Bike Nerd, Thanks for your insight, it’s greatly appreciated.
While the bike (Kona Process 134DL) came stock with i23 rims and 27.5 Ardents (2.4 front & 2.25 back), I upgraded to i29 rims a couple of years back and opted for the DHR II’s (2.3 – front and back) at that time.
That being said, my thought was to keep an i29 rim (either the current WTB Asym or switching out to a Stan’s Flow MK3) on the front with a 2.5 DHF and swap out the i29 on the back for an i35 rim (WTB Asym or Stan’s Baron) with the 2.3 DHR II.
Your thorough explanation helped me reach this conclusion: i29 rims w/DHF 2.5 front and DHRII 2.3 on back. I’m assuming that the 0.2 width differential will work.
What I’m not so sure about is whether upgrading from the stock 2.4 to a 2.5 tire will change the geometry and performance of the bike with a 140 travel fork. If it does, I might consider upgrading to a 150 travel fork.
I’m new to this forum and I really appreciate you taking the time.