RockShox Monarch Plus RC3 Shock

So I pulled the sleeve off and found (let me make sure my math is correct)…zero of these rubber bands. Dammit. I found out that a certain bicycle suspension tuner who’s been around a bit was working at RockShox, and tracked him down. He was more than happy to send me some of the rubber bands, so I knew I’d be dialed pretty soon. Again, I hold nothing against a workforce that is in a position to be ready at any moment to evacuate their homes and keep their pets and families from catching on fire. If it were me, I probably would have mailed some pizza crusts and beer cans by accident and never would have noticed. In the meantime, of course I rode the bike.

Kevin Bazar, RockShox Monarch Plus RC3, Blister Gear Review
Kevin Bazar on the RockShox Monarch Plus RC3.

Heh…it’s funny when you literally can’t put enough pressure in a shock to keep it from using 99% of the travel at 4 mph. With the large air can, this thing was far too linear for the frame I had it on. But it was kind of cool to ride something so responsive on climbs. The cliche “plush” did apply. I could feel myself slowing, with momentum going into the suspension with every bump, but, damn, it was smoove on my booty.

RockShox Monarch Bands, Blister Gear ReviewDescents were anywhere from comical to dangerous. On smoother sections, it felt like I was on a much-longer-travel bike. But when it came time to hit things in succession, I don’t think I was coming in at anywhere above the last 30% of travel. Far too deep, far too often. There was no pumping transitions, and I ended up getting bucked a lot because I’d hit something and there was just no travel left. Everyone I’d spoken with who had run one of these shocks on a 5.Spot told me to get the small-volume air can, and I now fully understood why.

Once I received the spacers, I went with five bands based on a recommendation from Turner. Much better. As with any coil over-design, getting the spring system dialed (in this case air volume in addition to just sag) is first and foremost. For what it’s worth, I eventually wound up with seven total, and I’ve been happy with that. The bike is balanced between the all-important factors of pumpability, bottom-out resistance, and suppleness.

Regardless of spring ramp, the main reason I was interested in the RC3 was that from everything I’d heard, getting a low-compression tune from RockShox meant a real low-compression tune. DW-link bikes like the 5.Spot have more geekery engineered into their suspension system than probably any other. As such, they tend to work best when complicated compression damping setups take a seat by the side and let the frame do its thing. As I mentioned, even though tuned by Fox to fit these frames, I never felt the RP23 that comes on them really achieve that.

I’m basically ecstatic to report that when you ask RockShox for a low-compression tune, that’s what you get. Even cycling the shock by hand with no pressure in it can give you a hint of just how much resistance is tuned into the damper that Fox provides through the compression damping system, and how much less there is in the RC3.

3 comments on “RockShox Monarch Plus RC3 Shock”

  1. I appreciate that the review followed a process of learning in. Nice one.

    Turner has specced a lower compression tune (and a low volume cannister) in their more recent offerings due to the issues you described. Which would point to the shock spec rather than the specific model. Also, the air spring rate and the INTERNAL damper tune of the shock must match the characteristics of the frame linkage design and the rider’s intention for a shock to sing. IME, off the shelf shock swaps are rarely a bolt-up-and-your-done situation as the article outlines so well. A Push or other custom tuner is the ticket.

    Can you tell I’ve played off-the-shelf shock roulette?

    The Monarch does have a larger piston than a Fox Float for more oil control.

    A few side notes:
    – Fox’s air chamber spacers allow you to tune both large volume and small volume air chamber
    – I wonder if the single wall air canister will have more effect on temperature than a piggy back, the double wall large chamber acts as an insulator as would the rubber bands. I’ve had my body fatigue before my damping broke down due to heat on an inline single wall shock, but we are all different.

    P

  2. Wow. This is a great review and very interesting to hear about going through the complex series of tuning a shock to a frame. I have one of the RT3s on my 29er with a 4 bar linkage and it runs great! I set it on firm for climbing(sometimes on medium) and open it wide up for descending. Most of the time I don’t realize it’s working. I mean this in a good way. It just flows with the bike.
    I have a Yeti AS-R with an RP23 on it. Granted, it’s a different linkage system but it feels like the shock is always bobbing around. I’m considering either getting an RT3 with a medium compression or getting the RP23 Pushed. I really would love to get an RT3 or even this RC3(though a 4″ travel bike hardly merits one) instead of having it Pushed. I’m just not a fan of Fox much anymore. They seem overly complex and near impossible to tune how one wants it. Plus, it would give me the same servicing when I service the shocks.
    Interesting to hear about the rubber bands. I’d never heard that mentioned before. Thanks!

  3. Great write up, after reading this i put an order in for a 2014 RC3 PLUS for my 5 spot. I had my RP23 PUSH’ed about 6 months ago and it took all the small bump harshness out of it and for a couple of months i was happy. But when i got into the mountains i found the shock lacked something i just couldn’t put my finger on initially. But after a bit more riding i found it was just getting harsher and harsher on long sustained descents. Great shock for trail riding but if you are looking at pushing yourself and the bike more and more then i felt i needed something a bit better.

    Im still waiting for it and it is getting tuned for me from a specialist company here in the UK so when i get my mitts on it ill hopefully have the final piece in my bike jigsaw :-)

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