Hi.
I recently purchased the above shock to replace the rt3 that came stock on my nukeproof mega tr. All though i liked some characteristics of the rt3 shock (poppy and lively) i found it harsh and it didnt track the trail very well so thought the debonair would help smooth it out a bit. Right the problem is the new shock came MM tune and the rt3 was ML tune, i wasnt sure how much of a difference the tune would make but as it turns out a massive difference. The shock feels horrible, if i set the sag up to 30% im using hardly any of the travel and if i set the shock up so that im using up the travel the sag is about 60-70% (im 12.4 stone kitted up). I ripped 2 pins out of my pedal on climbs over the weekend! The rebound is slow and the shock does not feel progressive at the end of its stroke.
Is it really as simple as sending it off to tf tuned, loco etc and it will come back a totally different shock or not necessarily? Ive just spent £250 on the shock and i am now looking at around £100 to get it tuned and now im wondering if its even worth the hassle! Could just sell it, count my losses, get the rt3 serviced and make do with it but i like the idea of the debonair and think it could work well on this bike. Anyone upgraded the shock on a TR and had the same probs? I know pretty much nowt about rear shocks so any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Mate had a Monarch on his TR. Tuned it, never felt “right” according to him. He bought a Cane Creek inline and loves it (plus he’s quicker now to, damn him).

Anyway, back to your problem. You have the wrong shim stacks in for your frame linkage rates. You need to spend money with someone who can sort that for you, Loco, TF, etc. You should probably have spoken to a professional beforehand, but hey ho.

Can you not retrofit a Debonair can to the RT3?

2013 RT3 can be retrofitted to debonair.

A new tune assembly for the RC3 should be about £50 if you can find one and fit it.

Edit

CC Inline should be considered or Yuo could also consider one of these for some reason they will be stupidly cheap in the USA.

http://www.pricepoint.com/Brand/Marzocchi/Marzocchi-053-S3C2R-Enduro-Rear-Shock-2015.axd

My RT3, after a bit of time got a warranty replacement, i ended up with a 2015 RT3 Debonair with a MM tune, it’s the best feeling shock i’ve had on a trail bike.

Whilst i was awaiting warranty, i purchased a DBair CS, was just going to sell whatever i got back from warranty, when i saw it was the newest, pimpest monarch, especially because it had a MM tune, i thought id give it a go, blown away.

I always felt the stock monarch i was playing the game between suppleness and progression/support even after playing with volume spacers. Would “dive” and bottom out, even with the volume reduced, well until sag was taken under 20%, therefore came to the conclusion damping was a bit weak, was going to retune.

Basically im surprised you’re having issues, always felt the ML tune was undergunned, MM tune is ideal, feel like the debonair monarch is far superior than the cane creek i tried.

Is the port to the neg chamber blocked? Are you lightly compressing the shock whilst inflating to equalise chambers?

Your symptoms sound like they’re linked to the neg chamber.

Yes, i am a fellow mega tr user.

Thanks for the replies. Yeah i realise now i should have bought from a suspension specialist, initially more expensive but would have been cheaper in the long run. Funnily enough i did look at the CC Inline but didnt get it coz of the price. Doh! Gonna have a serious look at it now though and as i understand it you fully tune it yourself yeah? Good idea about the air can upgrade if i can find one, and i assume this will not change the tune of the shock? Id have been very tempted by the marz at that price but it was u.s shipping only but good spot.

Hi deanfbm, well you’ve given me hope. Sounds like you know a lot more about it than i do. Should i be slightly compressing the shock as i pump it up? I have noticed in other threads people go on about how much air they have to put into the debonair shocks but im only needing 150psi, does that sound low to you? Im 12.4 stone kitted up.

Ok so it seems ive learnt a lesson today! Read the manual!! Thanks deanfbm, i compressed the shock at intervals during pumping it up, the pressure is now a more convincing 190 psi and the rebound is 7 clicks from fast which is a very positive sign, just need to get out and give it a proper test now. Hope i didnt do any damage to it on sat, i wasnt exactly easy on it.

Glad to hear you’re getting somewhere, you felt the shock suddenly compress more when the chambers equalized then?

I’m 13 stone kitted up, running 210psi, 190 is what i would have guessed for you.

What’s the diffence between the debonair rl and the rc3 besides the extra trail setting?

Yeah as soon as i compressed it and i felt it give i knew you had got it spot on. Really looking forward to having another go on it now. Hopefully ill feel as positive about the shock as you are. Cheers for the help

I have recently bought an RC3 debonair and can only get the sag to below 30% when I have pumped to 300psi. My shock came with no spacers so I believe I need to order these to bring the pressure down?

How did you get on with the shock, seems an awful pain to setup compared to my previous Fox RP2 which I simply pumped up and forgot about.

When you say that you need to pump up in intervals I tried this and it made no difference. I am almost tempted to just send back at this rate!

Pump the shock up and compress it a few times. When we were doing testing, we pumped the shock up, did some bunnyhops in the car park, before re-checknig again. Give it a go. If you don’t compresss it a few times it will feel really harsh because the negative chamber won’t be pressurised the same as the positive, and the negative chamber is vital to the Debonair’s performance.

Yeah I got caught out with the whole compressing the shock thing but it fixed the issue. Doubt this is the official way to do it but it worked for me:
Empty all of the air out of the shock, put about 50psi in the shock, now gently sit on the bike and compress the shock a few times by gently bouncing on it, now pump it up again to about 100 psi and do the whole sit down and bounce thing again, when you sit on the bike you kind of feel the shock give a bit. Keep doing this until you get to the required air pressure. Make sure you remove the shock when you do the whole compressing thing.

Hi, have you had a chance to ride it yet? I’m just about to order one for my TR and eager to know if you’re enjoying it.