Joe Smith's Propain Rage CF - Maribor World Cup DH 2019

The entire Propain Factory Racing team is on 29'' wheels this season, but the Rage Carbon didn't need to change much for that to happen. Both the front and rear triangles stay the same between the 27.5'' and 29'' wheeled bikes, but the latter gets a different set of upper and lower alloy rocker arms that bring the bottom bracket back down to where it's supposed to be.

Propain also employs two different lower headset cups; the taller one is for 27.5'' wheels and the lower version that's pictured here on Joe Smither big-wheeler.




The Rage platform uses a counter-rotating dual-link suspension layout, and Smith's bike is equipped with a shock from Italian suspension outfit Extreme Racing Shox that sports a slightly shorter eye-to-eye length to get the bike low and slack. How slack? Smith is running a 62.5-degree front-end despite sliding the BoXXer's stanchion tubes up in the crowns by 20mm to compensate for the larger wheel. Joe's also on a large-sized frame that sports a conservative 456mm reach, but he's shortened that up by 10mm via an offset headset regardless.

Both the small/medium and large/extra-large Rage CF frame sizes get the same 420mm long seat tube, which means that riders can choose their preferred size on the numbers that matter.





According to Smith's mechanic, his BoXXer is hiding a custom tuned Charger 2.1 damper, although he wasn't about to go into exactly what's different between it and the production unit. Air pressure is in the region of 138 psi. Out back, Smith began the week with a 450 in/lb spring on his EXT shock, but he's since gone up by another 25 in/lb as his speed has increased.

The team is sponsored by Vee Tire Co, and Joe's bike is running their latest prototype downhill rubber; the front is at 23.5 psi and the rear 27.5 psi.

Posted In:
Reviews and Tech DH Bikes Propain Rage