RockShox Monarch Plus RC3 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.

RockShox is one of the leading suspension manufacturers in the world. They produce some of the most trust worth shocks on the market and the Monarch Plus RC3 has stood the test of time. As many other manufacturers have discontinued shocks to present new ones, RockShox has kept the Monarch on the market. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Our friend, Gary recently purchased one of these Monarch Shocks. Let's see what he thought:

Gary's Review

I ride a 2008 Yeti 575. I blew out the RP23 last year and needed to replace it. While I was shopping on WWC, the chat popped up so I asked the person on the other end for some advice since I had never replaced a rear shock and wasn't sure what would work. They were very helpful and spent a lot of time answering my questions. I wanted an upgrade to the shock and not just a newer version of what I had originally. We decided that the new DPX2 shock from Fox would be what I needed.

Unfortunately, the pandemic is still affecting the global supply chain and the Fox product kept being delayed. I had a trip planned to ride the Monarch Crest trail and about a month out I was really nervous that the shock wouldn't be delivered in time. Fortunately, the team at WWC is very communicative. I received emails on a regular basis from the day I placed the order and they always replied within 24 hours when I had questions regarding the order.

I had gotten an email about the third delay. I responded and told them my situation. They immediately offered to substitute or refund my money. I looked at the website and there wasn't much available in the size I needed since my bike is so old. I did find a couple of shocks, but once again I didn't really know if they would be good for my Yeti. The RockShox Monarch RC3 Shock I thought would be good was set up at the factory for a Santa Cruz Tallboy, but it was the only thing in stock that was close to what I wanted.

I decided to call and David Zapata answered the phone. He was very patient and answered all of my questions. He never seemed like he needed to get me off the phone and move on to the next customer. Also, I had already purchased the mounting kit for the Fox shock and was concerned it wouldn't work. He explained that there were some bushings that needed to be pushed out on the RockShox and I could still use the kit I had ready to go.

After deciding to go with the RockShox Monarch Plus, which was less expensive than the original order, David told me to just go ahead and order it on the website and he would refund my original purchase. I did and my card was credited the original amount within a couple of days. Once I had ordered the new shock, David emailed me and asked if I wanted him to send the shock with the bushing pushed out so I didn't have to deal with that once I received it. It was a great customer service experience. That is a big deal to me. That level of detail and professionalism by the crew at WWC has earned my loyalty for any future purchases.

The shock-mounted easily, and the bike rides great. Better than it ever has. I got a couple of rides in locally before my trip to get it dialed in and took it to Monarch Crest, in Colorado.

The first day I just did about 11 miles of it, descending on Fooses Creek trail. Fooses Creek is a really fun downhill ride. About 5 miles. The first part is a really steep and gnarly section of scree, but once you get past that it's a blast. Very flowy, but still very chunky, single track. There is no way my RP23 would have handled that. The RockShox Monarch never complained.

After riding some other areas at lower elevations for a couple of days, It was time to check off a bucket list item. Monarch Crest Trail Epic. Again the bike rode amazingly well and handled this killer trail with no problem. The Silver Creek trail section was very similar to Fooses Creek trail and the Monarch Plus handled it with ease. There is also over 2400 feet of climbing on this ride. The shock has three settings and unlike my previous shock, the firm setting really did help with the climbing. The only limiting factor was me, which is the way it should be.

Conclusion

"Overall, my experience with WWC has been great. If you are looking for anything bike-related, without any hesitation, I recommend giving them a call or just order from their site. They are the number one shop for any bike parts and accessories." - Gary