Kevin – the shock on mine is a Monarch Plus RC3.
‘scandal’ – no issues/downsides as such but it is a noticeably long bike. That’s a plus when gunning it down straightish, rocky stuff but takes a bit more riding in very twisty stuff.
I’m not sure I’ve got it set up quite right yet – I think I need a tad more pressure in the shock and a tad less in the fork. Also, I think I might need a bit more rise than the very flat bars I ordered it with. But all that’s tuneable.
I went for the £1200 build so the main compromises are the crankset, gears and brakes. All have performed flawlessly (four whole rides!).