Kona Process DL - Review

TESTED

Kona Process DL

WORDS & PHOTOS: Mike Kazimer

Since 1988, Kona has been building bikes capable of handling the terrain in their backyard, terrain that includes long climbs up logging roads followed by steep descents down rock and root strewn singletrack, often punctuated with jumps and drops. Kona's new Process series was designed with this style of riding in mind – it's an all-mountain bike built with an eye towards durability and strength. With relaxed geometry, 150mm of travel in the rear, and a 160mm RockShox Lyrik DH in the front, the Process is ready to get rowdy.


rotates on cartridge bearings, a design Kona employs on the vast majority of their full suspension bikes, from the Hei Hei cross-country bike to the downhill/freeride oriented Operator and Entourage. There's a reason for its prevalence – the design can easily be adapted to a bike's intended purpose by altering the pivot locations and shock dimensions. This can make a shock feel more progressive or linear depending on the desired trait. Longer travel bikes, especially ones using a coil shock, can benefit from a progressive suspension curve, while a more linear path can help shorter travel, XC-oriented bikes with an air shock make the most of their travel. The Walking Beam linkage system also helps reduce the amount of side loading on the shock itself. By having a pivot point on the seat tube between the seatstays and the shock, side loading on the shock is greatly reduced, while at the same time increasing rear end stiffness.

The Process frame has what is currently the trifecta of must-have features for an all-mountain bike: a tapered headtube, 142x12 rear axle, and ISCG 05 tabs. It also has routing to run a stealth dropper post – no more unsightly hydraulic line flapping in the breeze when you lower the seat. On some bikes, cable routing still seems like an afterthought, but that's not the case with the Process. Cables are routed on the downtube, and there is internal routing on the drive side chainstay for the rear derailleur. Simple and effective, without any clutter.




Component Check
From afar, the Process DL doesn't immediately attract attention. Its battleship grey paint job and lack of any brightly colored parts makes it easy to overlook the bevy of high end goodies hanging from the frame. The DL gets a full SRAM X0 2x10 drivetrain, including carbon X0 cranks with 24 and 38 tooth chainrings. Braking duties are handled by Avid's powerful, four piston X0 Trail brakes, and a stealth RockShox Reverb seatpost makes the proper seat height available with the press of a button. 2.4” Maxxis High Roller II tires are seated on a Stan's Flow EX wheelset, a wheelset designed to be tough enough to handle the rigors of all-mountain riding without being excessively heavy. Race Face's Atlas handlebar and stem round out the high-end parts package.

Specifications Release Date 2013 Price $5499 Travel 150mm Rear Shock RockShox Monarch Plus HV RC3 Fork RockShox Lyrik DH Dual Position Air 160mm Headset FSA Cassette SRAM XG1070 11-36 Crankarms SRAM XO 24/38 Bottom Bracket SRAM Press Fit GXP Pedals Kona Wah Wah Rear Derailleur SRAM XO Chain SRAM PC1091 Front Derailleur SRAM XO direct mount Shifter Pods SRAM XO Handlebar Race Face Atlas FR Stem Race Face Atlas Grips Kona G-LOG Brakes Avid XO Trail Wheelset Stan's Flow EX Tires Maxxis High Roller II 2.4" EXO 3C Seat WTB Volt Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth Compare to other All Mountain/Enduro/XC

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Riding the Kona Process DL




Geometry and Fit
The most noticeable geometry trait of the Process is its long toptube, which on a size large is 24.8”. This makes for a very roomy cockpit - even though the Process comes stock with a relatively short 65mm stem we felt stretched out farther than we would have liked. Riders may want to drop down a size to avoid feeling overextended. Now that dropper posts are becoming more and more prevalent, seat tube length is not as much of a factor when sizing a bike – the toptube length and a bike's reach are more important dimensions to consider to ensure proper fit.

Climbing
The Process turned out to be a mild-mannered ascender - even with the compression lever on the Monarch Plus shock turned to the minimum setting, there was less pedal bob than we had anticipated. Sure, standing up and mashing on the pedals would get the rear end going, but it was easy to find a climbing position that minimized unwanted suspension movement. We did make full use of the compression settings, simply because they were there, but we would have been fine running the shock in the middle compression position the whole time, climbing or descending.

