Kona Dream Builds: Nicolas’s Breathtaking Process 153 CR DL 27.5

Nicolas’s Custom 2019 Process 153 CR DL 27.5 has been doing the social media rounds, popping up on a few Instagram channels including our Canadian one, we figured it was high time this custom Process found a home here.

Once you have got past the initial reaction to Nicolas’s breathtaking build a couple of small details don’t seem quite right. First up, what’s going on with that fork? Yes, its 160mm Lyrik Ultimate but I’ve never seen one with a silver crown? Turns out Nicolas got the paint stripper and a dish sponge and decided it would look cool raw. He was not wrong, it looks kind of like a Totem of old.

And there’s something funny happening with that dropper post too eh? It’s a size medium frame and even with the 170mm Reverb seat post slammed it’s just a tad tall, so Nicolas has utilized a bit of shifter cable to reduce the posts travel, its not the most elegant solution, but it works.

The drive train is a modest affair, with SRAM’s reliable midrange alloy GX groupset providing forward momentum and looking after shifting duties. HT’s T1 Ti pedals ensure maximum power transfer. And because I was running out of space up there, let’s talk about that wheelset, those Novatec Demons are not the shitty hubs you used to know, this is a bling high-end wheelest, in fact, its the same wheelset that Connor Fearon was running back in 2018 on his DH and Enduro bikes.

The stock rear shock has some custom graphics too but what you really need to notice here is Nicolas’s love affair with oil slick ti bolts. The lower shock mount and bottle cage are Ti as well as the bolts on the seat clamp, stem, brakes and rotors.

In case you missed, here’s another look at that sweet stripped steerer.

Up in the cockpit, you’ll find a Deity Copperhead stem clamping a Deity Racepoint bar in place. A OneUp EDC tool sits snuggly in the steerer. The build is also rocking SRAM Guide RSC Levers matched to Code RSC Calipers and Kore Ikon grips.