The Kona Process 153 DL 29 is available at Jenson USA here: https://bit.ly/KonaProcessJKW Kona Process 134 DL 29 is available herehttps://bit.ly/KonaProcess134DL2023jkw Huge thanks to Jenson USA for sponsoring this video! And btw, anything you do purchase from that link will directly help support my channel- and at no extra cost to you!
Thanks to LMNT! Head to http://www.DrinkLMNT.com/Jeff to get your free sample pack with any purchase.
Big thanks to Industry Nine in their support with more amazing Enduro 315 Carbon wheels. Check out what they offer thru this affiliate link over to their page at Jenson USA: https://bit.ly/IndustryNine2022JKW
My PNW Components cockpit is available here: https://bit.ly/PNWComponents2022JKW
That full Endura pajama kit is available here: https://bit.ly/EnduraJKW
Did you know I post a new riding tutorial every month? These are ONLY posted to my Patreon page, so join now to see these rad videos! Here’s the full list of my riding tutorials posted through March 2023:
How to ride like a pro- and not a squid: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-ride-like-80864886
How to MANUAL: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-manual-my-79363708
Wet weather riding tips: https://www.patreon.com/posts/wet-weather-tips-78055037
How to ride ROUGH corners: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-ride-76582910
50 tips to be a better mountain biker: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50-tips-to-be-75352100
How to land jumps: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-land-74063598
How to ride steep trails: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-ride-72705363
How to sprint without pedaling: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-sprint-71580461
How to ride flat corners: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-ride-flat-68552084
How to jump found gaps: https://www.patreon.com/posts/67255256
How to stoppie turn: https://www.patreon.com/posts/65842496
How to drop: https://www.patreon.com/posts/64552391
How to LEAN in corners: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-lean-in-63176556
How to Ride Light on the Bike: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-ride-on-61941975
Riding technique differences between hardtails and full suspension: https://www.patreon.com/posts/60435182
How to rut track: https://www.patreon.com/posts/59366938
5 tips to make flat trails more fun: https://www.patreon.com/posts/58058983
5 tips to improve bike control and balance: https://www.patreon.com/posts/56839920
How to levitate out of corners: https://www.patreon.com/posts/55607066
Three simple cornering tips: https://www.patreon.com/posts/54371316
How (and when) to rock roll or drop: https://www.patreon.com/posts/53126562
How to jump with fluidity- and not DEAD SAILER! https://www.patreon.com/posts/51914476
How to Lanual: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50695443
How to climb ledges without a bunny hop: https://www.patreon.com/posts/49476021
Which brake to use when: https://www.patreon.com/posts/which-brake-to-48108425
Different bikes, different riding techniques: https://www.patreon.com/posts/46925782
How to ride FLAT PEDALS through the ROCKS: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-ride-flat-45662347
How to ride wet roots and steep chutes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/44507851
How to ride with style: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-ride-with-43349450
How to jump for height vs distance: https://www.patreon.com/posts/42202183
Common manual questions answered: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41006264
How to land jumps: https://www.patreon.com/posts/39928153
My 3 favorite skills drills: https://www.patreon.com/posts/if-i-could-only-38809964
How to manual: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-manual-37684861
Cutty: https://www.patreon.com/posts/36579859
Manual a berm: https://www.patreon.com/posts/35496772
How to ride in Sedona: https://www.patreon.com/posts/34436065
Switchbacks: https://www.patreon.com/posts/3-ways-to-33345804
Nosewheelie: https://www.patreon.com/posts/32742504
Bump jump: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31881231
Trials basics for trail riders: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31145344
Tight berms: https://www.patreon.com/posts/30389457
Aggressive braking: https://www.patreon.com/posts/29579507
Confidence for mountain biking: https://www.patreon.com/posts/28817411
Cornering: https://www.patreon.com/posts/27981205
Flowing/pumping down the trail: https://www.patreon.com/posts/27288868
Stoppie through turns: https://www.patreon.com/posts/26296762
Technical climbing: https://www.patreon.com/posts/25234847
Boost jumps: https://www.patreon.com/posts/24161821
Bunnyhop: https://www.patreon.com/posts/23396959
Utilizing the wheelie on the trail: https://www.patreon.com/posts/23017910
How to wheelie: https://www.patreon.com/posts/21879606
0:00 Chapters
2:19 “green” trails, short travel
5:11 “green trails, long travel
10:05 general thoughts from green trails
11:43 random big jump
15:40 Double Black Diamond DH race track
16:43 DH track on short travel
18:37 DH track on long travel
source
Very entertaining video AND instructive as well.
