That's right ladies and dirt bags; I was lucky enough to have two weeks to scoot around on the new Turner Highline! Yes! It does exist! Even as a prototype I can tell you that this thing is out of hand! A bit over 8" (adjustable to 7) in the rear, to be expected excellent construction, an '05 Boxxer Team and the '05 Saint stuff all killer and no filler!
The frame: The thing I noticed right away, other than the sweet raw finish, was how utterly solid the frame felt - no torsional flex to speak of and most excellent, beef cake construction. DT thought the frame weighed in around 12 lbs, but was going to do some trimming on the production model to get that down a bit. Other cool stuff: 150mm rear end w/ 12mm TA; 83mm BB; 1.5 steerer with the Turner logo engraved in it; adjustable 7+/8+ of rear end travel; ISCG mounts; duel chainring capability (even though I ran it with a single ring); huge tire clearance (I was running 2.7s with tons of extra room 3.0 no problem); heavy duty stainless hardware; custom bearings (designed for radial and torsional loads, made in house on the three -main pivot locations); Fox DHX 5.0 rear shock; and a big, oversized Horst Link. The thing is tight! Yea, it looks like a Devinci, but according to DT he came up with the design independently. He noticed the similarities at 03 Interbike and approached Devinci to manufacture his bike for him. For one reason or another it didnt work out. I think DTs worked out pretty damn good.
The ride: Ill try to sum up bitchin .Like most freeride rigs, this thing is plush and very confidence inspiring unlike most freeride bikes the Highline exhibited that timeless Turner trait of actually accelerating and moving forward when you stomped on the pedals. For a super burly, 8 bike it climbed great! But I wasnt necessarily interested in grinding it up a long climb, well leave that to the XC guys; I wanted to know how it would handle the rough and drops going down Crazy the Highline made Porcupine Rim seem like a paved bike path with speed bumps! On the locals only trails it really shined 10 - 12 footers were not even an issue and the slack front end (65* to 66.5*) and torsional stiffness helped it tracked straight and true in the steeps. The rising rate linkage gave it that classic Turner bottomless feel; a low center of gravity allowed it to rail corners and the Horst link eliminated any brake jack so the excellent Saint brakes could do their job in the rough. It will obviously take way more than Ill be able to throw at it. Its a pro-level rig all the way. Did I mention the cool finish?
Local uber-rider, Nate Mackay, took it out to Bartlett for a surfing session in the Superbowl. Check out this super sweet photo -
http://gallery.mtbr.com/showphoto.php?photo=6503&password=&sort=1&cat=all&page=1
DT believes hell have it ready for production sometime in the late spring, I hope so I gotta get one I can keep!
The frame: The thing I noticed right away, other than the sweet raw finish, was how utterly solid the frame felt - no torsional flex to speak of and most excellent, beef cake construction. DT thought the frame weighed in around 12 lbs, but was going to do some trimming on the production model to get that down a bit. Other cool stuff: 150mm rear end w/ 12mm TA; 83mm BB; 1.5 steerer with the Turner logo engraved in it; adjustable 7+/8+ of rear end travel; ISCG mounts; duel chainring capability (even though I ran it with a single ring); huge tire clearance (I was running 2.7s with tons of extra room 3.0 no problem); heavy duty stainless hardware; custom bearings (designed for radial and torsional loads, made in house on the three -main pivot locations); Fox DHX 5.0 rear shock; and a big, oversized Horst Link. The thing is tight! Yea, it looks like a Devinci, but according to DT he came up with the design independently. He noticed the similarities at 03 Interbike and approached Devinci to manufacture his bike for him. For one reason or another it didnt work out. I think DTs worked out pretty damn good.
The ride: Ill try to sum up bitchin .Like most freeride rigs, this thing is plush and very confidence inspiring unlike most freeride bikes the Highline exhibited that timeless Turner trait of actually accelerating and moving forward when you stomped on the pedals. For a super burly, 8 bike it climbed great! But I wasnt necessarily interested in grinding it up a long climb, well leave that to the XC guys; I wanted to know how it would handle the rough and drops going down Crazy the Highline made Porcupine Rim seem like a paved bike path with speed bumps! On the locals only trails it really shined 10 - 12 footers were not even an issue and the slack front end (65* to 66.5*) and torsional stiffness helped it tracked straight and true in the steeps. The rising rate linkage gave it that classic Turner bottomless feel; a low center of gravity allowed it to rail corners and the Horst link eliminated any brake jack so the excellent Saint brakes could do their job in the rough. It will obviously take way more than Ill be able to throw at it. Its a pro-level rig all the way. Did I mention the cool finish?
Local uber-rider, Nate Mackay, took it out to Bartlett for a surfing session in the Superbowl. Check out this super sweet photo -
http://gallery.mtbr.com/showphoto.php?photo=6503&password=&sort=1&cat=all&page=1
DT believes hell have it ready for production sometime in the late spring, I hope so I gotta get one I can keep!
neaky:
