Now THAT was a Bike: John Kirkcaldie's 2006 Turner DHR
"Is David Turner still making bikes?" That was one of the first things John Kirkcaldie asked me when we chatted earlier this year in Rotorua, New Zealand. Yep, Turner is still around, but it's been a long time since the glory days of the American NORBA series, when the Turner DHR was, for some, a highly sought after bike.
World Cups were certainly big events for DH racing in the mid-2000s, but for many, the NORBA series in the US offered equally competitive racing with the likes of Kirkcaldie, Sam Hill, Greg Minnaar, Mick Hannah, and others consistently in the start gate. Tracks were also world-class, with rugged East Coast venues including Snowshoe, WV, Sugar Mountain, NC, and Mount Snow, VT coupled with a few West Coast attractions bringing ample opportunities for diverse terrain without the need for frequent international air travel. With today's worldwide stage of competition, it's nice to look back and reflect on the simpler times that built the foundation for racing now.
After retiring from racing in 2006, Kirkcaldie went on to pursue a carpentry apprenticeship. Full-time carpentry wasn't his calling, though, and he took the skills learned there and transferred them into his next and current venture, purchasing and running a window and door factory that builds custom windows and doors for high-end homes. With two young children and a business, Kirkcaldie and his wife have plenty going on. Pedalling bikes hasn't been as high on the list of priorities, but the goal of a weekly mountain bike ride made as part of a new years' resolution, along with some motocross riding and a race here or there, whenever he's had spare time, have helped Kirkcaldie stay fit. He says he still hasn't lost the fire for racing.
For bike set up, Kirkcaldie wasn't all that much of a tinkerer, never one for deciphering nuances in suspension and geometry. He would find a setup that worked for him and leave it; he's a creature of habit. He says that Colin Bailey, his teammate at the time, was far better at giving feedback for bike development. "I was just too busy trying to win practice,'' Kirkcaldie said. ''I got a kick out of rolling down a track for one run then going full-on and hitting everything on the second lap." Practice antics aside, Kirkcaldie did still play a role in the development of Turner's DHR.
Turner DHR Details
• Intended use: DH Racing
• Wheel size: 26"
• Maxxis Minions
• Fork/Travel: Fox 40/8"
• Shock/Travel: Fox DH/8.5"
• Brakes: Hayes
• Drivetrain: Shimano
• 65° head angle
• Weight: Approx. 39 lb
• Intended use: DH Racing
• Wheel size: 26"
• Maxxis Minions
• Fork/Travel: Fox 40/8"
• Shock/Travel: Fox DH/8.5"
• Brakes: Hayes
• Drivetrain: Shimano
• 65° head angle
• Weight: Approx. 39 lb
Coming from Intense and previously Foes before riding the Turner, Kirkcaldie says it was challenging to convince Turner to slacken out the head angle of the DH bike. Both bikes he was previously on had, for that time, relatively slack head angles. The Turner, after all the convincing, ended up in the same ballpark. These days, a head angle of 65 to 66-degrees is more commonly found on trail bikes, but back then it was more than acceptable for racing DH.
Kirkcaldie's DHR had 8.5" of travel and weighed about 39 lbs... It was one of the lighter bikes at that time. His mechanics Chris "Monk Dawg" Vasquez and Ed Chavez were always looking for ways to lighten up the bike. There were titanium bolts wherever possible and holes were drilled in any part deemed non-structural.
The Fox DHX 5.0 shock with a remote reservoir took care of rear suspension duties.
Shimano XT drivetrain
Now-classic Hayes brakes handled the stopping.
Another classic, this time a headset from Chris King.
The Sun Ringle rims were soft, and while they weren't all that durable, the flexible design helped to prevent flat tires.
Easton bars and stem. Cockpits look a little different today, don't they?
Crankbrothers pedals.
A MRP chain guide was essential.
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Actually I think it looks pretty damn good right now !
Its actually lighter than my current DH, need to look into that, although I think I will stick with the 62.5 HA
As someone who used to ride Hayes brakes, I'd correct it to say "Now-classic Hayes brakes handled the coaxing of the bike to a slightly lower speed provided you had strong hands and a bit of luck on your side."
The one's in the pic would put you on your face.
I'll never forget...
Greg Wulff called us and said "I can't ship your frames out guys."
Us..."WHY!!!"
Greg - "Cause they're too beautiful"
...or something along those lines.
You tell me whose bike you'd have taken that year...John's...or ours:
img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/bizutch/2005PICS041.jpg
ridemonkey.bikemag.com/threads/2005-sei-turner-dhr-first-photos.111398
Indeed - your "Storm-trooper Edition" DHR complete with 888 was pretty dope. = )
:p
And thanks for the compliment. If there were a single bike I would love to have hanging on my garage, it was that 2005. Just...wow.
Miss my baby: img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/bizutch/IMAG0175.jpg
Best I can do.
I personally still think they look amazing. Super lite-weight too. It's currently just a garage queen and is up for sale.
Check it out and let me know what you think?
www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2535222
Your Turner looks awesome
He told us back then that they were super expensive and a pain to get more of.
I loved that kit...padded and thick and your frame was untouched underneath. Would love if companies supplied that type of stuff to this day.
