Propain Launches US Operations 8

When we visited Propain in 2019, we were impressed by the drive and ambition of this young brand. At the time, the company had just moved into new facilities but plans were already in place for yet another move, as demand was growing and even more capacity was needed to keep up. Kicking off US operations in 2020 was also on the to-do list, but COVID happened and things had to go on pause for a while. Now with the new European building up and running the time is finally right to go overseas in earnest, and 2022 will see Propain stocking an increasingly wide selection of its bikes in its new US headquarters in Vancouver, Washington. We caught up with Fritjof Hilgenfeldt, PR Manager at Propain Bicycles GmbH and Victor Sandrin, Executive Vice President of Propain Bicycles USA, LLC, to talk about the current state of affairs and how the US expansion is coming along.

Vital: How are things going at Propain? How are you currently dealing with the worldwide parts shortage and other "fun" bike industry challenges?
Fritjof: PROPAIN has grown continuously over the last years. Our recipe for success has always been our customer centricity, the custom build options we offer and of course our high-quality bikes. Now we have taken the next big step and have opened our own office in the USA. Like everyone in the bike industry, we must deal with the current problems of delivery shortages. Due to our custom build options, this is sometimes even more complicated for us. Overall, however, we have been able to manage well and are looking positively to the future. We are therefore particularly proud to have made such a successful start in the USA in such a challenging time. With Vic Sandrin and our new US headquarters in Vancouver Washington, we can finally serve the US market.

Vital: Your range has grown nicely over the past few years, what can you tell us about it? What are the popular models?
Fritjof: Originally, we have our roots in downhill racing. Over the past few years, we have been expanding our product portfolio to many more models and now offer everything from trail bikes to our E-MTB to downhill racing machines. Not to forget our full suspension kids’ bikes. What has remained constant is the heart of our bikes, the PRO10 suspension system. It is important to us that we only include bikes in our portfolio that fit us and that we and our customers are up for. It must have the PROPAIN DNA. The "we build the best bikes for us and our friends" mentality is still our motivation for everything we do. The most popular bikes from our product range are shared between our Hugene trail bike and our Enduro Bike Tyee.

Vital: Now it’s finally time for a proper introduction to the US market – tell us more about what you are doing here now? Exciting times with a new US HQ opening up?
Victor: PROPAIN reached out to me at the beginning of the year as they were looking for someone based in the US to help them set up and run their US office. After meeting with the guys by Teams I was totally sold on the brand! I am based in the PNW and convinced them that this is the place to be for new brands, we have such a great and growing bike industry here in the PNW, great trails, plus we are close to the ports in Tacoma so shipping from our factories is quicker and easy, well at least in normal times. Ha! The US made a lot of sense to PROPAIN because the market is ready for our brand and what we offer to consumers. A great bike at a great price!

Vital: So bikes will be stocked in the US?
Victor: We will be assembling all bikes sold in the US right here in Vancouver WA! This was one of the biggest draws for me with PROPAIN. Being able to build up bikes here offers a lot of advantages, including the custom builds.

Vital: Yes, that’s right, you provide a custom bike build program via your website in Europe today, is that a concept you’re looking to support in the US market as well?
Victor: At the moment we will only have preconfigured bikes with limited custom options like sticker, grip and saddle colors. But our goal for mid-2022 is to have the full configurator up and available to all US and Canadian consumers. It is so important for us to offer bikes this way, it is in our DNA as a brand, but with supply challenges this year it just isn’t an option at the moment but everyone in Germany is working hard to make that a reality.

Vital: You have an innovative customer relations platform called “Friends”, where Propain riders can connect to exchange experiences but also help would-be owners find bikes to test ride near them. Will you be bringing this concept to the US as well?
Victor: Our friends app is available to the US now, but there aren’t many PROPAIN bikes in the US yet. That will be changing over the next year and hopefully the app will be much more robust and effective for US riders as more people sign on and set up accounts in the US.

Vital: Are there any plans for a US demo tour where potential customers will be able to come check out your bikes in person and take them for a test ride?
Victor: We will for sure have a US demo tour, we want as many people as possible to test ride our bikes and being a DTC based brand the best way for us to do that besides the Friends App is a demo. We have hired Brian Davies as our events manager and we are so excited for Sedona Mountain Bike Fest as it will be our first official demo event where people can take some bikes out on the trail. Plus we will have bikes at our HQ in Vancouver starting around May so anyone coming through the area will be able to set up an appointment to test ride. More info will be coming on the site.

Vital: Any other messages for the US market?
Victor: We were at Sea Otter and the response to us being there was so good. We are really excited to be here in the US and can’t wait to see more PROPAIN Bikes in the wild next year on the trails!