Thanks Konaworld for the reply, but as Ceecee stated its the actual seat tube angle that doesn't really work for me.

I have a 37.5" inseam and because of this I end up running a lot of seat post. Bikes with a slack actual seat post angle position me too far behind the bottom bracket for comfortable climbing even if the listed seat tube angle is relatively steep. Kona certainly isn't alone in this, the Trek Slash being another notable example that comes to mind.

For me it's a deal breaker that eliminates quite a few bikes from real consideration. That said, I also recognize that I'm an outlier in terms of my proportions, and that not every bike will work for every rider. I'm sure the new Process is a great bike, and I wouldn't hesitate to take one for a test ride, but its unlikely that it would make it to the top of my list when its time to shop for a new bike next year.

I don't want to be overly negative, but I feel like Kona really need to work on their industrial design language. I know that there are a lot of other important factors to consider when choosing a bike, but it does play a big role when it comes to making such a major purchase.

Other than the the Honzo and the Libre all of these bikes have a really awkward appearance to them. Further, the slack actual seat tube angle on the Process 153 would be and absolute deal breaker for me. I also wonder if the kink in the seat tube is going to be an issue when it comes to installing a longer dropper.

I want to like what Kona is up too, but most of these new offerings really don't do it for me.

The Airliner looks like a really promising take on a tire insert. Will Vital be testing it sometime this summer? It would be great to hear how it stacks up against Cush Core. What is the weight on an enduro sized (2.3"-2.5") insert?

Also Vittoria, your tires look interesting, but please consider releasing them in either a 2.5" or 2.6" size...

You cover it somewhat in your review, but it would be great to get a bit more direct comparisons with the Sam Hill pads.

It look like the Project kneepads have a leg up as far as stability goes. I love the idea of a hard-shell that hangs up less, and I definitely prefer the idea of having a couple solid straps to secure them down instead of just relying on a leg warmer type design.

On the other hand, from what I can make out from the photos it look as well as offering more protection on the sides the Sam Hills also do a better job of protecting above the kneecap and the upper shin. Shin protection is a big deal for me since I find that I'll often get cut just below where my kneepads stop.

The final question is a comfort. If you had pick one for all day comfort which pad would come out on top?

All in all they look like a neat concept, but once you factor price into the mix it seems like the Sam Hills are the better overall choice...

Yup, you've got me pegged on that one; but I suppose it might take one over-thinker to recognize another one ;-)
I hadn't really thought about the way that CushCore would make the "air spring" of the tire more progressive, but it makes a ton of sense now that you've pointed it out and I can see that being a major advantage.

I definitely agree with you about the "need" for consumer level telemetry for the level of granularity that we're talking about. It's great that shockwiz is on the market now, but with the move back to coil springs it would be great to have a system available to work with them as well. There was a Kickstarter product called Suss My Bike that got some press on Vital a couple years back that I was optimistic about, but they seem to have gotten stalled out which is really to bad. There is a definite gap in the market there and digital tech is getting better all the time so I'm sure that someone will offer something up in the not so distant future.

To go back to wheels and tires, with the advent of tire inserts I've been wondering if it might make sense to take a new look at how tires are designed. If we design wheels, tires and inserts as part of an integrated system, instead of as separate units, I think that there might be some real weight and performance gains available. And maybe, just maybe, we would see less World Cup and EWS races being decided by flat tires.

I've actually been thinking about this quite a bit and wrote something up on it, probably at least partially because I'm a big Greg Minnaar fan. If you or anyone else is interested in taking a look at it I just posted it up in the vital forums and I'd be really curious to hear what other people make of it.
https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/The-Hub,2/Do-tire-inserts-mean-its-time-to-rethink-tire-design,9949

Really interesting conversation going on here, I've definitely wondered some of the same things while trying to figure out a weight/cost vs performance analysis with regards to wheel, tire and inserts combinations. I haven't ridden CushCore yet so Jeff please correct me if I'm wrong, but my thinking thus far is is to draw an analogy to the different parts of the suspension stroke.

In that line of thinking I'd compare CushCore to the small bump sensitivity and compliance offered by the top of the stroke. CushCore allows you to run lower pressures while keeping the tire supported and that should translate to much better compliance to trail chatter and the smaller "hits" that it causes, trail surfaces that cause your tires feel skittery and lose traction. Having a great wheel with a tuned ride quality like the Santa Cruz's might be the equivalent of your mid-stroke, adapting to to slight undulations and changes in camber as well working with the small bump absorption offered by the cushcore to soak up the bigger irregularities, the type of events that normally knock your tires off line. Having a wheel that is compliant without being too noodlely might be though of as the difference between having a well supported mid-stroke vs a fork that dives through its mid-stroke too easily. Like GeorgeMichael said, I'm really just thinking through this aloud so please correct me if I'm wrong.

As a final note, no it doesn't sound like you're shilling for CushCore, more so just that you've found a product that really offers some notable benefits and you're being straight forward about stating it. Other reviewers such as Cam at NSMB.com have pretty much have the same thing about them https://nsmb.com/articles/cushcore-inserts-shore-tested. Besides that, you've done enough honest and well though out reviews here to earn the benefit of the doubt, when you rave about a product it rings true, because you are thoughtful and critical about what doesn't work as well.

Thanks for the great review. As another bigger guy its always great to hear a review from someone who puts a lot of force on things.

A couple questions and thoughts:
First off, unless I'm missing it somewhere, you've included rim weights in the review, but no complete wheel weights; that seems like pretty important information that should be added in.

Moving on to questions about CushCore, what made the installation so much easier on these rims? I'm assuming that it had something to due with their interior shape, but I'm curious to know if you can point to anything in particular? Beyond that, you said that it was the biggest "biggest performance increase" that you've added to a bike all year, but you only used them for 3 weeks out of 6 months of testing? Was that so that you could give a review of the wheels without it being overly influenced by the performance gains of the inserts, or was it because the total wheel wight with the inserts was just too much for full time use, even with the performance that they offered? As a final question on that front were you using the Double Down style casings with the inserts, or did you find that you were able to get away with a lighter exo type casing?

If you ever get a chance to review the We Are One Agent wheelset, I'd love to hear how they compare to these. I haven't had a chance to ride them yet, but I'm hoping to line up a pair for next season. They've certainly put a lot of emphasis on tuning the wheels for ride quality in their online material. Their warranty isn't lifetime, but they do offer a 5 year no questions asked warranty, and 50% off of replacement cost after that. Combine that with stellar prices -$1200 with Hope hubs, and $1625 with Project 321s- and the fact that they are made in North America by a company that genuinely seems to care about lessening their environmental impact and I'm pretty sold...
They don't have the same resources behind them as Santa Cruz, but I like to root for the little guy, so I'm really hoping that they have been able to achieve a similar ride quality.

Such a great character! I honestly couldn't imagine the world cups without him announcing them. I think him and Cam McCaul together would be an announcing dream team, it would be great if Redbull could make that happen at some point! And I have to say that I respect him that much more for sticking his neck out just a touch and saying that he doesn't agree with Trump's politics.