 I
have had the privilege of taking the new Turner
Sultan 29er on a few rides recently thanks to
Rush Sports and Bicicletta
The Sultan is one of
the new breed of bikes out of the legendry
Turner stable. After a few years in the doldrums
thanks to some patent disputes Turner has
adopted and licensed Dave Weagle’s DW Link and
produced an entirely new line of once more
highly rated bikes The Sultan is one of these
and the first to adopt 29 inch wheels at that.
At first glance
the bike is huge a bit of a farm gate actually.
Much of it has to do with the larger diameter
wheels, which seem a bit odd. The large frame
has some extremely beefy tubing including a
1.5inch head tube. But swing your leg of the top
tube and all of that disappears and the Sultan
feels just right, all that bulk becomes a
well-proportioned and nimble steed.
The Sultan came
built with some fine kit. The bike is driven by
the new 10 speed XT which shifted flawlessly
even when bogged down with muck after a very wet
first ride. Bicicletta has kitted out the
cockpit with Crank Brother’s Cobalt bar, 90mm
stem and seat tube and a Ritchey seat. All
contact points work really well and the low rise
bar was just the right width and rise.
One of the real
highlights of the ride must be the Formula RX
brakes these must be some of the best stoppers
around. The only down side was the 160mm front
rotor, this bike could really do with at least
180mm rotor to take control of stopping those
big wheels.
Upfront the
Sultan is suspended by a 120 mm Fox 32 F29 RLC
with 15mm thru axle and tapered steerer. with a
Fox RP23 on the rear. Not that the pro pedal
switch was necessary, the DW Link really pedals
well no matter what the terrain.
This Sultan
rolled on Kenda Nevegal tyres on DT Swiss X470
rims and SLX hubs altogether a faultless package
if not the lightest.
Once you start
riding you immediately forget the initial shock
of the size of this bike, it feels neutral and
completely comfortable. You don’t quite sit
inside the frame but you aren’t perched on top
of it either, it just feels right.
The Sultan and I
did two rides together the first a sedate get to
know you on the very un-technical upper reaches
of the Braamfontein spruit and Albert’s Farm
area, a gentle introduction and in all it was a
pleasant ride.
The second ride
was a mind blowing rip around Groenkloof nature
reserve south of Pretoria. This is one of my
favourite local trails and the Sultan loved it
just as much as I do. The Sultan came to life on
the technical trails on the hills of the nature
reserve, and a love, hate relationship was
developed with the tyres, they both make the
ride and make it hard work. The Sultan is a drag
on jeep track climbs a combination of the
aggressive tyres and big wheels make it task to
get the bike going but once rolling the momentum
is easily maintained. The Sultan completely
changes its character on technical singletrack,
it loves single track whether it goes up or down
and the more technical the better. You just need
to point and shoot and the Sultan makes its own
lines. The big wheels and tyres make a meal of
the rocky climbs and descents floating over any
obstacles both up and down. Despite the look of
this bike you can whip around the single track
as if it were a BMX.
I am not about to
open the debate on VPP vs. DW Link but I know
which one I like. The suspension on the Sultan
is amazing I never used the pro pedal, it was
completely unnecessary this bike pedals
unbelievably wellboth in and out of the saddle.
Where the DW Link is really impressive is
ontechnical climbs it is fully active and
maintains traction while pedalling like a dream
rushing up short technical climbs despite its
sluggishness on smoother terrain.
The Sultan has a
surprisingly low BB height which is great at
speed keeping the bike stable and hugging the
trail on the downhill but a curse trying to
traverse rocks where the pedals got clipped and
the big chain ring sheared a few teeth over
rocks, if you are going to be riding very
technical trails then a double and bash is
highly recommended.
The Sultan is an
amazing trail bike with a huge grin factor and
it loves whatever you throw at it, it’s the kind
of bike that makes you start rechecking your
budget to see how you could afford one.
The build on the
test bike is pretty aggressive and perfectly
suited to the way I love to ride but build up
some lighter wheelswith a set of marathon tyres
and this bike will make for a double wow Sani2C,
great for the dirt roads but even better on the
single track.
Turner Sultan 29er
specs
Turner Sultan Reviews
Turner Sultan 29er review
Dual suspension 29er Review - Turner Sultan
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