SR Suntour Durolux36 R2C2 PCS Boost EQ 2022
Reviews / Forks
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At a Glance
The Durolux36 is Suntours model aimed at the enduro rider. Available in 150-160 or 170mm travel, it comes equipped with 36mm stanchions. There are three different models available, one with just compression and rebound adjustment, one with high and low speed compression and rebound adjustment and the top model which has high and low speed compression and high and low speed rebound adjustment.
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About the brand
Suntour is an absolute giant in the bicycle suspension market. The company was founded in 1988 in Tokyo, Japan and initially made derailleurs, hubs, cassettes and other drivetrain parts before adding bicycle suspension to their line up.
Although not many people will think about Suntour when it comes to sponsored riders, they did manage to win two Olympic gold medals on Suntour equipped bikes, and sponsor a host of well known riders in their Werx Team. Sam Reynolds, Liam Moynihan, Hans Rey, Brett Tippie, Paul Basagoitia and Tom Pidcock to name a few.
On the environmental side, we’re happy to read on their website that the company obtained the ISO14001 certification, and they are actively involved in environmentally-friendly production on a global and local scale. It would be nice to read more about how they do this, and what goals they set for themselves.
The product
The Durolux forks are equipped with their latest technology. The highly adjustable RC2 PCS cartridge lets you adjust high speed compression and rebound as well as low speed compression and rebound. Suntour have been using and refining the PCS cartridge system for over 17 years. This results in an ultra reliable, low maintenance product, with a wide range of settings. Serviceability is also on Suntours mind when designing their products and this cartridge can be cleaned and serviced without the use of any specific tools.
On the air side is where you find their new EQ Equalizer technology, which automatically balances the positive and negative air springs increasing small bump sensitivity while making it easier to adjust for the end user. This gives the forks a really progressive feel, but with great small bump sensitivity and a nice and firm mid stroke.
The magnesium lowers come in a funky grey, and are suited for brakes up to 203mm in diameter. They rock a 15mm TA with their own Q-LOC system. It takes a minute or two to figure out, but it is actually a really elegant and bomb proof solution to lock the wheel in place. As there is no turning the skewer, taking out the front wheel is mega quick.
The 2.120 gram forks come with a 44mm offset (51mm also available) and tapered alloy steerer tube. If you want to do your own fork service or are looking for spares, the Suntour website is really really complete and it has everything you need from exploded view drawings to instruction videos in their Tech section (https://www.srsuntour.com/service/tech-videos/) . Added bonus is that it comes with a solid bolt on fender too.
Out on the trail
Setting up the Durolux36 you immediately notice that the steps in the compression and rebound actually make a difference. With some other brands, you tend to just crank all compression settings to full open and ram in some volume spacers to get the desired feel. With these forks however, you actually feel the difference between the settings when out on the trail. The distinct settings made it easy to fine tune for weight and riding style.
Small bump sensitivity is amazing on these forks, and it still has a great mid stroke support too. The low speed compression enabled me to keep a firm feeling when doing those endo turns around the hairpins. Big messy rock sections were not a problem at all for the Durolux and if you are after something burlier, they do a 38 version too.
Another thing I noticed is how silent these forks are. No creaking, no hissing of the cartridges or anything. And all this for a fork that retails at half of what the more common brands cost.
Verdict
The Durolux is a high performance piece of equipment that can hang with the best of them. Awesome adjustability, solid build and easy to maintain are all solid points. Especially when you start taking the price into consideration this is a no brainer that will free up some budget for better wheels or even a MTB holiday.
This review was in Issue 68 of IMB.
For more information visit SR SuntourRelated
By Jarno Hoogland
Jarno's life has revolved around two wheels ever since he swung a leg over his first BMX at age 4. After a BMX and DH racing career, he moved on to work for bike shops, distributors and brands before ending up in the editors seat at IMB. Based in the ultimate testing ground in the Swiss mountains, he runs his guiding operation and makes sure every IMB issue is filled with top notch content.
