Kona 2015 Launch
The 2015 Kona Process 153, raced and rallied!
For years Kona have been making great bikes, as one of the original bike brands they have still managed to keep their core roots at the heart of their business. Last year they dropped a new range that turned more than just heads. For 2015 that range has been tweaked and developed and we were invited to try the bikes for ourselves at the fantastic Surfaus Fiss Ladis resort in the Austrian Tyrol…
Chris Mandell is the Gravity Product Manager at Kona and he took us through the new range and explained a little bit about what went into each bike before we got to take them out on the trails. Chris resides in Bellingham Washington; he’s lived pretty much everywhere on the West Coast of North America and rates Bellingham as one of the best places to ride.
With the best trails in the world right on his doorstep, a regular team of trail builders making new stuff all the time and an all time crew to go and ride with it is the perfect hotbed for testing new bikes. Plus Vancouver and Whistler are a few hours away if they want to slum it for a bit and remind themselves just how good they have it at home!
Chris Mandell talks us through the Process 111…
Chris has been working hard on the Process range; it was a bit of a game changer for the brand last year, the ideology behind the line up is based around a long front end. What that basically means is keeping a long wheelbase, but putting the bulk of that wheelbase in front of the bottom bracket.
The advantage is that the long wheelbase offers stability at speed, but by putting most of that length in front of the bottom bracket you can still control that wheelbase. In other words you get stability coupled with manoeuvrability. By using short stems, just 40mm across the entire range the cockpit remains small and the steering is direct and responsive.
This extra length up front also improves the bikes climbing ability too, and of course coupled with the incredibly short chainstays offers superb handling! Kona have some of the shortest chainstays on the market right now, especially on their 29ers.
This has been achieved by exclusively running 1×11 set ups on the 111, negating the need for a front derailleur has allowed Chris to concentrate on getting the shape around the seat tube, bottom bracket and chain stay just right to allow clearance for a single ring whilst keeping the stays as short as possible.
By losing the front mech and exclusively running 1×11 set ups the chainstays remain short.
It was interesting to hear how these developments from the component brands not only benefit us as riders, but also open up options for the bike designers too. Chris had been riding a single ring exclusively for some time, but it was a tough sell to the brand in terms of the gear ratios. However once SRAM launched the 1×11 set up that dream became a reality and bikes like the 111 could be designed accordingly without the consideration for a front mech.
The Process Range sees two new bikes for 2015, the 134 SE (only available in the US) and the 167, but we’ll get to those in a little while, let’s start with the 111 and move on up from there…
The Process 111, the most surprising 29er you might ever ride.
The 111 is probably the most deceptively capable bike I have ever ridden, it’s a 29er with 111mm of Kona’s Rocker Independent Suspension. The chainstays are just 430mm and the bottom bracket is low with a drop of 35mm. New for 2015 is a 120mm Rock Shocks Pike RC up the front whilst the 68° head angle remains.
The 111 is a 29er with a difference, it’s ridiculously playful and fun to ride, and you honestly don’t get any of those traditional 29er feelings of slow acceleration or lack of manoeuvrability. The 111 is a rocket ship that will surprise you at every turn and every drop, we hammered it in the bike park and were never left wanting. The short stem keeps the cockpit tight and the low stand over allows you to throw the bike around underneath you.
A 40mm stem is rarely found on a 29er…
Swing a leg over this rig if you get a chance and prepare to be surprised!
The 134 is the trail bike of the bunch, with 27.5 wheels and 134mm of Rocker Independent Suspension featuring a 140mm fork upfront, there are three models in the line up, the Process 134A DL which I rode a fair bit in Austria, and a straight up 134 which is aimed as more of a price point bike, plus a 134 SE, the SE is exclusive at the moment to the US and won’t be available in Europe this year. However, as we have a lot of readers in the US we got our female tester Mary to give it a spin.
Why did we get her to ride it you might ask? Well it’s a bike aimed at smaller riders, it comes in XS, S and M sizes. By smaller riders you could also read women and Mary certainly loved the handling and the teal detailing. A softer suspension set up and tweaked leverage curve make it more suited to smaller riders in terms of the way the bike and suspension behave.
