RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate Coil RCT Rear Shock [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. 

If you have been riding an air shock your whole life, it might be time to mess around with a coil. They provide a much more supple and forgiving ride which many riders prefer. Check out this review from our customer Larry. He recently picked up a new RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate coil shock. Read on to hear what he had to say!

Overview

In December of 2020, I completed a full frame-up build of a Yeti SB130. Everything really turned out on this build and I was totally stoked from the initial pedal stroke. After a few months of riding and tweaking the suspension, tire pressure, and other settings, I just couldn’t help the feeling of thinking the rear could feel better. The stock DPX2 rear shock was a solid performer but I just kept finding small compromises when trying to balance air pressure, volume spacers, and overall shock feel. At 30% sag, I was finding the end of the shock too often and the bike wallowed a bit around the sag point.

With more air pressure, the rear wasn’t as compliant and didn’t track as well in the limestone brail that is prevalent on my local trails. With volume spacers installed I could rectify some of this, but the rebound from deeper in the travel became spikey. I had thought about going coil but also knew the SB130 wasn’t a particularly progressive rate frame and didn’t want to over spring in an effort to combat bottom out. Right about this time is when Cascade Components released their Yeti linkages that increased the progressivity of the leverage rate. This combine with my coil curiosity pushed me over the edge to give it all a try. I purchased a RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate Coil RCT rear shock from Worldwide as well as a Cascade Link directly from Cascade Components.

Performance

The combination of these two has really taken the SB130’s suspension performance to another level. It was already the most efficient full suspension trail bike I had ridden with an awesome ability to get power to the ground and with the coil installed, the control and support were on point and very predictable. The midrange support may be the biggest bonus for me personally. The awkward tech that my local tails offer up requires some finesse and benefit from a suspension setup that recovers quickly and stays up in its travel. The coil really makes sense in this setting.

All of the square edges and jagged obstacles are much more easily navigated as a result of the abundant traction as well. The rear end of the bike just doesn’t ever feel like it gets in its own way. The action is just a much more “free” feeling.

Finding the correct spring rate proved a little more involved than the air shock. As with seemingly everything biking, I’m a tweener. At 5’11” I’m always dead in between M and L, same with clothing, and in this setup at 185ish lbs, between on spring rates of 550 and 500. Fortunately, EXT makes a 525 spring that fits the RockShox Ultimate Deluxe. This gave me about 27% sag, excellent small bump compliance and traction, and plenty of support. The added weight has been unnoticed on the trail so no worries there.

Final Thoughts

The fit and finish of the shock are superb and so far I have no concerns about reliability or robustness. It’s a solidly built piece of gear. The rebound knob is a little tough to adjust but that’s just being picky. I’m happy having found just what I was looking for and am looking down the road to a custom tune when it’s time for a rebuild.