Colt Fetters was looking for a bike that could ride everything close to home and do it in style. The Process 134 CR/DL 29 looked to be the perfect mountain bike for the Four Corners area, from the techy trails in Moab to the high desert single track in Durango to the raddest bike-packing route of ‘em all, the Colorado Trail. This bike is somewhat of a singletrack quiver killer.
In 2018 I raced the CTR on a rigid 27.5+ Why Cycles Supple 7. At the time, I thought that was the perfect bike for the trail. I didn’t realize the kind of toll that trail could take on my body. Halfway into the race, the descents were no longer fun, and months after the race I still had nerve damage in my fingers and toes. Before this experience, I had always put off the idea of bikepacking with a full-suspension bike, I thought it was silly. Now with this Process, I’m pretty convinced it’s not so silly.
The Process offers plenty of frame space for a custom bag and no one does custom bags better than Bedrock Bags located here in Durango. Additionally, Bedrock Bags has revolutionized bikepacking bags intended to be used in technical singletrack terrain. Their Moab handlebar bag wraps around the headtube to keep weight centered. Their Black Dragon seat bag is designed around dropper posts. The slim configuration and integration with the Wolf Tooth Valias clamp enables you to drop your seat (most of the way) when the descents get techy. All of their bags are the most rock-solid bags I’ve ever used. No seat bag sway, the handlebar bag stays put, which helps increase the handling tremendously. Gosh, how about that Coyote brown colorway and desert tower stitching!
Kona spec’d this bike quite well, so I only tweaked a couple of the components. First, a 28 tooth chainring for those long/techy climbs. Next, I upgraded the wheels to Industry Nine Enduro 305’s with Hydra hubs. I wasn’t looking for light wheels, I’m more concerned with reliability, stiffness, and great engagement. Last but not least, I had my suspension custom-tuned by Diaz Suspension Design. Getting my suspension dialed in for a loaded bike proved to be the most important component to full suspension bikepacking.
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