The Turner King Khan is "not a fat bike – it's a mountain bike with fat tyres".
So says Dave Turner of his latest full-suspension machine, the King Khan, which sports 125mm of travel out back, 120mm up front, and has clearance for 5in wide tyres.
While the bike's huge footprint makes the King Khan a natural for winter riding, prior experience suggests that the excellent DW-link rear end and Turner's typically versatile handling will be also well suited to standard mountain bike terrain.
125mm of rear wheel travel comes courtesy of the DW-link suspension design
That is, assuming you're okay lugging around a fair bit of heft. We only took delivery of our tester a few weeks ago and haven't yet had a chance to tear it down to get an actual frame weight, but the complete bike is quite the beast at 15.29kg (33.70lb) without pedals. And that's with a comparatively high-end build that includes a SRAM XX1 drivetrain, Shimano Deore XT brakes, a Thomson fixed seatpost and stem, and upgraded wheels built with Industry Nine hubs and 65mm-wide Surly Marge Lite rims!
Other slick features include versatile external cable routing, a threaded bottom bracket shell for creak-free running, Turner's trademark IGUS suspension pivot bushings with integrated grease ports for easy servicing, and a custom machined bolt for the 177mm-wide thru-axle rear end.
As always with Turner full-suspension frames, each pivot is graced with a grease fitting for easy maintenance
BikeRadar's US office in Boulder, Colorado, has been getting pounded with winter weather over the past couple of weeks, so our King Khan has been getting plenty of use. The bike isn't without its quirks but it's proven to be remarkably fun and capable in the snow despite the weight, and we're looking forward to drier conditions to see how it does on more typical terrain.
Our tester came with a non-standard build kit but the official retail price for the stock setup is US$5,999.
For more information, visit www.turnerbikes.com.
The Turner King Khan is a beast of a fat bike with 120mm of travel at either end and room for 5in tyres