Mary Booth riding the Process 134 SE, only available in the US… for this year…
The 134 is a trail bike through and through, it pedals exceedingly well and can handle the harshest of climbs with aplomb. Equally it can tackle rock gardens and DH trails with a similar ability. On the really rough stuff in the bike park you could reach the bikes limits, but flat out over some of the roughest sections it coped exceedingly well.
Publishing Editor Rou Chater getting his groove on on the Process 134 DL
All three bikes feature dropper posts, tubeless ready tyres and a RockShox Revelation fork on the DL and SE models with a Sektor on the standard model. The 68° angle is a definite nod to it’s overall trail ability whilst the short 425mm chainstays and 12mm BB drop keep things exceedingly playful every step of the way.
The Process 153 DL, race ready enduro rocket ship with sorted suspension!
The 153 was Kona’s most popular model last year, in Chris’s words it is the model they could most easily slap the word “enduro” on. It’s got 153mm of Rocker Independent Suspension out the back and a Pike RC Solo Air 160mm up the front. I rode all of the bikes over the weekend and this was the one that impressed me the most.
I clocked my fastest times of the weekend on this bike on the rather beaten up Red Run at the bike park. By beaten up I mean braking bumps galore, the trail was in no means savage, but it was a challenge for the suspension a lot of the time. The 153 blew me away; it was so smooth even over the roughest of sections. With 27.5 wheels the bike still felt nimble in the turns, helped by the short chainstays (425mm) and long front-end concept.
The exceedingly short back end…
With a slack head angle of 66.5° the bike felt totally comfortable when pointed down the hill at all times. You could aggressively throw it into the corners and it would reward you with a spritely feel and a fast exit speed. As an enduro machine it’s just about perfect.
Carbon Rocker Bridge on the 153 DL
There is also a DL version, which comes with a 1×11 set up as standard and a RockShox Pike RCT3 Solo Air 160mm fork. It’s a little more expensive and comes with other upgrades such as XT Brakes and a Rock Shox Monarch Plus RC3 rear shock. I didn’t get to ride the DL version, but the standard one felt so plush where the suspension was concerned I can only imagine how good the DL version feels.
40mm stem on the 153 DL, this is the same stem across the entire Process range.
Last up in the Process range is the 167, a totally new bike, which came to Chris while he was having a nap mid ride. True story… Having spent some time with Chris over the weekend I can totally believe he is the kind of guy that gets a bit sleepy mid ride and then has strange visions that befall him!
Think of the 167 as an Entourage that you can pedal, it’s a park/dh bike with 1×11 and the ability to climb a hill. Where Chris and the crew ride there are plenty of gnarly trails, but none of them have a lift, so it’s either a shuttle day with your buddies, or more often than not a couple of hours of pedalling to get to the good stuff. With 167mm of rear suspension and 170mm RockShox Lyric DH RC2DH Solo Air fork this bike means business.
The weather in the mountains wasn’t great, but it made for a stunning backdrop!
The 167 is perhaps the first new bike for 2015 to come with 26-inch wheels, yes you read that right, 26-inch wheels. The bike has a lower BB than the Entourage that went before it, but the leverage curve is different so the bike sits up higher in it’s travel, giving the bike effectively a very similar feel. When it came to the geometry they realised that giving the bike 27.5 wheels would change that and make the chainstays longer.
There is a Process 167 in the background there, it was as fun as it looks too…
Riding the 167 for the first time the playfulness was very apparent, as was the plush feel of the rear end. The bike we had had a coil shock on it though and the 2015 bike will come with a RockShox Vivid Air RC2. With a super slack head angle of 65° the 167 is ready for just about anything. It’s perfect for shredding the park and equally capable of hauling yourself up the hill for a fun session on the way down.
If you’ve forgotten what 26-inch wheels feel like the 167 will do a very good job of rekindling that love affair! The super short chainstays of 415mm make it exceedingly chuckable and fun to ride.
Overall the Process range has seen small changes for 2015, more tweaks than overhauls, the lack of front derailleurs on the 111 and 153 DL being the big news, and of course the totally new 167 being added to the line up. Out of all of them the 153 was the standout for myself, it handled everything so well and was fast and fun to ride, with the 111 a surprising close second, who’d have thought a short travel 29er could handle so well and handle so much!
