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Turner Burner 650B

5/5 (1 Reviews)

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MSRP : $2195.00


Product Description

This marks the triumphant return of the legendary Turner Burner, with 140mm of travel and 27.5 wheels it has the potential to not only slay your favorite trails but the competition as well. Redesigned from the ground up to follow in the foot steps of the original Turner mountain bike this bike is for the rider who loves the feel and ride of the bigger wheel size without any of the repercussions regarding to handling or small frame sizes. The Turner Burner is a faster, smoother, trail inspired machine ready to take your riding to the next level.


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Reviews 1 - 1 (1 Reviews Total)

User Reviews

Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:4
Submitted by David a All Mountain Rider

Date Reviewed: March 18, 2013

Strengths:    Handles a very wide variety of terrain, corners and climbs brilliantly. Just causes you to have a bit fat grin on your face, even when riding familiar trails.

Weaknesses:    None so far, though greater tire selection for 650b would be nice. May result in missed work / family commitments as you head out to explore another trail.

Bottom Line:   
This is a review of an large orange production Burner. I was the happy owner of a TNT Flux for the last five years, but thinking about a beefier trail bike, so demoed the Ibis Mojo. Then late last year the Flux frame broke, separating just above the rear suspension weld. Spoke to Dave and Greg at Turner, and with the trade in discount had to decide whether to replace the bike with a DW Flux, or go for longer travel. Ultimately chose the Burner, with the original plan of receiving one of the pre production models. But that wasn't available in orange, so waited patiently till February for the production version. Got the Kashima upgrade for the rear shock and the build kit with Stans wheels, then built it up using the brakes and derailleurs from the Flux. Cabling is very well thought out (though the guides close to the headset are a fiddle and are easiest if you cut down a 3mm allen wrench to install). Don't love the choice of Nevegals that come with the kit - you have the Catch 22 of installing with tubes (defeats the point of the wheels) or installing tubeless with sealant and voiding the Kenda warranty (I chose the latter and have crossed my fingers).

Have only had a chance to ride the bike in the Bay Area, so consider this a preliminary review. Haven't played around much with the suspension setup. I like the CTD on the front, though the rear deliberately won't lock out like Pro Pedal (it's designed by Turner to keep the DW suspension active), so I now just leave that on Trail most of the time. As expected, the bike climbs technical terrain effortlessly with the DW suspension. The stiffness of the overall setup (frame, fork, thru axles) means that it descends everything with confidence. I expected all that - what I didn't expect was its ability to climb and descend tight switchbacks better than the Flux (thought the longer travel and wheelbase would make it less nimble round very tight corners - not so). On the trail the biggest revelation is the cornering - it tracks so well and feels so planted that you quickly realize your skills are the limiting factor. Hard to say whether it's 650b wheels, the Fox 34 fork or the frame design or suspension - but the bottom line is, who cares, Turner have simply put together a package that works.

OK, the Burner may struggle against a full on downhill bike in the really rough stuff, and you won't win any XC races, but my lack of aerobic fitness and cojones keeps me from either of those extremes, so I don't care. Instead it's a bike that just works incredibly well for everything in between, and most of all makes you want to go out and explore more trails. In the end the Flux failure gave me a chance to get the best mountain bike I've ever owned.

PS For all you Mojo lovers, I really enjoyed the demo, and can see why they are rated so highly. But make sure you check out the Burner as well.

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Favorite Trail:   Tahoe Rim Trail

Duration Product Used:   Three weeks

Purchased At:   Turner

Bike Setup:   Orange anodized large frame, Fox Float 34 CTD, Stans Arch wheels, XT derailleurs front and rear, Avid Ultimate brakes (180/160), KS Lev dropper post, FSA BB and carbon cranks, Kona Wah Wah pedals.
Reviews 1 - 1 (1 Reviews Total)

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