News: Turner Turns To DW-Link for 2009

Like every Turner, the 5.Spot gets a complete DW-Link makeover for 2009

Dave Turner has been losing a lot of sleep lately. For more than a year he has been working with Dave Weagle to become the latest licensee of the DW-Link, and this week Turner is unveiling the new bikes at the European cycling tradeshow Eurobike. Additionally, Turner this year is offering complete bikes with a choice of three build kits per frame.

Turner fans will remember in 2005 when the SoCal frame maker dropped the ICT/Horst Link rear end in favor of his own "TNT" rear end, with the pivot above the axle. Dave Turner contended that the axle path difference between the two was barely discernable, but now, with the latest batch of bikes, Turner says the bikes bearing his name are better performing than ever.

All five of Turner's frames--including the DHR, RFX, 5.Spot, Sultan and Flux--have been re-worked from the ground up. Still, they retain a look that the Turner faithful will recognize. Geometries will stay about the same, but Turner's long-held 27.2 seatposts will give way to 30.9 posts to better accommodate the latest crop of adjustable travel seatposts (although word has it that Crank Brothers is showing off a 27.2 version of its Joplin post). Other trademark Turnerisms remain—bushings at the pivots, all serviceable with integrated grease ports.

For riders with existing Turner designs, Dave Turner says there will be replacement parts well into the future, and warranty frame claims will be eligible for an upgrade program. Past and future frames all are manufactured by SAPA Inc., in Portland, Oregon, and Turner says they are keeping the tooling for existing bikes in order to keep up with replacement parts as needed.

Asked why all the dramatic changes, Tuner answered with two words: "The ride."

"With other designs, every time you stomp on the pedal, you squat the rear end. But with the DW-Link, it's the only thing I've ridden that has the proper amount of anti-squat," he said. "When you're pedaling that thing, it almost has that snappiness of a hardtail."

"Here in SoCal, we have this spiderweb of rain ruts and hardpack, and you just don't get that vague feeling of the suspension squatting with every pedal stroke. Plus there's no pedal kickback, even when you're in the real technical parts," Turner added. "And it sounds like just such a line of crap. And I say that with an apology, because I've got no other way to say it other than to ride it."

The U.S. market will get its first taste of the new bikes at the Dirt Demo at Interbike, by which time Turner will have orders ready to ship from his Murrieta, California, facility. For more, go to Turner's new web site: Turnerbikes.com

Expect a full report of the new bikes at Interbike, the U.S. tradeshow held at the end of September.

Turner today launched an all-new web site to show off its redesigned-from-the-ground-up 2009 lineup