On your mark, get set. We're here with Remy today, and he's going to give us the rundown
on this brand new Propain Tyee that he's running. And also how the move went from one German brand
to another. Now, I know you've been shredding this thing and sending it
all around Squamish. So, his setup is probably dialed by now, so let's dig in.
(Upbeat music)
Remy, brand new year, 2021. New you.
How did this change come about? Because you were with Cube for, I think, around four years, was it?
Yeah. Four years, so I have two, two year contracts. And I decided to move to a new brand,
mostly because just in order to keep being excited when I go and ride my bike. I wanted
something new. When you stay with same brand for a long time, there's obviously some advantages to
it. It's comfortable, but I wanted to be a bit uncomfortable, trying something new. And yeah,
I just needed that to keep being excited and just being stoked to ride bikes again.
And I also wanted to be with a brand that shares the same point of views as me on the bike industry
and how bikes should be. And one of the big thing with Propain is, as you know, they are firm
believer on mullet bikes. The kind of riding I do, I think mullet are a huge advantage. And I think
mullet are a huge advantage for many customer out there. And I wanted to be part of that. I
wanted to be invested with the brand that has the same beliefs as me. And yeah, super stoked.
Did you actually get to try any of the bikes before you signed the contract with Propain?
Because that's a little bit risky. Yeah. You want some change, but is it too much change?
That's always risky, but I feel like I've enough experience on the bike to know what
geometry works for me, what doesn't. And the geometry to me is a bigger thing. You can always
change the little bit of how the suspension feels. You can't change the geometry or
very little. And so to me, having a bike that has a correct reach,
correct wheel base, chainstays that like, I think was something that's like super key.
After you did the research on some bikes, did you actually reach out to Propain,
seeing that it was a bike you might like, or did they reach out to you?
That was basically pretty mutual. We had a few like ... So I have a few partners,
a few sponsor that are like pretty close with Propain. And so it was pretty mutual. And yeah,
we got in touch and we agreed on everything. And here we are a few months later.
Remy, do you have any other Propain bikes in your lineup?
Yeah. I'm going to be riding every bike they make. So from the eBike,
which is the Ekano, to the Hugene, that they just released, which is a trail bike.
Spindrift should arrive anytime from now. And I actually have two Tyee's, so two different setup.
This one is the one that I'm going to be riding most of the time, that's basically a mullet
setup. So this is a shred machine, to do gaps, steep lines. That's why I feel comfortable. And I
also have the same bike which is basically the same equipment, but full 29'r.
Do you actually go out and peddle and do those endural style trails or is
every day on the bike just a day in the office for Remy? Got to do a mean Huck.
I try to.
This one that you see up there is my social bike. So it's to go with my friend and just pedal.
Right. Going to go for the Toonie races, maybe on that one?
Yeah, maybe. But this one is the one I enjoy riding the most. The mullet,
it just fits me better. I think the mullet I just have more fun on it.
I feel more confident, more comfortable. It just suits me better.
Do you think, if we get a rampage later this year or some urban downhill riding,
will you dabble in that again as well?
Yeah, I'll definitely love to go back to rampage. That's something I was working
towards last year. So for 2020, but with the pandemic, obviously we'll never know.
But yeah for 2021 something I'd love to, I think I can still bring something to the
events because I have a different approach from other riders. The riding I do on trail bikes,
actually, is very similar to the stuff you could be doing at rampage. So like slow speed control,
you know, super technical drop, very steep lines and the skill required at rampage
are something I think I do have and where I could do something really good with it.
Sounds good. Let's get into the bike check now. As we can see here, Remy has got the Propain
Tyee. Says it right there on the frame. But can you tell us what size you chose and why?
Yeah, so that's a size medium. I'm five feet seven and the reach on this bike is 451.
You got 445 millimeter chainstay. So for me, it's like super balanced. Feel really
good. The reach and the chainstay are a bit longer than on my previous bike.
