Been offered the above piggy back shock, at the min I’ve got an RP23 boost valve that’s good but the pro pedal doesn’t and never really has given me a great deal of support when climbing, even after tuning and sending away for servicing
I like the idea of proper climbing lockout and better adjustment and control and the bit of extra weight doesn’t bother me.
Thanks for any real work experiences.

Bump

What frame would you be fitting this to? And what compression tune is on your shock? Is it out of the box, standard for the frame?

200×57 med and med going on a 2013 zesty
Have you tried one???

I’ve heard they are good but need regular servicing.

Good 🙂

So, I’ve had a zesty. I found it needed higher compression than normal, the monarch provides this, as the tune on a med comp tune is higher than that or the rp23.

However, you could have your rp23 shimmed for more compression.

I’ve got an rp23 now, and moving to a rc3 plus tomorrow.

The mid stroke support is supposed to be better with the rc3, as I find the rp23 blows through its travel, and if you reduce the volume it becomes too harsh.

Plus… Seals aren’t supposed to be as good as fox, so need changing regularly.

Learn how to do it, buy seal packs. Do it often. Win.

chrisdiesel: You say your RP23 doesn’t offer you enough pro pedal to restrict movement/lock the shock, even after tuning. But then you say its got Med/Med tuning. Surely if you’ve paid to have it tuned you would have got it tuned to Firm?
The ones i’ve riden with firm compression tune have been virtually locked out when the pro pedal lever is on and the adjuster dial set to 3.

Thanks for the responses, I wasn’t happy with my RP23 (stock) I sent it to loco to have a kashima upgrade and custom tune and address the poor pro pedal performance, the shock descends great does blow through the travel a bit quick but the pro pedal is still terrible can almost not feel any difference!!! But when my bike had a stock rp2 the pro pedal was almost like a lock out!!!
I’ve heard good things about the rc3 and have always had fox stuff all the way until I fitted the new pike forks, now I’ve kind of seen the light and fancy trying out other brands

Slight hijack Chris… do you know if the 07 1.6 petrol 16v Xsara Picasso has a DMF or not? 🙂

Petrol with a DMF?!

I know, ‘apparently’ I’ve been told the 16v has a DMF to make clutch/etc smoother. I said ‘madness if true’!

I’d doubt it, must be on the 1.6 diesel. There’re not going to be enough torque going through the flywheel to warrant the DMF.

A quick google, and it looks like standard clutch kits for the petrol, and DMF for the diesels.

Anyway… you’ll need a solid answer, not just my musings.

I’ll post up about the RC3 as soon as I’ve ridden it to get back on track!

Slight hijack Chris… do you know if the 07 1.6 petrol 16v Xsara Picasso has a DMF or not?

I would question your use of the word slight there 😀

I’ve just built up a 2013 NP Mega and after a couple of rides I can say that the compression damping is much more noticeable on the monarch compared to the RP23 equipped frames I’ve ridden.

I’ve only tried it on the mid and min settings so far as the mid provides more than enough damping for me on pedally sections. So much so that I think I’ll probably end up leaving it on the Min setting most of the time.

Hora , no it hasn’t , good engine but watch for oil leak from the front of the head and noisy tappets from use with low or no oil!!!
Much better than the under powered 8v version driving wise

Cheers Chris, I was surprised considering its bulk. Saying that it needs wrestling around bends. 😀

People are marmite about the look of xsara picasso but they are a good car!!! Keep the oil topped up and you should have any issues

Marmite? Its **** ugly as sin. I could get away with it if I only drove at night or the windows were small but its like a Goldfish bowl crossed with the pope mobile. I’m on display to everyone ‘hey look I have no visual taste or eyesite folks’!

I’m going to cover it in dirt like I don’t care 8) With the three rear seats removed though its a airbed/sleepover/bike van

yeah, just got my 2014 monarch RT back from SRAM, its only done 200km from new but according to the service sheet it was full of dirty water and needed the seals replacing, Id say probably 150K were in filthy conditions but ive serviced my fox shocks after much more abuse and only fount a bit of dirty grease at worst.

The shock itself performs very nicely, just a bit concerned about long term requirements!

So how did the monarch plus work on the zesty? Tempted with the same but would like to hear about your experience? Cheers.

I’ve had mine for a while now, the compression damping is excellent as is the dual flow rebound, and fast recovery rebound.

All that adds up to a shock with really good mid stroke support, it just bouys the bike up in its travel, the rp23 on my 5spot always used to get bogged down in the travel, especially on tabletops.

The rc3 just feels better overall. It feels very similar to the difference between an older rockshox fork and a new Pike.

Rickon, I have one coming for my 5 spot when loco gets it. Do u run compression damping off all the time?

Yes, off all the time. You don’t need it dialled in, there’s enough support to have it open all the time.

Make sure Loco has it tuned to low/low for you.

I did find the mounting spacers were too wide for the 5spot’s rocker arm, and lower pivot mount. I needed to sand off about 0.2mm from them to get it to fit, so just be aware if you do start going a bit mental because it wont fit.

Possibly measure your current OD on your shock, and let Loco know, so he can machine it down if possible.

Transforms the Spot.

Excellent, thanks for that. Good advice 🙂

My bike now has the monarch plus at the rear and pike up front, the monarch is good no complains at all but not out of this world better like the change from float 150 to the pike 160 saying that I’ve only had a 3/4 rides on it so early days