Öhlins RXF 36 M.2 Air Fork and TTX2 Air Shock Review

Once reserved for the top tier of Motorsport suspension, Öhlins has been gradually increasing their mountain bike product range since they hit the scene back in 2012. Applying nearly 50 years of experience in performance suspension components to the mountain bike world, their TTX2 & RXF36 air combo provides all mountain and enduro riders with a highly tuneable combination that’s built to offer the ultimate in control. We put the pairing to the test on board a Norco Sight to see how they stack up in the competitive world of mountain bike suspension.

THE DIRT
Having had many suspension set ups on the Norco Sight, I was able to get a really good feel for how the RFX 36 fork changed the way the bike rode across the range of ride situations. I’ve amassed a load of seat time on this bike both before and during the Öhlins testing period, so the differences were noticeable right away. At first, I was not satisfied with the small bump performance, but the story changed once I took some time to bracket settings and find the balance of air pressure and damping. I ended up running a little more sag than other forks, while relying on the ramp-up air chamber to keep me from harsh bottom outs. The mid-stroke support provided by the RFX was quite good, if not better than the rest, which allowed me to run more sag without an overwhelming feel of the fork diving. In conjunction with the smooth compression damping, I was able to find a perfect balance of ramp up and small bump sensitivity. The HSC pretty much stayed completely open at all times - very few times did I opt for a click and never more than one. It would be interesting to experiment with the shim stack to see if there was some wiggle room to make each click a little less impactful, however this is by no means necessary to get the fork to feel great. For LSC I was generally 7-9 clicks out from closed. The change in feel for the LSC is much less profound than the HSC circuit.

The change following a more in-depth setup on the RFX36 fork really made the bike feel livelier, yet retained capability at the same time. It’s responsive and supportive when pushing into the lips of steep jumps, yet very composed through rough terrain, which made me want to charge harder and harder through rough sections of trail. Finding the right set up for me did take longer than the likes of Fox’s 36, but once dialed in I felt limited need to modify the setup further. I had seen other reviews with riders complaining about a lack of small bump sensitivity, but I would suggest this is due to insufficient time focused on set up, as I really love a soft initial portion of travel and the Öhlins fork delivered this. The fork tracked especially well on off camber sections of trail that were littered with roots, perhaps thanks to a slightly more compliant chassis than the new crop of 38mm stanchion forks.

During the test period I had zero issues with the fork, with no oil leaks and all adjustments remaining in perfect working order. I performed two lower leg services at home over the long-term testing period, replacing oil and cleaning the foam rings while leaving the OEM seals in place as there was no evidence to suggest they needed to be replaced.

When it came to keeping the bike rubber side up in some hairy situations the Öhlins TTX2 air rear shock did a superb job. Just like the fork, this shock had a lively yet balanced feel. The compression circuits were very smooth when the going got rough. The LSC compression adjustment had no lack of options - while each click did not provide a huge change, there were enough turns of the dial to find a setup that felt right for the terrain and riding style in store for the day. The HSC circuit was quite the opposite, with each of the 3 clicks having a massive impact on how the bike felt. Just like with the fork I tended to keep this fully open for the most part, except for a small handful of times on sustained road climbs.

During the test I did run into an issue with the... [To Keep Reading, visit the site]:

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