Rear suspension upgrade

Bossnut El

Hi all,

First post here.

I have a bossnut, which I love as I’m only just getting back into MTB after a few years off.

It has RockShox monarch rear sus but it doesn’t lockout. Is there a noticeable difference in upgrading to lockout the rear? If so any recommendations for a new one?

I’ve had a look and fitting them seems to be ok, is this the case or am I missing something?

Thanks very much

The Rookie

If you buy another Monarch then fitting is easy, lockout only makes a difference when, erm, locked out, so road sections or fireroads, on technical climbs you’d probably be better off unlocked. If you go the whole hog to an RCT3 then the pedal platform is a good compromise for tech climbs.

Obviously you need to get the right size (stroke and overall eye to eye length), if you have a conventional damper a piggy back may not always fit.

tallpaul_s

How do you climb? In the saddle, spinning or out the saddle mashing on the pedals.

If the latter you may see some benefit with lockout but if you sit and spin you probably won't notice much difference tbh.

Suspension designs now are pretty good and any pedal bob is largely minimised so long as you sit and spin smoothly.

Bossnut El

Thanks for the replies. I generally sit and spin when I can but when on a more technical climb I’ll stand and peddle. Think I’ll look at other little upgrades first then

mark_fogel

I was in a similar situation last year, was riding a bike with a basic Monarc shock which didn't have any settings. Ended up going for a Manitou Mcleod which completely transformed the bike. It was super soft and supple when fully open and also had a climb mode which made cross country riding much better due to increased efficiency. If you are replacing with another RS Monarc RT / RT3 shock, have a look at the shock tune label as you might need to add / remove air spacers otherwise it will perform differently. It will be something like MM or ML.