Monarch RT setup

MonkFunk

Just took delivery of my first full suss bike which has the RS Monarch RT rear shock. I've set the sag fine but was after some advice about setting the damping and floodgate.

The shock has a red dial (? Damping) and a gold dial (floodgate) both with 10 click positions. I appreciate that I'm going to need to experiment but I was wondering what would be a reasonable start setting for these for trail/xc riding?

Am I correct in thinking that setting the red dial on a fairly firm setting (say, position 7/10 once turned clockwise) will reduce pedal bob but if I then pair this with a light floodgate setting (say, position 2/10?) this will allow the shock to kick in over any reasonably rough terrain? Or have I got this totally wrong?!

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

DCR00

The rebound setting wont effect pedal bob, which is a compression issue.

I would start by turning 3-4 clicks from the lowest rebound setting and see what thats like. How far you choose to adjust is your own pref.

You sure that gold knob isnt your lockout ?

MonkFunk

DCR00 wrote:

The rebound setting wont effect pedal bob, which is a compression issue.

I would start by turning 3-4 clicks from the lowest rebound setting and see what thats like. How far you choose to adjust is your own pref.

You sure that gold knob isnt your lockout ?

Hi,

Thanks, yes I think you're right. I was googling and came across something about adjustable floodgate but think it was a different version of the shock.

What you said makes sense. The red dial is rebound (just noticed the turtle/hare below it) and I think the gold dial progressively firms up the shock as you turn clockwise. I assume therefore there is a pre-set blow-off which isn't user adjustable?

Thanks anyway

DCR00

Yeah im pretty sure the floodgate is pre-set.

Past a certain limit on the lockout it wont be active at all i.e. fully open

felix.london

It will tell you how to set up the suspension in the manual

MonkFunk

felix.london wrote:

It will tell you how to set up the suspension in the manual

Except it doesn't. At least not what was provided with the bike by CRC. It only gives installation and warranty info. Nothing about operation at all.

felix.london

Hmm, what bike? You tried doing a search online?

MonkFunk

Vitus Blitz 1.

I did a search but found it hard to find much about the RT. The Rockshox site is terrible.

I'm pretty sure now though that the info above is correct. It has adjustable rebound and lockout. Floodgate looks to be pre-set.

felix.london

Quick search through this and no reference to shock, suspension, Monarch, Rockshox or SRAM. Just looks like a standard manual for the whole range of bikes...Road, Mounatin, Urban & Triathlon!

http://www.vitusbikes.com/images/stories/Vitus-manual_0525lb.pdf?phpMyAdmin=XkLM46sMPqgPaBtjYZxNhXOkfR2

I'd get in contact with CRC/Vitus and ask where you can find some detailed instructions on how to setup your new bike

andytronics

I am in the same position, my new boardman FS Pro has this rear shock & I cant find out what the gold dial engraved "gate" actually does.
I've spent ages on the web, looked at countless tech documents from the sram website & spoken to the guy who built the bike up at Halfords but I'm still at a loss as to what it does.
The manual is mainly foreign languages, the English just contains health & safety and some warranty info, nothing of any use at all.

There is also a dial on the forks marked gate, I know what this does as there is a lockout control on the forks, it allows adjustment of the flood gate when the forks are locked, but as there is no lockout on the shock I'm lost.
Anyone have any ideas?
@Monkfunk, if I do find out I'll post back here..

Andy

The Rookie

The other languages just say the same gumf in gobbledygook.....

From the SRAM website
"suspension shouldn’t pack up in rock gardens or buck after big drops. That’s why Dual Flow incorporates independent damping circuits, allowing separate rebound speeds for big hits and small ones. A user-adjustable knob controls the beginning-stroke (small-hit) rebound, and a factory-set ending-stroke (big-hit) rebound creates the perfect suspension for whatever the trail (or park) throws your way. Now tuning your suspension for your unique needs is as easy as a clockwise or counterclockwise turn. In the RockShox world this is clicking toward the turtle or the “jackalope""

http://www.sram.com/rockshox/products/monarch-rt

Some other info
http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-ge ... ck-review/

DCR00

have you tried emailing SRAM ?

Ive emailed them in the past and found them to be pretty helpful, albiet a bit slow in getting back to you

supersonic

Red dial = rebound.

Gold dial = threshold. Increasing this created a pedalling platform. Reducing it removes it.

andytronics

Sorry to be a bit thick! what is a pedaling platform?

Thanks

supersonic

It removes pedal bob. The shock comes as standard with fixed low speed compression damping. The threshold lets you set where this 'blows off'. So if you run it high it will take a bigger effort to move the shock. Run it low and it will take less. The dial can let you set it how you like it, to remove pedal bob. Experiment with it.

andytronics

Thats great, thanks for explaining it to me, shame they can't just put that in a manual!
Off out for a ride now to test it..

MonkFunk

andytronics wrote:

Thats great, thanks for explaining it to me, shame they can't just put that in a manual!

+1

Thanks for the clarification. I'm going to set it low and see what the pedal bob is like and go from there. Cheers.

UltraViolet

andytronics wrote:

Thats great, thanks for explaining it to me, shame they can't just put that in a manual!
Off out for a ride now to test it..

well, most of my work is already done in this topic!

heres a paste from the manual that might help:

open - Maximum suspension movement and compliance. provides ultimate comfort and control for
aggressive riding conditions. This is the most “plush” setting.

medium floodgate - Suspension movement is controlled and limited to a factory pre-set
adjustment. Provides an efficient setting of moderately reduced suspension movement, while
maintaining shock compliance over medium inputs.

firm floodgate - Suspension movement is controlled and limited to a factory pre-set adjustment.
Provides an efficient setting of minimal suspension movement, while maintaining shock compliance
only over big inputs. This is less “plush”, but it will resist pedal bob.

big_chris-2

Bit of a thread revival here, but I seem to be in the same boat as you guys. Just bought a Boardman FS Pro with a Monarch RT shock and the RockShox website is pretty rubbish. I've always ridden hardtails until now so rear shock setup is a bit of a mystery.

General consensus seems to be put both red & gold dials in the middle > ride > fiddle with dials > ride some more?

Shock seems to be bang on 20% sag for my weight so I'll leave it at that for now?

supersonic

Yep! Experiment, see how it feels.

hainman

Sorry to resurrect this post but I bought a giant reign 2 and has monarch rear shock the lockout is blue not gold and rebound dial is red....or do I have a different shock ??

nicklouse

http://www.sram.com/rockshox/family/monarch

looked here?

hainman

yeh i was just wondering why mine had blue and not gold.....mine is one of them.will need to scan the shock to see if its RL.RT OR RT3

nicklouse

hainman wrote:

yeh i was just wondering why mine had blue and not gold.....mine is one of them.will need to scan the shock to see if its RL.RT OR RT3

Date of thread might give you a clue.