Is anyone running one of these? I really fancy a air one as i am not in love with the stock shock as its damping is a little fast me.

If anyone knows of any good bargains or runs a double barrel i would be interested to hear it.

I have the stock monarch too which isn’t amazing but seems fine. I also use a fox dhx4 coil but it needs a specific tune for the bike apparently to make it feel good.

I’ve seen a few folk using the cane creek and getting good feedback but can’t afford to try it myself.
Fox shock fitted.

Have a look at this ride.io thread.

Try Dave Garland of Stendec, he has one on his own personal Mega. Plus he probably has more experience of CCDB’s than anyone else in the country.

Wait till after the weekend if you do contact him, as he’s up at Fort Bill fettling Danny Harts bike at the mo. 😉

I run a Van-R on mine for alp/lakes etc,
feels great and just standard out the box.

better than the monarch which is OK.

Try Dave Garland of Stendec, he has one on his own personal Mega

Yeah I saw him at Coed y Brenin one day with it and he was saying it was great in the bike.

Has nobody tried having their Monarch tuned for them? I think I’ll send mine to Loco this winter.

I’m only 12st and with the sag set right it blows through the travel too easily without any propedal. The o ring pops off on every ride…

Yep RT3 did not do it me either – good for pootling around + climbing but just did not cut it on steep fast rough descents. Lowered the IFP pressure 20psi which helped a little – but still not what I wanted.

Tried a DHX 5 coil – great for descents but not so good for climbing – as you would expect really.

Thought about the CCDB coil, got one on my DH bike + love it, but instead decided to save weight + go with another air option. Ended up going with a Monarch Plus Hi Vol Mid/Mid tune shock.

The Plus really is what I was looking for – as good as the coil on fast rocky descents + not far of the RT3 for climbing.

how heavy are you zangolin?

I had not consider the plus but it looks alot cheaper what worries be is how much damping i can acheive at 220 psi

If you can’t afford a CCDB try a Vivid Coil from Germany, 190 Euros….no spring though. Make sure you get the right tune as well.

Going put one on my Mega this summer, can’t justify spending 500 quid on the CCDB when the Vivid is such a good price with 98 percent of the performance.

i am a bit loathed to go coil due to weight and whole linear bit

How about;
http://locotuning.co.uk/dsp-dueler.html

they don’t have the correct eye 2 eye

🙁

how heavy are you zangolin?
I had not consider the plus but it looks alot cheaper what worries be is how much damping i can acheive at 220 psi

Medium fat – about 170lbs.

Got my shock from Dirtbikebitz – Choice of interest free options also between 6 to 18 months for the shock.

I’m running a monarch plus on my covert at about 235psi, 27.5%ish (lol) sag, really good small bumpage, rides reasonably high in travel, good pedal platform, ace feel for jumping/lively feel, I used to have a ccdb, this is almost identical but a lot lighter.

Monarch Plus is proving to be an excellent shock. I got onto it from the short write up in the Dirt 100 then a friend who test bikes for a living was raving about how good the plus was – so far I would agree.

I’m toying with the idea of trying a Monarch Plus as I’m blowing through all the travel way too easily currently, even with less sag.

What tune is recommended for a Monarch Plus?

High Vol Mid/Mid – tuned Monarch Plus for the NP Mega.
See here: http://www.qbp.com/diagrams/TechInfo/vivid.pdf

Ah, thanks fella. 🙂

reevil is your shock a high volume one? I’ve read that fitting some air can volume reducers can help the shock to ramp up more at the end without requiring high psi, maybe something to try?

Do these spacers exist for Rockshox or just for Fox?

Zangolin – does that tune on the plus work just for your weight or for the way the bike works?

Zangolin – does that tune on the plus work just for your weight or for the way the bike works?

Tune is for the frame + suspension travel – see this link for how the tune is matched up to the frame.
http://www.qbp.com/diagrams/TechInfo/vivid.pdf
NP Mega uses a 200mm eye to eye length with a 57mm stroke shock.
Rear travel is 150mm.

Well, tune should be for rate change, not just travel as an Orange 5, say, progresses through its travel rather differently to a Mega.

Pagey has a ccdb air on his Mega.

CCDB on my mega, great shock. Fantastic for the downhills and rough stuff, tracks well going uphill but it is slower and the shock is pretty heavy.

Zangolin : Monarch Plus is proving to be an excellent shock. I got onto it from the short write up in the Dirt 100 then a friend who test bikes for a living was raving about how good the plus was – so far I would agree.

How do you find this shock over rock gardens and on drops?
This is my next big purchase for my mega as the RT3 is blowing through tavel!

I called hotlines the other day and they recommended to me the Mid Rebound and High Compress shock. Just wondering how you came to your choice of the Mid/Mid option as its alot of cash to buy the wrong tune.

I plan to call TF Tuned and see what they say aswell before I make a
purchase.

Used this link as a guide.
http://www.qbp.com/diagrams/TechInfo/vivid.pdf
Lever ratio of 2.6 on the Mega frame 150/57
Just follow the charts on the link.

I felt the standard Monarch RT3 (Med/High tune) that came with the Mega was just not right for the type of riding I do – would have preferred a Med/Med tune. I guess they have to pick a general mid point that will suit the majority of riders. Lowering the IFP pressure made the RT3 better for me – but not exactly what I wanted. I also guess I could have got the shock tuned for my weight + riding style by TFT/Loco etc. But decided against that + went for the Plus after hearing a lot of good things about the M Plus and that it would be more suited for my riding needs. I also figured that I could then go down the road of having the shock custom tuned if it was not quite right – as it is the med/med is spot on. Feels good hammering down a rocky chute or a going of big drops to flat etc.

