Sunday, May 15, 2011

My Bikes: Turner Flux


The past few couple of weeks has been my first serious rides on my new Turner Flux- I've now clocked a good 150km on it so feel qualified to report back my first impressions. It hasn't the easiest build to get together, and it's still got a few tweaks before i'm completely satisfied, but wow, as first impressions go, I'm quietly blown away. The bike has felt immediately familiar and exceeded my expectations in all the areas i'd read up on and hoped for, but wasn't 100% sure on whether they'd be delivered on a frame I hadn't test ridden. 















Handling 
First up is the 'legendary' Turner handling- this gets quite a lot of press from other Turner owners and magazine reviews, and I must say the angles do all indeed just feel right. The steering is responsive without feeling nervous or unstable and whilst it is a touch quicker than i was thinking it would be, I actually quite enjoy the involvement of a slightly more traditional xc geometry. I can flick the front or rear end quite quickly to pick a line through rock gardens or singletrack and theres no hint of the front end wallowing on steep climbs. Super slack head angles seem to have become a very fashionable 'must have' for modern mtbs, but in my opinion the magazines fail to mention that slack just isn't as fun for many riding situations (esp. Singletrack). Sure, too steep and you're over the bars when it's steep, but for me when combined with wide bars and a 90mm stem the this feels like it takes the best bits from a 'traditional' old school xc bike and injects some new school stability.



Suspension 
One of the key things that sold the frame to me was the idea of the dw-link. Having had a few short try outs on Pivots and Ibis Mojos, I was impressed with the feel of their suspension- when you stand up and mash the pedals your energy goes into forward momentum, not shock compression (bob). In that respect it seems you can ride a dw-linked full sus much like a hard tail and not be forced into staying in the saddle on climbs. On the Yeti I'd been sold on the idea that the new pro pedal RP23 shocks negated the need for complex pivot arrangements, and whilst I still hanker for the simplicity of a single pivot, the reality is that the only way you get rid of bob on a single pivot is to keep the pro pedal switch 'on', which isn't so plush- Either that or you're constantly flicking switches, which isn't so fun. So, to have a bike that pedals so well yet retains a very plush feel is really a nice thing. 





In the same way that the handling is a bit split personality, the suspension reflects this also- it has the travel (105mm) of an xc race bike but as you get into the travel it feels deceptively like the plushness of a longer travel bike. The frame weight and the cnc construction method also reflect this aggressive 'built to last' feel. The feel of the suspension is also quite vertical, as in less like the bike is folding, and more like the front and rear are moving together. If there is a negative, it would be the inherent complexity of the linkages. I'm confident enough in all the grease port injectable pivots from a servicing and durability standpoint, but there are still lots of nooks and crannies to clean, and I like to default to less is more as a philosophy. But sometimes, just a bit more really is more...

















The Build

I've carried over the bulk of the parts over from the Yeti / S-works hard tail, with a few sprinkles of freshness to liven things up. New wheels (Hope sp8) & brakes (Hope x2 special editions) have been the major new additions and Hope being Hope neither has disappointed. I may do more in depth reviews of these products in time but I'm very happy with both, and the Continental Mtn kings are nice tubeless rubber for the wheels. Hope round off all bearing duties with their headset and ceramic b/b.

The only disappointment has been getting the Middleburn cranks to work. Sadly I was sent the wrong spider, meaning whilst they look great on the bike the chainline is way off. Those of you with eagle eyes will notice old xtr cranks in some of these photos as a stop gap.

Another part I'll upgrade in time is the fork. I'm running some slightly tired 110mm Fox float rlc's. Nice enough forks, but scratches to the stanchions have meant lost oil and air pressure over time. Still a bit of life left in them yet, before I replace with either another pair of Fox, or maybe some DT Swiss 120s.

An xtr / xt 9 speed set up, monkeylites, a flite and my usual Thomson obsession pretty much wrap things up.

Conclusion 
This is the sort of machine that makes you wonder why you bothered not buying it sooner. It feels like I've found my holy grail of mountain bike- super fast, comfortable enough, great through the technical without just being a steamroller, reliable (esp. in it's reassuring lack of carbon), a sensible weight and just a very confidence inspiring ride. That's not to say it must be the best bike in the world ever- there are of course better xc race bikes, better freeride bikes, and those who believe in the way of the 29er / singlespeed and so on, but for just mountain biking, as in riding (fast) to the top and bombing back down or along, or across, I don't think it get's too much better. The price hasn't come cheap, but I do believe in investing in quality and the indications are there that this should be a bike to last. If I get bored of the colour Turner can respray and recondition for a reasonable sum. There's also something quite nice about supporting genuine hand made fabricators, be that Dave Turner in the USofA, Jan Kole in Shenzhen, or the Hope / Middleburn guys in the UK. It will cost a bit more than a Trek to buy, but sometimes getting what you want is worth that bit extra, and the best things in life aren't always free...



6 comments :

  1. Nice write up Eddy,

    I can so appreciate your comment about one bike being better than another, or not. There are so many variations on MTB's these days and as many opinions on what the best set up is. But when I throw my leg over a bike that gives me confidence to jettison down gnarly descents, carve through tight, tree lined single track or peddle through and over technical flats and feels like an extension of my body... I know this is the bike for me. Perfect example. I raced my niner Air9 this past weekend for one simple reason, it's light and in a race the only thing that matters is time. But when I want to have real fun on my bike I ride my ventana. The bike just comes together for me in so many ways and makes me a better rider...not climber, but mountain biker. Which is what the sport is all about after all. Hope we get a chance to take our two rigs out again my friend and go for a hard core MTB ride.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cheers Bob- Words of sense indeed. Would love to take the Turner to Tahoe one day!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi there. Nice blog. You have shared useful information. Keep up the good work! This blog is really interesting and gives good details. soldering fluxes, soldering fluxes supplier.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi

    can you tell me how you got that hope headset to fit? I just ordered one but it doesnt seem to fit in the frame??

    ReplyDelete
  5. Headsets are one of the few things I'm happy just to pass over to the local bike shop, especially on a $$$ frame! They didn't mention anything about it being difficult- standard 1 1/8th", no?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you so much for sharing the means and stuff you used to perk up that awesome bike. Those tubeless rubber for the tyres are perfect choices.

    ReplyDelete