See all the latest 2009 Bikes and Products from Turner Here!

After I returned the Turner Sultan, I had to wait around a bit to get the very popular 5 Spot out for a test ride. As we all know Dave Turner revamped his entire bike line to use the DW Link suspension system. You can refer to my Turner Sultan post for more on the DW Link. I had ridden one of the TNT versions of the 5 Spot, so I was at least somewhat familiar with the 5 Spot’s characteristics. I took the 5 Spot up onto the lower portion of the West Leg trail. It has some pretty gnarly sections that really put a bike to a great test of its steering, braking and suspension. The 5 Spot showed an almost telepathic sense of steering, it went right where you told it to go. The 5 Spot has the typical Turner neutral feel and the rock solid read end. Can you say you have a stout rear end? On a few spots when climbing or descending the rear end liked to kick out from under me, but the bike did stay planted. The 5 Spot nicely took the mini ledges and rock ramps on the trail, and it flowed nicely along the tight singletrack. Like most Turners the 5 Spot is a big beefy frame so inherently it’s a bit heavy and on some climbs you could feel the additional weight. That extra beef does give it a tad more stiffness when hauling downhill at a fast clip.

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Interbike was a fun experience again, but it was very tiring. Long days followed by long nights writing up ride impressions and daily coverage of the show is exhausting. I rode as many bikes as I could at the Outdoor Demo, but there is only so much time in the day, to many people to visit and talk with, and it was in the 90’s and sunny, so heat exhaustion and hydration play another part of the entertainment. Indoors was this monstrous swatch of booths that is overwhelming, and it’s easy to get lost. One saving grace is that the exhibitors tend to keep the same booth area each year so it’s easier to find the next year. I tried to visit as many booths as I could and talk shop with each of the exhibitors but there are so many different exhibitors that it was impossible to take it all in.

The MTBR.com staff wanted me to come up with a list of my top highlights from the show. I did have a few celebrity types, I spoke to such as Phil Liggett, John Tomac, Tinker Juarez, Georgia Gould, Allison Dunlap and Greg Lemond but the products and the bikes and the exhibitors are the real highlights.

Commuting
There were electric bikes galore at the show along with more commuter and cruiser bikes than I have ever seen. The cream of the crop of those commuter bikes was the Moots Comooter.

Sure it was expensive and only a select few can enjoy it tasty treats, but it’s totally tricked out and is pretty much ready to commute as soon as it’s put together. No need to figure out a part selection, it’s already blinged!

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David goes over the 2009 line, the Sultan gets another 20mm travel to match bumbed up fork travels.  The Flux with the DW-link, still rides like a Flux.  Of course the new DHR.

2009 Turner Products

Filmed by: Theo Dilworth | All Out Productions | www.alloutprodux.com

Edited by: Keith Wells

See all the latest 2009 Bikes and Products from Turner Here!

Dave Turner teamed up with Dave Weagle of the DW Link fame and revamped his entire bike line for 2009 using the DW Link suspension system. I was very excited to try out this bike because I have been riding a DW Link Ibis Mojo for over 2 years I happen to think that the DW Link is one of the finest suspension systems currently on the market. The DW Link suspension has great anti-squat, little pedal feedback and exceptional traction. I love 29er’s and especially one with a DW Link suspension so it was time to demo the Turner Sultan.

And Harry doesn’t mind if he doesn’t make the scene
He’s got a daytime job he’s doing alright
He can play honky tonk just like anything
Saving it up for Friday night
With the Sultans with the Sultans of Swing

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