I’m about to get my Fox RP23 serviced so I can get it PUSH tuned at the same time to deal with the well documented foibles that stock tune fox shocks have.

This has always been my plan since the bike/shock was new, but on some of my bigger and longer descents its been getting a bit over faced and hot, with goose-squawking and inconsistent damping being the main issues that disappear once at the bottom. General riding appears to be fine.

So, I’m reaching the limitations of the shock in bigger country, and I wonder if getting a monarch plus might be a better idea to deal with the heat issue.

Does anyone know how a stock Monarch compares to a push turned shock? Any experiences of either, or something else?

Replaced a stock rp23 ctd on my cube stereo as it blew through travel and offered no support. I went for a standard 2015 monarch rt3 as the lower volume than the plus would help with support. Just back from a week around Sospel and it was a noticeable improvement over the ctd shock. Got mine from Germany for cheaps.

I had this decision to make recently and decided to get my RP23 push tuned. The key consideration is that a push tuned shock is tuned to your requirements, your weight, bike, riding style etc. A new stock shock may not offer the same improvement. Mine is on a mk2 Nomad and I am very happy with the results.
Edit – the push internals allow more oil flow which should reduce the amount of heat build up.

My Push Tune was underwhelming until I fitted one of those air spacers.
It may not cure all of your problems either.

Tuning depends on knowing what you want, new shocks might not fix the issues either.
As for the well known foibles of the rp, my last one was hanging in well for over an hour of alpine hammering in the mega and was doing better than my legs in that time.

What’s the big country you are riding?

Shock tune also pairs very closely with suspension design.

As with anything make a list of what’s really important to you and speak to an expert.

I had the same choice but different issue with my RP2 blowing through travel and small bump compliance.

Like said before, new shock will not be tuned for your bike and your riding style. I too went for a PUSH tune, Corset Air sleeve and a service! All of which have improved the shock.

The PUSH tune replaces the internals with components that allow more range of tuning in the first instance. I have had both my compression and rebound damping rejigged since the initial PUSH tune and there is a huge difference.

However I would have thought the piggy back reservoir on the Plus will address the heat issue that a custom tune cannot.

Have you spoken to TF?

Push made a big difference to my CTD. Performance was, almost, coil like. Very good small bump compliance and really good on big hits. You do need to know what you wan them to do though.
Another option could be the Vorsprung sleeve that TF do. Best place to start would be give them a ring. They are very helpful on the phone and can advise the best way to go.

I had an RP23 Pushed many years ago and wasn’t that impressed – back then I didn’t notice a significant difference.

Just had a 2013 CTD Pushed for my Helius AC and the difference is night and day. However, they know the Helius well (one of the staff has one) and I had a chat with them and knew what I wanted. Previously had the usual wallowy midstroke even with volume reducers in place – blew through most of the travel far too easily whether climbing or descending. Now feels very controlled descending at speed and on drops but also climbs superbly – feels like it has a lot of low speed compression but without bouncing off things. On a very rocky climb a few days back it felt firm but still tracked the ground over larger rock step ups.

Going back and reading http://www.tftuned.com/tech-help/72-push I’d say it does exactly what they claim.

Do give them a call to discuss – Vorsprung sleeve isn’t the solution for many frames. My question now is what’s the cheapest Fox shock I can get pushed for a future frame

OP, the inconsistent damping when the shock warms up maybe exaggerated due to gas in the oil.
A higher flow piston (as fitted on a push tune) will help a bit with heat build up (oil flowing through a constricted hole rather than a shim stack generates more heat) but ultimately the surface area & oil volume of the shock are the keys areas that affect heat dissipation & the resultant inconsistency of damping due the the temp.
A custom tune (like ours or push) will help to a certain extent, bit depending on use a different shock maybe be a better option.

As above, last year in the Alp’s i had similar to what you describe so when i returned i bought a FLOAT X with the Chamber, it was either that or a CC DB But i couldnt be arsed with all that faffing about, i had a 5th Element on a Bullit years ago and was always messing about with that so the Fox shock just seemed more simplistic. I did have it PUSH Tuned this year before the Alp’s and it was absolutely perfect, So if you are a big descender you are still going going to achieve similar results albeit with a tuned shock. it will react differently depending on what your requirements are but the overheating issue will still be there.

Good info chaps, Thanks.

Lakeland chunk is where it shows. Sticks pass, stakes pass, etc. I estimate its typically the bottom third of the descent, which is indicative to me of progressive heat build up.

I’ve looked at the vorsprung, but at 14st and the need to run approximately 30% more air pressure in them, I’m running uncomfortably close to the pressure limit. (Currently 1/3rd sag at 190psi).

I have spoken to tf, since I’ve had push shocks from them before and been delighted with them, but the added extra heat issue has me wondering about a shock with more oil.

They were damn good on advice and thought that the monarch plus would work well with my DW Sultan, but, of course, it wouldn’t be a custom tune and I might still face issues with the damping curiosities of the monarch. Of course, the flip side is that the pushed fox won’t handle the heat as well.

Budget option – PUSH

Ideal – Buy a Cane Creek DB 😀 (and they’re no faff if you get it set up by TF Tuned)

I wouldnt get too hung up on air pressure, I’m 15 Stone without riding clobber and running 225PSI, go big or go home is what they say apparently,

I’m 6’7″ though so its all relative.

While I have no issue with people tuning their shocks I’m always amazed by how far some people are willing to go to try and polish a turd. I can’t see why the cost/benefit of turning a CTD shock into a new debonair through two sets of improvements is attractive. Surely a CCDB, discounted Kirk or just a monarch are better value once you sell the old shock to some unsuspecting mincer who can’t resist kashima?

Float X is probably worth a tune up though.

There’s a 300psi pressure limit on Fox air shocks, although at 300 you’ll need a fair bit of rebound damping 😉

^ because the stock tune on most new shocks is, exactly that, a stock tune. Based on the average rider.
By having a shock tuned you can alter how it performs for you/your bike/riding style etc. Just because a shock is new doesn’t mean it’ll ‘bring the trails alive’.
CCDB aside of course.

Mafiafish – it not a CTD, it’s an RP23. Pushing a shock replaces all of the guts so it’s not a ‘tuned’ CTD anymore, but something rather different.

Re pressure, 30% more pressure on my existing gives me 275 and and loco points out is going to make the rebound work somewhat harder.

I think dead Kenny is bang on really.

Interesting stuff about heat build being less through shim stack than constricted hole, and gas in the oil which I guess will be more of an issue at high pressures.

Coinincidentally, I did Helvellyn a couple of weeks ago and was worried about heat build up but had no issues at all.

I have to pump 250 psi into my shock which is more than 30% more than the stock rp2, and I’m 80kg… I put it down to high leverage ratio rather than pies 🙄

I had my last Fox air shock Pushed and it still wasn’t quite up to that kind of riding TBH.

Without knowing what bike you have, I’d consider the Monarch Plus, CCDB Air etc instead. You’ll never look back.

From my personal experience with a dhx which was another shock that generally disappointed, the push tune made no noticeable difference.

What did, was getting the guts replaced with the avalanche ssv upgrade. That transformed the bike.

The bad news is, if you do it, you’ll end up having to do the forks as well it’s that good.