Review: 2022 Kona Process 153 DL 29

The new Process is a “perfect balance of descending prowess and climbing efficiency,” according to Kona at least. However, they’re not far off. It does offer a well rounded character that will suit many people who ride tech, steep or fast trails, even if they have no want or need of a big enduro bike. It’s funny, the Process 153 was the enduro bike of the range, and if you had told me then that a bike with that amount of travel paired to a 160mm fork wasn’t enduro I would have chucked my race-legal pre-workout drink right in your face, but I think the times are changing slightly. Maybe that’s best represented with the Process X’s place in Kona’s range.

Truthfully, the Process 153 isn’t what an enduro bike is in 2022, and I feel its definition has shifted slightly. There are plenty of enduro bikes that are 35 or 36lbs plus, with head angles nearing 63-degrees and equipped with one of the new wave of big, burly and stiff forks. The Process is an all-round bike - it just so happens the definition of enduro has in some ways changed

Our test bike, the full-alloy Kona Process 153 DL 29, is the more expensive of the larger wheeled 153s (Kona doesn't offer a carbon version of the new 153, at least not yet). That said, it’s got a solid spec and keeps its feet on the ground with the $3,999 USD price tag. It’s not outrageously cheap, but it also has decent parts and isn’t needlessly luxurious. It's equipped with a RockShox Lyrik Select RC fork, a Super Deluxe Select+ shock, and SRAM's G2 brakes. The drivetrain is made up of NX-level components, and a GX derailleur. WTB i30 rims are laced to Formula hubs, and Maxxis takes care of the tires, with an Assegai up front and a Minion DHRII in the rear, both with EXO casing construction.

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Frame Details

Of all the observations one may have about a new bike, it’s hard to not have “f*cking yellow” among the first of them when looking at the 153 DL. I have to say, it really grew on me and looks great in photos. In fact, the simple bumble-bee black ‘n’ yellow scheme almost helped to lessen the eyesore of the externally routed cables. Sorry internet, but I’ll die on this hill - cables should go inside the frame.

However, I have to admit something. On this bike, at this price point, I think it’s a perfectly sensible thing to do. I imagine this to be the bike of time-pressed pinners, full-suspension first-timers and ardent enthusiasts, and maybe not those who would be willing to sacrifice five minutes of faff for something cleaner looking. The only time a cable or hose ducks out of sight is when the gear line diverts through the chainstay. The orientation of the cables is good though and does a solid job of not making them needlessly unsightly. Plus, there’s some robust anchoring to the frame around the linkage and water bottle mounts. They can also be routed for right-hand front-brake riders.

But before you get too excited by the nirvana of easy work on this Kona there is the small issue of the PF92 bottom bracket. The press-fit number won’t please everyone, although I personally don’t mind them. I think apart from the issue of risking damage to the unit upon removal, modern press-fit BB’s are just fine. There are also ISCG tabs around the BB junction.


Something I do like about the frame is how easy it is to clean, and how there is nowhere for water to pool or collect. The linkage bolts are driven via variously sized Allen heads and have a spanner interface that sits flush inside the linkage. The 148mm Boost rear end is something commonplace now, as is the SRAM UDH. There is a lot of clearance for big tires, too. The 2.4" DHR2 fits in with plenty of room to spare should you want something wider. One thing that I did expect a little more of was chainstay protection though. Even after a few rides, the bike began to look worse for wear.




Geometry

The geometry of the Kona puts it right in the firing line of modern trail geometry. However, there are a few distinctions to separate the Process 153 apart.

The 435mm stays aren’t short, especially not compared to those of the aforementioned 2015 Process, but they’re also not as long as something like the recently reviewed RAAW Jibb, Starling Murmur or the Propain Hugene which all have 445mm, or the Specialized Stumpjumper Evo which has up to 443mm. That said, Kona isn’t alone in this. Another bike from our Fall Field Test, the Scor ST 4060, has similarly short 433mm stays. There is no right way, of course, only different ways.

The stays combined with the healthy 480mm reach does put your weight in a slightly rearward place, but this is well balanced with a 625mm stack height, which brings your weight over the front axle slightly more. It seems slightly different to what some brands are doing, for instance, the bikes we had on the Field Test. Many of them do feature longer stays, which will bring your weight more forward but are then combined with 635mm+ stack to then help you get your weight over the back more easily. However, whatever Kona have done - it’s worked. The bike has a nice fore-aft balance.



The slightly lower front end also mates nicely with the 76.7-degree seat tube angle. Yes, it might not be as steep as some of the new wave but Kona have their reasons. The seat tube should be steep enough for most people and its intentions, and it also means the 450mm seat tube for the size large is passable, even though it could do with being shorter. It's also helped by the relatively low sag that I ended up running, which has the consequence of effectively steepening the seat tube.

