When it comes to trail bikes, not all are created equal. Some are smoother on descents, some better for climbing. Both the Marin Rift Zone 2 and the Kona Process 134 are fun do-it-all trail bikes, with balanced geometry and solid components. Read on for our complete breakdown of the Marin Rift Zone 2 vs. the Kona Process 134 and find out which one is best for you.
Head-to-head:
Marin Rift Zone 2
Kona Process 134
Geometry breakdown
With size large frames on both bikes:
| Kona Process 134 | Marin Rift Zone 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 475mm | 485mm |
| Chainstay | 427mm | 430mm |
| Head tube angle | 66° | 65.5° |
| Seat tube angle | 76.3° | 77° |
| Wheelbase | 1216mm | 1234mm |
| Bottom bracket height | 342mm | 343mm |
| Bottom bracket drop | 33mm | 35mm |
| Standover height | 725mm | 702mm |
Marin Rift Zone 2
Pros and cons
Pros
- Modern geometry is well balanced and comfortable
- High end fork
- Good climber and efficient pedaling for a full suspension MTB
- Playful and poppy feeling
- Stable at speed
- Powerful, precise braking
Cons
- Rear shock feels a bit firm
- On the heavier side
The Marin Rift Zone 29 2 combines a high end fork, modern balanced geometry and a unique rear suspension system into a high quality trail capable package.
Related: Marin Rift Zone 1 Review
Build and performance
The geometry of the Rift Zone 29 2 is modern yet balanced. The bike’s head tube is relatively slack at 65.5°, which helps to make it a good choice for riding all sorts of trails.
The bike won’t be as fast cross country as an XC race bike, nor will it have the same hard charging abilities on descents as a dedicated downhill or enduro bike.
Instead, the Marin Rift Zone 2 fits between those nicely and is fun and capable on descents, while still maintaining an ability to keep momentum on flat ground and hold its own while climbing.
The bike feels stable at speed thanks to its relatively long wheelbase of 1234mm and low bottom bracket height of 343mm.
The bike’s Shimano MT-200 hydraulic disc brakes with 180mm rotors in both the front and rear inspire confidence thanks to the stopping power and precision they give you while riding. This makes the Rift Zone 2 an easy bike to send down a fast trail at speed, knowing you’ll have excellent braking ability if needed.
Smoothness of ride
Suspension
This trail bike uses a tried and true RockShox Deluxe Select RT Debonair rear shock which performs well.
The rear shock hooks up to the Rift Zone 2 with the MultiTrac suspension platform which makes use of a rocker link and is designed to provide progressive leverage to reduce pedal bob on climbs while still performing on flat ground and descents, soaking up bumps both small and large. The MultiTrac system is also designed to help prevent the rear shock from bottoming out.
Our testing found the claims about pedal bob to be true, and the rear shock felt firm and supportive, making the bike efficient to pedal on.
The MultiTrac suspension platform also seemed to keep things feeling firm even at higher speeds and on bigger hits.
While this all but eliminates the worry about bottoming out the rear shock because of too hard an impact, and can make the rear of the Rift Zone 2 feel a bit too firm at lower speeds and smaller bumps. The bike’s rear wheel isn’t always as compliant to the trail as some riders would prefer their full suspension bike to be.
Up front, the Marin Rift Zone 29 2 has a Marzocchi Bomber Z2 fork with 140mm of travel. The Bomber Z2 is plush and absorbs most terrain you’ll throw at it. The Bomber Z2 gives the front end of the bike a lighter feeling, and helps to maintain excellent traction in the front wheel.
Weight
34.5 lbs in size large
Climbing ability
The Marin Rift Zone 29 2 climbed better than expected given its a full suspension mountain bike that weighs in at over 34 lbs.
The Shimano Deore 12 speed drivetrain keeps the gears shifting smoothly while climbing, and the Vee Tire Co. Flow Snap 29 x 2.35″ tires maintain good traction over a variety of terrain, including climbing traction.
