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RockShox Damper Upgrade Kit - Charger2.1 RC2 [Rider Review]

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for.

When tuning your fork, there's sometimes a specific setting you want to make your fork feel buttery. Well, RockShox has you covered with upgrade dampers to achieve that specific setting you've been looking for. Our friend, Matthew, has been rocking the Charger 2.1 damper. See what they think!

Overview

I'm very much a “set it and forget it” rider for the most part. I tinker here and there. Tire pressure, a few PSI up or down in my shock. Maybe swap a stem or my grips (Ok.…I have a ton of grips). So, when I picked up a 2021 RockShox Pike “Select Plus” fork, I was perfectly happy. It was a good upgrade from an older Reba with a Motion Control damper. I rode it for a season not thinking much about the “RC” damper it came with. For the most part, I left the “compression knob” alone and only adjust the rebound from time to time if I was riding something very different than normal. To be frank about it, I never really noticed much of a difference in the RC’s damper adjustment anyway.

This year though, I started doing some additional digging into the current state of suspension adjustment (which is a whole lot different now than when I started riding mountain bikes…right around when Paul Turner released the RS-1 if you need a hint) and how it affects ride quality, traction, etc… After reading feedback on the RC charger that used terms like “meh”, “at least it’s better than MoCo” all the way to “it’s terrible” it got me reflecting on how my bike was riding.

When I settled on wanting better ride quality a new damper appeared as an obvious upgrade. In order to have adjustments for high-speed/low-speed compression in addition to rebound I chose to add the Charger 2.1 RC2 to an already good Pike (The ’21 model having the updated seal head in the air spring is also a bonus). Also, I heard good things about RC2. All of them were true! It really does transform the way the fork rides. The day after the installation I headed to one of my favorite Black Diamond descents. The difference was literally night and day. I never knew how “harsh” the RC was until the upgrade. This fork with this damper gobbled up the trail. It’s very difficult to adequately describe exactly how much better the front end of my bike felt. Adjectives such as “plush”, “planted” and “controlled” are easy targets though.

Why the RC2 (vs. RCT3)?

I will say I did think quite hard between the RC2 and the RCT3, which for all intents and purposes, locks out from what I understand. The user experiences I saw for the RCT3 indicated the ability to lock it out changed the ride quality, and I didn't feel the need for a lock-out requirement, even though I can remotely lock out my rear shock.

Installation

If you have the correct tools and know-how, installing the damper is quite simple. As a former professional mechanic (a long….long time ago…Paul Turner, remember?) and having serviced my more modern forks as well, this was not a barrier for me. I would suggest, if you don't possess the tools or experience, you may be best served to have a professional do the work. I took the installation as an opportunity to fully service the fork to include a 130mm to 140mm air spring swap, dust seals, foam rings, etc…. The whole process was dead simple and took maybe a beer…err…I mean an hour.