In late 2018, Öhlins let the cat out of the bag and released their new fork, the RXF36 m.2. At the time, it was tentatively labelled the RXF36 Trail but that label was confusing and undermined the capabilities of the new enduro/all-mountain fork. By the time it was ready for sale, Öhlins had updated the name to what we see today. Twelve months after the unveiling I received a 160mm 29er m.2 fork with 44mm offset and a coil spring to hold it at full attention. But I also have the air spring assembly ready to go. Thanks to the cartridge-based spring system, this can be swapped from one to the other.
Four months after first bouncing around with the RXF36 m.2 mounted, the fork has seen more abuse than most. Why so long? Öhlins went to great lengths to make the new RXF36 as durable as possible. During the product launch, attending media were told about increased material overlap at the crown and steerer, and how the stiffer chassis increases durability and prevents creaking. With this in mind, I wanted to test the long term durability and that requires heaps of riding. So how has it faired so far?
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