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Turner Bikes goes direct where dealers aren’t stocking

Written by Tyler Benedict Apr 10, 2015 10:28 a.m. ET

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Want a Turner mountain bike but can’t find a dealer near you? Never fear, the Internet is here.

Turner Bikes is now selling direct through their website or via phone for customers without an authorized dealer in their area. Sure, it’s always best to support your local shop, but this model provides access to the brand in areas without a stocking retailer. Presumably, sales inquiries where a dealer is located will be sent through the shop.

“We are elevating the purchasing experience with a level of personalization that just doesn’t exist in the marketplace, outside of a few of today’s dealers who truly understand suspension, frame design, and proper rider setup,” said Dave Turner in the press release. “A rider who is spending thousands of hard-earned dollars on a new dream ride deserves the best advice, fit, and setup possible. We’re here to ensure their Turner Bike is tailored to their riding style, terrain, experience and expectations.”

Tyler Benedict

11,187 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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JBikes

9 years ago

Good for Turner!

I have a DW Sultan. Perfect no. But nothing is.
And I know many don’t care, but one main reason i bought it after extensive test riding was the frames manufacturing in the USA. That is no excuse for a bad product, but thankfully Turner delivers a very good product that is actually price competitive to its foreign made competition.

Sevo

9 years ago

You’ll see more companies going this route as time goes on.

Randy

9 years ago

SMART! Most small companies should do this! I walked into a local shop and the YETI’s were so high up on the rack and out of sight it was ridiculous. Not to mention only two there. The entire shop was stuffed with the Starbucks of bikes (Specialized). YT Industries has proven this model works. They can lower their cost to the consumer and give them a better final product with good value.

Henry Turner-Julier

9 years ago

Always have been impressed with Turner. As a tall guy their XXL Sultan is nearly perfect for me!

Jimborello

9 years ago

I live in Mexico and I own a Turner Flux 27.5 and I really enjoy riding it. Whenever Ive needed tech support from Turner, David himself has always been very helpful and his replies are almos immediate, so I hope him th best of luck with this move.

9 years ago

I don’t understand why they needed a press release about this. They’ve been selling bikes on their web site for years, and they have at least one internet-order dealer (competitive cyclist – not a small, obscure web site by any means).

Simple fact is LBSs aren’t stocking high-end, somewhat boutique bikes like Turner. To me (and a lot of people, I suspect) “support your LBS” means “ride a specialTrekGiant”. I’d rather support a small builder like Turner.

I have a Sultan I got 6 years ago (man, that makes me feel old). It’s the first and pretty much only 29 I’ve ridden that I wanted to ride again. In addition to everything already said, if you call Turner, there’s a pretty good chance Dave will answer the phone. If you have a question about your Trek, will the president of the company personally answer you?

chasejj

9 years ago

Turner is the best at customer service and support. I own 5 Turners and 2 Yeti’s. No comparison. The only mfg I can call and get someone on the phone is Turner.
Waiting for his new stuff to get announced at Sea Otter so I can order another one.

The problem with Turner’s is they are so solid and long lasting. Their designs are somewhat timeless and defy trends. So he suffers a bit because his customers don’t churn through bikes like the common mass marketers. He does offer a trade-in program for existing Turner owners to get a pretty significant discount for trading in their old Turner for a new one. Who else does that! Nobody.

groghunter

9 years ago

Can’t say I blame them. Probably one of the hardest brands to justify bringing stock in for a shop. Basically, unless “made in the USA” provides value to you, they’re wildly overpriced. Even the “mass market” version of Turner, Intense, has trouble getting bikes into shops, if they can’t pull it off, Turner ain’t got no chance.

Jeff

9 years ago

Another Turner fan here. I’m on my second Turner now. I went to them after spending a lot of $ on a Specialized only to find it wasn’t made in the US (Specialized is 49% owned by an overseas sporting goods company). I honestly felt like a sucker that Specialized made so much money off of me that I started researching USA made brands. Turner popped out because of the journal bearings, square tubing on the rear tri and elevated chain stay. I thought they were very unique looking and then I started pricing out what it costs to build up one of their frames versus a comparable bike from Specialized etc. I found it to actually be cheaper to build my own mid level bike and I ended up with the parts I wanted. The DW link is probably the best for my riding conditions as well.

JoeP

9 years ago

Yes you will see this a lot more but there will be a need for local bike shops to support the riders, so I don’t see them disappearing.

I would love to see Kona, GT and Diamondback move to a direct sales program – three of my favorite manufactures.

David R.

9 years ago

Wildly overpriced — I don’t think so. Not for the performance. I’ve built 3 of these working with my LBS to source many of the components and saved money over more off-the shelf options. Love the ride.

