If you’re gonna go carbon, you might as well do it where it makes the most sense. And to us, the new Turner Czar looks like a damn fine use of composites.
It’s their first carbon fiber mountain bike, and they put it into a 100mm full suspension XC race bike because “We’re going to place the carbon bikes in our line where we feel they’re most advantageous to the type of rider they’re aimed at,” says Turner Bicycles’ founder David Turner. “We’re going to look at those people who are hyper conscious about saving every gram they can.”
The frame uses specific layup design, resin selection and fiber moduli to impart the feel they wanted. They say it’s stiff but not at the expense of character. All that was built around a DW-Link rear suspension, which we’ve found to be a very efficient and plush design in or out of the saddle.
Hammer past the break for all the details…
The Czar has a head angle just barely on the slack side for an XC bike at 69.8º, which shouldn’t be enough to slow down the handling in the tight and twisties but add a bit of confidence on the descents. The 17.4″ (441mm) chainstays are skew on the short side, which means the wheelbase creates a tight footprint. So far, all good things for a modern XC race bike…especially since full suspension XC race bikes these days are called up for anything from marathon racing to aggressive trail riding on occasion.
The DW-Link design provides 100mm of rear wheel travel. Linkages are machined alloy and pivot on IGUS Journal composite bearings. The forward shock and pivot placements help keep the rear wheel tucked in.
Zerk grease fittings make lubrication and maintenance quick and easy. Rocker and lower linkage are both one-piece units, which should help keeps things tight, stiff and less creaky.
They’re calling the frame material C6 Turner Carbon, which is a mix of Toray High Modulus fibers. Bolt on cable guides keep the full length housing/hoses inline. Guides for a dropper post or shock remote are under the top tube.
The headtube is shapely. And massive, if rather short.
Other tech specs include post mount brakes, PF30 bottom bracket, 142×12 rear axle and two water bottle mounts.