On top of that, the MultiTrac suspension platform does an awesome job at reducing pedal bob, helping you to keep your momentum as you transition from a descent or flat ground to a climb.
Kona Process 134
Pros and cons
Pros
- Aggressive, modern geometry
- Plush rear suspension
- Excellent grip
- Fast and fun on downhill and flowy sections of trail
- Versatile
Cons
- Brakes feel a bit underpowered
- Heavier than average
- Climbing ability leaves something to be desired
The Kona Process 134 29 pairs plush rear suspension with excellent versatility in this fun, all around trail bike.
Build and performance
Kona has a reputation for delivering fun to ride mountain bikes, and the Process 134 fits this bill perfectly. The bike is not perfect, mind you, but in terms of its fun factor, the Process 134 delivers.
Like the Rift Zone 2, the Process 134 provides riders with well balanced geometry including a 66° head tube angle. This puts you in a confident position for descending, but doesn’t get the wheel so far out in front of you so as to make it difficult to handle on flat ground.
Getting the geometry right for an all around trail bike, where its not too slack or too steep, is always a fine line for MTB manufacturers. Kona did a good job on this bike’s angles, making the Process 134 comfortable and fun to ride on a wide variety of trails while being more downhill oriented.
The Kona Process 134’s Shimano MT201 hydraulic disc brakes with a 180mm rotor in the front and 160mm rotor in the rear work decently at bringing the bike to a stop, but they aren’t anything to write home about.
The brakes seem to be a touch underpowered for a bike of this size, and it would have been nice to have a 180mm rotor in the rear to match the one up front on the Process 134.
Smoothness of ride
Suspension
The Kona Process 134 sports a RockShox Recon RL Motion Control Solo Air 140mm fork up front, and a RockShox Deluxe Select Trunnion with 134mm of rear travel.
Both the front and rear suspension feels plush and capable, and they both inspire confidence that the bike can handle whatever you decide to throw at it when things get a bit rowdy.
The fork and rear shock both allow for solid compliance between your tires and the trail, and particularly, we find the 134mm of travel in the rear shock helps the bike to track smoothly over fast and rough stretches of trail.
While the rear shock makes for a smooth and fun ride on descents and over rough terrain, the bike tends to suffer from pedal bob, a bit on flat ground and more so on climbs.
Weight
34.8 lbs in size large
Climbing ability
Climbing isn’t quite the Process 134’s strong suit.
The bike is on the hefty side for a trail bike weighing in at 34.8 lbs. Beyond it’s weight, the Process 134 has geometry that can make it a bit awkward to climb on. At 76.3 degrees, the seat tube angle is not overly steep, and if you remain seated, it pushes you into a position further back than optimal or comfortable for climbing.
And as mentioned above, while the rear shock is responsive for downhill sections, it causes pedal bob on climbs which results in you wasting energy and losing efficiency while pedaling.
Our dedicated review of the Kona Process 134 can be found here.
Biggest differences
Climbing
In terms of climbing ability, the Marin Rift Zone 2 has the Kona Process 134 beat. While both are on the heavy side, Marin’s MultiTrac suspension platform on the Rift Zone 2 goes a long way towards eliminating pedal bob, making pedaling up a steep hill much more efficient compared to doing so on a Process 134.
The Rift Zone 2’s seat tube angle is also a bit steeper than the seat tube on the Kona Process 134, putting your body position a bit more forward on the Rift Zone 2. This puts you in a more comfortable and powerful position to pedal on climbs.
While this is a relatively minor difference between the two, if you ride trails with lots of climbs involved you will probably notice the difference between these trail bikes.
Stability
Both the Kona Process 134 and the Marin Rift Zone 2 are at their best on fast, rowdy descents. A big part of the reason why is the stability both bikes have at speed.
The geometry of both bikes makes them each well suited to handling fast sections of trail, including their lengthy wheelbases (1234mm on the Rift Zone 2 versus 1216mm on the Process 134) and low bottom bracket heights (343mm on the Rift Zone 2; 342mm on the Process 134).
