SR Suntour Durolux 36 EQ R2C2 £650

Adjustment LSC, HSC, LSR, HSR, air-spring pressure, air-spring volume (spacers) Travel 160 180mm (650b), 150 170mm (29in) Offset 44mm (650b), 44/51mm (29in) Weight 2,219g (29in, 170mm)

The Durolux is a featurepacked budget option that’s improved over the years. This latest, EQ, version has a selfequalising air spring (rather than a hopeless coil negative spring) and more refined damping. Like Fox’s top-tier forks, it’s got a four-way adjustable damper plus bleed ports under the seals that can be used to release trapped air to maintain beginning-stroke sensitivity or to replenish the seal/bushing lubricant between services.

Starting at 60psi, based on sag, the fork lacked mid- and end-stroke support, diving too much and staying low in its travel on rough or steep terrain. Upping the pressure to 65psi gave the best balance of off-the-top sensitivity and mid-stroke support. Any firmer and it had too little sag and wouldn’t track the ground well when off the brakes.

Even so, the relatively small negative spring volume means there’s not much support in the middle third of the travel, so it requires firmer compression settings to hold it up on steep, chunky terrain, as well as faster rebound.

We ended up with low- and high-speed compression near the middle of the range, which sacrifices some sensitivity for support, while setting the high-speed rebound fully open to get it to recover faster. It remained supple, thanks to impressively low friction, and hand buzz was minimal even on long, rough descents.

The build-up of support through the mid stroke isn’t as predictable as on the best forks, but considering the price this is a fairly subtle difference. It’s a worthy competitor to the similarly-priced RockShox Yari (tested last year – read the review on BikeRadar), but the Yari’s upgradable damper and superior air spring still make it our budget pick. www.moorelarge.co.uk