Suspension Design

The Process is equipped with Kona’s Beamer Independent Suspension. Kona claim it helps the shock “stay higher in the travel and recover from hits more quickly” and is built to be progressive with an off-the-top feel that can combine small bump compliance with big hit resistance.

Essentially, with the marketing mojo to one side, it’s a linkage-driven single pivot. This means there is a swing arm between the main pivot, which sits just above the BB, and the rear axle. Above the axle is where the chainstays connect the swingarm and the rocker, which drives the shock.

The shock is trunnion mounted, 205mm eye-to-eye, and has a 60mm stroke shock that delivers, as the name might suggest, 153mm of travel.

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After the first ride or two, I changed the setup slightly and eventually went down in psi and added extra volume spacers, as well as another click of LSR.

I also settled on 24 and 28 psi in the front and rear of the bike - the Maxxis tires were well suited to this bike, but also to Squamish. I did have the rim singing on several occasions, but ultimately the trails that have been open over the winter are more subdued here, in terms of rough, fast rocks at least. I found the TranzX Dropper +RAD seatpost offered adequate drop, and I didn’t find myself shimming it down. That said, as a flat pedal rider I tend to run my saddle height slightly lower than somebody of a similar stature in clips.

I left the 780mm bars uncut and with all the spacers below the stem.

Climbing


The Process 153 is an interesting bike, and a very adept climber. So much of this bike seems so pragmatic. Yes, it’s a bike for people that love to descend, but it also climbs well, combining comfort, traction and balance.The combination of the stack height, the smooth off the top shock and the seat tube angle means this bike climbs gravel roads at a canter and has a distinctly cruisey feel. The low front end keeps the weight distributed well, and while the 76.7 degree seat tube angle isn't the absolute steepest, this is no bad thing. Yes, a steep seat tube angle can be good, but it also depends on what gradient you’re pedalling up.

On techier, steeper climbs, you do have to manhandle the bike a little more, maybe even hovering your weight over the nose of the saddle. It just depends what you’re in for. It feels best when the gradient is shallower and the speed is slightly higher, and not when you’re wrestling it up something more demanding. If you like rolling up singletrack climbs rather than winching a steep fire road, the traits of the Kona will only help you enjoy that more.

Once settling on my shock setup, which I’ll go into more detail in the Descending section, I did find the climb switch to be slightly more useful. With the stock setup of one volume reducer, it wasn’t really needed, as the high spring rate needed to not use full travel will go a long way in helping this bike keep an efficient, firm underfoot feel, but once you add the spacers you can afford to come down in pressure slightly and this means that there was slightly more pedal bob.

Descending


The Kona isn’t all too radical in any regard, but I find it to be quite refreshing. Is it outrageously slack? No. Super long? Low? Not really. That’s not a criticism but merely an observation. It doesn’t have the character of a short travel enduro bike or a mini downhill bike - it's more of a trail bike with a focus on riding moderately aggressive terrain very well.

Around Squamish, we have many trails that have a natural feel, some great turns and a decent gradient but they’re not that steep or rough. On this terrain, the Kona offers a responsive and very consistent ride and feel. The trail riding here is simply world-class, and the Kona shone brightly on the fast, winding and natural trails of the Daimondhead riding area. Thanks to the slightly lower-than-some front end, it manages to be very capable while also being poised and fun to ride on flatter or more mellow trails. It doesn’t feel dull or lifeless when you’re holding momentum on easier rides. I think this is a really important trait. Not everything we ride is about getting wild, after all. The Kona is an easy bike to ride and I was very impressed with its versatility and the wide variety of trails I enjoyed riding it on.

When you up the ante the Kona can keep up, however it does begin to get bullied by the trail a bit. The geometry does play its part in this, as I said there are more radical, downhill focussed 150mm bikes out there, but it’s not to the Process’ massive detriment.

The main criticism I have for the Process is the lack of damping on the rear shock. In regards to the leverage ratio, it delivers good small bumps and end stroke support. The issue is the way it gets through that travel, and the speed. The MM (medium compression and rebound damping) tune on this shock will give a lot of comfort and grip on climbs, and is really going to suit somebody who isn't trying to find the limits of the Kona, but maybe is just looking to play with their own.


During set up I began to increase the air pressure slightly to make sure I was getting adequate support from the spring, and even at as low as 24% sag the bike still tracked well and delivered good small bump. However, would I trade this off for a bit more composure on hits? Absolutely.

