In my RockShox Super Deluxe RT w/Remote Trunnion shock (205 x 60mm. Trunnion/8×30) in my 2018 Kona Process 153 29 DL/AL, I felt I needed more compression damping. I’d constantly blow through all my travel when big trail riding. That left nothing in reserve for DH riding. With a trip to Whistler coming up and a bunch more chairlift days on the list, I needed to address this before I got too deep into summer.
I had been running three volume spacers in the shock, the max possible, along with 190 psi. I still can’t find the Gnar Dog Token for sale anywhere. With this valving change, I pulled one out. I’m hoping this works well as I’m running out of test time. Adding two shims should slow things down a bit, enough to take some progression out.
It’s not a very difficult shock to work with. You’ll just need a 12.7 and 28.6mm (?) shaft clamp.
Sadly, I haven’t found any tune kits available from RockShox for this shock. That’s a shame as this is a high performance part that should be capable of fine tuning for rider preference. I’m certainly a lot heavier than the average super ripper kid and I’m going to have different needs. This is important. Luckily, I have shims in stock.
The Super Deluxe shares similarities in the main piston with the Monarch Plus so the tune kits could be related as well. The problem, a 10mm shaft on the Monarch vs a 12.7mm shaft on the Super Deluxe resulting in very different flow rates.
I love that RockShox has moved to real negative springs in their rear shocks. This is a huge upgrade from how things have been done in the past. These are very fancy springs.
I’m impressed by the main piston in this shock. No BS. No hype. Just a very good design for solid performance. Gimmick valves are exhausting.
The stock oil in the shock is Rock Shox 7wt. When choosing a match oil for this shock, I confused that to be a rebrand of Maxima PLUSH with an ISO30 viscosity. I filled the shock with Red Line Suspension Fluid, Medium with an ISO32 viscosity. Fans of my work know that I love the Red Line product and use it in all of my suspension and droppers. Still, I wasn’t really looking for a viscosity change and this was the big issue with this work. It turns out that Rock Shox 7wt is actually Maxima RSF 7wt. (ISO 20.8). I’ll need to mix this for ISO21 at 72.6% Red Line (Light, Yellow) & 27.4% Red Line (Medium, Red). Still, I may even go lighter for decreased fade if the rebound adjustment stays in range.
Still, the shock feels good with the ISO 32. Probably not as plush off the top as it could be so I have something to work at.
I found that the air valve to the IFP chamber was loose and may have leaked down a bit. Probably not the biggest deal but in the worst case, could have allowed some cavitaiton. I tightened it down and inflated it to 250psi as specified. The IFP was set to 33mm.
I would have faced the piston but didn’t have anything proper on hand. I’ll be more prepared next time. It needs to be done.
Air can lubrication was changed to Fox Gold. It’s some pretty crazy stuff that I use in fork lowers and for freehub sprags.
I didn’t have my micrometers in my home shop to measure shim thicknesses, so I used some cheap shop calipers. These thicknesses may be off but they should be consistent. I’ll adjust later when I get the right tools on hand. Please let me know so I can make this chart accurate.
Compression:
22.0 x 9.0 x 0.10 (added)
22.0 x 9.0 x 0.10 (added)
22.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
22.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
22.0 x 9.0 x 0.08
20.0 x 9.0 x 0.08
20.0 x 9.0 x 0.08
18.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
18.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
11.0 x 9.0 x 0.16
11.0 x 9.0 x 0.26
Rebound:
20.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
16.0 x 9.0 x 0.08
19.0 x 16.4 x 0.38
19.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
19.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
19.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
19.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
11.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
11.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
11.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
11.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
11.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
11.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
11.0 x 9.0 x 0.10
19.0 x 9.0 x 1.64 (circuit)
19.0 x 9.0 x 0.08
16.0 x 9.0 x 0.08
19.0 x 16.4 x 0.10
19.0 x 9.0 x 0.06
11.0 x 9.0 x 0.16
2018/06/10:
Rode with the shock at China Camp. On trail it felt nice and had good support. It felt very smooth.
I did 4-5 hucks off Elevator 5 which pushes impact absorption to it’s limit. I’ve broken several wheels and slashed a lot of tires on this hit. The rear felt great on landing. The rim was bent a little in one spot from the session. I used just about all the travel each time which means that adding the volume spacer will offer a bit more support. Still, this isn’t super heavy impact like on a real big DH drop, more focused on sharp rock.
I fell that it has been improved considerably. Enough that I will add one more volume spacer front and rear when we get to Whistler and ride.