JBikes

9 years ago

Grog,
How do you justify the position that they are “wildly overpriced”
Their alloy frames are under $2k. There carbon models slightly over with shock.
Have you seen what trek, spec, sc, etc are charging for bikes today?

J N H

9 years ago

Good luck to them, as the big brands get more and more aggressive about floor space in ‘their’ shops, this is the way I can see most mid to small brands going. I always smirk at the irony of people who call Turner and similar brands overpriced, then go and buy a big name brand bike for five grand plus.

Myke

9 years ago

I actually wonder why more companies are not doing this… I know why but still!

Roy

9 years ago

Makes total sense. Like Randy said about the Yetis, most shops won’t give up valuable real estate and cash to a small brand, ’cause they don’t really add much to the bottom line, can’t blame the dealers for not supporting niche’ brands. Big volume mid priced stuff are where money is made, not bikes that take days or weeks to sell with all the parts choices and spec changes. F’ that! Grab the Trek and hit the register. What cracks me up is the entitled attitude of dealers thinking that since they have a QBP account they should somehow be in on any bike or part sale in their area. When Canyon hits US soil and the mid sized bike companies are slaughtered and the ‘big 4′ bleed a bit, they will do whatever they want to compete, the little IBD had better have The Mechanic chops and the right attitude to another cardboard box being dragged in the door ’cause in a few years the game will be all new. Of course it was totally different just a ‘few’ years ago! The internet is for email right?

jeff

9 years ago

What gets me is the “wildly overpriced”, common Specialized. While boutique brands do sometimes carry a higher price tag, I believe it to be somewhat justified compared to a company such as Specialized, who do higher production, get better pricing on materials and better oem pricing. No way would I ever consider a $10k Specialized, but I would consider a $10K bike from Turner, Santa Cruz, Yeti, etc

Tom

9 years ago

The best in the biz at customer support. Heck, DT answers the phone half the time.

And the Czar flat out kills it!

A well respected man

9 years ago

Just had an older Turner Six Pack that I know for a fact has seen an unreal amount of ride hours on it. The linkages and journal bushings still felt great. We replaced said journal bearings anyway just as preventative maintenance so the customer could get another 10 years of hard riding out of his bike. It blew my mind. It has me taking a hard look at picking up a Turner myself.

Dr. Sartorious

9 years ago

The “Made in the USA” movement is a sham. Ok, so your frame is made in the USA. Now can get outfit that thing with all American-made components there, chief? Didn’t think so. The trailhead jingoism has got to stop. Take your Ford F150 and tell me how many components are “made in ‘Merika!” Here’s the answer: Not as many as you think.

Take your Stars and Bars off your over-lifted truck and get with the times. It’s a global world. The only thing that’s truly American is a Sham-wow.

jeff

9 years ago

@ Dr. Sartorious,Being an American, would you rather support an American company with some parts made overseas( say Ford) or an overseas company that produces its products overseas…and keeps their profits overseas also?
I’ll take the American company anytime, although I don’t believe in the practice of American companies having the parts made overseas..thats something that I hope someday changes

A well respected man

9 years ago

Where are those new Box Components drive train bits made? Could it soon be the case scenario where one could very well sham-wow there bike nearly tit to tat?

Psi Squared

9 years ago

@Jeff: I’m going to support the company that makes what I like and what works for me. I could care less where it’s made

Sam B

9 years ago

Jeff… I support people. People that make rad stuff. I don’t care what country they live in or happen to have been born in. In a world where we ship fruits and veggies across the globe why do we need a “durable good” to be made locally? That should be the other way around… buy a bike from overseas, but make sure all your food comes from a 100 mile radius.

9 years ago

You can actually source a surprising amount of a bike with parts that atleast lend towards some form of decently paid labor. With our economy in the shitter, people are starting to become more aware of the globalization and the effects of it on their world. I don’t see how that’s an issue. Corporate stooges for importers are the only angry ones.

JBikes

9 years ago

The only “sham” is companies outsourcing stuff for cheap labor and keeping their costs the same. What is China’s labor rate? $4-5/hour right now? So why do I pay the same basic amount for a US made Turner than something produced there?

I’ll never understand the argument that because a bike isn’t 100% made in the US, I should not care if any of it is. I have friends in manufacturing. If they make a quality product, I’ll strongly consider buying it. If they make an inferior product I don’t like, I won’t buy it, but that is hard to say of Turner’s product.

Sam B – ? Why can’t rad things be made here along with our food? Its not like a one or another scenario.

DeafDaddy

9 years ago

I can’t quite make out the bike in the picture, I’m guessing a custom white/magento Burner not available online? When I build a bike on their website, the white color option is only available on the King Khan fatbike (with black decals and not magento). How would I go on obtaining the bike pictured above? Order through dealer?