TESTED: Turner 5 Spot

WHAT: Turner 5-Spot HOW MUCH: $1,850 (frame only) WHERE: www.turnerbikes.com
Bits & Pieces Fox Float RL fork, Float RP3 shock, SRAM X-9 Shifters and derailleurs, Magura Louise disc brakes. Weight (as tested): 27.8lbs

David Turner has been building Horst-linked, four-bar suspension bikes for as long as there has been a Horst link and a four bar. He has extensive experience with the design, from lightweight XC applications to full-on downhill rigs, and the 5-Spot represents Turner’s take on the burgeoning 5-inch travel category.

The front triangle is a businesslike set of aluminum tubes welded together and mated to a square-tube rear triangle via a rocker link and bushings. Yep, bushings, not bearings. Turner believes firmly that the lighter weight, longevity, serviceability and flex-resistant performance of bushings sets them on a higher plane than bearings.

Whichever way you slice it, the 5-Spot is a solid bike. The 69-degree head angle and the rangy 44.7-inch wheelbase combined with a torsionally stiff frame make for a very stable bike. Not much unsettles it.

The 5-Spot can be thrown down very steep, very rough lines with a whole lot of confidence. The suspension eats up drops while remaining indifferent to pedal and brake inputs, and the bike holds a line better than just about anything out there. The surefootedness of this bike belies its relatively slender weight.

This bike is only a pound heavier than Intense’s 5.5 and has about the same amount of travel. But it feels bigger. If the two bikes were wearing the same tires, they’d probably be within a half-pound of each other. Yet, in terms of behavior, the two couldn’t be more different.

The Turner climbs very well, but lacks the platform-derived snap of the Intense. And while the 5-Spot behaves well enough to get the job done in tight terrain, it lives for the hairy end of the big ring, for fast, wide-open lines, big scary rock gardens, and those places where other bikes get twitchy and left behind.