P.R.O.C.E.S.S. is a project that encapsulates the feeling of a new bike day. Days, sometimes months, waiting for the fresh cardboard and a metal smell from a brand-new bike. In this video, Marcelo Cordeiro shares the feeling of riding his new Kona Process 153 DL 29 on the trails of Sintra in Portugal.
At first, skeptical of the new geometry and wheel size but quickly familiarized with the surrounding nature.
It wasn’t long since I heard Marcelo complain about 29ers being too big for a 5ft5 man. I always tried to convince him the opposite, but he stated that if he ever converted to the newer 29-inch wheels, he would make it a mullet, 29 front, and 27.5 rear.
When the bike was presented to him, it certainly wasn’t love at first sight, but after a first try at the trails of Sintra, his opinion wasn’t the same.
“Loved it through the fast sections, seems that you have more suspension travel,” he said.
Besides debating wheel sizes, we carefully chose the trails to film. Sintra might be the most known mountain biking area in Portugal. It’s the dream of any Enduro rider, dry, compact, fast-rolling, and the uphills aren’t too steep overall. The chosen trails had to be Impossível and Nubai, distinguished by their big jumps and rock gardens. Marcelo always asks me before recording on any trail: “Does it have jumps? Because if it doesn’t, what’s the point of even riding it”
After all, the feeling of owning a new bike it’s magical. But after some time, any bike can be fun. What really matters is how you ride it and not what you ride.
