The updated Hugene 140mm dual-suspension 29er even has a carbon-fibre rocker link.
Propain has modernized its Hugene 140mm trail bike for 2021.
The German gravity and trail bike brand has responded to customer input regarding geometry and changed a variety of angles on the Hugene.
Although its core construction remains carbon-fibre (for both triangles and the rocker link), this new Hugene is longer and slacker.
Read more: new trail bikes
On trend geometry updates
Revising the frame geometry has allowed Propain to deliver a Hugene with much slacker angles. Riders who choose to run a 140mm fork, will now sit behind a steering head angle of 65.5°, which is a full 2° slacker than before, which should notably improve descending confidence on the steepest of trails.
Ensuring that the new Hugene’s much sacker head angle doesn’t slow its steering responsiveness too much, on flatter terrain, is a shorter fork offset specification, of 42mm. This is much shorter than the 51mm offset forks used on 2020 Hugenes.
The Propain Hugene might be targeted as serious trail riders seeking great rollover and terrain feedback, but Propain has address the climbing geometry too, with a steeper seat angle.
Overall stability is also enhanced, thanks to reach growing on all sizes. As a reference number, the new Propain is 20mm longer in reach, on a size large, totalling 460mm.
It is lighter, too
With the opportunity to reshape Hugene’s frame geometry, engineers at Propain also restructured the bike’s carbon-fibre layup. The result is reduced mass, by 300g, with the new Hugene frame weighing only 2.3kg. The company says that a premium Hugene build, can come in as low as 12.9kg, which is very decent for a 140mm 29er dual-suspension bike.
Some tidy industrial design and mechanical durability details have also been added to the new Hugene frame. The suspension bearings gain additional dirt shields, to keep water and trail grime from wearing them down.
There are two accessory mounts in the front triangle if you wish to carry a full-size water bottle and small repair kit. Frame protection is also improved with a moulded down tube guard and integrated chainstay insulation rubber, to silence drivetrain slap.