[Closed] Running your forks in 'open' all the time

I do, i have a set of Magura Thor's and they really don't need the Albert Select or LSC on most of the time. Fit and forget 😀

I had some air pikes which I killed the remote for, learned to live with it. If I'm riding with friends the pace tends to be slower so rarely lock out, if on my own I might be giving it a bit more, and like you say, descending on road.

I do this. I ditched the pushloc on my Rebas and replaced it with a short piece of cable just to keep the dial in a nearly fully open position. I can't say I miss the adjustability, but rather find it liberating to have one less switch to faff with.

I currently run Sektor DPC with proper crown lockout but don't touch that either, just dial it in for the trails (one or two clicks from fully open in my case) and leave it forever. I don't ever bother with the travel adjust either.

Er... always. I pretty much hate any faffage with my suspension front or rear during a ride. I want it fit-and-forget not faff-and-forget-to-change-for-the-uphill/doonhall.

The Rev's I'm currently using have a lockout (thresh-hold thingy) and I've ended using it a few times to see if I like it. It feels useful for out of the saddle honking up fireroads but even then I don't like that the fork is at full length as it feels wrong without the sag. I'm thinking I'd rather not have the option.

intersting - all replies so far suggest i wont really massively notice it- winner!

i am thinking the road climbs are steep and mostly seated for the them, long and drawn out, so the forks wont be compressing much then anyways...

i reckon the only time id not need it is when road descending, but then TBH ive usually forgot to lock it back out anyways after a off-road section

I leave them 'open' on all but long road-climbs and never 'close' them on trails.

Vanillas. No choice 🙂

Took my pop lock off to save weight . Afterall i tend not to mash on roads.

Off road suspension is benificial on climbs too i dont understand why folk lock out unless on a singlespeed and mashing

I tend to leave mine open all the time, partly because I'm in the habit of forgetting I've locked them out until a nanosecond before landing after getting some air!

'zocchi 44RC3ti on the FS - no lockout, no faff.
I don't bother messing with the rear shock either any more.

and I've taken the push-lock and cable off the rebas on my hardtail, just leaving it open all the time. Not missed it TBH.

I never bother with lockout - even for XC racing and for Trailquests with a few fast road miles in. I do run my forks relatively hard though.

Depends on the type of riding.
Before I got my road bike, I used my Inbred for on & off-road duties with a second set of wheels for the road.
It made a noticeable difference locking the fork-out when on a 'road ride', although this was mainly down to the feel of the bike. I am not sure it actually lost me much time.
I don't think I have used the lockout once on my FSR, although I do drop the fork down to 100mm for long, steep climbs.

I close my forks off when I ride to the shops.

That's about it...

Ditch all the sh*t like the remote lockout mallarky. Never touch it.
Same as rear PP. I just put my shock on PP1 (for the comp damping) and leave permanently

Keep It Simple

Another one here. Running Dual air RLTi Revsand never touch the adjustments at all, I have them how I like and don't feel the need to change it. I specifically seek out forks with no travel adjust or lockout because they work better, are more reliable, lighter and cheaper.

I had a OTB at the Peel centre cafe 😳 when It opened and snapped my pop loc on my canyon. I got a replacement but couldn't be arsed to fit It so my Recon Golds are permanently open. I've got the air set to 80 - 100mm travel and dont see any downside what so ever.
Sadly I do forget to open my rear shock quite a bit though.

What is this lockout you speak of?

IMO suspension should be set up and then left alone. The only reason to change it is when you go somewhere with drastically different terrain i.e a proper downhill track, or the alps.

I lock my forks perhaps annually, and that's usually when I'm stopped because the lever is something to play with.

Always open on mine- ended up removing the floodgate entirely on my Lyriks. very occasionally I use it on the revs just to add a bit of compression damping but not as a lockout/pedalling aid.

I use a bit of propedal on shocks but forks don't need it as much IMO.

Use the shocks propedal a bit on steep stuff and the road but the floodgate never gets used on my forks. In fact I'm going to completely remove it from my Lyriks on the next service.

To contrast, I have a mate who is forever fiddling with his forks and shock. Faffage of the highest order. His bars look like the flight deck of a helicopter. 🙄

jesus - it seems like i was the minority then always opening / locking them

righty saved me a few quid, sounds like ill get used to it anyways, thanks guys!

i never lock forks anymore, changed my poploc to a crown top adjust.

ive used lockouts, lock downs, remotes but much prefer to accept that i chose suspension forks and ride them.

never lock rear suspension either, i use a pro-pedal type setting for most trails and then open it fully for bigger stuff.

I only lock mine if I'm sprinting (standing) up a hill.

I only lock mine if I'm sprinting (standing) up a hill.

+1. And that's a rare occurrence as I'm usually trying to preserve what energy I have. I rarely touch the knob.

