SR Suntour has introduced some new high-end suspension products recently like the Auron and the Rux that many riders have been curious about. Last week they held two sessions with some of their dealers to help them learn more about their products. They learned more about how SR Suntour’s Quick Service Products are designed to keep riders riding instead of wrenching. Ray’s MTB hosted SR Suntour and we braved the cold weather to sit-in on a dealer session and ride Ray’s MTB Park with Eric Carter and Brett Tippie.

Rays MTB (www.raysmtb.com)  is an indoor mountain bike park with two different locations in Cleveland and Milwaukee. It’s a great spot to hit in the winter months and offers beginners, intermediate, and advanced riders opportunities to hone their skills. The park has numerous jump lines so most attendees typically ride a dirt-jumper (BMX or 26″), but there’s plenty of areas for XC bikes and trail-bikes to enjoy as well. The photos here are from their Cleveland location.

Each year Ray’s improves by adding and adjusting their layout. Pumptracks, skinnies, skate park, foam pit, resi, jump loops, an XC loop, and much more can be found inside the converted warehouse.  Ray’s hold contests as well so keep an eye out in their newsletter / facebook / website for upcoming events.

SR Suntour invited us out to ride and check out a dealer session they were holding. The two new forks from SR Suntour that you’re probably most likely interested in are the Auron and the Rux. Pricing wise, the SR Suntour products are quite competitive in comparison to the RockShox and FOX offerings. Money saved can easily help in other areas like travel, gear, race entries, and more.

SR Suntour is making an effort this year to increase their demos so be sure to try it out for yourself. They’ve got plans to attend a lot of North American events/festivals so  find out when they’ll be in your area to try them for yourself or drop them a line. This past week they were at Rays MTB park (CLE and MKE) as well to help dealers and riders check out their offerings.

Video: The Auron Overview with Brett Tippie and Darren

Auron: For enduro races, bikes need to be up to the job on the way down but also well rideable on the way up. SRSUNTOUR’s Auron is built constructed from scratch for 27.5 inch wheels from. Weighing in at a svelte 4,3lbs (1.940), this air-sprung fork with 34mm stanchions offers a full 160mm of travel. Race-tested and tweaked in some of the toughest races the sport has to offer by top enduro riders such as Damien Oton, Casey Coffmann, Kyle Warner and Julia Hoffman, the Auron is a lightweight power package in the world of enduro.

Its cartridge damper is as easily adjustable on the trail as it is tuneable and serviceable. Depending on the model, the fork can be lowered by 40mm and SRSUNTOUR’s proprietary Q-Loc axle has been designed to be more user friendly.”

• Steerer : Tapered
• Travel Adjust (TA) / R(rebound) C2 High and Low speed compression)
• RC2 model : 150 / 160 mm travel
• TA-RC2 model : 120 – 160 mm
• High & low speed compression
• air pressure adjust
• 15 mm qloC axle
• White / Gloss Black / Matte Black

Underneath the aircap on the Auron is an elastomer that’s used as an air volume spacer. You can cut this spacer to adjust the air-volume in the fork to be more linear if desired. Most riders they say sometimes cut between 5-15mm off depending on their desired suspension preferences. The RUX has a more elegant system in place with plastic clips but functionally this system works.

The SR Suntour products you see here are designed around their Quick Service Prodcut (QSP) mentality. SR Suntour wants riders to enjoy their time on the bike and their QSP enables longer service intervals. By using a sealed damping system they are about to improve the service life of their products since the damping elements are sealed from the elements.

The QSP idea allows for quick repairs that are simple and common as well so even if you need to repair something its often quick and simple to get it up and running. During the presentation they showed dealers just how easy it is to service their forks. Should you want to adjust the cartridge settings internally that option is also there for those who like to tinker/fine tune.  SR Suntour clearly wants riders to be able to ride more and wrench less without compromising on suspension performance.

We’ll have more on the Auron / RUX later this year as we get some more time on the forks. You can read more about their lineup at www.srsuntour-cycling.com
Pricing:
RUX MSRP -$1200 USD
Auron RC2 MSRP- $700 USD
Auron TA RC2- $800 USD
Auron RC- $650 USD

SR Suntour has many ambassadors on their program in just about every discipling including XC, Enduro, Downhill, and Freeriding. They’ve stepped up their commitment to racers as well so be on the lookout for their products on a lot of bikes this year. They brought along Eric Carter and Brett Tippe on the trip to ride and tell people about their experiences onboard SR Suntour products.  Eric Carter recently signed with Specialized to manage their Factory team and he is quite excited about his new opportunity with them.

Brett Tippie had never been to Rays before and was thoroughly impressed with their indoor setup. He could be heard hooting and hollering the whole day.

You can read more about the SR Suntour products at www.srsuntour-cycling.com