Propain Hugene 2: The lightweight, 140mm travel down-country trail bike | MBR Trail Bike of the Year

Propain Hugene 2: The lightweight, 140mm travel down-country trail bike | MBR Trail Bike of the Year

[Music] [Music] welcome to our trail bike of the year test and what a lineup we’ve got for you this year but before we get into the test proper I want to introduce you to the individual bikes in the direct sales category so say hello to the Propane Hugene of all the bikes in the direct sales category the Propane is probably the most trail focused it’s got a full carbon frame 29in wheels and 140 mil travel in the rear and you have the choice of either 140 or 150 mil travel forks up front and the bike we have here has the 150 mil travel Rock Shocks L Ultimate fitted to it and fork travel isn’t the only option you have with all of the customization options on the Propane website you can choose your frame color you can choose your decal kit and there’s a massive array of components to choose from so you can get a truly custom build to match your preferences and your wallet interestingly Propane has already slashed the price on this particular build from £4335 to just under 3K which I’ve got to say makes really killer value for money but we’ll be ignoring that in the main test because that deal may not be available by the time the review is finished take one look at the Huene and it’s pretty clear that it’s a slender bike it’s also the lightest bike in the test 14.16 kilos now to put that into perspective that’s over 3 kilos lighter than the Privateier 141 that’s also in the same category but I reckon the weight of the propane is definitely going to go up when we fit our control tires to it and for this test WTB has come on board as a sponsor so I’m going to fit a Vigilante Verdict tire combo to all the bikes and we’re gonna go with the light casing with the high grip compound [Music] i’m also going to fit WTB wavelength grips to all of the bikes and volt saddles so that all of the contact points are identical [Music] right let’s get the propane back in the scales and see what it weighs with the WTB parts fitted to it still only 14.12 kilos so really light now I should point out that Propane launched a huge unit in 2021 so this bike is definitely due a refresh and the geometry kind of reflects that so it’s got a slightly steeper 65.2° head angle even with the 150 mil fork and it’s also got a relatively tall 455 mil seat tube at 5’11 I can still comfortably get a 180 mil bike dropper post fitted in here um and the rest of the geometry is actually pretty good there are four frame sizes small to XL with really good rider height recommendations on the propane website the size L frame has a 470 mil reach and the effective seat tube angle is a hair under 76° which means you get a really long 625 mil top tube and what’s really interesting is the Propane is the only bike in test with zero geometry adjustment i mean not even a flip chip in the rocker link which leads us nicely to the rear suspension propane uses a twin link design with counterrotating links so it makes it more of a VPP style bike than a traditional four bar and the twist here is that the shock is sandwiched between the upper and the lower link this doesn’t isolate the shock from pedal forces but it does allow propane to change the progression rate for different travel bikes rear travel on the Hugene is 140 mil but when I actually measured it I got 137 out of it but I’m measuring it vertically and that’s well within manufacturing tolerance the shock is kind of obscured by the seat stay assembly though so it’s really good that the the Super Deluxe has side gradients on it which makes it a little bit easier to set up super Deluxe shock also has low speed compression adjustment and a lockout lever but I’m not convinced that the Hugin actually needs it cuz this bike pedals like stink even with the shock wide open if anything I’d actually prefer a slightly lighter compression tune on the shock just so it opens the suspension up a little bit more and allows it to absorb those high frequency impacts on the descents hopefully the soft compound WTV tires can help with that another nice weight saving touch is the full carbon upper link and with dirt shields on the bearings the Hugene should also be really reliable i also like the custom chain stay protector which helps reduce chain slap and the overall finish of the bike is really good and even after just a couple of rides it’s pretty clear to me that Propane’s focus with this bike was reduced weight and increased pedaling efficiency it’s clearly not a short travel enduro bike land but is the Propane Hugene a good enough allrounder to be our trail bike of the year well that remains to be seen because it faces stiff competition from Privateier YT and Canyon so if you haven’t done so already make sure you subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss the main

Welcome to the spotlight videos introducing the contenders for our 2025 Trail Bike of the Year test. This year the test is supported by Abus helmets and WTB contact points, including tyres, grips, and saddles.

https://www.abus.com/

https://www.wtb.com/

At a hair over 14kg, the carbon Propain Hugene 2 is easily the lightest bike in the direct sales category of our 2025 Trail Bike of the Year test. And while the carbon upper suspension link and weight conscious build kit have obvious advantages on the scale, Propain’s twin-link suspension design also plays a key part in keeping the weight in check.

By connecting both halves of the carbon frame, with short, solid links, stiffness is improved over a traditional 4-bar layout, so frame material can then be reduced to achieve the same degree of stiffness. And because Propain sandwiches the shock between the two counter-rotating links, the front triangle doesn’t need as much reinforcing to cope with the suspension forces. It’s why the Hugene is still a category 4 frame even though it’s so light.

That’s not to say the 140mm rear suspension on the Propain is perfect though. The RockShox Super Deluxe shock has been tuned to give very stable pedalling characteristics, and it’s the expense of small bump sensitivity and ultimately traction. And it’s somewhat out of sync with the ultra-plush 150mm RockShox Lyrik Ultimate fork.

That said, the tighter rear suspension sort of matches the Hugene’s slightly more conservative geometry. Where the 65º head angle and slack 75.8º effective seat tube angle have the Propain leaning closer to down-country or modern XC bikes, that the current crop of full-on 29in trail bikes.

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