On steep, seated climbs, the front end of the Process had a tendency to wander if the RockShox Lyrik fork was in its long travel mode. This was likely due to the combination of a long top tube and a 73.4° seat tube angle, geometry numbers that had our weight shifted towards the rear of the bike. Turning the fork's dial to reduce the travel to 130mm greatly improved the bike's climbing performance. Dropping the travel put our weight back over the front of the bike, and ended the front wheel's wayward ways. The same thing could have been accomplished by standing up out of the saddle, but on really long uphills it's nice to have the option of sitting and spinning.

The long wheelbase turned out to be beneficial when tackling technical uphill sections. Once the front wheel was over an obstacle, we had more time than usual to set up and convince the rear end to follow suit. As would be expected, tight switchbacks could be a challenge aboard the Process – it took some extra body English and some rear wheel hopping to get the bike to navigate sharp uphill turns.




Descending
Compared to other bikes with similar amounts of travel, the Process DL is like the kid that can grow a full beard in middle school – a little burlier than everyone else. Its overall length was a bit of a hindrance on tighter trails, but as soon as the terrain opened up a little it was game on. The long toptube and wheelbase make for a super stable ride when the speeds increase. The faster we went, the better the bike handled, with no apparent top end speed limit – blasting down the trail fully pinned didn't phase the Process in the least, and the 66 degree head angle made for a bike that could tackle the steeps with ease. “Confidence inspiring” is an overused term, but in this case it's quite accurate – the bike's solidity made us feel comfortable rolling through rough terrain faster than we normally would. The Process is billed as an all-mountain bike, but with its overall stability and stout feel we would be totally comfortable taking it up to Whistler to smash out some laps in the bike park.

Slow speed cornering isn't the Process' strong suit, but it was less of a chore than anticipated to get the rear wheel where we wanted it. Credit goes to the short chainstays, which makes it easier to maneuver the rear end of the bike, an important trait, especially considering the Process' 46.9" wheelbase. Once again, when the speeds increased, any cornering issues slipped away, replaced by the feeling of being locked into the turns, like a rocket sled on a track, with no rear end squirming or squirreliness to be felt.

It can be a bit of process getting the bike airborne (pun intended), especially on jumps with steep lips, but its length makes it easy to ride out of an off-kilter landing, the kind that happens if you hold a whip for just a little too long. There were no issues when sending stepdowns or sailing off drops, trail features where the bike's length wasn't really a factor. Once again, the length came in handy when it came time for touching back down to earth.


Ride Notes

• We did have an issue with the first Monarch shock that came on our test bike - it would slowly lose air over the course of the ride. A faulty lower seal seemed to be the culprit. We replaced the leaky shock, and didn't have any issues with the replacement for rest of the testing period.

• The Lyrik RC2 DH fork proved to be a worthy match to the Monarch rear shock. The Lyrik and the Monarch have a similar feel – a subtle platform at the beginning of the stroke which leads to a predictable, supple mid-stroke, and progressive end stroke. We were able to get full travel out of the front and rear shock without any harsh bottoming.

• The Maxxis High Roller II tires provided gobs of traction and excellent wet weather performance, but at the price of increased rolling resistance.

• Our SRAM X0 Type 2 rear derailleur reverted back to a Type 1 during a ride. The derailleur still worked perfectly, but the clutch mechanism stopped engaging, reminding us with every slap of the chain how loud bikes used to be.

• The Avid X0 Trail brakes provided strong, predictable power, although the pads were noisy on cold, wet days.

• It was great to see a proper wide bar and shorter stem come stock on a bike – someone at Kona is listening.

• The Stan's Flow EX wheels held strong for the duration of our testing, but the endcaps on the front wheel can come off easily during wheel removal. Not too big of a deal, but if your bike rack requires taking off the front wheel, you'll want to be sure the endcaps make it to the trailhead with you. Stan's is aware of this issue and has altered the design for the most recent production run.




Pinkbike's Take:

With the Process DL, Kona has created a bike truly worthy of the all-mountain designation. A smart build kit and reasonable weight make this bike suitable for everything from enduro racing to the occasional trip to the bike park. But don't be fooled by its mild-mannered looks - this is a burly bike that rewards a pilot with a take-charge riding style. There's a fire breathing dragon hidden beneath that grey paint job, so if your idea of a good ride consists of a casual meander through the woods on smooth singletrack, with the occasional break to pick daisies, this isn't the bike for you. The Process is for the rider who keeps it pinned wide open no matter the terrain, seeking out the roughest, most technical trails to test their bike riding prowess. - Mike Kazimer

www.konaworld.com