Dave Turner's Sultan is two years old, and Turner's first 29er has been a sellout success story since its inception. Dave celebrated the Sultan's second birthday by revising the entire chassis around the dw-link suspension system. Rear-wheel travel is up to 120 millimeters, which is lot of cushion for a big-wheel bike, and the frame geometry is tuned to respond kindly in highly technical all-mountain situations without giving up the Sultan's storied cross-country performance.
Turner's 2009 Sultan is remarkably simple in profile. The front triangle is sloped and reinforced to afford necessary-for-29er stand-over clearance. RC photo
We'll tell you up front that the new Sultan is a must-ride for anyone who is in the market for an aggressive cross-country trailbike--and its performance and rideability reaches beyond the taboos that exist between 26 and 29-inch wheel clans. Ride the Sultan before you buy a new bike or prepare for disappointment should you choose a lesser make and taste its performance later.
 Dw-link suspension is the major update for the new Sultan, but the entire chassis has undergone a major redesign. RC photo
Turner's version of the most talked about suspension of the moment is executed with the beautifully sculpted CNC-machined linkages and suspension junctions that the marquis is famous for. Turner is fond of bushings instead of the sealed ball bearings, du jour on every other suspension bike. The claim is that bushings are much lighter weight; leave more room for frame material, so the junctions can be made stronger and more compact; bushings can be set to tighter tolerances; and when properly lubricated (there are screw-in grease fittings at each pivot location), can translate higher loads without lateral play or flex. There must be truth to Turner's bushing tale because his customers are among the roughest of the cross-country/all-mountain set--and none of the one's we've met are whiners.
 The lower linkage of the Turner Sultan pivots off-center to make room for the front derailleur and to give the widest possible stance for the swingarm bushings. RC photos  Turner's mastery of aluminum leaves little to lust for in any alternative material. The sultan's tubing diameters are larger enough to provide massive amounts of strength, yet not overdone to the degree that the Sultan is heavy nor a cumbersome manipulated big-tube billboard of engineering 101. In short; when you buy a Turner, you invest into an unbroken line of dual-suspension development that reaches beyond the days when most who are reading this were wearing diapers--or maybe their first chamois. If Dave Turner does it--it's because he knows that it works great on dirt.
SULTAN'S PARTS We got the chance to ride the Sultan in conjunction with a 24-hour race, so Turner set up the bike with a correspondingly lightweight parts pick without venturing too far from the bike's do-it-all purpose. The disc brakes, wheels and drivetrain were Shimano's sleeper Deore XT ensemble. Tires were fast-rolling Kenda Small Block Eights, and the cockpit was outfitted with a comfy WTB Rocket V saddle, an Easton aluminum seatpost, and a Race Face stem and low-rise handlebar. Suspension is all Fox, with a large-volume Float RP23 shock and a F32-29 RLC 120 fork. All told, with an extra-large-size frame, our test Sultan weighed 28.5 pounds.  Fox's F32-29 RLC fork is a welcome addition to the 29er ranks. It rides smoothly without taking away from the 29-inch wheel's superior pedaling efficiency on a cross-country course. RC photo
RACE-TESTING THE '09 TURNER SULTAN We entrusted test rider Eddie "Big Ring" Rea with the Sultan (hence the XL frame size) for the lion's share of the miles we put on the bike. The first ride was at the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, where Edie put in the fastest daytime and night lap for our team. The remainder of the evaluation took place on local Southern California trails in both wet and dry conditions. The bottom line was that Turner has put together a 29er that pegs the meter. After thoroughly enjoying it at the Old Pueblo race, the Turner simply got more enjoyable and fleeter feeling with each progressive ride.
Here's Eddie's take on the Turner Sultan:
"The course at the Old Pueblo is mostly meandering singletrack with lots of hidden and unhidden surprises (AKA cactus and rocks). The bike maintains a great balance between stability and agility; To put it into context: Stability (riding tired and overcooking a downhill around a corner and finding large embedded rocks on the outside line, the bike sucked it up without any difficulty), had I been on my old 26-inch XC suspension bike I may have had a trip over the bars in one particular instance, whereas the Sultan saved my butt, and I rolled on down the trail. Agility: The bike responded beautifully to quick swerves to miss Cholla bushes and cactus fragments littered on the trail. I was running tubes with sealant and had no issues.
"Jumping onto a brand new bike for a race isn't the wisest thing to do, but I had no problems and felt right at home on the Sultan; there must be a tall guy who works at Turner, because they got the ergonomics spot on...down to the stem length and bars. The only thing I moved was the brake rotation to suit my preference. I relied on Turner's recommendation for sag, and after one lap, I found no desire to deviate, the bike climbed responsively (surged forward is my best analogy) and was Cadillac smooth over all the rocks and stutter bumps."
 Extra air volume in the Fox RP23 shock, as well as custom valving in the damper are requirements of the dw-link suspension system. All who rode the Sultan raved bout its smooth feel over the bumps. RC photo.
BOTTOM LINE Anyone searching for a dual-suspension 29er should put the Sultan on the top of their list. That said, if you are looking for "the one bike" that can handle boulders, drops and epic rides (29er or not), We advise you to test-ride a Sultan. After the Old Pueblo, every ride that followed exceeded the previous one. Turner has unlocked the magic combination of wheel size, suspension travel and pedaling firmness. The dw-link suspension factors highly into the Sultan's cross-country performance, but what wowed us was the entire package--pedaling firmness, suspension, cornering, frame stiffness--the balance that makes the Sultan a Turner. Click here to discover more about it.
 Dave Turner's signature CNC-machined dropouts are constantly evolving works of art. The left-side incorporates post-mount brake calipers. RC photo
If you are interested in this bike check out the Niner Jet 9
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