Rockshox deluxe select+

Is it really bad? Would it put you off an otherwise decent bike?

Or is it perfectly serviceable and a pleb like me wouldn’t know the difference between this and a top spec, unicorn tear filled, unobtanium coated, reserved only for angels, factory issued shock.

They’re fine. Unless you want top 5 in EWS?

If the select plus is the one with a 2 or 3 position compression lever and lsr adjustment it’s an ok shock. Depends what bike it’s on as to how good it is – I found my similar shock (previous version called an RT I think) blew through the midrange a little bit more than I’d like – but it wouldn’t put me off buying a bike. You can fit a Megneg to one for quite cheap if you want it to feel a bit more coil like (£90 or somewhere round that mark).

Good timing.
The Trek slash 7 I’m looking at has this rear shock I believe.
Is the megneg suitable for the ‘custom tuned for Trek’ ones too?

I have the Ultimate one (which gains the LSC 3-position adjuster) on my 130mm bike. Having not ridden anything higher-end, I don’t find it lacking. I wouldn’t know what I’m missing out on.

The Trek slash 7 I’m looking at has this rear shock I believe.
Is the megneg suitable for the ‘custom tuned for Trek’ ones too?

The Slash will have the Super Deluxe, surely?

If it’s the custom-Trek-tuned one, it won’t need a MegNeg, they are superb as they come.

It’s very difficult to figure out what’s going on in these shocks from Rockshox’s descriptions. I found the best way is actually to look at the exploded diagrams.

Turns out there’s very little difference between their rear shocks. It’s just adjustability.
(fwiw, I had the Super Deluxe RT3 (3 pos adjust) and Ultimate (LSC adjust + lockout) and I can’t tell the difference between them.

Diagrams
https://www.sram.com/globalassets/document-hierarchy/service-manuals/rockshox/rear-suspension/2018-2022-deluxe-service-manual.pdf

If they go through travel too easily, their re-valving instructions are also on the website…
https://www.sram.com/globalassets/document-hierarchy/tuning-manuals/rockshox-rear-shock-piston-tuning-guide.pdf

Wouldn’t put me off, but if you would rather have another shock, why not ask the shop how much it would cost to have it swapped?

@chapaking

Don’t think it’s the super deluxe on the Slash 7, this is what the spec sheet says;

RockShox Deluxe Select+, DebonAir spring, Select+ RL damper, 230×62.5 mm

Super deluxe on the next model up (8) I think, but I believe that one is thru shaft (the 7 isn’t) which I’m not fussed about.

Perfectly fine. The one you list is the same spec as mine. RL is rebound and lockout. Not loads of adjustment but most people don’t really need. Can still play with tokens if you need to adjust ramp up. Don’t worry about the Megneg unless you are willing to do a lot of fiddling taking spacers in and out of both sides and doing back to back runs. I tried one and hated it.
Give the shock a go before making any changes.

Right you are Jackal.

Ignore me then.

😀

but if you would rather have another shock, why not ask the shop how much it would cost to have it swapped?

It’s on a Canyon so that’s not an option. But it’s not that I would rather have another shock, just how important is it really I guess. There’s so many threads talking about adjusting and upgrading shocks, so is a cheap one a false economy, or more likely for me

I wouldn’t know what I’m missing out on.

But if

They’re fine. Unless you want top 5 in EWS?

Then why does anyone ever spend more than the £100 asking price for this shock.

Just mulling options over. After asking about Cotics last week, I’m now looking at the canyon spectral. I’m in a position where I could get the more expensive cf8 when it’s available. Or I could order the much cheaper cf7 which is available sooner and comes with this shock, but it’s otherwise adequately spec’d.

Then why does anyone ever spend more than the £100 asking price for this shock.

Why does anyone ever buy more expensive kit I guess. Some people are pickier then others about the feel of a bike.

My Sentinel came with a Float X Performance Elite which is a decent enough mid range shock. But I’ve upgraded it to a Cane Creek Kitsuma Coil because I prefer the mid stroke to hold up better whilst getting a better small bump performance. I found I was having to run the Fox at a psi that meant it wasn’t wildly plush at the small end to get it to sit where I wanted to in the stroke.

The Cane Creek coil instantly feels better – even though I think I’m one coil weight below where I should be (new spring is on order). I’m already going faster with the coil – just feels like I have more grip everywhere.

Edit – when I’ve had a RS Deluxe (one was an rt and one was an rt3) I’ve upgraded to the Megneg can both times. For me it was a no brainer – I just removed all the positive tokens and ran 2 bands in the negative side. I tried just running 1 band or no bands but I didn’t like the feel of it with those.