Turner Czar owners? Tell me about yours.

G

gassyndrome

Likes Bikes
Hi all,

So I just totalled my faithful 09 DW Link Sultan the day after Xmas, sadly on my first ride of my vacation, and it's time to think about the next bike.

While I loved the Sultan for every minute, I think the Czar being speedier, lighter, perhaps a bit more nimble but seemingly pretty damn capable, positions it as my next bike. I never really felt I needed 'more' bike than the Sultan for my riding so the shorter travel would probably be just fine with me.

I went to the Specialized demo day here in Canberra last week and while the only bike I ended up riding was an S-works Camber, even at 11 kegs or so it didn't seem that 'fun'. And while the Giant Anthem Advanced SX spec looks cool, it's 27.5 and I'm 6'3.......

Anywho, I'd love to hear the thoughts of any satisfied owners who may care enough to push me over the edge!

Cheers, Simon.
 
silentbutdeadly

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
I could tell you about a mate's new Czar but the sod hasn't let me ride it further than the car park in Silverton and then I quickly gave it back to him simply to avoid further temptation. Cause it felt sharper than my old Anthem even just doing that...just thinking about it still gives me shudders of personal angst.
 
M

mmatrix

Likes Dirt
12 months.

Ive had mine over 12 months now and really enjoy racing and riding it.

Last week i was Trail riding on the Epic and Stonefly trails at Buller and the week before I raced it on an XC track.
I still have a vertex 29 hard tail but spend most of my time on the turner as it is just fun to ride. It descends heaps better than the HT and even rides well on the bike paths around home.
What i love is the DW link suspension, the thing just goes, but feels like it has far more travel than it dose. the short rear chain stay suit my style of riding as the front is easy to lift .
Seems well built and solid but is light. No fancy brains or parts that cost a lot to replace and the cable routing is easy to replace and set up. I ve spent nothing on replacement parts yet except cables
Service of the links is done with a grease gun. coz it's been dry haven't greased the links much.
I'm 5ft6 and am on a med and it fits well. i run a thompson slammed stem.
I ride all my friends bikes haven't ridden anything that makes me go, "i wish i bought that"
It's an XT build with a Kashima fox fork 100mm and thompson/Enve cockpit which was part of the XT build .

What would i change.
have heard some guys are now running them as a 120mm front fork but because i am small and relatively light i like being more over the front wheel, maybe if i was bigger and heavier i would go 120mm but have not tried one. On my Ht i have a terrelogic fork which i prefer over the RLC however after a recent few nights in hospital i finally read the Fox set up manual and learnt how to set the RLC fork which has improved it.
Also Turner sells the bike with the G2 51mm offset forks, make sure you get one as they do ride better and the Czar was designed for these forks.
future up grade, may get a dropper post for use on Enduro type trail riding


Hoping to keep it for a number of years and after a year of riding and racing can't see why i wouldn't keep it.
 
Last edited:
C

creaky

XMAS Plumper
Mate,
I got my XL (6'2") about a month ago.
Fits me like a glove and is more nimble and pedals slightly better than the tallboy it replaced, which is also a great bike. Czar is noticeably stiffer and slightly more plush at the same sag / pedalling performance.

I posted in the Post Your 29er thread a few weeks ago but can't write any more ATM cause I've just got my phone !

Where are you ? You may be able to organise a looksee and/or ride.

Have you spoken to bullant bikes yet ? It took 12 weeks or so from order to arrive, not sure if that is n issue for you or not. Worth the wait as they say.
 
G

gassyndrome

Likes Bikes
Thanks chaps, plenty to think about there. I haven't got in touch with BullAnt yet as I'm just thinking about it - after a month or two or practising eating pies and chips, I wouldn't really deserve to ride one right now anyway. I am 6'3, 85-90 kegs and would be riding for fun, not weight weenie racing so I think a 120mm Pike and the Lev off my Sultan might be the way to go.
Just do it properly is the way to go IMO.

Creaky - I'm in canberra. Got any pics of yours you might care to post?

Cheers, Simon.
 
G

gassyndrome

Likes Bikes
OP here. Haven't got around to investigating this. Really need to get my act into gear as it's now three months without an MTB and the old pants are getting a bit snug...

I'm just not sure if my skills justifies a $7 or 8k bike in the end and that's probably the low ball to do justice to that frame.
 
C

creaky

XMAS Plumper
gassyndrome said:
OP here. Haven't got around to investigating this. Really need to get my act into gear as it's now three months without an MTB and the old pants are getting a bit snug...

I'm just not sure if my skills justifies a $7 or 8k bike in the end and that's probably the low ball to do justice to that frame.
Click to expand...
The frames are very well priced in the US now so I'd be asking bullant about AUS pricing at the moment. Even an XT build would be a great outcome at a good price.
 
M

mmatrix

Likes Dirt
trew.

gassyndrome said:
OP here. Haven't got around to investigating this. Really need to get my act into gear as it's now three months without an MTB and the old pants are getting a bit snug...

I'm just not sure if my skills justifies a $7 or 8k bike in the end and that's probably the low ball to do justice to that frame.
Click to expand...
They seem to stack up price wise better than an Epic,And the cost of ownership is cheap. Im my experience the specialised bike i owned cost me a lot to keep running coz i had to always go back to the specialised dealer to get parts etc. at least the turners have all standard shocks so any fox or sram dealer can sort you.

Also my mate who just bought a czar frame, bought the fame and the fork from BullAnt and bought the XT build kit cheap on line. he didn't have to sell a kidney to get it.but it also wasn't the cheapest bike out there.
 
Big JD

Big JD

Wheel size expert
Excuse me Mr Bullant- can you get any of the close out fraMes from Turner. Like they have Sultan frames for $1600 on their website?

Warm regards

Me
 
G

gassyndrome

Likes Bikes
Big JD - I spoke to BullAnt yesterday (thoroughly nice chap) who said he could get a Sultan frame quicker than the Czar, which is getting some updates in the new production run. I wasn't interested in another Sultan (too much travel and gnar for me in the current version) so didn't follow up with a price query).

Cheers, Simon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top