The Precept DL is the best value for money pedigree bike we have seen for some time…
In addition to the new Process line up we got to see the 2015 Operator, sadly I didn’t get a chance to ride it, but it is largely unchanged from last year. Kona have fitted their own direct mount stem, which features a 5mm spacer allowing you to adjust the height of the bars without adjusting the crown height. It’s still carbon and it’s still light for 2015.
The Precept line up is totally new for this year, in the past their rental bikes were always just the last years frames with lower cost components fitted. That still carries a high manufacturing cost though and so this year the Precept range has been built from the ground up to offer excellent value.
There are three bikes in the range, the Precept 200, Precept DL and the Precept. The bikes feature Kona’s Swinger Independent Suspension system and the tubes have less shaping, to reduce the manufacturing process. You still get the long front-end concept, great components and more importantly an amazing price to go with it!
Straight tubes cost less to manufacture, Kona can then pass on these savings to you…
The Precept 200 is a DH rig with 200mm of travel front and rear, which will no doubt be gracing bike parks around the world in the near future. The Precept DL is an entry-level trail machine with 130mm of rear wheel travel and a 140mm RockShox Sektor TK Solo Air Fork up the front. Lastly there is a straight Precept, which is very much an entry level full suss bike with 120mm of travel front and rear.
The hot ticket in this line up has top be the Precept DL, with a price tag in the UK of £1399 it’s a sub £1500 bike that has a solid pedigree, great geometry and some very reasonable spec for the price. We can also see the Precept 200 being very popular among the more budget orientated DH riders out there, after all not every rider has a ton of cash to throw at this fantastic sport!
The Honzo a 29er with a low top tube, low BB and the shortest chainstays in the industry…
To round things off we took a look at the Honzo, and Explosif, the Honzo is the first long front end, short chainstay concept 29er. It features a low dropped top tube, a 68-degree head angle and a 120mm RockShox Revelation RL Solo Air 120mm fork up the front. It’s a Cromoly Butted frame to offer a comfortable ride for a hard tail and the bottom bracket has been kept really low with a 65mm drop to keep it playful. What really makes the Honzo tick are the short chainstays, 415mm is a number you don’t associate with 29ers and chainstays.
While the chainstays are short, there is still plenty of room for mud clearance on this rig!
The Explosif is a UK specific XC bike with attitude; you’ll find good mud clearance and 27.5 inch tyres. It features a more neutral geometry with a shorter front centre. Ultimately it’s a nicely balanced XC trail bike that will be happy racing with the best of them. Reynolds 520 Butted Cromoly tubing is used exclusively throughout the bike with Shimano SLX and XT components with a RockShox Recon Gold RL 120mm fork up the front.
There are of course more bikes in the 2015 line up, but these were the highlights we were shown. Like any self respecting bike brand these days there is a new Fat Bike too, although one thing that Kona haven’t succumbed to yet is electronics. A policy that sits well with us here at the mag, it’s great to see one of the original brands keeping such close ties with their roots.
Ian tells us why everyone needs a fat bike and a broken finger in their lives…
As for the riding at Surfaus Fiss Ladis, we covered a good amount of the bike park in the time that we were there. It’s a really fun place to ride with lots of flat out sections and a very jump focused feel. With blue, red and black runs there is something for everyone and the team are dedicated to growing the park and the number of trails they have.
The bottom of the bike park at Surfaus Fiss Ladis with our trusty #FordTransitCustom out front…
In terms of facilities it is spot on, a modern bubble lift, which was very welcome during the rain we had in the afternoon, bars, restaurants, and a well-stocked rental and repair set up with a shop selling a plethora of bike gear just in case you forget anything.
The freeride/training area, full of fun stuff to hit!
There are lots of hotels in the area and we’d definitely recommend it as a place to come and ride. If you do, be sure to check out the enduro trails, perhaps the only thing we didn’t have time for, but from chatting to the other riders they were definitely a highlight of the area!
For more information on the 2015 Kona line up check out the website HERE
For more information on Surfaus Fiss Ladis click HERE
Turn left at the big daisy…
A huge thanks to all the crew at Kona for having us and letting us ride the bikes and also to the crew at Surfaus Fiss Ladis and for being so welcoming and helpful!
