Kona Process 153 significant shock wear on RockShox Monarch Plus RC3

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues with their Kona Process 153 in regard to shock wear.

I’ve had my current Process less than 3 months and I’ve already got significant wear/scoring on the underside of the shock (in a very isolated area). The bike has had a fair amount of riding in 3 months with several trips to alps/Madeira etc… but this seems abnormal to me.

This is the second Process I’ve had (the first one was stolen!) and they’ve both done the same thing. Last time I replaced the Monarch with a CCDB Air and that also failed (air in negative chamber!).

I’m just wondering if this is just me or similar for others with this bike and possibly to understand the cause!

Thanks – Jonny

not a shock on bikes with yolks

did you follow the service intervals? there’s not much oil in there, if you’ve missed services then not surprising it’s dried up and been damaged.

My coating has worn a lot on mine. Went within a year, i’ll be sending it back hopefully with a warranty cover.

Wear on Monarch shafts is a pretty common problem regardless of suspension design. Lots of similar reports on t’internet

never had an issue with mine

The monarch on mine didnt have very good sealing, back under warranty after 2 months, they accused me of jetwashing it as it was full of dirty water, I hadnt tho, itd just been ridden through a british winter. Anyway swapped out the replacement for a Fox and its still going strong 2.5 years later, i changed the seals a couple wof week ago and theres no wear on it

Id speak to sram they are pretty good with warranty, but sell the replacement and buy a fox one

poah – Member
never had an issue with mine

You’re my hero

Mine has been fine (had it two years and it’s just been serviced), but I mate with the same bike had his replaced due to a scored shaft.

TF mentioned to him that the suspension design with the yoke is probably to blame, I bow to their superior knowledge and experience. Maybe it’s a QC issue with the frame assembly/welding?

BoardinBob – Member

poah – Member
never had an issue with mine

You’re my hero

you’re just a troll

Hi jonnyblease,

What did you do/find out regarding your shock issue? Flipped my bike over (which is also a Process 153) this morning to take the wheel off and noticed wear on the underside of my stantion. I bought the frame during a trip to the US in July last year so just about got some warranty left on the shock but im expecting the whole thing to be a bit of a nightmare due to me being back here in the UK now. Ive only been riding the bike since January so im pretty surprised to find this problem as i have never had issues with monarch shocks in the past. Hope its not going to be an ongoing problem with this bike as i really do like it.

Thanks Paul.

My 134DL had the same problem , TF didn’t think it was a warranty issue so I bought a replacement from them . Since I’ve contacted Sram , they said send it back through the shop I bought the bike from . Apparently I’m getting a replacement next week , just leaves me the problem of flogging it 🙁

It would seem to be a bit of a design issue with the konas but maybe its the 2015 monarchs and a 2016 replacement will sort it out! Either way im not fancying the idea of posting my shock all the way to the blooming States. Ive contacted the store i got it from so ill wait to hear what they have to say.

Mine was from 2014 ,!

Trigr, SRAM are pretty good with warranty, might be worth droping them an email

Cheers Kimbers, ill mail Sram aswell and see how i get on.

Good luck.

My pikes compression cart blew, I got it back from Sram/Fisher five weeks later with a solo air spring full of a shit tonne of grease to the point it was packing the fork down in its travel.

Move to a coil, they tend to resist load on the rear better – also…one less thing to go wrong.

That aint good Tom, i hear very mixed responses regarding Sram warranty so i hope im one of the lucky ones. I appreciate a coil shock would more likely be hassle free and great for the downhill days but for the mixed riding i do an air shock is the sensible option for my bike.

I destroyed the monarch on my El Guapo after about 20 months of use. Both internals and stanchion wear it got warrantied by SRAM.

I had significant wear on my monarch plus on my Process 153 after less than 6 months riding. I got it warrantied after a bit of hassle – Fishers initially tried to fob me off and say it wasn’t maintained properly, so I pointed out that it was less than 6 months old. Good luck

Something I’m watching for myself, but I’m aware of premature shaft wear on a few Monarchs that have been on other bikes (my old Giant and a pal’s Canyon).

So not sure I’d jump to conclusions about the Process, may just be a common issue with the shocks.

Had the same issue on the monarch plus I put on my stumpy evo. It had started to wear in less than a month! Fisher warranteed it (eventually), they are assembled pretty much bone dry apart from a smear of grease for some reason.

Just got mine back from sram with the same issue. It was on a Transition Patrol and six month’s old. They charged me over a £100 saying it was a maintenance issue. I paid under protest because I needed the bike back quickly and I’m tying to appeal but so far no luck. Sram haven’t had the decency to reply to my emails. I ride regularly with four other guy’s. Three of us have bike’s less than one year old with monarch rc3’s and everyone’s has had seal issues. I’m the only one that hasn’t been sorted under warranty. Not a happy bunny with sram at the moment.

I have discovered scoring on my monarch plus debonair 222*66. Riding a capra al2. I clean the stanchion up to the seals with warm soapy water after each ride and alos use a bit of fork juice to help shift any clogged dirt so couldn’t understand how the scoring had happened. Think I’ll be contacting my LBS with a fishers account tomorrow sounds like it might actually be a manufacturing / warranty issue.

I haven’t heard back from Sram or the shop i purchased the frame from yet, maybe they have bank holiday mondays in America too!! Are people having the same issues with the 2016 monarch shocks as I understand these use different seals?

Mine was new around Easter. Just found the stanchion worn. I wipe the shock shaft down after every ride, keep the seal lined with finish line stanchion lube and do an air can service when it stops throwing its guts up all over the shaft. Not sure what more I could do to look after it. I’m also running the top shock pin without spacers to make sure there are no side loads.

The wear isn’t on the sides though, it’s towards the seat tube which protects it from any wheel spray. Not sure what more I could do to nurse this shock. Think I’d rather have an exploding x2.

Not sure what more I could do to look after it.

just buy a fox shock

I had one of the 1st 153s in the country, the sealing on the monarch failed after 3 months of winter riding

2 years and 9 months on the 2nd hand float dhx that replaced it and its still fine

Mine and my mates Monarchs wore through the coating on Transition Smugglers within 6 months. Both got sent back to Fishers and received brand new replacements

I’d much rather something that worked rather than got replaced every 6 months. Given the last one took 6 weeks to turn around, I might have to buy a third one to use as a spare when one of my two have gone back to Fisher again.