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Up until now, Ohlins Racing has limited its mountain bike endeavors to building rear shocks and replacement parts for some of the biggest suspension and bike manufacturers in the US, but the legendary Swedes are expanding their scope to include forks. The brand's signature blue and yellow is now present on the seals of the all new, 29in RXF 34 120 Fork, which is the result of a partnership with one of those US manufacturers and represents Ohlins bringing its not inconsiderable expertise to the off road fork world for the first time. Since Ohlins is so exclusive that it doesn't even offer top moto athletes free gear, we're not surprised that it came up with a design that's truly unique in the mountain bike field. The RXF 34 is the only fork on the market to feature a twin tube damper, which separates the rebound and compression oil flow. Since the twin tube design lets the oil flow parallel and independently, the fork maintains optimal pressure at all times, riding higher with a smoother initial stroke. It maintains consistent, predictable small bump compliance across successive hits to leave you more in control of your lines and with more responsive traction. The fork also includes an addition to its other leg, adding an extra positive chamber to the typical air spring loadout of one negative and one positive. The presence of two positive chambers means that the resistance can be dialed externally yep, without internal spacers to alter the compression curve, so the fork can be set to maintain that initial suppleness but ramp up harder to avoid bottoming out on big hits. The RXF 34 climbs with confident traction but won't sell you out by diving on rowdy descents. Given the host of absurdly versatile all mountain 29ers we've been seeing unveiled over the past year, this added versatility in fork suspension is not only a plus, we suspect it'll become a necessary feature by the next product cycle. And now we get to the elephant in the room: those 34mm stanchio...
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