RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate review: simply the best rear shock you can buy

SQUIRREL_13183354

RockShox’s new do-it-all Super Deluxe Ultimate air shock has a free-moving, super-supple initial stroke that boosts grip, comfort and control in the diciest terrain.

On the trail, its performance is transformative, offering levels of composure I didn’t think were possible on the 130mm-travel Marin Rift Zone test bike.

To do this, the 2025 iteration has had some performance-enhancing updates.

By increasing oil flow across the low- and high-speed compression circuits and redesigning the main piston to further increase oil flow, while reducing the force required to open the rebound circuit, RockShox hopes the new Super Deluxe is smoother than ever.

For the £579 / $599 / €649 asking price, the new Super Deluxe Ultimate – with the right tune for your bike – is one of the best upgrades you can make, period.

RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate rear shock specifications and details

Headlining the updates to the 2025 Super Deluxe Ultimate is a redesigned main piston and reservoir, both claimed to increase oil flow through the damping circuits.

According to RockShox, this should improve traction thanks to a reduction in compression damping, but also increase the external compression adjuster’s range.

In theory, the shock will be more adaptable to specific conditions, rider needs and bikes.

On top of the redesigned main piston and more oil going through both the low- and high-speed (LSC and HSC respectively), the rebound check plate has been lightened.

By reducing the force required to open the rebound circuit, RockShox claims the “transition between damping circuits” is smoother.

The previous iteration’s external adjustments remain. Along with the LSC and HSC, there’s low-speed rebound (LSR) and the optional but non-adjustable hydraulic bottom-out (HBO) system that works in the last 20 per cent of the shock’s stroke.

Volume reducers can be added to the air spring, and three air springs are available (‘linear XL’, ‘linear’ and ‘progressive’).

Including the 25xM8 hardware, my 210x55mm metric Super Deluxe Ultimate weighed 489g.

RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate rear shock performance

I tested RockShox’s Super Deluxe Ultimate on my long-term test bike, the Marin Rift Zone XR. This bike has a single-pivot suspension layout with 130mm of travel.

It’s roughly 22 per cent progressive, which makes it well suited to both air and coil-sprung shocks.

I tested the shock on my home trails in Scotland’s Tweed Valley over a six-month period. Conditions ranged from mid-summer dusty, hard-baked trails through to autumnal slop and freeze-dried early-winter dust.

RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate rear shock setup

Fitted with the linear air spring, I installed two volume-reducer spacers to help the HBO cushion full-travel hits.

I initially inflated the air spring to 190psi, but during the first test sessions, I reduced this to 180psi and finally 170psi, which gave me 28 per cent sag.

My test shock is fitted with the second-lightest R55 and lightest C26 rebound and compression tunes.

Starting with the adjusters (LSC, HSC, LSR) set to their mid-points, during the initial test sessions I felt I wanted it to move more freely, so I wound them incrementally further and further open.

I ended up with all the adjusters set to their fully open positions.

This felt amazing on the trails, and was the exact balance of sensitivity and support I was looking for. For my weight, riding style and preferences, the tunes don’t need to be lighter, but lighter riders may be lusting after even less damping.

On balance, I’d like to be in the middle of the adjustment range and, given a choice, I would plump for the lightest R25 rebound tune if I could.

Still, once the spring was inflated to 170psi with two volume-reducer spacers and the damping fully open, I was very satisfied with the Super Deluxe Ultimate’s setup.

RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate rear-shock adjustability

Despite ending up fully open on all the adjusters, the effect each adjustment has on the shock is marked.

Dial in low-speed compression and it sits much higher in its travel overall, particularly around berms and through compressions.

Add high-speed compression and it uses less travel on square-edge bumps, but harshness creeps in once the dial is more than three-quarters closed. Be wary of adding too much high-speed damping – you want your shock to move as freely as possible.

Equally, the rebound adjuster has a marked effect, but once again, in my opinion you want the rear wheel to spend as much time in contact with the ground as possible, so it should be as open as you can bear.

RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate rear shock on-trail feel

Defying the usual hesitant off-the-top feel of an air shock, the Super Deluxe is fantastically supple.

It cycles between its compression and rebound stroke smoothly and seamlessly, regardless of where it’s sitting in its travel.

Rumbly fire-road chatter, such as from embedded stones and the like, is smoothed over entirely; glance at the shock while you’re riding and it’s visibly responsive and fluttery, moving over time through its travel.

The performance here is extraordinary – and only a coil-sprung Fox DHX2 with the lightest tune can come close to just how swift its movement is.

Luxurious comfort and masses of grip

This top-tier comfort also has practical implications beyond soothing your backside when charging around trail centres or down fireroads.

Up the ante by increasing the terrain’s technicality and that supple movement keeps the back wheel stuck to the trail’s contours, boosting grip and control.

The extra grip on tap compared to the Rifty’s stock Super Deluxe Select+ is transformative, enhancing the bike’s capabilities beyond other upgrades.

Shifting the Rifty’s performance from being a skippy and bouncy bruiser, absorbing one in two bumps, to feeling like one of the plushest and most active bikes I’d ever ridden cemented the Super Deluxe’s performance.

Plough into matted roots or embedded rocks and the rear end reacts instantly, helping the back wheel track each and every contour.

So adept and controlled is the shock that it made the Rifty feel as if it had an extra 20 or even 30mm of travel.

Deep-travel control

With the MY25 Super Deluxe, you can have your cake and eat it. There’s no trade-off for all that delicious off-the-top performance deeper into its travel.

Mid-stroke support is plentiful; in high-load berms, it doesn’t bomb through its stroke, and neither does it seesaw its way down the trail oscillating uncontrollably up and down with the slightest weight shift. Stability is one of its main traits.

I could still push, pump and pop the terrain, but I did so with way more control and comfort compared to the old Super Deluxe.

This amplifies the control garnered from its smoothness, culminating in one of the best-feeling bottom-outs on the market.

The spring’s ramp-up, plus the HBO, work in conjunction to keep it from harshly hitting full travel.

After a descent, the shock’s O-ring will frequently be sitting at the end of the shaft, but at no point during the run did I feel as if the bike had used full travel or was even close to bottoming out.

Travel control is exemplary, and it’s used so effectively to keep control maxed out and you fully insulated from the trail’s worst bumps.

RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate rear shock bottom line

RockShox is on a roll with its MY25 kit – and the Super Deluxe Ultimate continues that theme.

With suppleness that beats even the most active coil shocks, exceptional mid-stroke support that creates ride-stabilising control, and full-travel ramp-up that has a bottomless feel, you no longer need to pick performance elements at the detriment of others.

The Super Deluxe Ultimate is the best rear shock available, and hands-down the best upgrade I’ve ever made to my Rift Zone, vastly improving its performance.