Quick poll....
Presuming you've a MTB which has a shock and/or forks which can be run in a variety of modes, such as lockout/climb/descend/open etc, do you use and switch between the various suspension modes, or just leave them set in 'open' all the time?
I'm interested in how many riders proactively use the various modes, or whether in reality for the average rider they are just a 'marketing' feature.
fwiw - I just leave my shock (Fox Float CTD) and forks (Pikes) in open (descend) mode all the time.
Yes.
But then I am far from average 😛
Nope, I ride all my bikes rigid.
Too old and easily confused.
Shock yes, forks maybe.
On the XC race bike it's bar mounted so it's easy and makes enough of a difference when racing to make sure I do it. On the trail bike (vpp) the difference is much smaller but worth it on the big climbs
Fox Float CTD fork always in Trail.
Fox Float CTD shock, use all 3 modes.
what tim said. ALl my stuff (at least for the next two days) is fully rigid. Havent ridden suspension for over 5 years.
never use lock out me. 🙂
Yes I adjust mine constantly. But I know that some of my mates just leave them open all the time.
Yup. Got a Lefty Supermaxso an easy reach for the button and a Fox Dyad with a decent remote. Be rude not to. There again not too much need to do it 'round here.
No because my bike works properly 😀
Fiddle with the rear shock a bit (CTD with trail adjust) but generally leave the fork open unless I'm on a road section. That's on a single pivot bike (Five).
In general I'd say that I fiddle less as time goes by. I used to always be flicking switches, but these days it tends to be Climb when I'm climbing something relatively smooth and Open the rest of the time, with the fork only being touched once in a blue moon.
I did find that I needed to lock the front fork yesterday when trying to ride uphill through the snow, but that's pretty rare.
Yes, change my forks from locked / climb / open all the time when riding.
I wouldn't have bought a bike that I needed to switch. From experience I know that I'm always in the wrong mode due to forgetfulness.
Forks yes sometimes but depends how long and technical the climb is and how fun the descent is as I've fubarred my Revs more than once leaving them locked out whilst doing descents with drops, jumps etc, even with the floodgate.....banging full travel with them locked is not good 😆
On my shock I remember to use climb on the ups and then usually remember to use descend mid way on the downs.
Forks, fully open all the time.
I do on the shock but very rarely on the forks. But then I have suspension designed correctly, for descending, without silly compromises.
PS winky face.
Leave them open.
Unless im really sturggling up a climb, then its as firm as they go, in the belief that this will make the climb a breeze.
It doesn't.
T then forget to switch back to fully open for the descent.
Then at the bottom i swear a lot, switch to fully open and the whole process repeats.
As an example I did 2 stages (of 4) of an enduro with my rear shock (and maybe one of them with the fork done too) locked out. Apparently there wasnt a 'half hardtail' category, despite my protestations
Nope. Got it all tuned to a silly level so it's fully functional full time.
Onzadog - Member
Nope. Got it all tuned to a silly level so it's fully functional full time
What compromise do you have it tuned for?
Nope, run pike rct3s and a Db inline so appropriate use of low speed compression damping makes it fairly unnecessary. On long climbs I might lock out but usually don't bother.
Shock just gets left alone. Sag and rebound set to suit me, that's it, Maestro , ( Giant's rear set up )doesn't bob much.
Lock my fork now and again on long fire road or dull big climbs, like many , forget to unlock it , but threshold thing set, so anything nasty and it should ( er hem, ) spring back to life.
Mostly though it just gets left alone.
Same set up as mrhoppy and the same in use too.
When I remember yes
I ride a specialized so yes, I do use the rear lockout on every uphill unless it's mega tech. On the forks it is rare for me to use trail mode on my Pikes, i run them in open or locked for normal riding and locked on uphills that are smoother than a fireroad. I run them in just trail mode in races.
Forks stay the same 95% of the time (if I am riding downhill I may add a bit of compression damping)
Shock get used in all three settings. Lock for local flat trails and climbing. Middle setting for rougher stuff and fully open for downhill.
I've just got a monarch debonair and am very impressed with it and how well it works in all three settings.
Open all the time. I'm quite happy riding like this.
At the minute - no.
PP on the RP2 doesn't do anything (bought to trial 200x57mm so I knew that when I bought it), but would if I had a CCDB Inline.
