The last voyage of The Beast | Two years with the Propain Spindrift
Vložit
- čas přidán 13. 06. 2024
- The Beast just turned 2... With that, I believe it's finally time for a long-term review of this absolute machine. We'll go over 3 of its absolute killer features and 3 of my gripes with it. Hopefully, this can help anyone who's looking to buy a Propain Spindrift make a decision on whether this is the bike for them.
Full bike check can be found here(in Bulgarian): • Introducing... The Bea...
Shot with:
- GoPro Hero 11 Black
- Canon R6 II
Music:
- Blue Steel, Cushy, Damma Beatz - Time's Passing
- Sebastian Winskog - Middle of Time
Chapters:
00:00 - Opening
01:00 - Intro
06:08 - Climbing Performance
06:52 - Downhill Performance
08:14 - Numbleness
09:37 - Weight
11:31 - Maintenance
13:36 - Rattle
15:05 - Overview - Sport
Very informative long term review, thanks. I'm a Spindrift owner since Feb23 and PROPAIN seem to have definitely improved something with the cable routing. No rattling in the frame on my bike. The rubber plucks are a bit stupid though. For the chain noise of the SRAM GX drivetrain I used a STFU and with that, the bike is dead silent. I did a custom build and have no issues with my BB or Rear Hub. All your other points I can confirm. It's a bit heavy but pedals really fine for half a day. It's quite agile, with mixed wheelsize even more. If you ride it at least 30% in bikeparks, it's a great do it all bike with superb DH capabilities. (Removing the shock is a bit of a PITA, but with patience and a bike stand, its certainly doable).
Hey, a person who speaks english as a second language here. I appreciate the english commentary :)
great video, thanks for upload!
I feel like this is more of an issue with parts. I ride a spindrift al and sometimes have issues, and I think it’s mainly a parts thing. Could probably swap the rear wheel or other parts
Oh a 100%. New hub fixes the rear noise, new BB will probably fix the unwinding thing and so on and so on :D Would have been nice if it was fine from the get go but alas... The Hugene on the other hand has been almost flawless in that regard... Almost no issues. I might do a review of that one soon...
I have a Spindrift got it in March23, the cable rattle issue seems to be gone completely, I do notice some chain rattle but thats just sram for you. I did also notice I am not sure if its my riding style or not, but the recommended spring rates was particularily soft for my liking. I was recommended a 400lb spring on the dhx2 but ended up instantly switchign to a 450lb for general riding and have a 500lb spare for big jump days. Otherwise its a great bike, as someone who grew up racing exclusively downhill bikes and no longer have the option to have multiple bikes this is perfect for me. I often find myself on 160mm travel bikes being subconciously cautious about how I approach large features especially chunky tech and large drops and it really slows my riding down. But with the spindrift (after I changed the spring rate to what I wanted not what propain recommended) i felt like I was riding a downhill bike that could climb.
The only issue I have with the bike is that if I used it as a race bike I would want it to be larger, I am using the mullet version and do feel a full 29 would be faster. I am currently on a large frame but if I was using it for racing more I would likely use an extra large. Saying that I do prefer the smaller more playful bike for every day riding. I have ridden dozens of different DH bikes and Enduro bikes in my years and this bike is literally the perfect comprimise for my riding. It doesn't do everything perfectly, but it does everything very very well. It could be longer for more stabiltiy and speed, but then it wouldn't be as playful, I could complain and say why isn't there a flip switch to swap to a full 29 setup. But the new Tyee does that so it seems propain are already heading in that direction. I haven't encountered any issues with my magura mt7 brakes I found with the magura rotors there is verrry small tolerance but as long as my rotors aren't bent I have managed to keep them from contacting. Also haven't had any trouble bleeding them either I have used the official magura bleed kit as a local bike park near me sells them in the reception. The BB on mine hasn't had any issues either, I do go a bit over the top with maintence and often strip the bike down on a spare day just for the sake of it so maybe this plays a part.
Great video I hope to keep my propain for many more years to come,
Thanks for a great comment from someone that rides the bike close to it limit. Have a Norco Optic besides my DH bike and lately all my trail riding outside the bike parks are quite rough and realised the 125 mm rear travel just doesn't do the cut anymore ( Finale Ligure would be prime example) so would need something bigger. Looks like the Spindrift could handle quite a large spectrum of my ridding, maybe even replacing my DH in the future, who knows. Thanks as well for the video creator for the review, was really good
nice bike! what size is this?
This one is L. I'm 187cm which is in both L and XL ranges. In retrospect I should have gotten the XL ;)
Loose some weight and get fit and the weight wouldn't matter on the climbs. I ride the aluminum version, which is heavier, and it's the best climber I ever had. Put insulation hose on the cables in the internal section and the cable rattle will be gone.
Oh, you are absolutely right about the weight... Definitely climbs fenomenally well and the bike heft wouldn't be a problem if the belly was gone :D
The insulation however.... Doesn't work. I tried that. First, it was a nightmare to get it in as there just isn't any clearence, but also that made it worse. See, it was the internal housing that rattled against the frame. Insulation just gave it additional mass to whack around :/ I ended up routing the rear brake and shifter cable externaly and then added insulation on the outside of the dropper internal housing... Very tricky task since you need to pull it out through the bottom bracket shell and then put it back in, but that whole approach worked wonderful. Even liked the look with the external cables.
Really glad to hear Propain fixed the issue with the following iterations of the frame.