The overall of the bike, so the wheelbase at 1230, which is also a centimeter longer than
my previous bike. And that's kind of what I was hoping on my bike to get, you know,
that slightly longer just to get extra stability for some of the stuff I'm doing and for my riding.
So yeah, it's been great. This is a 29'r. They do sell, Propain does sell the same bike as a
27.5, but the geometry is slightly different. And so I decided to mullet 29. So basically by putting
smaller wheel on the back and I put a taller fork on the front, which makes the head tube
slacker. It's probably like 63.5 or, sorry, 62.5 or 63.8 around there. And the
seat tube obviously is slacker. But because of the total fork, the bottom bracket
is not as low as it will be if I had kept the 170 fork. And the riding position, uphill position
is still pretty good, I feel the bike turns really well. And I'm really confident when it gets super
steep. I can go behind the rear wheel, which is something I struggled to do with the 29 bike.
But you've kind of got me interested in the mullet thing. I might try it one day. We'll see.
No guarantees moving on. Can you run us through your suspension? You've been working with DVO for
a number of years, but what's changed. And how are you running it on this bike, in particular?
So the fork is basically the same setup I had from the last couple of years.
The shock as well, actually, I'm just on a biggest spring rate. That's a 500
just because of the kinematic of the suspension. The chainstay being longer, there's different
forces that applied to the shock. So I run actually the same tune as on my previous shock,
just a stiffer spring. On my other bike up there, I've got the Topaz which is the air shock
because I'm going to use it more for longer rides and just more pedaling. But I prefer
the feeling of the coil, just gets me like more feedback from them ground.
Yeah. Touching back on your fork, you said roughly same fork, same kind of setting.
Same setting, so basically 75 PSI in the air chamber
I'm about halfway through the high speed and halfway through the low speed setting.
The way it comes out of the box is progressive enough for me. So yeah, I don't touch it. I just
obviously adjust it depending on the terrain, depending on the temperature,
depending on how I feel and how I want to ride. But it's stuck out of the box.
Moving on to something that I consider extremely important on your bike set up and it gives you a
lot of confidence, is your wheel set. So can you run us through what you're running here?
I know you've got the e*thirteen stuff there for a couple of years, but anything different?
Yeah, no, basically the same. I've been with is e*thirteen for
on the wheels for like ... That's my fifth season now on the carbon wheel. So
absolutely love them. Extremely reliable. I know exactly what tire pressure
I can run until I hit the rim on rocks or roots. They've been great. Those are the LG1R
enduro specific wheels. Extremely reliable because there's certain tires on too.
Those ones are prototypes and say, grappler on it. They've been awesome. I've been
helping testing them and I run the downhill casing front and back on this bike
with a MoPo compound, which is a softer compound. It's been awesome on slabs. Works
really well on basically all conditions. I've been super happy with the tire.
And do you always run carbon rims? I know some riders
complain that maybe they're a little too stiff? Carbon rims.
No, I always run carbon wheels. I don't have any complaint on the stiffness.
I noticed we both run the one-up cockpit set up, but how do you run yours?
So 35 millimeter stem. 35 millimeter rise. Because I like to be really high from the front,
which is why I have about 20 millimeters of spacers, below the stem. And 750 millimeter
width for the bars. And that's basically what I run on every bike. Every single bike
I have has a 35 millimeter rise bars and for my downhill bike I can go slightly wider,
like 755. And for my trail bike, I go slightly less wide so 745 millimeter. And I feel really
good. I really liked the damping of it. I feel like it helps on longer downhills and
for the seat posts, its also a one-up. This one is a 180 millimeter one, but I've got some
shims on it and so now I'm at 170 millimeter of travel.
Let's bring it back to the front of the bike here. I'm only wondering, because
we did a bike check with Yoann Barelli recently. He runs his brake lever is even
higher and more parallel than you do. But who started it first? This trend? I got to know.
I don't know, but I definitely didn't copy him because it doesn't make sense to have your brake
lever over horizontal. I run my brake lever high only because that way I have less stress on my
forearms. I can relax more. I have more weight onto my wrist, but I don't have to grab the bars
as much. I can ride way more relaxed. So I don't really hold on my bars. I'm just against it.
