RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate RC2T 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.

We all love a shock that is easy to tune and allows us to find that perfect setting where the bike feels like a cloud in the rocks but still pops when jumping. RockShox's Super Deluxe Ultimate strives to achieve just that for the rider. Our customer has installed the shock on their bike. See what they think! 

Overview

I purchased the super deluxe ultimate as an upgrade for my Santa Cruz Hightower 2021. The bike had a base fox shock and I wanted to get the shock the bike was really designed around. I had upgraded the fork to a lyrik and made many other small changes but this was the last piece. I decided to go with the newest version of the shock because why not and having more settings would allow me to tune the bike further.

The shock was extremely easy to install and I went ahead and put new bushings in as well. I do a lot of bike maintenance myself but I wouldn’t call myself a master mechanic by any means. All in removing the old shock and installing the new one was about 30 minutes. I needed a small vice to push in the new bushings and a torque wrench to set the bolts to factory torque settings. I used a bike stand to keep things steady.

My first ride out after setting sag I noticed an immediate difference! First of all setting sag on this shock is incredibly easy with the sag markers and allows me not to have to carry a small ruler. The Hightower with its lower shock mount has a very small viewing window so this helps a lot with getting the bike set quickly. Right out of the gate I picked a fairly rocky trail because I enjoy those type of trails and wanted to see the difference. I couldn’t believe how cushy it was compared to the original low spec factory shock. I made multiple adjustments to the low speed compression as I rode and was able to really feel the tuning in the shock. The old fox float dps really had no compression settings and felt more like a pogo stick than this did. My feet were solid on the pedals times where normally they would have been shaken off and the settings had huge effect with each click.

Previous experiences with other bikes and shocks the settings made such small changes it was hard to know if I was making things worse or better and many times I’d find myself in a place where I just had to start from scratch. I really was impressed by the amount of difference in the clicks allowing me to bracket settings and quickly find a place where the bike felt comfortable and playful without spending all day sessioning and tuning. Previously on my original shock I felt like I could never quite get the bike feeling like how I imagined an expensive full suspension bike should feel. Turns out you need to spend the money on the shock.

Final Thoughts

The purchasing experience was seamless with worldwide cyclery. I really appreciate that even though the shock was initially out of stock I could place a special order and they replied within a few hours and kept me up to date one where I was in the process of getting my new shock. This has been the single best upgrade to my bike!