De-floodgated the Lyrik.
Mrhoppy & downhilldave - what bikes have you got? My bandit bobs quite a bit with the inline fully open. Will try adjusting LSC a bit more
Shock yes
Fork rarely
Presuming you've a MTB which has a shock and/or forks
I love the 'fully rigid' brigade whenever there's a question about suspension. Typical STW response.
mikewsmith - Member
Onzadog - Member
Nope. Got it all tuned to a silly level so it's fully functional full timeWhat compromise do you have it tuned for?
Who says there has to be a compromise?
I'm on a spectral now, I had an rp23 on my Bandit and had that tuned by j-tech so that I didn't need to bother so I'm sure I could have sorted it with an inline.
I tend to find I like a bit more compression and a bit less rebound damping than the factory settings from the 2 bikes I've had dbs on.
If the climb is smooth I'll lock both front and rear (Bos Kirk & rockshox pike rct3), if its a bit bumpy I'll leave it open
Who says there has to be a compromise?
Even with the most efficient pedal platform I've felt lock out to be better for hard pedalling, same as descend being better full open and some being better in the middle trail settings, if you tune for one thing it's hard to tune for all.
Cheers mrhoppy
Fork- never
Shock- fairly often
Yes with the fork (reba rl) but only for long draggy climbs, but my shock (rp23) spends most of it's time in pro-pedal 2 (maybe 3 if I'm racing) mode and only really gets fully opened if really thrashing it down a long downhill (eg alps/BPW)
Fork most of the time but on road I am a stand up climber - no tif it is massively rough and i need to track
Rear cannot lock but do switch RP between climb and not climb - though I dont notice much if i forget - up ir down tbh with rear.
Fork - yes. Mainly for the geometry. I find that a 6" fork tends to waggle around on longer climbs. At 4" setting, it gets me in a better position over the front for climbing.
Shock - Hardly ever.
Reverb - up and down more times than a whore's drawers.
On a xc hard tail, so the fork is just locked out riding 2 km on tarmac (includes a very steep hill) to trailhead and fork is left open for the actual off road riding 🙂
Nah. Always forget to unlock so just leave everything set to "fun" and spin up the hills nice and steady.
Same as esher
Fork, no it stays open (nicely set up Rev) . No climb issues.
Shock: currently have a plain Float so no real adjustment. Just about to add a ctd so may play with it for a bit. Zesty doesn't really need adjustment.
Older chameleon with RC2 36 Talas: mostly run at middle travel, occasionally long or short.
fork: never alter damping/lock; sometimes dropped in travel if there's a long climb coming up (balanced against the near-certainty that I'll forget to raise it for the way down)
shock, never altered during a ride at all (giant maestro, doesn't really bob so no point IME)
Not locked me fork out or reduced the travel since I forgot to switch them back and nearly died.
Yep, climb for climbing unless it's really rough, trail for most stuff that's not climb and descend for fun stuff.
I have takes the remote off my fork since I realised I set most of my fasted dh times with it mistakenly locked out. It is a cheapo fork though.
Fork.... occasionally for climbing, mostly on the road.
Shock (ctd)... yes, but mostly in trail
Pikes are duals so I drop to 130 for climbs, often change to pedal from charger as well
Shock is CCDBair so no need as it is lush on the way up and the way down
Dropping the front end seems to help me but I'm 42
Turner Sultan - Pikes fully open. RP23 fully open as it didn't make much difference. Recently replaced it with a CCDB inline and the difference between fully open and closed is huge. Sits right up in the travel and barely moves closed, climbs really well. Bobs and climbs like a dog when open but feels coil like going down. Don't like having to remember but if that's the price you pay I'm pretty happy with it.
Coil Pikes here on a Blue Pig. I change the travel and the lockout whenever I feel like it during a ride, quite often. Fettle the platform when I set off to match my loaded weight and maybe change the rebound a few times a year to suit the temperature, or maybe if I was wearing a massive pack.
Fork, no (havent got it now anyway, but never used to with previous)
Shock, now that I have CTD I do. I use all 3 if terrain suits.
revs : one click of compression damping all the time never locked out
rp23: pro pedal when climbing
Fork is lockout, only ever used on long road or forest road climbs.
