Swapping rear shock - advice requested please

afcbian

I have a 2014 Lapierre Zesty 329 TR with a Fox Float CTD Evolution LV 184x44mm rear shock.
The shock is not holding air totally (drops from 210 to 170 in a few hours riding) and presumably is in need of servicing/repair.

My question is this;
Should I choose to replace the shock instead of repairing the existing one is it easy to mix/match forks for performance/size ?
My Fox is a 184x44, so does the new one have to be exactly the same or just near enough ??
I am a fairly conservative rider that doesn't have the bravery or skill set to use the bike to more than 50% of its limits so would I really notice any performance difference (eg changing from fox float CTD to rockshox monarch RL)

Of course an alternative is to buy a kit and service it myself ?? I build bikes all the time but have never serviced any hydraulic forks/shock

Hope this makes sense ?
Any advice welcomed, thanks

cooldad

Changing the seals is an easy 15 minute job.

Are you sure it is actually losing air? Shocks have very small air cans, so just attaching a pump will reduce the psi significantly just charging the pump and guage.

afcbian

cooldad wrote:

Changing the seals is an easy 15 minute job.

Are you sure it is actually losing air? Shocks have very small air cans, so just attaching a pump will reduce the psi significantly just charging the pump and guage.

You may have a point here, played around a bit last night and concur with your point regards loss of psi just removing the pump. Will see how it fairs this week. Hopefully its just my lack of experience with this kind of shock that is the issue
thanks

rockmonkeysc

The Monarch RL isn't a worthwhile upgrade, it's barely any better. Either service the Fox shock or upgrade to a Rockshox Monarch Debonair or Fox Float X.
A new shock needs to be exactly the same total eye to eye and stroke length. It also needs to have the correct damping tune and you'll need new mounting hardware.

The Rookie

RockmonkeySC wrote:

A new shock needs to be exactly the same total eye to eye and stroke length.

or at least if it's different you have to understand all the implications! (I picked a shorter I2I on purpose as I knew there would be no clearance issues and it slackened and lowered the bike slightly).