Our team had the original Stormtrooper white bikes, then all black. Each year after, our team color combo wound up being stock color.
I've had every Turner DHR every year from 2002, skipping 2006-7.through the current one.
www.slikgraphics.com
It’s a shame cause Dave turner is one of the best dudes we have In the industry .
And John is a legend and a awesome guy !!!!
Everyone who had a frame on hold ditched Turner and bought what they could get and didn't wait around for the frames to be re-worked. It's an utter shame because my dw-Link DHR is phenomenal and just a work of art. He was on a monster roll of success and if SAPA hadn't ruined that first run of bikes and his reputation and revenue, his company would still be on top.
He's the best guy to ever do business with and had all the best employees the industry could find. With unlimited funds, I'd buy that company and rejuvenate them. In my mind, Transition sort of picked up where he had to leave off.
It's the hospitals and the doctors who are the sole reason for insane healthcare costs. They try to blame it on medical school, but most of the kids that go to med school have the resources to go without a job for 8 years and when they come out they want every dollar back and then some. Ever met a doctor who lives in an apartment....or a hospital that wasn't made bigger and better?
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2674671
That's nonsense. Hell, half of the hospital expansions are driven by insurance to qualify for different crap to bill for.
Try making it through years of undergraduate studies, medical school and residency and then you can say that you are over paid. And on top of the financial investment there is the time and effort put forth in obtaining such an advanced degree. I'm pretty sure if it was a get rich quick scheme we wouldn't have the physician and nursing shortage that we do in this country.
I was happy to have the option to pay my ortho to put me back together.
Now back to reading about sweet bikes....
Hospital is billing 300 for a 1 hour counseling session that the RD is paid $25 for by the hospital and the endocrinologist is getting$220 for a 30 minute eval & never once asks the client anything resembling that would fall under the word "care" .
Privately owned OB/Gyn slaps a $45 "Brief mental Eval" on the R.D.'s annual check up bill. Did not perform the service, let alone had the qualifications/training certificate to do so. So she charged a Registered Dietitian almost TWICE her hourly wage for a lie.
@tomago if that $196k was such a hurdle to pay off, you'd have a point. No one would sign up for that debt if they weren't planning on cashing in on the backside.
@Mr-Horse my orthopaedic is a dude with tools and a tinkerer. He talks people into surgery all day every day that he knows won't take or help. He operates on people for fun and to cash checks. He loves to track on the "bells and whistles". I know several of his staff members personally, unfortunately after the fact.
Doctors can be great... but almost to a man, they are out of touch with reality & have no concept of the words affordable and the word care. I've met doctors who are convicted to provide both ; they leave the mainstream medical world to do real work and care for patients. But just like every other human, most doctors are in it to win it. And there is NO system in place to stop them.
As for insurance salesmen, if you know high middle income ones, good for you. I know of 1.
So an independently owned local Pediatrician just billed us $443 PER KID for their ANNUAL WELLNESS EXAM. Please explain how that is possible if doctors aren't completely out of touch with their base.
So for less than 30 minutes in an exam room with a peak in the ear, a look on the old eye chart, weight, height, peak in the eye & throat...both girls in 1 exam room together....$886. Health insurance knocked it down to $143 per kid.
If you go to a direct primary care physician (cash only dr) an x ray can cost as little as 45 dollars.
Too many people have to go through restrictive processes to not only provide the medical care but to then do the record keeping, the medical coding, the billing. all of that time is built into those costs. That's the 443 dollars per kid. Thank HIPPA, prospective payment, and o-care for that.
Not once has any doctor ever looked at us and said "I'm going to bill this little check up as $443. Now if you pay cash today, we can take $160 for it." Nah, they are gonna see if they can get an extra pint same as anyone else.
Doctors are far from blameless on that end too. It's all hands in on that medical cookie jar.
All anyone needs to know about health and money can be learned from a certain Forrest Whitaker/Jude Law flick. It's all a hunt
I have a DW-DHR frame at home, it was a great bike but it's tiny by modern standards (in a size large).
I have then been with the same in round tube ( looks at my buyandsell).
Sven , Anka and Andrew was riding one .
this one still blow my eyes encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcRua2QV0angARFlvxuOpaKHgu25zsury2Ck4s-9rvyOpJBfOQ4a
The split top tube looked like it would neuter you though.
Im a fan of the DHR as well and always wondered "what if" Sam Hill rode the DW link DHR.
.
Looks good to me and the pbj th bike and the fs DJ bike. And the turner is awesome
Still my Bikepark Machine, square Tube best Tube ^^
Seriously, though, it looks modern in the picture of just the bike. Then you find out it is tiny!
www.turnerbikes.com/turner-pdf/catalog/2006_turnerbikes_catalog.pdf
They were the gen 2 mags, not quite the same brake as the original purple mags, slimmer lever body and a split clamp. For some reason that black lever blade was a big deal and took forever for them to start putting on production brakes, but thank god they did and people quit ordering Danger Boy replacements. The 9 carbons came out around the same time, but I never really understood where they were supposed to fit into the line-up, they were still heavier than the regular Mag and Mag HDs and also more expensive, don't think I ever actually saw them outside of Interbike.