Never needed to lock out either the shock or forks and I've had single pivot designs and DW/Meastro links....also used both Fox and Rockshox forks and shocks...I have yet to experience this mythical 'pedal bob'....maybe I've been lucky, I do however tend to ride a FS differently to a HT so maybe that's it?...I stand and stomp the pedals on my HT but sit and smoothly spin on a FS.
I use the TRC on my Devilles on longer climbs/flats and on road. I doubt I'd miss it if it was gone though.
Only for road when riding to the trails. I had a rp23 on the 5 and I put it on 3 for road rising then set it to 1when I got to the trails so I could switch between 1 for long flat climbs and open for everything else. If I could be arsed.
The patriot has none of these knobs, and I don't really care.
Only potentially really useful thing ws the motion control setup on the revs. I had it relatively open when switched on, so it was stiff enough not to budge but would still move on a big hit. The reason this was useful was I also used it on very steep nadgery stuff to effectively prevent fork dive and consequent OTB.
Even with the most efficient pedal platform [u]I've felt lock out to be better[/u] for hard pedalling, same as descend being better full open and some being better in the middle trail settings, if you tune for one thing it's hard to tune for all.
So it's subjective then? Guess we're okay to be different if that's the case.
Oh yeah.. The xc race bike has a full lockout for the 80mm forks which I hate, because it makes the fork 30% longer.
Don't have lockout, but never felt the need. My custom altered forks work nicely with no bob, so I'm happy.
Used to use the propedal lever on the trek fuel. Got a Codeine now, which pedals well enough without having a lever. The only time I'll consider using a fork lockout is on the singlespeed. the rest of the time IMO lockouts are just irritating.
No, not usually. My brain can't cope with such complicated decisions.
If I know a certain terrain/ride/event demands a certain set-up then I will do that before though.
Open always. If I fiddle mid ride I'll forget to change it back.
Besides, climb modes and lockouts I've never found make any difference to climbing, even with a CCDB. I notice on descent though and prefer open. I'm also used to forks with no lockout. Technique is a fair bit to do with it.
I tend to forget to change the switches.... Leave fork/shock in trail until I'm blowing out my arse on a climb and realise it would be a whole lot easier if I locked everything out, by which time I'm usually near the top. I'm sure I'll learn one day 😀
Never locked out forks. On my last FS (Heckler with a coil DHX5) it'd get a couple more clicks of PP for extended transport sections.
I use the features so that I can access the cool marketing on the fly and my riding is off the hook riding like a boss.
On my AM bike it set to
Shock - Trail
Forks - Descend
I never ... (unless at a TC) change the settings.
My HT
Forks are 99% open unless a really long dull road climb. Which I try to avoid anyway.
Mine are both open all the time, for one very good reason. I am guaranteed to leave them in climb mode for descending. Every time.
Forks very occasionally normally left full open
shock use all three settings during a ride
The big bike has CCDBa with no climb switch so it stays as is. It bobs a bit, but not enough to worry me and fees great on teh fun bits. I've never used the TRC function on my Devilles since I've had them whilst riding.
On my hardtail, the 34's stay in Descend mode. They've been fiddled with by Mojo and feel pretty good in this mode all the time.
I use both quite a bit, lock both if on road, lock the fork and set the shock to Pro pedal on climbs and both open for downhills.
If it's a techy trail where I don't have chance to play with the switches I don't mind leaving them open all the way around the bike isn't too bobby.
2014 CTD here (newer damper, less dive). I ride my anthem 29 in Trail mode for racing, Open for everything else.
Yep lock forks (RS Reba) on my hardtail for any smooth paths (tarmac, fireroads and the like) and for climbing & sprinting.
Pikes RCT3 - always open
Pushed RP23 - mostly open until I rarely remember I have a PP switch
On a 2011 Yeti 575
Yes mostly too differentiate between road/fire-road and off-road
but certain climbs I might lock the back
Fork - never. Rear shock (Bos Vipr) occasionally turn the TRC on for long road climbs. Wouldn't miss it if it wasn't there and off road the bike grips better on steep tech climbs with the shock fully open.
When there is a road section between two bits of trail, yes. Otherwise I run it quite soft, but with a bit of low speed compression.