RockShox’s Deluxe and Super Deluxe rear shock absorbers received a complete overhaul for 2023 with a completely new chassis, a wide-adjustable RC2T shock absorber, two air springs and a hydraulic bottom on certain models.
The latest RC2T shock absorber – this means “bounce”; compression with two settings (high- and low-speed compression) and threshold (blocking) “- claims to eliminate” cross-talk “between high-speed and low-speed compression settings.
This means that riders must be able to adjust the individual compression circuits without one affecting the other.
In addition to the stated lack of “mutual conversations”, RockShox says that the adjustment range of the new RC2T shock absorber is wide enough so that each main tune overlaps with the next harder and lighter tune.
Next is the bottom-out hydraulic system, a completely new feature for the RockShox shock absorbers. This uses a separate piston to “catch” the oil to provide resistance from the bottom out towards the end of the shock absorber stroke.
Five things you need to know about RockShox 2023 shock absorbers
- The Deluxe and Super Deluxe shock absorbers – both in their coil and air spring versions – are new for 2023.
- Super Deluxe air shock absorbers have non-adjustable hydraulic system from the bottom out, while Super Deluxe shock absorbers have adjustable hydraulic bottoms
- The all-new RC2T shock absorber features a wide range of low and high speed compression settings
- SRAM claims to have eliminated “cross-talk” between low-speed and high-speed compression circuits, allowing them to work individually from each other
- The Deluxe and Super Deluxe air spring versions feature RockShox’s new DebonAir + spring with two spring types
Super Deluxe with air spring is available with two air springs, progressive and linear version to offer increased adjustment options.
Upgrading to Super Deluxe Ultimate 2023 starts at £ 482 / $ 499 / € 539 for the Ultimate DH coil and goes up to £ 578 / $ 599 / € 648 for Super Deluxe Ultimate air, making them more affordable than the comparable Factor Float of Fox and X2 Factory rear shock absorbers.
The 2023 shock absorbers are available in pin and standard eyelet versions. Mick Kirkman / RockShox
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe RC2T shock absorber
It is claimed that the low and high compression rate corrections do not interfere with each other. Mick Kirkman / RockShox
The all-new RC2T shock absorber has a number of external settings that build on the offerings of the previous Super Deluxe version.
The highest specification Super Deluxe Ultimate – in both coil and air spring versions – has external compression control for low and high speed and rebound control at low speed of the RC2T shock absorber.
More stories about the launch of RockShox in 2023
RockShox claims that the new shock absorber has no “mutual talks” between the settings. This means that increasing the depreciation at low speed will not affect the depreciation at high speed or vice versa.
The brand says it has done this with a new valve system in which the oil first passes through the high-speed compression circuit and then through the low-speed circuit.
The high-speed compression regulator has five positions. Mick Kirkman / RockShox
To get started, the shock absorber settings of the new shock absorber are so wide that at the fully closed or fully open ends of its adjustment range, it sits in the middle of the next standard setting up or down.
This extremely wide range of adjustment should mean that any adjustment of the high- or low-speed compression discs has a pronounced effect on how the impact is felt. Each adjustment must make a significant change in the operation of the shock absorber.
And the width means that a basic shock-absorbing melody is now even more suitable for many motorcycles, where a full re-drive will be needed before.
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe hydraulic bottom out
The HBO regulator has five positions. Mick Kirkman / RockShox
The Hydraulic Bottom Out (HBO) system is the first for the RockShox suspension brand, but has already been used for Push’s ElevenSix and EXT’s Storia shock absorbers.
RockShox’s HBO system uses a secondary piston that slides into the HBO cylinder as it hits the bottom out, “trapping” the oil in the cylinder and creating pressure to generate resistance from the bottom out.
Super Deluxe air-spring shock absorbers have HBO, but are not adjustable. RockShox
In the new Super Deluxe shock absorbers, the HBO system is used in conjunction with traditional rubber armor from the bottom out.
Super Deluxe Ultimate, Select + and Select all with air springs have an unregulated HBO system that starts to activate after the shock absorber enters the last 25 percent of its stroke. Super Deluxe is also available without the HBO system.
In the Ultimate, Select + and Select versions of Super Deluxe with coil springs, HBO has five adjustment positions where the rider can adjust how much HBO provides the shock absorber. Unlike the air shock, the coil version provides HBO with 20 percent of the shock absorber stroke.
