I put up my favorite 2002 Turner RFX Trail 26+ setup against a new Carbon Rig in 2018. The new bike was then a Ican P8 Carbon (later updated to an Ican P8). The bike that lost would have to hit the auction block. Both bikes were built with a similar cockpit, the main comparison was the dialed 140/140mm travel 26+ bike compared to a 120mm travel 29er.
(Original article was from April 2018)
The full details of each build can be found in the Budget Bike Builds section, the main differences, the headtube to headtube comparisons and winner are below.
The 2002 Turner RFX has to be my favorite bike of all time. Its straight aluminum tubing handmade in the US was super stiff, and journal bearings extra supportive. It had tire clearance for the tubeless 26 x 2.8″ WTB Ranger Light and Fast, and the same Horst link I always ride and love. I built up a pair of Stans Flow rims with double butted spokes to Koozer 72 P.O.E. Hubs. I set the Manitou ISX 6 way shock 3mm shorter with an offset bushing, and shortened the travel with a rocker off of a 5 spot (Turner) giving it 140mm of rear travel. With a 140mm through-axle Rock Shox Revelation, the front travel was smooth yet supportive. In the end, the bottom bracket height was 340mm, the head angle was 67.5 degrees, the seat angle was 73degrees, the reach was 440mm and the chain stay was 430mm.
The Turner rode like a magic carpet compared to any other bike I had owned in the past, 29ers included. This was mostly due to the supple 120 tpi casing WTB Light tires at 700 grams with tremendous volume with very little center tread to hinder it. It held traction so well, it won over everyone who rode it. It took me a long time to even consider building a 29er trail bike.
When I wanted to review tires, the 26″ plus market in 2018 was growing thin. Was there a link between 26 x 2.8″, 27.5 x 2.5″, and 29 x 2.35″??? Mathematically the volume of all three were similar, could they feel the same? Curiosity got me eventually and a $600 new carbon frame was delivered (check out the history here and last iteration P1 build here). I first built an Arch/Flow wheelset with 2.35″ Maxxis Forekasters and a 120mm 29+ fork. The P8 frame was listed at 27.5 PLUS so 29er wheels should have given we tons of BB clearance. NOPE the BB was at 300mm, 24mm lower than it should have been. It rode fast and smooth with a rebuilt Fox Evol shock, but I couldn’t keep the roots away from my pedals. Rock gardens became a life or death gamble . . . a sure win for the Turner?
The only remedy I could afford after a full budget bike build was to add more tire, 2.6″ in the back 3″ in the front.
The enormous 29×3″ tires in front helped, but the bike was not as playful as the turner, even though the P8 was lighter. The geometries were similar, however the P8 had 10mm more length, 10mm longer chainstays, and a much lower BB.
I would have sent the P8 to auction, however when contacting Ican about the low BB they offered to send me a P1 chainstay and rocker for $200 shipped to update the geometry. I weighed my options, however at the same time, Turner stopped offering journal bearing rebuild kits, and WTB was eliminating their 26 plus tire lineup.
The Ican gets to be reborn as the P1 and the Turner RFX ends up on the Auction block to become a lucky kids park bike.
If you liked reading about these tow bikes, check out their Build pages here.