Submitted by
- - -
a Cross Country Rider
from Nowhereland
Date Reviewed: February 27, 2002
Strengths: My '97 Stinger is a work of art. Rigidity, geometry, build quality and light weight are beyond reproach. The peniultimate FS-XC design. Dave Turner will still support secondhand frames with the customer service that everyone has come to love about buying a bike from Turner.
Weaknesses: Sometimes wish that it had more than the 2.5" of actual travel. Not a great bike for really technical situations because of this. No disc mounts.
Bottom Line:
I don't know what possessed the previous owner to sell this rig, but now that I have one it's not going anywhere! The Stinger rocks. It eats up miles like no other bike I've ridden.
The XCE is a better all-rounder on account of having more travel, but that's not what this bike is for. It's for fast XC. Period. The suspension is both efficient and suprisingly active for 2.5" of travel (there is supposedly three inches, but I've only measured 2.54"). Depsite the light weight, this bike holds a line very well on downhills and is (there's that word again!) very neutral-handling. While most MacPhearson strut-type designs are flexy, this one is very rigid with no sway at all.
Better yet, Dave will support used frames. I ordered new nylon washers from him last year, for free plus shipping (!). It's service like this that makes buying a Turner worth the extra coin.
Similar Products Used: Many, but none compare to my XCE and Stinger (yep, I'm lucky enough to own two Turners! :^)
Bike Setup: Sub-23 pound race rig. All-XTR, Chris King/517 wheels, Speedplays, Dean Ti flat bar, Thompson post, etc.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Tim Nielsen
a racer
from Arlington, VA
Date Reviewed: December 22, 1998
Bottom Line:
Unlike most product reviewers posting to this website, I wanted to have a good number of miles (1000+) on my Turner Stinger before I posted my thoughts for all entire world to see. I've ridden in summer, fall, and now winter in conditions ranging from arid to muddy to totally rocky, and I believe I have a really good understanding of what this bike is about.Some Background (on me): I ride alot. I ride expert class. I have only one bike. By choice. I don't want five bikes that I like - I want one bike that I love. When I came to the realization this spring that my dual suspension Yeti ARC-AS had come to the end of its useful existence, I began researching a replacement. I had ridden Yetis for seven years, but the new Yeti (now owned by Schwinn/GT) certainly isn't what it used to be. Yeti's new offering for XC dual suspension is the ARC AS-3; a heavy, poorly designed and executed excuse for a wanna-be cross country dual suspension. I needed to look elsewhere.What I was looking for: Expert level XC racing (especially in the Mid-atlantic) suggests a certain geometry -- short chainstays and an active suspension that doesn't marshmallow on hammering seated climbs, a longish top tube for a roomy rider compartment on breakneck downhill sections, and a tall BB clearance (12+) to cross logs. Also absolutely necessary is a linkage system that doesn't feel loosey goosey in twisting single track. I wanted about 3 of rear travel to match a good XC fork. I wanted something that I could build up at less than 23 lbs. The Stinger seems designed with all these items in mind.The Review (finally): Straight out of the box, I was extremely impressed with the Turner Stinger's attention to detail. The welds are flawless. The cable guides are nicely tucked under the top tube. The cable guides themselves are not slotted, rather using ferrules (a la motorcycles) as cable stops if you wish to run exposed cables. For those running hydraulics, the lines fit right through the guides. If riding in very muddy conditions, you can run cable housing from the shifter all the way to the derailleur. There is a bolt-on brace that stiffens the rear brakes. The Fox Vanilla R shock even came with its own Fox HP shock pump ($60 at most shops). The BB linkage is a very beefy piece of machined billet as is the BB shell itself. There is a hassle-free grease injection port to lube this pivot area. The rear pivots are a very serviceable and user friendly design. Annodized aluminium pivots rotate in a kevlar sleeve and stay sealed by nylon washers. These pivots should be cleaned regularly if riding in wet or muddy conditions (I do it 2x a month). This takes 5 min tops. I built the frame up with a White Bros XC-70 UL. I feel like the Englund Air Cartridge equipped UL is a nice match for the Fox Vanilla R (adjustable rebound) in ride quality and travel. With CrossMax wheels and XTR, this bike is about 23lbs (no Ti parts, I swear!) This bike is fast. I'm well over 30 mph on very rocky downhills and sprinting up steep uphills like never before. The shock is attached at the seat tube (not the top tube) and creates a small (and stiff) rear triangle that has ZERO side to side play. I attribute this to the pivot design which is simple and clever. Unfortunately, quite a few other brands use cartridge bearings in the rear pivots -- cartridge bearings wear heavily under the torsional loads in a rear triangle leading to slop. The box aluminium stays also minimize any rear triangle flex. The rear Fox suspension has a very progressive feel, and never feels like it bottoms out even on the biggest hits. The 12.5 BB has plenty of log clearance. The Stinger comes in a polished finish which is great when you consider that all you need to do to get a scratch out is to break out the steel wool. Also, if you check out the frame specs on the Turner website (WWW.Turnerbikes.com), the Stinger decal has been left off the production run (thank God), so the frame has a very industrial look.Final Thoughts: Dave (Turner) has also licensed this design out to K2 (Proflex). The K2, however, does not feature a pivot point at the seatstay/chainstay juncture making the frame MUCH LESS ACTIVE. Also, the K2 features a coil-over Noleen rear shock that is much heavier than the Fox, and I don't think K2 offers a frameset only option. The best part about buying a Turner is Dave. You can call anytime, and most likely he'll pick up the phone. He just sent me some new nylon washers for the pivots. Feel free to Email me if you have any additional questions, or if you live in the DC/ Baltimore area and want to ride (rain, sleet, snow, or night!)
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