All Arround MTB

Kona’s Process 153 has gained a reputation for descending prowess. On the new version, the Canadian brand have aimed to match that with radically improved pedalling. To achieve this they’ve altered the position of the main pivot and aligned it for 1x12 drivetrains, at the same time as steepening the head (66°) and seat (76°) angles. Elsewhere, the geometry is largely unchanged, with snappy 425mm chainstays paired to a long reach (475mm on the large). There’s 10mm of BB drop, seat tube lengths are short and standover low. While the new bike looks very different to the original Process (and a lot like Kona’s Operator DH bike) it has a similar leverage curve. It still delivers 153mm of travel, but the suspension has been tweaked to work with RockShox’s latest trunnion-mounted metric shocks. In it for the long run The new frame shape has been made possible by carbon construction. This extends to the rocker link and seatstays, but, in the interest of durability, the chainstays rem...

The Process manages to balance bump absorption and feedback really well, which means it has a lively ride feel but isn’t afraid of taking a battering when things get ugly. The geometry is bang up to date, with one of the longest reach measurements here and some of the shortest chainstays (475mm and 425mm, respectively, on our large test bike). All the angles are just about bang on too. Unfortunately, while the performance is great, the spec just isn’t quite as good as it should be – especially with a $450 price hike being implemented at the tail end of our testing (the Kona was originally $4500). That’s not to say there’s anything majorly wrong with any of the kit, but at this price we’d expect to see a higher-spec fork, shock and brakes, at the very least. Price $4950

Climbing aboard Kona’s entry level 120mm trail bike looks a promising proposition. With 760mm wide bars and fairly short (60mm) stem, there’s a promise of confident handling, and comfortable feel. The Shimano Deore chainset and derailleurs afforded solid shifting performance, and the fast-rolling Maxxis Ardent tyres allow for swift traversing.

The Kona Explosif was the edgy steel hardtail before it was edgy to ride steel hardtails. It has evolved into a 650b trail bike, but it’s still a hardtail, still single-speed-ready, and of course still steel.

Kona’s enduro line contains seven different Process models, all of them sharing one overriding common denominator: low-slung frames with long toptubes, short chainstays, a stubby 40-millimeter stem, a ton of standover clearance and relatively slack geometry. This here is the 6-inch (153 millimeters, to be precise) travel iteration.

With a reputation for no-nonsense ruggedness and a background in the always progressive and punishing riding of Canada, Kona have been building hardcore hardtails for longer than almost anyone else. The Shred is the most expensive bike on test but it’s a proper trail tank.