My local definitely dictate a short travel trail bike, so the 134 if I had to chose. For now I'm even riding only on a hardtail (Orbea Laufey, I would love to see you reviewing it Jeff, in addition to the review from Hardtail guru Steve from 1 or 2 years ago).
On another topic I'm kind of torn between a Ripley and a Ripmo, so doing the same comparison with Ibis's rigs would be awesome!!
Is that the new Fox Dropframe I spy? Excited to hear more about it! I'm in the market for a new helmet.
Great Video! I'm going for a shorter travel to longer travel bike here next week and looking forward to seeing the differences myself. (Turbo Levo) Still keeping my Norco Bigfoot VLT for some fun fat tire hardtail action.
Review a dh bike!
Big travel vs small travel. In my experience small travel bikes are more fun on a wider variety of trails but the bigger travel bikes will help your progression on bigger features.
"shorter travel with aggressive geometry" – Canyon Spectral 125 is that to a tee. Privateer 141 is a bit less extreme (travel and geo more in line with each other) but would also fit that description. Definitely an appealing combo.
Then there's me with 120 mm budget polygon siskiu taking on standard new england chunk
Basically getting CTE from mtb, I genuinely don't understand how the short travel bike in this video is even considered short travel lol
Love the honesty. Not a sales pitch. All bikes are great. Keep up the great videos
I thought your review was spot on as a 64 year old intermediate rider i picked up the 153 during pandemic was the only full suspension bike my size. I do some bike park but mostly my home trails and this bike is perfect
I have a process 134 and love it!!
134mm is hardly "short" travel, and is much more of a mid-travel bike. Green trails vs DH trails leaves out quite a bit too, ignoring the trail types that most riders comparing these two bike that would be riding.
Can we get a shoutout to those Kona Wah Wah II's???? The flippin best flat pedal on the market! Give 'em some love, Jeff!!!!
Energy levels is a big part of it too I think. I takes a lot more energy to throw a big slack enduro bike around. So if your cardio’s not that great and you’ve spent most your energy crawling to the top your descents might not be that fun if you like to play around on the trails.
That’s why I take my Ibis Ripley over my Transition Sentinel. I love popping off every little stump and rock on the trail and pre hopping into rollers. The bigger bike just sucks up so much more energy for me. The only downside is I may loose a little speed in the jank.
I love my 134 so fast up and down stilling kom left and right
Subscribed
Amazing cycling. Excellent. The place is great. Greetings from Indonesia 🚴🇮🇩
I realy love riding, but i'm very bad at it, i'm slow af and i'm ok with it. I ride enduro and some DH local tracks. For someone like me, long or short travel? I ride a hardtail with a 150mm fork.
Nice comparison! IMHO the hardtail is the most fun on the trails. But not as safety as ma Kona Process 153. More travel also means more safety for begginers, because the bike forgives more mistakes and the biker does not fall as much. Advanced bikers often buy a hardtail for blue and flow trails, or for bike touring.
I would also like to mention that xc full suspension bikes are not completely comfortable and not so safe for beginners on steep passages, the suspension is often hard-tuned there and 100-120mm travel has its limits. I have such an experience with an XC full suspension bike…
Now I’ve got the 153 Process in 27.5, but also a Banshee Phantom 29er, which is a 120 rear fs bike. I used the Banshee as my go to trail bike, and the Kona only came out at the park. Now I’m having a new love affair with the Kona after putting a 1 degree change headset in making it a little steeper, and some carbon hoops. It handles our tech better and the steering isn’t as slow. Both are great bikes! Great videos Jeff!
