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PRODUCTS
Turner
5 spot
A guest review
by Andy Smallman who
purchased a
large Turner
5 spot April
2005.
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After months of deliberation and indeed a visit to the bike show, I finally
took the plunge recognising that I just had to buy a Turner 5 Spot. Why a 5
Spot? They get excellent reviews, ride very nicely and no one has a bad
word to say against them. I guess they are recognised as pretty much the
best trail riding frame you can buy. Reason enough I think.
The frame itself is beautifully finished, the bottom bracket shell and lower
shock mount are machined from a single aluminium billet with smooth flat
surfaces for both the seat and down tubes to be welded to. The frame is
also straight and the paintwork seems flawless, a polished rear end being a
good idea in that it scratches less easily. There is plenty of room for
160mm rear discs and everything just goes together simply and easily. If I
had to make a criticism then I would say I am not impressed with the seat
clamp. It looks cheap and is clearly not as good as those made by Salsa.
All Turner suspension frames have bushings rather than bearings, these are
(apparently) precision made, with grease ports and grooves to allow
effective lubrication. The theory is that the back end should be more
resistant to torsion stresses. This means that the rear wheel will remain
in perfect alignment with the rest of the frame. Also lubricated bushes
should be longer lasting than bearing races. Time along will tell on this
but the grease ports are there on all the bushing points so I shall give it
a gentle squirt every dozen or so rides and see what happens.
I built mine up with a set of Fox Vanilla R forks, Hope Mono M4's and
finishing kit from Thomson and RaceFace. So essentially it is good strong
kit and most importantly I am running with 5" of travel front and back.
So what is it actually like to ride? Following two days of trail riding on
Leith, Holmbury and Pitch Hills, I can clearly say this is the nicest full
susser I have ridden. The relatively slack head angle inspires a good level
of confidence, I rode a chute not previously conquered (by me) first time
out so that must be good. On the fast singletrack it is clearly very fast,
the suspension allowing pedalling where, on a hard tail, you would just go
with the flow. So it is clearly faster down hill, and just feels light,
responsive and all you really want in order to go quickly in tight
situations.
Climbing, yes, I was totally impressed with that too. It tracks the ground
offering oodles of grip getting you to the top of technical climbs quicker
and more easily than you might expect.
So, overall I am really very impressed. Does it represent value for money?
With a price just shy of £1,500 for the frame alone you need to be convinced
it is good. Well, it is. If you finish it with decent kit, a good pair of
forks and some decent brakes I think it should see you through most things
without any problems and indeed with a great many smiles. This bike
certainly warrants a 10 out of 10 score for grin factor alone.
Tech
details
- Weight
6.3lb
- 5"
travel
- Fox
RP3 rear
shock
- Bushings
with grease
ports
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