£3,599 (+ shipping) Don’t let the unusual spec put you off this capable bike
Propain say the Tyee AL Price2Ride MX offers the best price-to-performance ratio in their enduro line-up. This updated model has an alloy frame, mixed wheel sizes, and dishes out 160mm of rear travel.
THE FRAME
The German brand’s ‘Blend Alloy’ construction uses at least three different aluminium alloys for the optimum balance of strength, stiffness, impact resistance and compliance (flex). Cable routing has been redesigned, to look better and reduce noise. The rear brake hose and gear and dropper lines are now threaded through a custom spacer under the stem and into the head tube via the upper bearing of the Acros ICR headset. This has stainless steel bearings, which shouldn’t corrode if water follows the cables in. Stainless bearings are used at the suspension pivot points, too, along with dirt shields.
Propain have tucked the rear brake calliper inside the rear triangle to better transfer braking forces to the frame and give a cleaner look. They’ve also altered the pivot locations of their PRO10 suspension system – which uses two counter-rotating links to compress a ‘floating’ shock – to improve consistency and bump absorption, by flattening the leverage curve and reducing anti-squat.
The frame features a flip-chip, so you can run either a 29in or 650b rear wheel. Our medium test bike was fitted with the smaller size. In the ‘low’ setting with a 170mm fork, this gave a short 441mm reach, matched closely to stable 445mm chainstays. The 63.2-degree head angle is pretty slack, and the 76.3-degree effective seat tube angle quite steep. A sensible seat tube length of 425mm enables use of longer dropper posts. The BB is low, sitting 42mm below the front axle.
THE KIT
Instead of the usual Fox or RockShox fork you get a Formula Selva S with an air-filled positive spring and coil negative spring. High- and low-speed compression damping and low-speed rebound are all externally adjustable. The shock is from Formula, too – their coil-sprung MOD, with low-speed compression and rebound adjustment, and a lockout lever. They also supply their Cura 4 brakes. The drivetrain is a SRAM GX Eagle set-up, with Truvativ Descendant cranks. NEWMEN wheels are shod with SuperTrail-casing, ADDIX Soft-compound Schwalbe Magic Mary and Big Betty 29x2.4in tyres. Finishing kit includes a BikeYoke DIVINE post and a Sixpack bar, stem and saddle.
THE RIDE
The Tyee is still a force to be reckoned with when it comes to powering up hills, even with its lowered anti-squat. Despite the coil shock, the rear en
