Review: Suntour Durolux R2C2 PCS EQ top-performance on a budget!

The Suntour Durolux R2C2 PCS EQ is awarded a Singletrack Recommended Award for providing quality suspension and performance at a budget price.

Suntour’s continued development of its rowdy 36mm enduro fork has paid off with Andi thoroughly recommencing this budget bouncer.

When I started to ride mountain bikes, we had a pretty varied and interesting selection of forks to choose from. It was a time of experimentation and innovation and you were just as likely to see someone on a Mag 21 as on a pair of Halson Inversions. Pace produced carbon forks, and Girvin equipped ProFlex bikes were ten-a-penny. As suspension fork design settled down and telescopic forks took over, the Judy ruled the roost, and RST flooded the market with the Mozo, offering monster amounts of travel for little money.

And then, all of a sudden, our choices dried up. We went from almost unlimited choice to just a handful of brands. Marzocchi, Fox, Manitou and RockShox won that original suspension battle, but the war isn’t over.

Looking at the suspension we have to choose from today reminds me a lot of those early days. We have tons of forks to choose between and linkage forks have even made a comeback! However, there is one major difference between then and now. All of the forks available today work, and they all work really well!

If you’re looking at high-performance suspension now is a great time to be shopping. You have forks from those well-established names, but we also have surprising products from brands we might not generally associate with performance. Suntour is one such brand, although it has been making high-end suspension systems for the past few years and sponsoring top athletes, the brand image is still of an entry-level fork maker.

We tend to see Suntour forks on budget mountain bikes, and while they do make some really cheap and cheerful forks, most of the Suntour range is now surprisingly good, and exceptional value for money.

The Durolux was introduced in 2017 and was Suntour’s answer to the Fox 36 and RockShox Lyrik. Using a pair of 36mm stanchions, a burly chassis, and offering adjustments and settings similarly priced forks lacked, the Durolux was a great value option but did have a few quirks that needed ironing out.

For 2021 Suntour has introduced its most refined version of the Durolux to date. The past few years have seen Suntour work closely with pro racers to develop its products, but perhaps, more importantly, the company has also been responsive to customer comments and this shines through with the new fork.

The MY21 Durolux range is made up of three forks. Each with the same stiff chassis, chunky legs new EQ and PCS features, and with either 29in or 27.5in wheel compatibility. The fork which I have been testing is the top of the range Durolux EQ R2C2 PCS fork boasting a bunch of acronyms and features usually reserved for forks costing double.

Suntour Durolux R2C2 PCS EQ

Before we talk about performance, let’s get our heads around the name of the fork and all those acronyms.

R2
Not the half brother of everyone’s 2nd favourite robot (ED209 is number 1) the R2 on the Durolux is referring to rebound control. This flagship fork has both high and low-speed rebound, settings not found on any RockShox Lyrik and reserved only for Fox Factory forks.

C2
If R stands for the rebound the C is compression, and once more the Durolux gives riders both high and low-speed compression to adjust. There are 5 high-speed settings and 1 is fully open.

PCS
This stands for the Piston Compensator System. It’s a fully enclosed IFP (Internal Floating Piston) damper that has been designed to minimise the chance of bubbles being formed in the oil. This should ensure a more consistent feel and reduce the need for bleeding. The PCS has been designed as a QSP (don’t worry, I’ll explain this) so it super easy to service or swap out.

QSP
This stands for Quick Service Product. Suntour has designed its products so that customers can think about riding more than fixing and servicing. You don’t need any special tools to service the fork, and because the PCS is a cartridge design you can simply swap the whole unit out for a fresh one come service time, meaning you can keep riding while your old internals get a refresh. The QSP design ethos also makes its way to the fork lowers, where Suntour has placed a set of grease/bleed ports.

EQ
EQ in the name refers to the new negative air spring that ‘Equalises’ the pressure to optimise performance for a rider’s weight for improved small bump compliance. It’s similar to the negative air springs we see on other forks only optimised for use with Suntour’s PCS.

Suntour Durolux R2C2 PCS EQ Features

So plenty of cool feature and adjustments but our flagship R2C2 forks get even more cool performance features.

Hollow crown

More affordable versions of the Durolux benefit from the same lowers, and some of the same damper features but they get a standard solid crown. The R2C2 is built with a hollow crown design that saves weight while retaining siffness and strength.

