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Interesting, certainly.
I may have missed it but I'd be interested to know if the same results are true across a range of power outputs/speeds.
The guy did his climb at 250W which is decent but hardly flat out. It would be interesting to know if things changed at higher numbers. So if you were racing and attacking would it help. What about sprinting?
By definition damped suspension will absorb energy. But to what effect? a gentle smoothing out of the inherently unsmooth bipedal pedalling motion may be a good thing on a non perfect surface, even if it is a loss of a small amount of peak power at the wheel.
Personally I lock my suspension for hard efforts - either pushing on, or when its steep enough that my 10 speed is going to need a bit of standing and mashing.
Efficiency at the same power is all well and good, but for me, its whether locking out suspension makes it possible to apply more power in a controlled manner. If that's the case then it's good and doing what I want it to.
I'm conflicted by this and Levy's PB bro science look at efficiency between bike platforms.. perhaps it is this simple and perhaps I'm just looking to justify my thoughts that my bike is quicker and more efficient with lockout activated.
I use lockout (Scott lock/traction/full travel) based on the visual terrain ahead of me rather than an indiscriminate on/off mode used here.
Now, whilst I appreciate there has to be at least one constant/control data point and power is the easiest to work with, what bothers me is delivering a constant and consistent effort at the pedals doesn't equate to an actual mountain bike ride.
My local climbs would be exactly the opposite of this and I may have some short sections of constant pedaling effort, there will be many switchbacks, many short sharp gradient changes, sometimes up and over rocky/rooty terrain, some smooth. Applying constant power at the pedals is impossible. If I had to just grind up a dull as dishwater incline at constant output, I probably wouldn't bother riding a bike.
So, whilst we need a constant data point, I wonder why this isn't approached from one of the other variables?
Rather than fixed power, could we use time as the control? Back to back runs requiring you to get to the top in the exact same time and see which of setup required the least energy expenditure to do it?
Tricky...
What about energy as the constant. Apply a calorie/wattage budget and see how far up a climb you get before having expended that allowance? The further you get up the climb presumably demonstates the more efficient set-up.
I'm 100% sure that I would be slower up my local climbs in fully open mode.
I'm also 100% sure that lockout as a variable state would the the fastest option.
I'm 99% sure that constant lockout would be quicker than constant open on everything except a property technical climb.
Well that was a waste of ten minutes! Not a single mention of anti-squat, gearing, shock tuning or the height, weight and power of riders.
So a skinny XC rider on an XC bike on a dirt climb is no more efficient with the suspension locked than unlocked? Quelle surprise!
Will give it a watch, thanks. IME I used to trumpet lockout forks for timely ‘efficiency gains’ on smooth(er) terrain and tarmac transitions but over the years realised that it’s for me it’s more about about having the direct ‘feel’ of a rigid bike as and when I wish. Also being a bit chunky has made me appreciate diddly over squat when honking.
I only ever lock mine out on tarmac or a long steady smooth fire road type climb, it just feels better.
What relevance does that have to his argument? Those are just words to describe physical features of bikes; his point is agnostic to those features because they are fixed, and he's only changing one variable.
You may as well say "but he hasn't considered if the bike is red or blue?".
a skinny xc rider on an xc bike is no more efficient with the suspension unlocked quelle surprise
Actually, to most xc racers, this is a surprise. Probably could have skipped your dig at his body shape tho.
what @steve_b77 says ** i dont bother touhcing mine, offroad a tyre that tracks the ground feels far better than wattage and a shaky bike
** unless its an enduro event/race and i do not touch the suspension on climbs :0)
ps. roadies say 23mm tyres at 120psi is the best, i much prefer to overtake said roadie on my 38mm with 33 psi