RockShox SIDLuxe Ultimate RL 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 launched the SidLuxe with weight in mind, while still having good small bump compliance. Our friend, Sean, just installed the new SidLuxe on their bike. Check out what they think!  

Overview

It is assumed that you have to have the best bikes, components, and gear to have fun mountain biking. Most of us that live on planet earth realize that that’s not practical financially or even fundamentally. However, there are some components on a bike that really enhance the ride. I have spent many years on both hardtail and on dual suspension bikes. I have been upgrading a 2011 Trek Wahoo hardtail to the point where the only original part was the frame. I did this over time and I feel that with the help of Worldwide Cyclery, I was able to make quite a shredder.

My sons have been shredding along with me thru many years and they have made do with Schwinn (Target bikes). I had a hard time justifying $2500-$5000 bikes for each of the three of them. Especially since, they outgrow them so quickly. Enter son’s birthday… and son not able to ride anymore because he has grown from 5’ to 6’ in a year. I did what any caring father, that likes to ride with his sons, would do… I gave him my beloved Trek. This left me out of a bike myself.

Little did I know when I gave my son the bike that I would be looking to buy a bike during a biking crisis. The only bikes in any bike shop in and around Nashville were eBikes, and a couple $12,000+ bikes. I searched for over a month until I found a 2021 Specialized Stumpjumper Alloy. This is a $2500 bike. It comes with some ok parts if you are a beginner trail rider. Some of it is actually decent. Great tires, decent rims, decent fork (basically 3 year old technology from Rockshox premium forks). However, the rear shock was trash. I don’t mean passable until you can afford a new one trash. I mean straight up trash. I am a 200 LBS rider. To get the sag that I needed the shock felt more like a stick in my backside. It had to go.

I could not find any information on replacing the shock. The internet seems to favor the carbon varieties of my bike. I get it… more interesting to most people. Specialized was of no help in this area, my LBS was of no help either because their supply chain is literally broken. They can’t get a shock if I gave them two months to do it. However, I have had great luck with Worldwide Cyclery’s customer service and tech support over the years. So, I gave them a call.

My customer service rep was able to look at the specs for my bike and recommend a shock that would fit my bike that was also in stock. Along comes the Rockshox SidLuxe Ultimate. Many of the reviews of this shock seemed to indicate the usual XC minded build, light weight, but lacking “on the fly” dampening. I hear XC and I’m out the door. Don’t want any light weight(=breaks easy) garbage. But, the shock arrived. And honestly, like it or not there really weren’t many options due to supply issues. So, I put the shock on my bike. I set it to 30% sag that us bigger fellows enjoy and then adjust the dampening to just below halfway.

What was my experience?

Well, the shock is very responsive and I had good feedback of light gravel terrain.

Rougher terrain though is where this shock shined. It absorbed every jump and rock garden with absolute stability. I didn’t get my teeth jarred loose and I didn’t get bucked over the bars. I rarely used full travel except on the biggest of jumps. I really thought the lack of ON THE FLY adjustments was going to bother me. You know what? I only adjust my bike when it needs to be adjusted. Once I fine tune the bike, I don’t mess with it. So, this isn’t a disadvantage. It’s not an advantage for me either… it is what it is. I mean honestly if you need to adjust a fork you stop and get off your bike and adjust it right? With this rear shock you do the same. I always carry a multi-tool so it’s really not difficult.

Final Thoughts

I don’t think this shock would be the best choice for enduro… obvious reasons. I mean true enduro shocks are a much beefier animal. But, it is a more than capable trail shock even though it is designed for XC bikes.