I found myself getting pushed around and reaching full travel far too often, especially on repeated hits. To try and remedy this issue I experimented with adding volume reducers. This is not going to do the same thing as slowing the shaft speed but it can help. I ended up running two additional spacers, for a total of three, and went eventually went down from 185 to 175 psi. I found this to be better than the stock spacer setup with higher pressure and at least found the end of the stroke to be better supported, but I would prefer just more damping.

The lack of adequate big-hit compression damping meant that I was often happy where the impact took me into the shock’s stroke, but the sheer speed at which it would get there would give a feel of instability. This was particularly noticeable on rougher sections where you need to try and be precise or as you try and shift your weight around the bike as it takes one hit after another.

A Meg Neg can have quite possibly helped by increasing midstroke support by changing the curve of the spring rate, and this is something Mike Kazimer found gave him a more supportive feel out of the Process X when he reviewed it last year.

At one point I tried testing the bike with the pedal platform lever engaged on descents. It did help, especially when transferring my weight from front to back on the entrance to turns, and I largely preferred the feel. In fact, I found myself in the strange place of opening the shock for climbs and closing it for descents.

The Process is a bike that descends well, however, I feel that with one small change it could potentially excel. I have another 150mm travel bike with a 160mm fork and doing back-to-back runs the gulf in shock performance was noticeable when your eyes are up and your heels are down.

How Does It Compare?


It might seem strange to compare this bike to the Scor 4060 ST but in some ways, they’re not totally dissimilar. The Scor is carbon (and thus more expensive), but the two bikes have many similarities.

Firstly, they share a stack dimension of 625mm and very nearly the same chainstay length. The Scor really impressed us on the Field Test and I was lucky enough to sneak that bike home for some riding in Squamish. There was just something about it that made it such a pleasure to ride. Not only did it look beautiful but it was also fantastically easy to swing a leg over and offered a great feel, both front and back.

As Mike and Alicia found during their testing, the bike just had a big problem with how the bike trapped grit and grime in the frame. That said, I did love riding it.

With 10mm more travel front and back and a degree off the head angle, the Process should beat the 4060 ST hands down when it comes to descending, but that's not the case, due largely to the shock tune. The 4060 ST makes the most of its 140mm of rear travel, with plenty of support and bottom-out resistance right out of the box, while the Process 153 needed a fair bit of tinkering to get the rear shock dialed in.

In some ways, it might be better to focus on what the Process is great at rather than what it’s not, except that when comparing it to a bike such as the Scor you’ll find yourself asking - why would I choose a bike with more travel that feels slightly less punchy on the climbs when it’s also a bike that offers less stability when descending?

Technical Report



Rockshox Lyrik Select RC: A great fork that will suit a wide range of riders. I’ve long been a fan of the Lyrik, and its easy-going nature that belies its ability to get you out of trouble when shit hits the fan.

Maxxis Tires: You can’t go too far wrong with Maxxis. The Assegai and DHR2 combination is probably my favorite of any brand. They shed mud well, penetrate loose dirt and also don’t suffer from much roll on hardpack. However, while I like the EXO casing, it might not be for everyone. I think it’s very suitable for the bike but then again BC loam and malleable dirt isn’t particularly hard on tires - riders in rockier areas or who are prone to pinch flats may want something with a thicker casing.

SRAM G2 RS brakes: The trail brakes from SRAM offered relatively good performance, although I was very grateful for the 200mm rotor on the front. The lack of bite-adjust did limit the feel of my rear brake towards the end of testing, but I also lay that at the feet of the soft organic brake pads. Metallic pads would be one of the first upgrades I'd recommend in order to get a more powerful, positive feel out of these brakes. Realistically, I think the 153 should have been spec'd with Code brakes instead - they're more powerful, and only a tiny bit heavier.

Drivetrain: The NX drivetrain combined with an GX rear mech worked well during testing. I often find the NX rear mechs can go a little wayward and it’s good to see the more reliable GX option on there. However, I would have liked to see a GX cassette here, rather than the 11-50 tooth NX cassette that uses an HG freehub body. As it is, if a rider want's to upgrade to a lighter and wider range SRAM cassette in the future they'll also have to spring for an XD freehub body.

Rockshox Super Deluxe Select+ Shock: It’s not that it’s a bad shock, far from it in my opinion, but rather the damping tune just wasn’t correct. That said, the tunablity offered with the clip on volume spacers was very much welcome. Even though the tune wasn’t right for me, if you’re not concerned with putting large compressions through the shock, this is a setup that does offer good grip and comfort. If this bike had the Ultimate level shock, with the external low-speed compression that can throttle the oil flow I think the whole review would have had a slightly different flavour.

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Pinkbike's Take

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Reviews and Tech Reviews Trail Bikes Kona Kona Process