Just kind of resting.
Yeah. Especially when I ride super steep stuff, it's really good. My hand is less likely to
slip off the bars so that's why I run it like that. And when I do longer
downhills it definitely helps me.
And do you find the grips here,
ergonomically designed obviously, does that help with your grip and arm strength as well?
Yeah. Because those are the GE1 and that's a regular size. And if you can see,
they're tapered so they're narrower here. So it kind of pushes your elbow out a little bit
and you got some good padding here where you can rest a little bit more your hands.
Nice. And while we're here, what brakes are you running?
Those are the Hayes Dominion A4. Pinkbike bike actually gave them
component of the year. They've been awesome, extremely reliable, super powerful,
but also have a ton of modulation. And when doing spicy lines modulation is
kind of what you want. And only thing I change on those breaks are I run obviously 203 millimeter
disk front and back, but I run the sintered brake pads,
which I find have a bit more bite. It's a bit more powerful.
Starting with the cranks Remy, can you run us through your drive terrain setup?
For transmission, it's taken care of by Rotor components. So I've got
the Kapic cranks, which are aluminum cranks, especially developed for
all mountain enduro. Those are 170 millimeter length and the chain ring
is a 30 tooth oval chain ring, which I really liked because that gives you
consistent power. So it's really cool when go on technical and slippery uphill,
I just find it easier to get traction and I'll take any help I can get going uphill.
And for the rest of the transmission, you've got the Rotor 1x13 hydraulic groupset. This
one is set up as a 12, because you can use us set it up as a 12 speed or a 13 speed. I've got
the Helix R casette from e*thirteen. That's a nine teeth, 50 teeth. All the gears you want.
KMC 12 speed chain. So the rotor shifter only has one paddle. You basically one little push and
you go down a gear. One big push and you go up a gear. It's different, but you get used to it
in a few seconds. And yeah, it looks really clean, super ergonomic, I like it. STFU chain
dampener system just to make the bike even more quiet. And those are the time pedals Special 12.
All right. Just a few more things to touch on, some of the little finer details of the bike.
I see you're running a mud guard upfront and a chain guide. What can you tell us about those?
Yeah. The chain guide is from e*thirteen. It's got the carbon plate just
because it's a bit lighter. It's got the quick release. So if you need to drop off the chain
or do maintenance, even faster. Don't need any tools.
I've got the mudhugger , that's the long version on the front. I
use it summer or winter. Just protects your eyes. You see better, you can ride better,
but also it protects your seals of the fork. I've got the
Topeak bottle cage. Obviously, CamelBak water bottle. And the seat is SM Enduro.
So it's been great. Specifically designed for endure and for longer travel trail bike.
I know Remy's really finicky about his bike and he loves to make adjustments on
trail if needed. So where do you hide your tools?
Well, I always ride with a backpack. And so I have
CamelBak vest and I just put my Topeak tool into the pocket.
And what else do you put in your little backpack?
Snickers
GoPro, SD cards, batteries.
Batteries for days because they always die.
Water, obviously. I don't ever carry a tube
or anything like that. So that way I have to ride smoother because
if I do have a mechanical on the terrain I have no way so that's a good reminder to ride smooth.
There you go. Pro tip of the day, don't bring tools cause then you have to ride smooth.
Thanks so much to Remy today here for joining us and giving us the rundown on
all the details of his bike. It's really cool to see what the pros are running
and why, because truth is they have ties to their sponsors and that's fair enough,
but they get to pick what specific parts they run for specific trails and reasons. Whereas this
might not be an average bike for any old rider. He's got it set up specifically to him and if
you've ever wondered how he lands those massive hucks, well, now's your time to be enlightened.
Hope you guys enjoyed this video today and stay tuned for some more bike checks from the pros
and your average everyday riders, too.
It's nothing you're not used to. What is that? It's so scary. You're just a bunch of big babies.
Yeah. Everyone's stoked. Bye, dogs. Put a dog in it, the people love it.