Is travel adjustable suspension the answer? How close to the shorter travel bike could suspension settings and tuning get the bigger travel bike? Enjoyed this comparison because of the back to back on the same section of trail format.
Good content. Hope the channel, deservedly so, blows up once you pass 100k subscribers.
Awesome video! Reminds me of your Ripley/Ripmo comparison awhile back with similar results. I ended up with a Ripmo because, as you say in that video, it felt "safer". I imagine the same applies here for the 153. I like a high margin of error!
Perfect video and the perfect time. Really interesting and the explanations of WHY something is good and the part of the trail that mashes out so. Really eye opening.
Im travelling to squamish in September for week of ridjng and these 2 bikes are my choices for rentals. Which would you suggest for a 225 lbs dude with 3 out of 10 for both skill and fitness by squamish standards. I prefer techy chucky stuff rather than air time
I have anAlchemy Arktos that I’ve played with in 120/140 and 140/160 modes. Like them both, but leaving it for a while in the longer travel mode. Do I need it? No. But it sure helps on the confidence on new features without giving up too much on the playful side.
how close would a 10mm fork increase and a 1° slacker HT angle bring the 134 to the 153 ?
was already planning on getting that 153, and now I really want it.😅
The comment in chapter 3 about geo corresponding to travel is what makes the Occam LT kinda unique in that it retains neutral-to-forward weight bias in a longer travel bike. It actually has an even shorter front-center than the Process 134 despite its 150 travel. I have not seen any other bikes that retain a conservative trail geo with that much travel. This may be why, as Jeff says, it excels in tight yet rough trails, which is what we have a ton of in New England 🙂
I like shorter travel bikes . When i had a dh bike i found it would just rob me of my energy when things got flat, even on steep rocky stuff i prefer the shorter travel bike . I have a hardtail and a fat bike and im leaning more towards the fat bike at the moment, i think im gonna switch the rigid forks for suspension and make it my trail bike .
Try the Chromag Darco, short travel with aggressive geo, 120 on the rear and 150 up front.
i ride my xc hardtail with a 100mm fork and 2.2 inch tires on easier blacks in colorado and it’s still a ton of fun. gets a little sketchy on the harder blacks, could definitely see a use for a 130 ish bike but 150+ seems insane unless you are doing park laps or racing enduro. My friend has a ripmo AF and that thing is a pain to climb on. i am an efficiency and weight snob though.
Great video and really informative. I ride a Kona Process 134 CR/DL. It's great and I have raced it in an Enduro with a beefier fork (150mm Lyrik 44mm offset). I prefer the stock fork (140mm Pike 51mm offset) for trail riding. I have been riding a Trek Slash too and prefer the big bike for steep and fast trails. The Kona is very fun on flow trails and S-turns and just about as fast. It's also a ton of fun!
Great vid as always. I made a similar bump in travel old bike to new and the difference was substantial. Losing on the climbs but way more confident, composed on the downs. Better all rounder in my opinion. Wish I could have one of each though!
Is there a bike you frankly didnt like ?
I saw a part of whidbey Island at the beginning of the video. Did you end up at Hurricane Ridge on the Olympic peninsula?I own a 2019 153cr/dl. It puts a smile on your face!
purchase from Jenson USA
Travel isn't the whole story, but I'd rather be overbiked (as I often am) than underbiked (never am!). I can always work a bit harder but I can't out-effort the tech/gnar/hits. If you can only have one bike go bigger IMO, and add a hardtail later lol
Hy,
Not much of a test as other brand I think. No a lot of critics. Just my point of view on your video.
What do you think about the lose bikes… that s the question.
But big fan otherwise.
I would be interested to know which bike you like best: stumpy evo, ripmo af or process 153.
are similar on paper, but each has a different rear end.
My HT is running a Pike ultimate 130 51degree offset, icwas wanting to put that on my Jeffsy and bump it to 160mm but its 42 offset. Can i get my trail back some how?
Is there a chance Kona will let you try the Kona Hei Hei? Would love to see you review it, and compare it to to Process 134 and Orbea Occam LT.
Looking at both great video