SR SUNTOUR DUROLUX36 EQ R2C2

£699 www.moorelarge.co.uk

Like the DVO and Marzocchi, the SunTour fork’s bigger 36mm stanchions put it more in the long-travel trail/all-mountain category, but again, its extra weight isn’t noticeable when riding. The Durolux is feature-laden, with externally-adjustable high- and low-speed compression and rebound damping, which is impressive for the price. This latest version has a self-equalising air spring rather than a coil negative one. Plus, it has air bleed ports to release pressure build-up in the lowers. The fork has a direct handling response and can take a punishing. It landed around the middle of the pack in terms of beginning-stroke sensitivity, but has no problems ironing out trail imperfections and keeping the tyre digging into the dirt.

Thanks to its decent mid-stroke support, the Durolux doesn’t dive excessively through its travel when riding steep sections of trail and loading the fork doesn’t result in much wallow. However, it’s less good at taking the sting out of hard square-edged hits than others here when rattling over rough sections of trail and feels a touch less refined, giving more feedback through the handlebar. This isn’t to say its performance is bad – just a touch off what the RockShox forks offer in terms of comfort.

Progression is fine, with a strong ramp-up that doesn’t become harsh deeper in the travel, when landing drops or hitting bigger obstacles at speed. As is the case with most of the forks here, we found the compression and rebound overdamped, so ran the four-way adjustable damping circuits fully open to make the fork feel lively enough. Heavier and more aggressive rides may not have this problem, but riders weighing less than 75kg could struggle to find a set-up that works for them.