I do use the Climb-mode on the shock when climbing to minimise the effect of clumsy body movements on my overall balance. It's nice because the suspension remain active and stills claws up stuff. The overall effect is easier climbing than on my HT where I'm inclined to bump-stall or get unbalanced and spin-stall.

cheers folks - puts my mind at ease and saved me alot of cash and a bit of weight off the bike too 😉

ill still use climb mode on the shock as above, leaving it in open on climbs leaves it bobbing alot, so i defo see the point in having the rear shock set to stiffer...but again thats preference by the sounds of it...

more interested that folk as a general rule of thumb, dont give 2 shites about the lockout on forks....good enough for me!

I'm another one in the "set it and forget it" camp, particularly with my forks, although on my hardtail they have a nasty habit of locking themselves.

I occasionally lockout my rear shock on a long climb, but invariably forget to unlock them on the next descent

fully open always on my sektor coils. I do use the DPC on the longer climbs as drops the front end and steepens the head angle.

I leave them 'open' on all but long road-climbs and never 'close' them on trails.

I started fiddling with u-turn and lockout when I first got my forks.

Halfway up a climb I'd realise I was on full travel and/or lockout. Possibly stop and adjust, then I'd realise going downhill I was on short travel etc.

So now I never touch them.

If you're not racing, who cares? I have bar mounted front and rear lockouts, but often don't bother touching them if not racing.

Bit of Albert select on my Thors which gets turned off if I'm climbing up any significant ( if I remember)

Only useful if you singlespeed imo as you're standing up and mashing the climbs. Even then it's not the end of the world. Can't really understand why you'd need to lock the forks if you're sat down whilst climbing.

I 'lock' my forks to climb out of the saddle, which I do a lot. Then I tend to leave them and find I only turn them on for a proper down or a really rooty up.

Right now I wouldn't buy forks with out a 'lockout'.

Binned the lock out on my rebas never used it I just don't bounce when I'm climbing.

Maybe it says something about my riding style, but I use the lockout on my Pikes all the time, usually if climbing up anything for a minute or more, and I'm more likely to use them when I stand up. Same with the old Recons, Toras and Blacks before them...

In Wales, for example I was fiddling with Lockout and U-Turn all the time [well usually when we were stopped and having 'refreshment'].

The exception seems to be when climbing up extremely steep slopes: with the travel adjust all the way down I leave them open to keep the front wheel from throwing me up/back. This is always in the granny with the seat up high.

I DO ride 2 rigid bikes a lot though - so I feel and resent the loss of power.

Having said that I am loving the feel of working suspension again since I serviced the Pikes!

On the trails I'm a fully open man...

Tried pp on the vf2 and hated how it sat up the frame. First thing I did on the rocket was dismiss out completely. If you can cycle up the firmounth without then, in mybook, you definitely don't need it.

Bought two sets of RS last year and never even contemplated fitting the poplock. But I tend to run a firm fork to try and minimise any diving. Turns out that what suits me.

That said, I've the forks locked out on the soul atm, but that's because I'm using it to commute to work couple times a week. Otherwise I'd just pump the forkers up.

Don't have lock out and have never felt the need for it.
I do think people have a tendency to run their suspension too soft as they like to feel it working even at speeds where it's not really necessary.
All academic anyway as lockout does nothing when you're wheelying! 😀

Big waste of time, I do drop the frontend travel however which is more important imo.

robinlaidlaw - Member
Running Dual air RLTi Revsand never touch the adjustments at all, I have them how I like and don't feel the need to change it. I specifically seek out forks with no travel adjust or lockout because they work better, are more reliable, lighter and cheaper.

I do the same with my BOS Devilles. Set and forget. I'd never use it even if I had it. And with my BOS Vip'R rear shock, the shock and frame combination pedals so well that I don't use the lockout on that either.

I owned my Rebas for a year before I even fitted the poploc. I've got some Revs with a crown lockout too, which barely gets used.

Never use the lockout on mine.

I would only regret using it halfway down the first descent. In fact I had a really odd night the last winter when my night was full of silly little offs, got back to the pub to find I'd not only been adapting to Singlespeed but rigid too! Balls to lockouts..

Even when I raced, I always left them open.

I have rebas and only use the closey thing when riding on the road to get to the woods
I had adjustable toras and after many months I settled on a height that worked (somewhere in the middle ish) and left it there

best not to overthink these kinda things and just get on and ride 8)

I added a couple of clicks of compression to my lyriks when I entered am xc race. 😀

My pikes were run open all the time. I turned the lock out and u-turn adjusters a few times a year to make sure they still worked, thats about it. Swapped them for N.O.S 2006 'zocchi Z1 RC2s, which are still the best forks I've ever ridden.

If only Marzocchi would start making open bath coil forks again....

I find the rear makes more difference but I will add some compression some times.

About to move to CTD so will see how that goes.

On a full-suss it's open front and rear all the time. The bike always seems to climb better when seated and spinning. Better traction if hitting square edge bumps. For hardtail use, front suss maybe better locked/platformed if doing any out of the saddle stuff.

mikewsmith - Member
About to move to CTD so will see how that goes.