falling off bikes since 1975

I’ve been holding off posting on this particular topic for a while now because I’ve not had two comparable bikes, and seeing as when I got hold of one it was courtesy of Singletrack magazine for the purpose of one of their reviews.

I’ve had 3.25″ travel HL Burner for 5 years now, and it was “a classic” at the time I bought it - she’s ten years old. In February I finally got a new 5 Spot, courtesy of my lovely wife, with the TNT rear. I’ll admit that I was a little dismayed at the move from HL to TNT, but a Turner’s a Turner and other things score a lot higher to me- like longevity :-)

Of course the two bikes were chalk and cheese. The Burner does climb better than the 5 Spot, but the 5 Spot handles descents and rocks and technical trails better. What I did know was that the difference between the HL and the TNT was being swamped by differences in shock behaviour, travel, tyres, and head angles. For the purposes of comparison we can ignore the 4″ travel HL rear on the back of the Turner tandem, except as a testament to the toughness of the design. Think for a moment about the forces going through the drivetrain.

The wife was not being entirely altruistic when she bought me the 5 Spot. Turns out she had a hankering for the Burner and she’s loved riding it this year.

One night in July last I was invited to go over to ride with the boys from Singletrack and test ride a TNT Turner Flux. They aren’t bothered about the HL v TNT question, they just wanted some comparison with the 5 Spot. The plan was that two of us with prior 5 Spot experience would swap between 5 Spot and Flux to compare.

Unfortunately the Flux never made it to the ride, but I was able to bring it home and use it to race 24 hour solo at the the Twentyfour12. So for the weekend I packed up the Flux, the 5 Spot, and the Burner intending to do some back to back comparison.

Two flaws came to light.

1. My head wasn’t in a serious 24 hour solo attempt. I’ve done too many of them now.

2. The Flux was such a blast to ride I never bothered swapping it out for the Burner or the 5 Spot.

What I can say is that I was right about the effect of tyres/shock/travel having more effect than TNT or HL. The 5Spot may be the ‘official’ Burner replacement but in terms of ride and handling the Flux was a closer match. I’m not a numbers kind of guy - I couldn’t tell you the various head angles/top-tube lengths/wheelbases or any of the other things that supposedly matter. I’ll only get a tape measure out if something feels wrong, a cramped cockpit say, and I want to see if I’m imagining it.

In the heat and dust that we had for the first few hours the Flux handled everything. It granny ring climbed as well as the Burner, never losing traction once. It behaved when standing in the middle ring for short sharp climbs. It didn’t get any brake jack that I could feel. Then we had 20 minutes of rain and the course turned into a snotfest. And I was out on semi-slicks. The bike flattered my riding and still got me round.

I’m more than happy with the TNT rear.

Does that mean I’ve changed loyalty? I don’t think that comes into it. Like I said at the top, a Turner’s a Turner, and my loyalty is to the Turner brand, Turner quality, Turner longevity, Turner toughness, and Turner handling. Oh, handling. Well, frankly I’m not so good a rider that I can tell any difference in handling between TNT or HL that isn’t swamped by things like shock setting/tyre choice/tyre pressure/gear selection.

Well, as a result of a great ride on the TNT Flux we picked up a new Flux frame in the Sideways Cycles sale. It just happens to have a HL rear.

If I had to ride the HL and TNT Fluxes in a blind test against one another I really wouldn’t be able to tell you which was which.

Turns out the Flux won the four by four inch shoot out in Singletrack Issue 30.