Turner Sultan Performance Review
Posted by FatBob on March 14, 2009
  Jamin Otte beating on the Turner Sultan
CLIMBING:Â Does the Turner climb like a scalded monkey, or a mountain goat on crack? I cant be absolutely sure, without actually seeing the latter. My guess by the visual I get in my head, I hope not. The Turner is a solid climber. When you ride the Turner on paved surfaces the shock doesn’t move much unless you stand and really put on the gas.
When I first rode it on the trail I thought it was bouncing around a lot. I can confidently say that this is not the case. Yes, Â there is some movement when you pedal. When you pedal over wash board or rain ruts, roots or trail chatter at first it is easy to confuse the plush, sensitive suspension with”bob”. There are more efficient pedaling bikes, but I can also say without a doubt that none of them are as plush as the Sultan.
The Dw-Link website that Dave Weagle has set up http://www.dw-link.com/ says that the DW-Link is chain ring sensitive. When it comes to seated pedaling this is true of the Turner Sultan. If you are the type that stands and mashes on the pedals, you may be disappointed. Again this goes back to the supple suspension. It seems easy to bypass the built in platform that the linkages provide. This bike rewards smooth pedaling and seated climbing.
The Sultan holds its line well on steep climbs. I didn’t notice it wondering  while climbing. It took a small amount of body english and a very slight weight shift forward in the saddle to keep the front end pointed where you wanted it. It does take a bit of muscle to get this bike over large trail obstacles. You have to get past all the gushy travel to get the bike off the ground.Â
I never noticed the above statement being a problem. There are lighter tester’s that just noticed it was hard to lift the bike over obstacles compared to the 4 inch travel lighter bikes they have gotten accustomed to. So if you are a 145-155 pound rider, consider yourself advised. For all other manly man sized riders just ignore the past statement, you can handle it.
The Turner spanking the Rocks at San-Lee park, oh yeah there is someone riding it. Jamin Otte
The Turner Sultan is a plush climber. Any obstacle smaller than a couple of inches tall are just mowed over. Small hits are barely a blip on the radar. Forget technique on root garden, just pedal hard and let the Turner do the rest. I find it to be very comfortable and easy to climb. Yes, the suspension moves a little when you are pedaling. If it didn’t, it would not be nearly as supple. Supple suspension equals comfort.Â
The only real deterrent to the Sultans climbing ability is it’s weight. It is a little heavy. A Lot of this has to do with how you build it. There is no escaping the fact that you are starting with a 7 pound 4 ounce frame (3.28kg). Â We are talking about climbing , so weight is a factor. Every where else the weight is not a problem.
The Turner is very stiff laterally. There is no noticeable flex. Period, end of topic. If you feel flex, check your wheels/tires because its not the frame. For the record, Â I am not saying it is the stiffest frame on the market, but it’s definitely one of them. Â
To summarize, the Turner Sultan is an excellent climber for a trail bike. Turner never claims that the Sultan is a race bike.  It is a trail bike. It has to do everything well. I would be feeding you marketing  blabber if I said the Turner was  a perfect climber. It does sacrifice a little compared to a 3 1/2 inch race bike in the climbing department. The little sacrifice in climbing ability  you make,  is a small price to pay in the overall performance of this bike. I personally have no problem taking the Sultan out on the very pedal intensive trails we have here in the Carolina’s. If you are in an area where you climb for a couple of miles, then get bomber downhills, I cannot think of a better bike to have.
Comments
4 Responses to “Turner Sultan Performance Review”Leave a comment, and if you'd like your own picture to show up next to your comments, go get a gravatar!
comparison to RIP9, please, how does the Sultan compare to the Niner RIP9 (2009 of course).
Actually I still don’t understand why there is no direct comparison of the 2009 RIP9 and Sultan, while I can see a RIP9 vs pivot 429 ??? anyway,
can you pleas give some input on the difference if any between the RIP9 and Sultan(plushness, pedaling on flat and uohil granny gear).
thanks.
The Sultan is super plush. It’s a little too plush for me. The RIP9 is a really nice balance. It pedals firmly at the top of it’s travel but always has just enough when the going gets ruff.
The RIP9 is more agile and definitely easier to wheelie , and bunny hop.
Both designs are no problem pedaling in any gear. It is a tie.
The Sultan is a beautiful bike but it’s suspension is too linear(this is why “the too plush” statement). I would try to jump or bunny hop and would feel like I had a flat tire. Some testers bottomed out the suspension bunny hopping. I am talking 150 pound riders with very good tech. skills.
The Sultan fit me like a glove, but I still prefer the RIP9. The suspension is very versatile and in my opinion is dialed. I hate saying this as I really love Turner Bikes.
The Niner is also stiffer laterally. That does not mean that I think the Turner is not stiff, just not as. I noticed the Turner had flex in the bottom bracket area(probably the lower links)
If buying the RIP9 I recommend the 1.5- 1 1/8 taper with a 15mm qr axle. If you do go this route splurge on the Fox F-29 RLC as the RL valving seems to be a little sluggish. Or get a 120mm Reba team with a tapered steer tube and a 20mm axle.
Another nice thing Niner does is gives you the option of a 12mm Maxle rear drop out. I wish the Sultan gave this option for us bigger fellows. I talked to Turner Bikes about my finding’s and the customer service gentlemen disagreed with my assessment.
If this comment seems like I did not like the Sultan, I would like to clear this up. I really liked the Sultan. I was the only tester that really liked it. The other testers were not really into it, even though initially they were excited to try it. At the end of the day I sold it because I could not enjoy the Linear feel of the suspension. It got down right annoying. If Turner tunes the bottom of the travel, stiffens the lower link, and preferably uses a 1.5- 1 1/8 head tube this bike would be killer and would become every bit as good as the Niner. The option of a 12mm rear axle would be a huge bonus also.
For the record I have no financial obligation to either company. For the spelling police, I am sorry I am working on spelling and punctuation. Please don’t assume I am ignorant and don’t know anything about bikes.
I hope this helps.
From a trail riding 26ers perspective search for the perfect 9er to replace my Moto-Lite. I’ve ridden both the Rip and the Sultan and prefer the plusher ride of the Sultan. But I ride a Horst linked bike so I’m used to a plusher ride. As for blowing through the suspension I added 5-10psi from the recomended 30% sag and it was no longer and issue even off 3 foot drops to flat. Lofting the front wheel does take more effort but it does on every niner I’ve ridden compared to a 26er. Climbing; the Sultan maintains traction better on rough terrain aside form that there pretty even climbing wise. Stiffness is not a problem on either bike a DT Swiss through bolt on the Sultan would result in a stiffer rear on either without the hasle of the Maxel. The Sultan is the ONLY 29er I’ve ridden that would make me switch!
Thanks for your input. I love the plush ride of the Sultan also. I am not the only tester so I also have to include the input from other riders. I tried all different shock set ups and never could cure the blowing through travel short of changing the rear shock. Bottoming out on drops was only part of the problem. The real part was loading the shock for jumps and pumping rollers. This is where I had my problems.
I get what your saying about “lofting the front wheel”. Compared to 26ers the 29ers require a different technique and more effort. One thing all the readers must remember is we are comparing 29ers to 29ers. That is all we test. When we say a 29er is “harder” to do a particular skill we mean compared to other 29ers.
It’s cool to see people reading and offering their perspectives. I am thinking of getting another Niner RIP9 and trying it with different shocks. My preference is also a plush bike. The RIP9 scored so well because out of the box with no mods it performed really well for almost everyone that rode it plus the price is great(comparatively). Yeah I would tune it a bit for my riding style but I didnt have to in order to love the ride.