slider_phil
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Lo and behold! New newest member of my fleet is black, sleek and fast. The Turner Czar is a few years old now and designed for XC and marathon racing. After riding it I reckon you could lump trail riding into that category too.
I started getting into XC riding and general fitness at the start of this year but we don't need to get into that. Needless to say I started getting faster and I started looking closer at things likes rolling resistance, weight and efficiency when analysing bikes and components. The bug had bitten and I was devouring information on training, nutrition and racing. My first few races of the year I did on my Intense Primer and then I decided to use my Cotic Solaris as my race bike of choice. One, because rocking up to an XC race in 2018 on a steel hardtail is cool and secondly I could build it lighter than my Primer, plain and simple.
The Solaris after it's final race
I had fun and was progressing fitness wise through the year and it culminated with my last race being a team 6hr in Bright in which I got my best result for the year, a 3rd place finish. But it highlighted a few things for me. One, 3.5 hrs in the saddle on a hardtail is brutal, especially race pace. The other point was efficiency. Hardtails are great, but as soon as a course gets rough efficiency takes a huge hit. Instead of pedal strokes providing forward momentum you are dealing with deflection and hangups. I realised after 2-3 hours racing that it becomes insanely tiring getting in and out of the saddle over rooty and rocky sections.
I made the decision that in 2019 I'd move to an XC bike with rear suspension. I was pretty set on the newer, more progressive bikes with slacker, longer geometry as it suits my riding style. But as with all new fancy carbon bikes here in Australia, price is prohibitive.
But fatefully, one day I was browsing the local classifieds and noticed a Turner Czar frame for sale, for a really good price. I didn't know much about the Czar but I did know Turner was a company known for quality and great customer service. I've always been a fan of smaller bike companies, owning bikes from brands like Cotic, Canfield and Knolly.
I started pouring over the geometry chart, rider reviews and build threads. Interestingly, for an XC frame designed in 2014 it looks more like a modern XC bike with a slacker head angle than is generally found on bikes in this category. Being a large meant that the reach is pretty close to what I'm used to in my medium frames and since I've got a pretty long inseam for my 176cm height the large fits me just fine and I can still run a dropper post.
Needless to say I was sold, money changed hands and one day later the frame rocked up at work.
Build
The raw carbon with a simple coat of clear provides a striking appearance in person and I tried to best to try and capture it on camera. Well thought out external cabling makes building and painless exercise all round. Although as you can see from the finished pictures that I used heat shrink around the bars which has taken away that ability to quickly swap things around. No big deal for me, or just about anyone to be honest.
The frame came with Race Face Next SL cranks and an Easton carbon seatpost. I've used and had no issues with carbon cranks but I removed them for the simple reason that I've got a Stages powermeter on my XTR cranks. The other thing that went on was my KS Lev 125mm dropper post. Then it was a simple job of moving everything from my Solaris over to the Czar.
Specs:
Turner Czar v1.0 (large)
Fox32 120mm
New Ultimate flat bar
Syntace 55mm negative rise stem
Ritchy foam grips
SRAM guide RS brakes
Ashima 160mm rotors
Fizik saddle
XTR m9020 cranks (175mm) with Stages arm
XTR shifter
XTR 11spd derailleur
XTR 11-40 cassette
XTR race pedals
Kmc chain
Stan's Crest mk3 on Hope Pro4 hubs
Maxxis rubber (2.25” Rekon front and Aspen rear)
Total build weight with everything minus tools is 11.1kg. Pretty much exactly what my hardtail weighed.
Plenty of clearance for bigger rubber in the back if required.
I started getting into XC riding and general fitness at the start of this year but we don't need to get into that. Needless to say I started getting faster and I started looking closer at things likes rolling resistance, weight and efficiency when analysing bikes and components. The bug had bitten and I was devouring information on training, nutrition and racing. My first few races of the year I did on my Intense Primer and then I decided to use my Cotic Solaris as my race bike of choice. One, because rocking up to an XC race in 2018 on a steel hardtail is cool and secondly I could build it lighter than my Primer, plain and simple.
The Solaris after it's final race
I had fun and was progressing fitness wise through the year and it culminated with my last race being a team 6hr in Bright in which I got my best result for the year, a 3rd place finish. But it highlighted a few things for me. One, 3.5 hrs in the saddle on a hardtail is brutal, especially race pace. The other point was efficiency. Hardtails are great, but as soon as a course gets rough efficiency takes a huge hit. Instead of pedal strokes providing forward momentum you are dealing with deflection and hangups. I realised after 2-3 hours racing that it becomes insanely tiring getting in and out of the saddle over rooty and rocky sections.
I made the decision that in 2019 I'd move to an XC bike with rear suspension. I was pretty set on the newer, more progressive bikes with slacker, longer geometry as it suits my riding style. But as with all new fancy carbon bikes here in Australia, price is prohibitive.
But fatefully, one day I was browsing the local classifieds and noticed a Turner Czar frame for sale, for a really good price. I didn't know much about the Czar but I did know Turner was a company known for quality and great customer service. I've always been a fan of smaller bike companies, owning bikes from brands like Cotic, Canfield and Knolly.
I started pouring over the geometry chart, rider reviews and build threads. Interestingly, for an XC frame designed in 2014 it looks more like a modern XC bike with a slacker head angle than is generally found on bikes in this category. Being a large meant that the reach is pretty close to what I'm used to in my medium frames and since I've got a pretty long inseam for my 176cm height the large fits me just fine and I can still run a dropper post.
Needless to say I was sold, money changed hands and one day later the frame rocked up at work.
Build
The raw carbon with a simple coat of clear provides a striking appearance in person and I tried to best to try and capture it on camera. Well thought out external cabling makes building and painless exercise all round. Although as you can see from the finished pictures that I used heat shrink around the bars which has taken away that ability to quickly swap things around. No big deal for me, or just about anyone to be honest.
The frame came with Race Face Next SL cranks and an Easton carbon seatpost. I've used and had no issues with carbon cranks but I removed them for the simple reason that I've got a Stages powermeter on my XTR cranks. The other thing that went on was my KS Lev 125mm dropper post. Then it was a simple job of moving everything from my Solaris over to the Czar.
Specs:
Turner Czar v1.0 (large)
Fox32 120mm
New Ultimate flat bar
Syntace 55mm negative rise stem
Ritchy foam grips
SRAM guide RS brakes
Ashima 160mm rotors
Fizik saddle
XTR m9020 cranks (175mm) with Stages arm
XTR shifter
XTR 11spd derailleur
XTR 11-40 cassette
XTR race pedals
Kmc chain
Stan's Crest mk3 on Hope Pro4 hubs
Maxxis rubber (2.25” Rekon front and Aspen rear)
Total build weight with everything minus tools is 11.1kg. Pretty much exactly what my hardtail weighed.
Plenty of clearance for bigger rubber in the back if required.