Overall, in terms of the stability each bike has at speed, we would say its a toss up. The extra wheelbase on the Rift Zone 2 in theory should make it a bit more stable, but we didn’t find the difference to be noticeable.
Handling
When things get tight and twisty, both bikes handle quite well and have a playful feel. They both have fairly short chainstay lengths for their wheelbases, at 430mm and 427mm for the Rift Zone 2 and Process 134, respectively. This allows them to both zip through corners carrying a good amount of speed.
Rough terrain
While the MultiTrac rear suspension system found on the Marin Rift Zone 2 seriously reduces pedal bob on climbs, it also seems to make the rear suspension a bit stiff on moderately rough terrain.
This can make some of the smaller obstacles hit at moderate speeds feel harsher on the Rift Zone 2. By comparison, the plush rear suspension on the Process 134 feels smoother when things get choppy.
Front suspension: Marzocchi Bomber Z2 140mm (Rift Zone 2) vs RockShox Recon RL Motion Control Solo Air 140mm (Process 134)
The suspension forks on both the Rift Zone 2 and the Process 134 are plush and responsive.
The Marzocchi Bomber Z2 found on the front end of the Marin Rift Zone 2 is a bit lighter than the RockShox Recon RL Motion Control Solo Air found on the Kona Process 134, and it also seems to be slightly more responsive.
Overall both forks perform well at smoothing out the bumps in the trail and maintaining solid traction in the front wheel.
Rear suspension: RockShox Deluxe Select RT Debonair (Rift Zone 2) vs RockShox Deluxe Select Trunnion (Process 134)
The rear shocks forming the rear suspension on both bikes are quite similar.
The biggest difference between the rear suspension on the Marin Rift Zone 2 versus the Kona Process 134 is the MultiTrac system that the Marin suspension is set up with.
Basically, this system is designed to reduce pedal bob on flats and inclines and prevent the rear shock from bottoming out all while maintaining responsiveness on descents and rough terrain.
While we found it does a great job at preventing pedal bob, the rear shock setup on the Marin Rift Zone 2 felt a bit harsh moderately bumpy trails on flat ground and while descending. By contrast, the rear suspension on the Kona Process 134 felt more smooth and plush.
Frequently asked questions
The Marin Rift zone 29 2 size large weighs in at 34.5 lbs.
For a full suspension mountain bike of its weight, the Marin Rift Zone 2 is a solid climber. This is mostly because of the MultiTrac rear suspension design that reduces pedal bob allowing your pedal strokes to be more powerful and preventing a loss of momentum. The Rift Zone 2 also benefits on climbs from its smooth drivetrain and balanced geometry.
The large sized Kona Process 134 29 weighs 34.8 lbs.
The number 134 in the Kona Process 134’s name is the amount of travel (in mm) the rear suspension has. While most bike manufacturers build a bike with a predetermined amount of travel in the suspension, Kona takes a different approach, building the best bike possible, then measuring the suspension’s travel.
The Kona Process 153 is a longer travel bike geared more towards enduro and downhill riding as compared to the Process 134, which is an all around trail bike.
Mountain bike review criteria
When reviewing mountain bikes, these are the things we look for:
- Frame quality
- Component quality
- Bike weight
- Bike style and aesthetic appeal
For a detailed breakdown of how we assess each of these criteria, see How We Review Mountain Bikes.
Conclusion
If you’re thinking of getting a new mountain bike for all around trail riding, you won’t be disappointed with either the Marin Rift Zone 2 or the Kona Process 134.
If you ride a lot of rough terrain and bumpy descents, you may enjoy the smoother Kona Process 134 more, but if your riding involves a lot of tight turns and climbs on flowy singletrack, the playful and sturdy Marin Rift Zone 2 may be just what you need.
Have you ridden one or both of these trail bikes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!