Fox or Rock Shox

[15315479]

After 5 years my rear shock is starting to give trouble. Now I have to decide between Rock Shox or Fox or more specifically Monarch RL or Floar RL? Can get both for roughly the same price. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

[Cruz Addict]

I have has some experience with both, my 2c worth is they are both very good shocks with very little to complain about on each.

My experience was that the fox handles the big stuff better than it handles the small stuff if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong it's not uncomfortable over small bumps but it does seem to feel slightly harder. On The big stuff and technical drop offs etc i was doing the shock seems like completely different in that the shock is plush all the way through the travel and feels like a million bucks under my ass.

The rock shock I found to be just as plush but it seemed to handle the small bumps in a more plush way if that makes sense. I also found it slightly easier to set the rock shock to my riding style but that may be because I had experience from 2 years worth of trial and error to learn from.

In short I don't think you will be making a mistake with either but if you can get the auto-sag rock shock version take that. It's a very nifty feature( don't know if fox has its version of this feature or nor but am sure they do)

As I say that's my experience and 2c

[captain morgan]

Fox rp23 or ctd

[jugheaddave]

Fox

[arendoog]

Have had both monarch and fox ctd .Liked both ,but they were on different frames .Foxrp23 and monarch were on the same frame and the monarch performed better .Fox ctd better than foxrp23 .monarch the same as fox ctd

If your rear shock lasted 5 years you are not riding enough to know the difference ?

Edited August 14, 2013 by Blitzer

[Skylark]

RS monarch, maintenance and reliability supposed to be better aswell

[Iwan Kemp]

RockShox for a couple of reasons

1. Every single dual suspension bike I've ever bought came OE with a Fox. Factory tuned to suit the bike and it's suspension design and so on and so forth. Every single time I tried the bike with a RockShox it was better FOR ME.
   
2. Fox's rebound and compression settings are quite wide. Rebound ranging from way too fast to way too slow. Most other manufacturers have cut down on top and low end in an effort to give the user a wider USABLE range.
   
3. Fox is still trying to nail CTD with a big redesign this year and no on knows whether it will yield the desired results. (Since the introduction of CTD quite a few manufacturers have moved away from Fox as OE)
   
4. Fox's local back-up and support is a distant third to RockShox
   
5. You will pay 2/3rds-ish for an equivalent RS compared to Fox
   
6. Fox SA (Omnico) only imports certain models. If you'd like to custom order (good luck!) it will take months and will cost both arms and a leg. Chances are, based on my experience, the order will get lost or the fork or shock will just never show up. I have ordered quite a few specifics from RS (Cape Cycle Systems) with great success. Wait time is 4-6 weeks and if it's in the AM catalogue you can order it, no hassle.
   
7. RS comes std with service kit in the box. Fox will set you back in the region of R600 - R750 to have serviced. Can also be done by yourself, but it's a nice touch by RS to include what you need from the off.
   

[Iwan Kemp]

if you can get the auto-sag rock shock version take that. It's a very nifty feature( don't know if fox has its version of this feature or nor but am sure they do)

Auto Sag is unique to Specialized / Fox at the moment. Rockshox does have sag marking on their forks and shocks which does help with set up.

 

http://sparkbrs.com/archives/3307

[Cruz Addict]

Auto Sag is unique to Specialized / Fox at the moment. Rockshox does have sag marking on their forks and shocks which does help with set up.

 

http://sparkbrs.com/archives/3307

 

lol poephol here got it the wrong way round, sorry. saw the feature on a mates spez, for some reason i assumed RS.