The Super Deluxe coil version has an adjustable hydraulic bottom. RockShox
Compared to adjusting the resistance from the bottom out with the help of spacers to reduce the volume of air shock absorbers, HBO does not affect the speed of the shock absorber spring as it reduces the volume of the air spring. HBO essentially increases compression depreciation for the last part of the trip.
Drivers using an air spring damper may find that they are able to reduce the number of spacers to reduce the volume of their bike, as the HBO system is able to compensate for the reduction in spring speed.
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe DebonAir + air spring
RockShox’s 2023 Super Deluxe has two different air springs that offer many adjustment options. Mick Kirkman / RockShox
Adding to the Super Deluxe tuning options is the DebonAir + air spring. RockShox’s latest air spring has two different types: progressive and linear.
The progressive version is like the MegNeg spring, which has a larger negative air volume than the linear one, which is said to create a “more playful and dynamic air spring”. It is best suited for frameworks with linear – or less progressive – leverage rates.
Frames with more progressive leverage levels are more suitable for a linear air spring, as the kinematics create resistance from the bottom out, so the spring does not need this.
This Super Deluxe has a linear air spring installed. Mick Kirkman / RockShox
Both types of springs are interchangeable with all RockShox 2023 air spring shock absorbers, but are not backward compatible with previous models. The same story is for the volume reduction spacers, which are completely new to the 2023 line and are not backward compatible.
But now there are negative and positive air spring spacers, which further expand the possibilities for fine-tuning.
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe models, specifications and prices
The Super Deluxe coil version has an adjustable hydraulic bottom. Mick Kirkman / RockShox
Both the 2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate air and coil spring versions and the Super Deluxe Ultimate DH coil spring version are the only models available as upgrades on the second market. However, other versions will be mounted on fully built bicycles.
Super Deluxe Ultimate DH air, which uses the same RC2 shock absorber as the Ultimate version but no locking lever or threshold, is among those shock absorbers available only as original equipment.
Other models include Select +, which has only bounce and threshold (RT) adjustment, and Select, which includes only bounce and threshold adjustment (R).
According to RockShox, the RC and R rear shock absorbers can be upgraded to the RC2T version, but the upgrade involves replacing the tank and will require venting and service.
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate. RockShox
- Shock absorber: RC2T
- Hydraulic lower outlet: Fixed position, optional
- Air spring: DebonAir + linear or progressive
- Price: £ 578 / $ 599 / € 648
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Coil Ultimate
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Coil Ultimate. RockShox
- Shock absorber: RC2T
- Hydraulic bottom: adjustable, optional
- Price: £ 530 / $ 549 / € 594
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate DH
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate DH. RockShox
- Shock absorber: RC2
- Hydraulic lower outlet: Fixed position, optional
- Air spring: DebonAir + linear or progressive
- Price: OE only
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Coil Ultimate DH
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Coil Ultimate DH. RockShox
- Shock absorber: RC2
- Hydraulic bottom: adjustable, optional
- Price: £ 482 / $ 499 / € 539
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Select +
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Select +. RockShox
- Shock Absorber: RT
- Hydraulic lower outlet: Fixed position, optional
- Air spring: DebonAir + linear or progressive
- Price: OE only
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Coil Select +
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Coil Select +. RockShox
- Shock Absorber: RT
- Hydraulic bottom: adjustable, optional
- Price: OE only
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Select
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Select. RockShox
- Shock absorber: R
- Hydraulic lower outlet: Fixed position, optional
- Air spring: DebonAir + linear or progressive
- Price: OE only
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Coil Select
2023 RockShox Super Deluxe Coil Select. RockShox
- Shock Absorber: RT
- Hydraulic bottom: adjustable, optional
- Price: OE only
2023 RockShox Deluxe models, specifications and prices
The lighter, track-oriented, Deluxe shock absorber also received a major overhaul for 2023.
Changes to the previous model include DebonAir + linear and progressive air springs shared with Super Deluxe. RockShox also increased bushing overlap by 25 percent to improve performance on small shocks.
However, none of the Deluxe shock absorbers are compatible with HBO.
The brand also introduced the Deluxe Coil shock absorber, which also uses a built-in design, giving up the back of the Super Deluxe. This model is only available as original equipment.
The only Deluxe secondary shock absorber – the Ultimate version – retails for £ 385 / $ 399 / € 431.
2023 RockShox Deluxe Ultimate
2023 RockShox Deluxe …
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