In for test: Turner DHR

Originally posted on October 20, 2011 at 13:58 pm

By Justin Steiner

We first laid eyes on Turner’s dw-link equipped DHR back in 2008 when Turner showed a prototype at Interbike where the DHR immediately struck a cord with me. The design looked purposeful, with it’s low-slung swingarm and CNC machined shock tower cradling the rear shock low in the frame for mass centralization. The prototype had major sex appeal, and I’m happy to report the production version of this bike is even sexier. Here’s the prototype from 2008:

Turner has a long lineage of downhill race rigs, having launched their first way back in 1996. Dubbed the Afterburner, this race-ready machine delivered a whopping 3.6” of travel. The next iteration of Turner’s gravity bike, then call the DH Racer, more than doubled in travel to 7.6” with it’s introduction in 2000. Mass centralization has been a recurring theme with the DHR models, including the previous generation DHR with its single pivot suspension design. Click here to see the entire history of Turner’s bikes.

Flash forward to the 2011 DHR and the major story is David Turner’s Partnership with Dave Weagle to shoehorn a dw-link suspension design low in the frame delivering 210mm of travel.

The other story is Turner’s aggressive low and slack geometry. With a 63º headtube angle and a 13.4” high un-sagged bottom bracket, this bike is on the outer envelope of what World Cup DH racers are riding these days. Thanks to a straight 1.5” headtube, riders can steepen or slacken HT angle as desire by ±1.5º thanks to Cane Creek’s AngleSet. Can you imagine running this bike with a 61.5º HT?

Thanks to the dw-link suspension’s anti-squat characteristics, Turner was able to push the BB height down from 13.9” to 13.4” to keep weight down yet minimize pedal strikes. Under power, the rear suspension resists squatting or bobbing through it’s travel so well Turner feels like he can pedal through chunky sections with fewer pedal strikes on the new bike despite the lower BB.

Turner offers the DHR frame for sale for $3,195 with a Fox DHX RC4 rear shock. A complete Privateer Kit will be available for $6,470, and an Upgrade Kit includes a Fox 40, E-13 chainguide, and Cane Creek S3 headset for $4,818. See Tuner’s website for complete details.

So now we’ve got one of these bad-boys in the house. Look for the full review of the DHR in an upcoming issue of Dirt Rag.

 

 

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