Nitrous
The big change for the 2023 model year is the switch to 'post mount' rear brake and Universal Derailleur Hanger. Removing the UDH allows you to use the newest SRAM 'Transmission' rear derailleur and cassette. Of course each frame is shipped with a UDH attached so any derailleur can be used.
Why was the Nitrous created? For fast cross country type rides, but with a fully modern geometry. There is no reason that a XC / fast trail bike designed to really be pedaled in anger should have a seat angle from 1992 and the head tube angle from a decade ago. Modern longer lower slacker works better than the old geometry just as well on light fast bikes as heavy enduro class bikes. Why a hard tail?? For many of us, there is a ton of riding that does not require a full suspension bike, and with trail sanitation happening daily, more and more trails are more and more fun on a hardtail! So I decided to make a fast, lively feeling mountain bike with stable, modern geometry that utilizes a beautiful steering, short stem and install a wide bar.
Voila, something far more capable feeling than any gravel bike when the going gets rough, and conversely far more nimble and responsive than a full suspension bike for powering along on the less demanding terrain that so many of us have easy access to.
The first part of designing the Nitrous was to make it inspiring to ride up the hill, almost urging you to new speed. With the low weight and balanced geometry, you will look at the steep sections of your favorite trails and know you can go further and faster than ever before. To create that snappy feel I pulled the chainstays in nice and short. As always there is a balance to frame geometry aspects and the first couple protos were even shorter, but I really felt the bike should be more stable. So the chainstay was stretched just a bit for some more stability on ungroomed trails. To maintain the awesome traction on the rear wheel, the seat tube angle was slackened a little.
For me, the 'longer’ part of the longer, lower, slacker ditty means that you can now install a crisp steering, super short stem and still be in a focused, powerful position while climbing. This ‘longer’ aspect to frame geometry also puts the front wheel further in front of your center of mass for more descending stability, and this is especially important when pushing the limits outside of the smoother flow trail networks.
Ok, now we need to talk about the ‘slacker’ part of the ditty. To be sure the Nitrous is slacker than most hardtails ever built. But it is by no means the slackest, the race to create the most extreme numbers is over. What is important is that the head angle is properly designed for the type of riding most will do on the Nitrous. Not so slack as to cause wheel flop on the tight technical turns and more importantly, it is not so slack that one cannot weight the front wheel on flatter turns.
The results of all the testing and geometry tweaking was to give the stability we expect out of a modern bike, without losing the liveliness we crave from a high performance hardtail.
So, is the Nitrous a fast XC bike or is it a stable ‘downcounty’ trail bike capable of zooming thru the woods ducking branches and carving up the spaces between the trees, or is it the perfect bike for Leadville type endurance races? I would say yes, it is.
S | M | L | XL | |
rec'd height | 5'1"-5'6'' | 5'6''-5'10'' | 5'10''-6'2'' | 6'2''-6'6'' |
effective TT | 585 | 615 | 640 | 670 |
seat tube | 370 | 400 | 430 | 470 |
seat tube angle real | 75° | 74.5° | 74.5° | 74° |
head tube | 85 | 100 | 125 | 155 |
head-angle | 66° | 66° | 66° | 66° |
bb drop | 62 | 62 | 60 | 60 |
chainstay | 435 | 435 | 440 | 445 |
reach | 420 | 443 | 462 | 478 |
stack | 610 | 623 | 644 | 672 |
wheelbase | 1140 | 1166 | 1200 | 1233 |
standover@mid tube | 760 | 775 | 805 | 835 |
Max post insert | 250 | 210 | 240 | 280 |
{ All specifications are subject to change. Measurements are given in ‘Millimeters’ and ‘Grams’ unless otherwise noted. } |
Frame Specs
Frame Specs
Seat Post Diameter | 30.9mm | |
Headset Dimensions | 44/56 semi integrated ZS | |
BB Shell | T47 Threaded | |
Fork Length | 120-140 | (Geo based on 120 fork) |
POST mount rear brake | 180 max | |
Max Tire Clearance | 29'' x 2.5'' or 27.5'' x 2.8'' | With good clearance |
Max Boost chainring size: | 36t oval 38t round |
Subtle shaping at the lower end of the Down Tube to the spread load over the BB shell and a dramatically flared Seat Tube both increase lateral rigidity for better feel when smashing the pedals. Along with the custom tapered chainstays, these subtle features set the Turner Ti ahead of the pack when it comes to ride tuning.
Bolts are stronger, stiffer, and simpler. Which is exactly why all our bikes come with them, it simply makes sense.
Every aspect of this Turner Ti frame is designed and engineered in the USA. From the gorgeous CNC tapered head tubes to the proprietary dropouts, we have designed every aspect of the frame.
As you probably figured out from the great price and long list of standard features, this frame is imported. We found this factory when we were producing the carbon Flux frames years ago. Soon after we started developing the first Ti Cyclosys with them. Our frames are not the first or the only Ti bicycle frames they build, as they are a factory long known for building world-class titanium mountain and road frames. What drew us to this factory was their ability to taper and create butted titanium tubing, and their massive CNC capabilities allowing us to create exactly what we wanted with out cookie cutter head tubes, bottom brackets and dropouts. Even our chainstay bridge is CNC out of billet to be super thin and not create a mud shelf!
‘T’ stands for threaded! Due to popular demand threads are back, and the new T47 offers bigger bearings & longer service life than older threaded standards. It will easily fit the larger and 30mm aluminum spindle creating a stiffer crank assembly, which is up to 18% lighter than the traditional steel spindle system.