The guys at SDH have it wrong about the Mega, it wasn’t designed for an air shock specifically. In fact Nukeproofs exploded diagrams show it with a coil shock.

Anyway here’s the leverage curve.

It’s rising rate, so perfectly suited to a coil shock. It will make the beginning stroke suppler, the middle stroke firmer and the ending stroke suppler with a coil. (Beginning: the shock has less stiction – so plusher – Middle: Coil shocks offer more midrange support – Ending: The coil shock is less progressive so wont ramp up so much (I believe, could be bollocks).

Bikes that are specifically designed for airshocks like the Ibis HD160 have a leverage curve that is almost a mirror image of the Megas (I don’t believe Nukeproof could do this with a single pivot design, so they did their best just to flatten the midstroke leverage curve and make it more linear to reduce the wallow as much as they could). Bikes like the HD160 more effectively counter the mid stroke wallow of air shocks and create a more linear ending stroke ramp up, through an aggressive inverse picture of what you see above.

I’ll be changing to a Rock Shox Vivid or if I can afford it, a CCDB soon.

PS: A chap sent me a simulation force/displacement curve of a Mega with a coil shock. It shows it’s firmer at the end stroke but I’m not sure this is correct.

I barely understand a word of what you’re saying bwaarp, but I do know that I am totally unimpressed by the handling of my mega with both the monarch rt3 and coil dhx4. I’m sending the coil off to J-tech so we’ll see.

I don’t know much about suspension settings and curves but I do know that the giant reign I had before felt better than this. Shame.

I am getting more and more confused.

I am between a Monarch Plus or a Vivid. I cant really justify a CCDB for the riding I do.

I do know that the Team CRC guys run the CCDB Air shock as I seen that at Fort Bill but would like to know if its worth the addition 100notes?

Has anyone got any experience of the Mega with a Vivid or CCDB (might manage to stretch to one)? Or has anyone tuned the Standard RT3 and found that sorted the problems of blowing through the travel?

Gdub, are we taking CCDB air or coil? As I mentioned I have the coil one I picked it up 2nd hand for the same price as a vivid.

Kayak23 what is it you don’t like about your megas handling?

Go for the Monarch Plus – Vivid/CCDB air are not far off the same weight as a coil shock. M.Plus is really spot on for the Mega – Friend of mine also has an M.Plus on his Mega and he has been raving about how good it is – he’s out in the Alps for the summer season at the moment – so giving it a good hammering most days + it is standing up to it with no problems.

I think I will go for the Monarch Plus.
Does ur mate run the same tune?
Im planning a trip to Morzine next summer too.
Just wondering wat fork u run up front? Mine is a 170 lyrik RC2DH as I got the frame a year ago and built it myself. It is awesome frame. Never missed a beat yet!
Cheers for ur help Zangolin.

Mate is lucky enough to work as a full time bike tester/journo so had his shock custom tuned by the RS UK Techs.
Worth speaking to TFT to get a 2nd opinion on the tune though -I guess they can even custom tune the new shock if you purchase it from them.

All I can say is I’m happy with the High Vol Med/Med tune on my shock.

Lyrik UT coils up front – hopefully dual pos air in the next few months

Kayak23 what is it you don’t like about your megas handling?

Hard to put my finger on it exactly but it doesn’t feel as plush as my Reign felt. Putting a coil shock into my Reign was a revelation. It felt so planted and really felt a bit like my DH bike used to feel.

The same coil in the Mega just feels a bit…..meh.
The Monarch RT3 seems to feel fairly stiff and not so smooth when riding generally. I’ve played about with the sag but low enough to feel plusher means I max out the travel a lot.

Its a solid platform climbing etc, but downhill it just seems that it could be better, could feel as good as my Reign used to feel.

The same coil in the Mega just feels a bit…..meh.
The Monarch RT3 seems to feel fairly stiff and not so smooth when riding generally. I’ve played about with the sag but low enough to feel plusher means I max out the travel a lot.

If you have the right adapter then lowering the IFP pressure in the RT3 from 250psi will help it feel a little plusher. Try it in 5psi steps – but don’t go much lower than 220psi.

CCDB fan here!

The CCDB with Ti coil still weighed about 650g, so not light, but wouldn’t swap it back. It gives that planted feel my dh bike used to have in a package I can pedal all day, which is exactly what I was after.

Off to Chatel in about 3 weeks for 10 days, should be ideal 😀

thv3, that is blummin nice! Loving the silver with Ti spring, and I like your improvised bike-holder 😀

No Chain device though?

Chain device arrived and went on a couple of days later, I just didn’t have the patience when it was the only part left I was waiting on to complete the build.

Only things I’ve changed are the joplin to a reverb, and the 60mm stem to a 50mm. I really should bring out the camera for a more up to date pic.

Everything else has given me no trouble what so ever, only wish I could say the same about the “bike-holder” 😉

How come nobody has tried the cheapest option and got their standard shock tuned?

How come nobody has tried the cheapest option and got their standard shock tuned?

I’m having my Coil DHX tuned. I figure the Monarch will do for now for general riding but I want my DH shock on top form for a Euro trip…