BEN’S KONA PROCESS 134 SUPREME
MONTH 13: As Ben’s year with a carbon superbike draws to a close, we ask: was it a love Supreme or a case of Kona beware?
£9,999 / 29in / konaworld.com
What attracted you to the Kona
Process 134 Supreme?
Very much like Mrs Merton asking Debbie Mcgee: “What first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?” what was it about the sexy purple/green metallic paint job, swoopy full-carbon frame, top-of-the-range Rockshox suspension, electronic SRAM XX1 AXS shifting and trick Zipp carbon wheels that attracted me to Kona’s £10k trail bike? Erm, how about everything! Ultimately, having the opportunity to spend a year on a dream bike was too good to miss and I was keen to see if it lived up to the promise offered by its sky-high price and top-drawer specification.
Did you change anything straight away? Nothing straight away. I swapped to my favourite Renthal grips after a few rides and fitted some more aggressive tyres once I realised just how capable this trail bike was on the downs. I also fitted some of SRAM’S new HS2 rotors to give the G2 Ultimate brakes a little more bite when they became available.
Was the bike easy to set up?
Yes, ballpark figures on the fork lowers provided a good starting point so it only took a little fine-tuning to get the Rockshox Pike Ultimate just-so. The Super Deluxe shock took more fettling. With a fairly slow response, I wound all the compression and rebound damping off and once set up like this, with 30% sag, it felt great.
How did it ride?
I instantly liked it. The 65.8° head angle and 470mm reach meant the geometry and fit were modern and roomy if not exactly at the cutting edge, but the ride was lively and agile without ever feeling sketchy at higher speeds. The 140mm front/134mm rear travel was spot on for the tight, techy trails I like to ride and only on the rough red and black graded tracks at places like Bikepark Wales did I wish that I had more travel. I also really enjoyed the feel of the Zipp wheels
– the way they flex to give more grip and comfort was one of the standout features on this bike.
WHY IT’S HERE It’s Kona’s Supreme build, but will it turn out to be Ben’s dream build?
Did anything break or wear out?
I had a few issues unfortunately. First,
I lost a grub screw from the SRAM G2 brake lever that forced the bike out of action for a few weeks until a replacement was found. Then the shock needed a rebuild after it spilled its guts, and then finally the rear suspension bearings almost seized solid after one too many wet rides. I know all bikes need a bearing refresh once in a while but these were in such a bad state after only nine months’ use that it would become a regular and quite expensive job to keep on top of in the long term.
If you could change one thing about your longtermer what would it be?
It would have to be the price. The ‘Supreme’ moniker may only be applied to Kona’s collector’s models and is therefore a niche-within-a-niche bike, but for a bicycle to cost £9,999, especially one without a motor and battery, is pretty crazy.
Would you buy this bike?
No, it’s well above my paygrade! It’s a brilliant trail bike, fun, agile and rewarding, and I’ve loved riding it but at £9,999 it’s just too expensive for me. That said, I’ve seen it online in the sales for a slightly more palatable £6,199 and at that price I’d be tempted, even if I had to replace the suspension bearings every year.