Big change for 2023, really the ONLY BIG change, the switch to 'post mount' rear brake caliper type. MUCH easier to source mountain bike brakes with post mount calipers than almost exclusively OE flat mount combinations. The other BIG benefit is that a lightweight 4 piston trail bike caliper like SRAM G2 or Shimano XT/XTR can easily be sourced and bolted on.
Simply put, we know that you are going to love your new Turner Bike. But given the chance that it just doesn’t seem to fit right, we want to ensure that you will be happy in the long run.
Our customer service rocks and our bikes ride like no other, but in the end, we want it to fit you. If you cannot get comfortable on your new Turner Bike within 5 days of receiving it, give us a call and we will work out a solution, you may only need a different stem, or length of seat post. If that won't work, a different size frame can be swapped out.
I love this bike. Decided to go back to a Hard tail and purchased a Roscoe as a frame only....did not have any compliance. Started researching Ti frames and after reading MB Action, Forums and reviews....here we are. Finally got a ride on it and am blown away. DT is the nicest guy in the business and is there for his customers. I've owned many bikes... This is the one I will keep!!!
I'm a loyal Turner rider since around 2000 and the Nitrous is another arrow in the already exceptional Turner quiver.
I'm a former downhiller/all mountain rider who's made the transition to cross-country. But I still have an itch to bomb down a hill from time to time. Nitrous is an extremely familiar feel if you're already a Turner bike alumnus, if not, consider it of surprisingly capable technical prowess, very light-weight, of adept climbing ability and of having a very nice build quality. I've stretched it's domain to include more and more technical routes and I'm very satisfied with the results.
Thanks for all the great bikes over the years Dave! And thanks for the personal attention you give all your customers. It matters!
See my stable of Turner bikes, newest (my Nitrous) to oldest, a 2004 Turner Flux, below. They're all in great riding condition!
Hard to know where to begin... So I better start with the stand outs, The customer service Dave Turner provided me is truly unique and is all around in a complete league of his own! Dave assisted with tons of insight to build out my amazing XL Nitrous and was always personal and responsive to all my questions. My XL Nitrous complete weighs about 25lbs with a set of carbon wheels to jazz up the light and fast pedal pickup. I am 6',4" 180lbs age 38. I enjoy going fast up and down, racing, short rides, and long rides. I have a full suspension XXL YT Jeffsy and a fast carbon Specialized Tarmac. This bike fits me so well, I am constantly amazed. My friends all have gravel bikes and I was always on the fence about gravel bikes because of the area I live has more loose sandy dirt roads than solid gravel roads, I was always looking for something super versatile that would fit my needs that would be a blast to ride with my lil kiddos. Than it happened, I stumbled on the Turner Bikes Tent at a local gravel race in 2022 in Mammoth Lakes and I knew I was f*&^ed (in a good must do lifes short sort of way) when I started asking questions and picked up the Nitrous frame. Fast forward to Spring 2023 I collected all my pennies and I contacted Dave and put in my order with such excitement to join the ranks of Lt Dan. with Ti!
After completing the build and enjoying countless rides on this thoroughbred, not a single issue or complaint has come up. All Smiles! Its SOLID and capable in varied terrain. It demands more focus and attention than my YT but that is why I love riding it so much. I have ridden it hard and had some bigger sections that would have been better to have my YT but the dang Nitrous handles like a nimble light duty tank. I def find myself having to truly push myself to take out the YT just to keep it in the mix and of course when the rough, chunky trails, bike park days and full on gravity days the YT just makes more sense. This bike owns single track and dirt trails and is so fun to climb on. Tracks like a champ when going fast and is super stable and responsive, I have to remind myself that there is no squish in the rear. Thats where having lots of bikes makes things so interesting and fun.
I just raced my Nitrous at the 2023 Mammoth Tuff Gravel Race 107miles and 7500ft of climbing and I was psyched that I was comfortable in the saddle and in the upright only position for 8 plus hours of endurance racing. During this race, I was relieved to be able to drop the saddle and have such a solid cockpit to manage through the super loose sections and was ripping through the corners with such speed. I even beat a super strong local rider who was on a gravel bike for a sprint finish and was thrilled by the power transmission into this bike as the power just continued exploding through to the finish. This long ride was the final check for me and I will be continuing to ride and race this on all sorts of formats that include dirt, from local summer mtn bike short races to all out endurance races. If only there were some magical drop like bars I could include with minimal changes to the setup... Thank You Dave Turner for all the effort to build rad bikes and stoke people out along the way. I have a new and appropriate understanding of the term customer service thanks to you. Riding a Ti Bike is no longer a far off dream for me.
Just wanted to thank Dave for all the tec questions and personal care. This hands down is my favorite bike that I currently own. Love the way it rips and handles the geometry is great for where I ride.I hope to equip it some day for some bike packing trips in the near future.
Thanks again Dave and everybody at Turner bikes 👍
I’ve been on Turner bikes for a long time. Flux, 5 Spot, Burner, and now the Nitrous. At nearly 60 years old, I seriously thought I was going nuts to consider a hardtail again after all these years on a squishy. Been thinking about getting a Nitrous for quite a while, but when I ran into Dave and Christina on a local trail riding theirs, I knew it was time. Frame was ordered the next week. As always, Dave was a pleasure to do business with. As for the ride…..this is likely the smoothest, quickest, bike I have been on! The bottom bracket triangle stiffness provides great power transfer and the seat/chain stay shape provides just the right amount of vertical compliance. I have been on this bike everyday since getting it, I don’t get beat up, I’m climbing like a goat, and I am descending everything the same as when I was on the squishy. Sure, there are great manufacturers out there for it frames, but having ridden Turners for so long, with zero issues, I knew Dave had this frame dialed. If you are on the fence, go for it, you won’t be disappointed!
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