I got one of the light blue 2018 from leisure lakes then upgraded the fork by having them fit a debonair air spring & charger 2.1, which made it a similar price to the newer version (they didn’t have a large 2019 – deffo a nicer colour). I was also happy to have the “posher” Reverb.
However, 2 rides in and the reverb was creaking and groaning like mad, with about 1 cm side to side at the saddle tip and about 8mm up & down movement. The forks also feel very “lazy” too.
I’ve never really liked the feel of RS suspension; I feel they have too much high speed compression damping and I’ve experienced arm pump, which is something I’ve never had with my personal favourites Bos & Marzocchi. I particularly dislike MC damping and find it dead and lifeless. I’d hoped the changes I made would help the feel but if I’m honest they still feel over damped everywhere. It’s still early days and I’m hoping the over damped feel is down to the forks still being new & them not yet being bedded in.
If I were buying again I’d probably still buy the cheaper bike but not spend the extra on the damping & spring but maybe save up for some different forks altogether. I’ve swapped the rear shock for a CCDBinline coil, which is a world different to the deluxe rt.