Sea Otter 2015 | Turner Sultan 27.5+ and the revamped Burner

Turner presented their latest bike, the Sultan 27.5+, at this year’s Sea Otter Festival. A 125mm trail bike on 27.5+ tyres, the Sultan is essentially a new and improved version of their enduro-specific Burner with some discreet yet decisive evolutions.

As is the current trend, Turner are just one of many companies to launch a 27.5+ version of one of their well-known bikes – and this happens to be the new Sultan 27.5+. Company founder Dave Turner confirms that the advantages of this new tyre width are convincing and they intend to release more models with these tyres.

Unlike other brands, Turner opted to keep the former rear axle width of 142mm rather than the Boost 148 standard. As the original frame design already offered sufficient tyre clearance at the rear, Turner didn’t have to alter the frame at all to house the plus-size tyres. In future, they’ve declared their intentions for all new frame developments to have space for extra wide plus tyres.

While the Burner that was on show didn’t immediately scream ‘new’ and ‘different’ to its renowned predecessor, its entire tube set has been redesigned and now bears 3.1 as a version number. The main frame has seen the greatest developments, as both the top and down tube have been reshaped into an almost trapezoid-like shape and taper from front to back. In addition, the tubes are now more butted than before as a means to reduce weight.

Given the bigger diameter of the tube, Turner were able to eliminate the gusset between the downtube and headtube. As the headtube now has a larger 62mm diameter, the standard 67° head angle can be adjusted by ±1.5° in increments of 0.5°. The frame comes as bought with a 0° headset, but kits for 0.5° head angle alterations will soon be available from Turner’s online shop.

For more information on the bikes, head to turnerbikes.com.

Words: Martin Stöckl | Photos: Robin Schmitt

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