by Instinct, though we should mention it’s a custom build. Weighing in at 15.47kg, this is a big bike, no doubt, and we’re already impressed at the efficiency and comfort on offer from the PRO10 suspension.

It’s quite stable and can carry a surprising amount of speed through rough, chundery terrain. Keep an eye out for our full review, which is coming soon.

Our Tyee tester is the Shred2 build however the tires had been swapped from to a Vee Tyre Co combo.

Propain Tyee pricing and availability

There are a total of eight Tyee models available, four carbon and four alloy. The line-up for both the alloy and carbon models starts with the Price2Ride and then the Shred2. Both of these models come with 170mm forks.

Next up are the Phantom and the Goldrush. These two higher-end models have 160mm premium forks, but remember, all four models can be run with a 160mm or 170mm fork.

An interesting difference between the alloy and carbon frames is that the metal bikes allow the option to run headset cable routing or through standard cable ports on the side of the headtube. The carbon frames, on the other hand, only allow headset cable routing, while the build kits for the carbon and alloy equivalent models stay the same.

Not really a whole lot of room for upgrades on the top-spec Tyee.

Propain Tyee Goldrush

The Phantom build swaps Fox for RockShox Suspension.

Propain Tyee Phantom

This is the spec level we have, one of the cool things about Propain is that the parts can be parts, paint and decals can be customised.

Propain Tyee Shred2

The base level Tyee is still a heck of a lot of bike.

Propain Tyee Price2Ride

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