RockShox Charger2 Damper Upgrade Kit: Customer Review

Looking to get a bit more adjustment out of your current RockShox fork? Well, now you can with the Charger2 Damper Upgrade Kit! Our great customer Tim upgraded his RockShoxYari with a new Charger2 kit and is a huge fan. Check it out!

Overview

I purchased a slightly used 2017 Giant Trance Advanced 2 recently that had a RockShox Yari 150mm fork. Although the Motion Control damper on the Yari was pretty good, I decided to upgrade it with the Charger2 RCT Damper upgrade kit since the trails I ride in Colorado are pretty rugged. I found it on sale at Worldwide Cyclery plus I had a discount coupon from a previous order, so I ordered it along with the 2019 Lyrik/Yari air-spring upgrade kit.

Installation

Having serviced the Fox fork on my other bike several times, I installed both the damper and air-spring myself. The RockShox instructions were very detailed and the installation was straightforward. It was no more difficult than doing a lower leg service.

Performance

I would consider myself an intermediate level recreational rider. Most of my riding is on very rocky single track with half of the riding being moderately fast downhill. I had been riding a cross-country bike with 100 mm of travel which was pretty rough on the rocky downhills. I recently bought a new trail bike equipped with a longer travel 150 mm RockShox Yari fork. While the longer travel Yari with the motion control damper was a big improvement over the 100 mm fork, it was still riding a little harsh. I was looking for an improvement in both the small bump compliance and better damping on the bigger hits to make my rides more enjoyable and less fatiguing to the arms and shoulders. After doing some research, I determined the best approach was to simply upgrade my existing Yari fork with the Charger2 RTC3 upgrade kit and the 2019 air-spring upgrade kit rather than purchase a new fork.

Final Thoughts

I've ridden the bike several times since the upgrade and I can tell a significant difference in the small bump compliance and big hit performance of the upgraded fork. One of the advantages of the Charger2 damper over the motion control damper is it stays consistent during long descents whereas the motion control damper starts to spike after a few minutes. The upgrade also reduced the weight of the fork. It makes riding on the rocky trails much more enjoyable and less fatiguing. I would definitely recommend these two upgrades if you have a RockShox Yari or Revelation fork. It's actually a pretty inexpensive way to turn a good Yari fork into a great fork equivalent to the premium RockShox 2019 Lyrik fork. Definitely worth the cost.