Kona Process 111 Short Review

So I rented a Kona Process 111 for two days of riding last week in south central Pennsylvania. Did a little over 30 miles in two days. I grew up riding in Pennsylvania, but have put more miles on trail in Flagstaff and Sedona in the last year than I did in quite a few years prior in Pennsylvania. The terrain of the trails I was riding in PA were very similar to Sedona when it's wet, but with more small rocks.

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My general impression was about a 7/10. The 111 had all the modern conveniences of 1x11, dropper post, good enough brakes, good suspension. Two things stood out to me:

1) the large felt small to me. Maybe it was a Medium and the shop didn't realize it? I had to slide the seat way way back in order to feel comfortable.

2) Bigger square edges bumps like the technical rocks of Pennsylvania really seemed to hang up the rear end. It's a short travel bike, but it didn't feel anymore efficient or poppy than my Horst Link 150mm 650b bike.

I was really expecting the 29" wheels, slack geo and short travel to just steamroll technical sections, and was bit a disappointed that I was still working pretty hard in those situations. The bike also weighs 32lbs, so it's not any lighter than my personal ride.

I will say that modern 29ers are dialed. Those short chainstays, wide bars, longer reach and slack angles really do make the bike feel so much smaller. I didn't really notice the change from 275 to 29 in a negative way.

I still feel like a decently lightweight, short chainstay, slack, efficient pedaling 29er that can run 27.5x2.8 tires would be a great all-around bike for everything outside of all-out long distance or cross country trails. Kona has the right ingredients, it just needs to make a low-fat version.