2014 Kona's

rockmonkeysc

I haven't liked Konas for a long time. They used to lead mountain bike design but kind of lost it several years ago.
I saw some pictures of the 2014 Process 134 DL and it looks good but the geometry looks spot on and they have some nice features. Value could be better but im really tempted by one of these instead of a Giant Trance for next year
http://www.konaworld.com/process_134_dl.cfm

Is it just me or have Kona finally come up with a bike worth buying?

cooldad

Pity they didn't stick with scandium for awesomeness.

The Northern Monkey

I do like Kona's but know what you mean... they've had a bit of a break lol.
The Explosive looks really nice!

Oh, and the Hei Hei Hei, Cinder Cone are scandium, def not enough!

rockmonkeysc

I do like the look of the Explosif but I'm seriously tempted by the Process 134DL. I had settled on a 2014 Trance X1 (depending on a demo ride) but now I'm not so sure.

fredblob

decent spec and nice looking thou the colour looks horrible

rockmonkeysc

I quite like the black and blue colour scheme

fredblob

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I quite like the black and blue colour scheme

its not stand out blue

its like dull stomach upset blue.kinda blue you get went you have bad case of diarrhea.

lawman

The prototype raw process looked absolutely awesome.



The new Cube Fritz looked awesome too, but then they ruined it with god awful colours!

The Northern Monkey

Mmm that does look good in raw!

stuisnew

I think they've been ok for a while. Terrible value at rrp but nearly always very heavily discounted.

That raw finish is immense!

rockmonkeysc

They could have been ok if they didn't use that stupid magic link which just felt horrible. It looks like they have dropped that now

tarbot18

The Kona Process and Giant Trance are aimed at different things the Trance is a 127 or 140 mm trail bike the Process is an Enduro alps bike with 160 or 170 mm travel and weighs a hell of a lot more than a Trance.
they weigh 35 lbs to most Trance s 28 lb ish.
Ive just had a Process on hire for a few days in the apls at Chatel and it was awesome downhill but not great on the uphills but then its designed as an uplift bike.

lawman

tarbot18 wrote:

The Kona Process and Giant Trance are aimed at different things the Trance is a 127 or 140 mm trail bike the Process is an Enduro alps bike with 160 or 170 mm travel and weighs a hell of a lot more than a Trance.
they weigh 35 lbs to most Trance s 28 lb ish.
Ive just had a Process on hire for a few day in the apls at Chatel and it was awesome downhill but not great on the uphills but then its designed as an uplift bike.

The "old" Process is no more though, despite it being only a year old. The 2014 version has 3 varients, based around the prototype above, a 29er with 111mm travel, and two 650b bikes with 134mm and 156mm or something along those lines anyway. Other than the ghastly paint jobs they all look like they should be an absolute riot to ride, the 134 in particular is supposed to ride very, very well

tarbot18

ah fair dos didnt know theyd brought out a new one the one i was riding hadnt been out long apparently , great bike to ride though the 2013 i was on, awesome in the alps recommend to anyone for an all mountain bike. mine had high roller 2 s on so you could save 2lb in weight just changing the tyres.

supersonic

Even I think a 68 degree ha with a 140 fork is steep!

rockmonkeysc

Im not so sure about that. The ultra short stem will help keep the front end under control.
Im not a fan of the latest super slack trail bikes. I prefer a steeper head angle to keep the steering nice.

supersonic

To be honest, so do I, but a very short stem can feel twitchy to some. Couple that with a low BB and a suspension design prone to bobbing and cutting through the travel (unless you geta good shock), then I can see this being a handful for harder riding.

supersonic

I thought the price would be about 1.5k, but 3k, that is absurd!

rockmonkeysc

As soon as a demo is available I will give one a good beasting around the Quantocks (dh and xc trails), that should show up anything that I don't like. Im hoping to demo a Trance the same week I get a Process demo.

supersonic

For 3k it would have to ride bloody amazing for me to even contemplate buying it! Wouldn't suprise me if the new Boardmans are just as good for half the cash.

rockmonkeysc

I won't be paying £3k. I should be able to get it closer to £2k which I think is about right when compared to Specialized, Giant, Trek etc.

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

As soon as a demo is available I will give one a good beasting around the Quantocks (dh and xc trails), that should show up anything that I don't like. Im hoping to demo a Trance the same week I get a Process demo.

My LBS has just got the first of their 2014 Trance (and Anthem) demo bikes in this week.

kroky

I've owned the standard 153 for about a week. It's by far the best bike I've ever ridden. Climbs amazing for a160mm, don't know what the other guy is talking about. This is also far from an uplift bike. Pedals on flats very well. It's going to be perfect for the gravity enduro series I'm doing next year as it can do it all so well. 10/10 in my opinion

kroky

RockmonkeySC wrote:

As soon as a demo is available I will give one a good beasting around the Quantocks (dh and xc trails), that should show up anything that I don't like. Im hoping to demo a Trance the same week I get a Process demo.

You will struggle very badly to find anything you don't like. It's amazing!!

Kowalski675

kroky wrote:

I've owned the standard 153 for about a week. It's by far the best bike I've ever ridden. Climbs amazing for a160mm, don't know what the other guy is talking about. This is also far from an uplift bike. Pedals on flats very well. It's going to be perfect for the gravity enduro series I'm doing next year as it can do it all so well. 10/10 in my opinion

Ooh, that does look fantastic in that orange, especially with the black Pikes. Me like.

miss notax

The new Kona's ARE stunning. I've ridden one of the 130 Process's and it was a fabulous bike.

Demo event this Saturday in Swanage 8)

rockmonkeysc

I am tempted but their prices are just too high.

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I am tempted but their prices are just too high.

It does seem rather expensive, given the spec.

chriskimberley

Ive got a process 153 and its a brilliant bike, best ive ever owned

Ive got the lower spec one and it was 32.5 lbs from new and climbs pretty well (the guy that rode one in the alps is talking bobbins even the 2013 wasnt that heavy and Al stock won the UKGE series on his) Ive done 50k W2 loop at afan no probs
Although hes got one thing right it descends like a DH bike, feels very stiff and solid, corners amazingly, really stable and inspiring.
The short chainstays, long reach, tiny stem, wide bars, dropper - its perfect out of the box,
not cheap but no worse than anyone elses 2014 kit!
trek slash same price, similar spec but no dropper!
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tre ... 9#features
spesh enduro 100quid less still same spec again, still no dropper
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... 3#features

Ive gone tubeless on mine (rims were already taped) swapped out the HRIIs (save them for the Alps) ditched the front mech and got a RF narrow wide and stuck on my M4 Race Evos
down to 30.5lbs and could easy loose some more when the budget cassette and bb wear out Ill swap for something lighter

Cqc

It's lower spec version won a recent test in mbr though

rockmonkeysc

A couple people I know have bought a Process 134 and a 153, both had Specialized Enduro's and both have said that the Kona is better in every way and a lot better overall.
The owner of my local shop has got a Process 111 and did this reveiw
http://badassbikes.co.uk/blog/kona-proc ... de-review/
He's an ex UK Enduro champ so knows how to ride and it takes a pretty good bike for him to buy anything other than an Intense Tracer.