Fender and fender mount

Fox has had fender mounts on forks for some time and RockShox has just started to offer them on MY21 forks, but Suntour has been doing it for years. Suntour also goes that extra mile and ships the Durolux with a compatible fender in the box.

Bleed/grease ports

To keep your forks running smoothly with minimal fuss, the lowers on the Durolux have grease ports. This means even if you’re in the middle of a riding holiday in the Alps you can still squirt some fresh lube in your forks to keep them running smoothly without having to drop the lowers. The same ports can also be used to release any built up pressure too.

Q Loc axle

Each Durolux fork comes fitted with Suntour’s own Q Loc quick-release thru-axle design. The entry-level forks have a steel axle, whereas the R2C2 model packs a Titanium version. It’s a simple quick-release solution that is easy to adjust to ensure you maintain the right axle torque when clamping your front wheel in.

Setting up the Suntour Durolux R2C2 PCS EQ

If you’re new to suspension or if you’re coming from a fork with fewer adjustments then the sheer number of external tuning options might seem overwhelming, but the fork is actually really straight forward to set up.

With your compression fully open set the sag, I opted for 25% on my 170mm travel version. I then followed Suntour’s recommended compression settings which are the 2nd position for high-speed and five clicks from fully open for low-speed. Remember, low-speed compression has an effect on mid-stroke and support. The more you add the more support you will feel, but this also affects the sensitivity of the fork. When in doubt begin with it fully open and add more low-speed as you need it to keep the fork diving while retaining sensitivity.

If you’re coming from a fork with just a single rebound setting, then you are already used to setting up your low-speed rebound. Again I followed Suntour’s advice on the high-speed rebound, 1 click from open, but then set the low-speed up to my own preference.

Those are all of your external settings, but you also have the option of adjusting spring rate by adding volume spacers to the air spring. Suntour adjusts the number of volume spacers they fit from the factory depending on the travel you have, for example, a 170mm fork has two tokens whereas a 180mm fork a single token. Lastly, you can also adjust suspension travel by simply clipping plastic spacers to the air shaft in the negative air spring. Using spacers you can knock the travel down to 150mm travel at 10mm increments.

Riding the Suntour Durolux R2C2 PCS EQ

The 170mm travel 29er that Suntour sent to me happened to be the perfect size for my trusty Commencal Meta AM 29 long-termer. Having the Commencal has been great as it’s a bike that I understand well and it doesn’t take me long to know if something is working how it should or not.

I’m also extremely lucky to have some great riding from my door which includes a mixture of road climbs, steep rocky climbs, bridleway, steep tech and a few jumps and drops for good measure.

At around 200g heavier than similar forks, 2120g, I thought I would notice the extra weight from the start but in all honesty, I didn’t. The Durolux is stable on long climbs with no power-sapping bob, and with very little pressure to get the forks moving, the front wheel happily tracks the terrain while ascending.

Sprinting into trails the Durolux is well behaved and sits nicely into the mid-stroke for support, with the damping performing as it should keeping as much rubber in contact with the terrain as possible. As happy as the Durolux is to hoover up the rough stuff the progression ensures it’s spritely and easy to hop and take to the air.

The initial action of the fork feels quite linear and almost coil-like, but with the progression there to prevent you from blasting through all of your travel. That said, the Durolux will happily use all 170mm of travel with no noticeable bottom out, no matter how heavy your landing might be.

Things that could be improved

• Not a major issue but the damper is audible especially when rebounding. It’s just the sound of the oil moving through the system and I’m not sure it can be made silent, but it is something to be aware of.
• Heavier than the competition.

Things we loved

• The range of adjustments on such an affordable fork is incredible.
• Extremely stiff fork in all situations.
• Incredible race ready performance.

Overall

I’m stunned at just how good the Suntour Durolux R2C2 is. It’s supple, supportive and I get to use every mm of travel with no harsh bottom out. Suntour’s base settings are pretty good, so even if you’re not a suspension guru you’ll be able to get them working pretty easily.

The Durolux isn’t just a good fork at this price, it’s a good fork, full stop. Is it as refined as a Fox 36? No it’s not, but is the extra refinement of a 36 worth an extra £600 for the same adjustments and features? I’ll let you answer that for yourself, but I know where my money would go.

Review Info