XC Turner Czar

Cardy George

Piercing rural members since 1981
Raced it last Sunday at the first round of the Shifty Fifty series. Trails were super dry and blown out but lots of fun single-track intermingled with crazy step fireroad accents and descents.

Ended up being 1500m of elevation over 50kms of mountain biking and all out a bit tougher than the organisers intended. Out of the 200+ entrants only 105 finished the race.



This was my first time racing this bike and also first race of the season. The bike itself performed exceptionally minus some loud creaks and groans from the lower DW link after some really sandy dusty sections. For myself, I was happy to cross the finish line at the end, that's for sure.

I felt really great up until the 42km mark were we hit the step fireroad climbs for the last time and had to hike a bike the last bit. When I got back on I had to fight a cramp for the next 2kms but after that it was ok and the pace was back to normal for the final stretch. I ended up finishing 20th in the open men's.

Oh and operating with a broken left index finger, that was a little painful every time I needed the rear brake

All covered in dust after the race


The offending lower DW link


Also lost the cable guide somewhere along the trail






The Barzo/Mezcal tyres options worked a treat. No complaints with grip front or rear especially considering it was very dry and loose on course. There was obviously enough knob depth to penetrate the top layer as I had no front end wash out feeling.

Example of the trail conditions. Surface was like moon dust.


Also really happy with the 32 front and 9-46 cassette. On all but the very steepest of pinch climbs the 46t chainring could keep me below my lactate threshold wattage so I could pace the day very well and pick when I burnt matches.

Overall a positive experience. The day was tough but fun to be racing again. Pretty sure I'm going to try and get to the second round in Woodend next month



Oh and so far, no rear triangle breakage from running boost wheels
The first pic could've been taken here. Soft and dusty all around here too. Get 50 bikes over it on a calm morning and anything below knee height disappears.

Well done on the top 20 :D
 

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Noticed I've clocked over 2k kms since building in October (2262km to be exact, thanks Strava).

Boost wheels in a non boost frame still haven't caused any issues. Lower DW link still starts creaking after a few rides after greasing. The Wolftooth dropper remote is SO MUCH nicer than the factory KS remote. Fox 32 SC feels a ton better than the old 2014 Fox 32 that was set to 120mm. The Vittoria tyres have proved to be fast, strong and predictable for trail/xc use.

No plans to change anything in the future at this stage, just enjoy it


 

Oddjob

Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
Noticed I've clocked over 2k kms since building in October (2262km to be exact, thanks Strava).

Boost wheels in a non boost frame still haven't caused any issues. Lower DW link still starts creaking after a few rides after greasing. The Wolftooth dropper remote is SO MUCH nicer than the factory KS remote. Fox 32 SC feels a ton better than the old 2014 Fox 32 that was set to 120mm. The Vittoria tyres have proved to be fast, strong and predictable for trail/xc use.

No plans to change anything in the future at this stage, just enjoy it


Hot! I've heard rumours of people replacing the bushings with needle bearings to good effect.

What grease are you using? M prep or Super lube?

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk
 

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Good question. I'm not out in the shed so I cant check but its in a silver tube with a few rainbow stripes on it. Grey looking stuff.

I did fully pull it down one day for a complete clean and used some anti-seize when reassembling. That quietened it for a fair while before it took up again.

Interested in the needle bearing conversion if you've got some info!
 

Oddjob

Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
That's Super Lube. It's a bit thin. Try M prep or Slickoleum.

Read about the needle bearing conversion on the mtbr Turner pages.

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk
 

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
That's Super Lube. It's a bit thin. Try M prep or Slickoleum.

Read about the needle bearing conversion on the mtbr Turner pages.

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk
I'll do some research

I've got some thicker grease around that I'll try in the meantime. I've just been using the thinner stuff as it came with the frame.
 

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Raced this thing in some pretty crazy weather last weekend in Creswick. Bike performed flawlessly despite running it through mud for 3 straight hours.



Only issue I ran into was the KS Lev dropper started packing up half way though. Pulled that apart this week and rebuilt it and it's running as smooth as new.



Also swapped the Vittoria tyres off and put on some 2.35 Maxxis Forekasters to help with the inclement weather that was planned. Good idea too as it was a total mud bowl.

Finished the day with a hard earned 17th overall and a baby wipe shower before the drive home









Anyway, training volume has dropped quite a bit over the last 5 or so weeks due to some shoulder issues and it definitely manifested itself in the cold during the final hour of the race. Hoping to figure that out so I can get back up to my 5 days a week volume rather than the 3 I'm making do with at the moment.

But, I've been thinking of a new bike lately. I've been riding this bike non stop since getting it and my Intense Primer is literally sitting around doing nothing. I've been thinking of selling both frames for a new modern XC race frame. I was leaning towards the Intense Sniper since it will take my current 100mm step-cast for racing and then I'll use a 120mm 34 for trail riding.

BUT, there's some rumour that a new Pivot XC bike is on the horizon with similar geometry but I get to keep that sweet DW Link suspension.

Anyway, it's all speculation. But if anyone is interested in a sweet Turner or Intense frame, PM me for a sweet deal before I decide to not waste my money and just keep running the same bikes
 

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Long live port fastened internal cable routing!!
It's no external, but it's the best internal.
Correct. All these new 'tube in tube' routing frames don't work at all for our rear brake line routing without weird workarounds.

If I was buying new, the new Pivot Mach 4 is right up there for me. Good clean lines, sensible cable routing, newer xc geometry without being too extreme, DW Link suspension, low weight, takes both a 100mm and 120mm fork and just looks fucking good.

I want one...
 

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I thought the plan was to get one?!
Are you just building tension and intrigue?!
Maybe a little bit. I'm looking at a second hand frame at the moment but needed to sell some stuff before I pulled the trigger. But that means it might not be available anymore, will know after the weekend.

If not, might save up and buy new. Since the Primer is sold, I'll just keep thrashing the Czar until then
 
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