SR Suntour Durolux 38 Evo

It's been a long time since I've ridden anything other than a Fox or RockShox fork. I like trying different things, so I was keen try the new SR Suntour Durolux. I haven't followed what SR Suntour has been doing for a while now, so I had no prior knowledge of their fork range, and what dampers and springs are available. A Durolux 38 fork showed up soon after. I eagerly whipped the fork out of the box, and the first things I noticed were a relative lack of knobs, lots of additional screws, and the teal fork seals. Just one compression adjustment and one rebound adjustment? Did they send me the low-end one? Weird, normally we get the latest and fanciest to review. A quick look at the website confirms that, although the Durolux 38 was previously offered with more externally adjustable dampers with the RC2 the R2C2 dual compression and dual rebound adjustable variant, this new RC+ damper is SR Suntour's latest and greatest. Interesting!

The Durolux 38 is a 29er only fork with 38 mm stanchions. This put it squarely in competition with the Fox 38 and RockShox Zeb. Technicals specs of the Durolux 38 Evo are:

• Available in 160, 170 and 180 mm travel
• Max suggested tire size: 29" x 2.6"
• SKF Seals
• Lubrication Ports
• Integrated Fender
• RC+ semi-open oil bath damper
• Air spring with tokens to adjust the positive chamber air volume
• 15 mm Boost Axle
• Brake Mount is Post 203 Direct
• Available in an e-bike "X" version with a solid crown and ABS Mounts
• Retail price - 849 USD

The new Durolux 38 EVO has 6mm wider leg spacing (to 151 mm) that SR Suntour claims increases stability and provides clearance for wider tires. The air spring appears to be similar. From my perspective, the key development for this new MY2025 fork is the RC+ damper. SR Suntour claims they've been developing the RC+ damper for 4 years using its WERX Program of elite riders. The RC+ damper is a semi-open oil bath damper that follows the direction from Fox and then Rock Shox phasing out expansion bladders in favour of a semi-open oil bath setup. The idea here is that the damper cartridge has the ability to bleed itself using the bath oil in the right leg, eliminating the need for an expansion bladder. The RC+ damper has a single external compression adjustment and a single external rebound adjustment. SR Suntour claims that most of its users would set the high-speed compression to a similar rate regardless of weight or riding style. So they've decided to eliminate the external high-speed compression adjustment to simplify the setup. High-speed compression and rebound are internally adjustable by altering the shim stacks.

The Durolux has a well-thought fender, that has a secure mounting method. There are brake bleed fittings at the top of the fork that allow for quick addition of lubricating oil to the upper seals and bushings. There are some lower ports as well that look like they could be used to quickly change the fork oil. These ports look like they're intended to aid quick service of the fork fulfilling SR Suntour's Quick Service Product (QSP) directive. The green SKF dust wipers are a nice premium touch, suggesting that SR Suntour hasn't skimped on the technical details of the new Durolux 38 Evo.

The initial setup of the Durolux was easy. I set the air pressure to the recommended 70 psi for my weight (childish Tim was tempted to underinflate by 1 psi). The compression damper was set to halfway-ish, and the rebound was set to a rate that matched the rebound rate of the rear shock on the bike. My first impressions were that the Durolux felt smooth, but also quite supportive. Descending the Durolux maintained the supportive feeling, riding tall in its travel. The chassis feels nice and stiff as well, providing a precise feel. The Durolux RC+ damper is supportive, and the high-speed compression circuit is effective. However, I find the Durolux RC+ damper starts to fall a bit short of something like the Fox 38 Grip X2 in damping out the high-speed chatter. It feels like the high-speed circuit on the Durolux isn't capable of flowing quite as much oil as the Grip X2. This makes the Durolux a bit more physical to ride and doesn't make quite as much traction as the 38 in rougher sections. Then again considering the Durolux is 35% cheaper than the 38 I think it's impressive it's being talked about in the same league.

The RC+ damper has a wide range of adjustments, and each click made a noticeable change to the damping provided. I also found the damping fairly consistent through a wide range of temperatures (often important for us Canadians). I wound up using more travel on the Durolux than expected for how supportive off the top it is, so I'd add a spacer for summer riding to give the fork a bit more ramp-up for bigger compression events. The Durolux is a bit vocal with the RC+ damper making some noise on the rebound stroke. That said I like the noise of oil whooshing through damper circuits, so I didn't find it offensive in any way.

Final Setup

Air: 70 psig with 2 spacers (for summer I'd increase to 3 spacers)

Compression: 9 clicks out (total of 15 clicks)

Rebound: 11 clicks out (total of 27 clicks)

The SR Suntour Durolux 38 Evo with RC+ damper is a compelling option for riders seeking a capable and affordable long-travel fork at a more affordable price of 849 USD.

Pros:
Excellent stiffness
Supportive damper
Simple user-friendly RC+ damper
Affordable price point

Cons:
Some riders may prefer more damping adjustments
Doesn't have the small bump sensitivity of the Fox 38 Grip X2
Not the quietest fork, with some noise from the rebound circuit

Final Word

The Durolux 38 Evo offers impressive stiffness, a user-friendly damper, and good small bump sensitivity. While it may not match the performance of the Fox 38 Grip X2 (gold standard single crown fork in my opinion), it delivers exceptional value and performance for the price. I think the Durolux 38 Evo is well worth checking out.

SR Suntour Durolux 38 Evo - 849 USD