# Dirt jumping on a locked out shock = bad?



## ender (Jan 12, 2004)

YO. I was wondering if it would be bad to dirt jump on a Bottlerocket with an airshock that is locked out? I assume it would be fine unless I case the crap out of something. Would the shock explode or at least damage the internals?


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## eat_dirt (May 26, 2008)

it'd damage the lockout and probably mess up the internals if you hit too hard.

lockouts are just for light duty climbing.

it even says in the airshock manuals about this sort of thing.

but if you really want to do it, take pictures.


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## ender (Jan 12, 2004)

lol. Sounds like I'm building up a hardtail


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## Flystagg (Nov 14, 2006)

What about jumping with marzocchi's eta flipped on. Sorry to jack your thread but I have a dirt jumper with a z 1 on the front, do you think it would hurt it to jump with the fork locked down?


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## Clutchman83 (Apr 16, 2006)

Flystagg said:


> What about jumping with marzocchi's eta flipped on. Sorry to jack your thread but I have a dirt jumper with a z 1 on the front, do you think it would hurt it to jump with the fork locked down?


No thats different, I'm pretty sure it would be fine if you left it at a lower travel. You have no idea how many times I've blitzed a downhill when I forgot to extend the fork.


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## Lelandjt (Feb 22, 2008)

Why not just pump up the shock really hard for DJing? I have completely different settings for front and rear that I use at the jumps.


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## Raptordude (Mar 30, 2004)

I believe lockout mechanisms (Full lockout) are designed for climbing and simply supporting your weight plus maybe a bit of bumps (Curb sized). The forces exerted on a locked out shock will likely jack it up.

ETA is fine on the other hand, ETA does NOT lock out the fork, it lowers the travel.


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## The_Pitbull (Nov 13, 2008)

the REAL answer is: depends

if the shock (or fork) has the ability to blow off upon large impacts, then it will be harsh (to you) but should damage the shock (or fork). however this depends entirely on the shock (or fork)

examples: my fox 32 float rl - when locked out will still blow off on a big hit
scott shocks (genius, ransom, spark (if equipped with lockout)) all blow off when locked


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## ender (Jan 12, 2004)

Lelandjt said:


> Why not just pump up the shock really hard for DJing? I have completely different settings for front and rear that I use at the jumps.


Tried 300psi max and still compressed a bit. It was enough to stop me from clearing the jump.


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

Was your frame intended to be dirt-jumped while locked out?

No.


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## Jim311 (Feb 7, 2006)

ender said:


> Tried 300psi max and still compressed a bit. It was enough to stop me from clearing the jump.


You probably wouldn't have made it regardless if you didn't make it with 300 PSI in there.


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## [email protected] (Dec 3, 2008)

ive got a 09 rockshox revelation fork on my hardtail, would this be ok to jump/drop on lockout with the floodgate on max (so it dosnt blow off when i land)

i took a 4 foot drop on it the other day, locked out, no problems, but would it be bad to keep doing it?
when i tried it without the lockout...... i went over than handlebars  lol


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## Clutchman83 (Apr 16, 2006)

[email protected] said:


> ive got a 09 rockshox revelation fork on my hardtail, would this be ok to jump/drop on lockout with the floodgate on max (so it dosnt blow off when i land)
> 
> i took a 4 foot drop on it the other day, locked out, no problems, but would it be bad to keep doing it?
> when i tried it without the lockout...... i went over than handlebars  lol


Maybe you should just get a rigid fork then? The point of suspension is that it's supposed to work. If you land right you won't go OTB.


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## [email protected] (Dec 3, 2008)

noooo way, i use it for mostly XC/AM so the forks a must have  i just like to lock it out climbing and for jumps/drops as i dont loose as much energy on the jump that way, then i can set the floodgate so it blows off when i land 
yea i did land it a little wrong, but if it was locked out i think i would have stayed on


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## ender (Jan 12, 2004)

Jim311 said:


> You probably wouldn't have made it regardless if you didn't make it with 300 PSI in there.


Ouch.


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## sittingduck (Apr 26, 2005)

Jim311 said:


> You probably wouldn't have made it regardless if you didn't make it with 300 PSI in there.


 :thumbsup: Quoted for truth!


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## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

[email protected] said:


> noooo way, i use it for mostly XC/AM so the forks a must have  i just like to lock it out climbing and for jumps/drops as i dont loose as much energy on the jump that way, then i can set the floodgate so it blows off when i land
> yea i did land it a little wrong, but if it was locked out i think i would have stayed on


OTB on a 4 foot drop sounds like more of a technique issue to me here. Shouldn't need a rigid fork to save that (in fact, as soon as you start hitting bigger/faster stuff, you will NEED that fork to compress to keep the front tracking upon landing).

And no, that fork is not meant to be taking hits with the lockout on.


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## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

[email protected] said:


> ive got a 09 rockshox revelation fork on my hardtail, would this be ok to jump/drop on lockout with the floodgate on max (so it dosnt blow off when i land)
> 
> i took a 4 foot drop on it the other day, locked out, no problems, but would it be bad to keep doing it?
> when i tried it without the lockout...... i went over than handlebars  lol


I'd reccomend not doing that. just pump it up really stiff. I managed to completely separate the oil into two separate fluids because of jumping my revelation on lock out. eventually my compression adjustment stopped working and so did the floodgate.

It will make your oil get nasty quicker and if it separated like mine did, you might damage the internals.


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## Jim311 (Feb 7, 2006)

ender said:


> Ouch.


Wasn't meant as a jab or anything.


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## wookie freeride (Apr 10, 2007)

*just build a Dj Bike*

Simple solution


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## saturnine (Mar 28, 2007)

Flystagg said:


> What about jumping with marzocchi's eta flipped on. Sorry to jack your thread but I have a dirt jumper with a z 1 on the front, do you think it would hurt it to jump with the fork locked down?


eta keeps lowering until it reaches virtually no travel. each successive hit would lower it


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## climbingbubba (Jan 10, 2007)

Isn't that what the floodgate is for? I could be wrong but i thought it was something you set to a certain tolerance and once you hit something hard enough it would blow through into the travel. thats why you can adjust it to the point where you want it to blow through.

I have been riding mine on my urban bike for sometime now and the guy i have been riding with has one as well. he goes pretty big on some doubles with it. He has the floodgate on all the way.

the benefit of having the floodgate on is that it still gives you 10mm of travel and if you really screw up it will give and you will get the rest of the travel. its like the benefits of a rigid with the forgiveness of a suspension fork.

here is a pic of mine that i rode park and some street with and i loved the floodgate option. never been a problem running it all the way on. mine is even lowered to 70mm.


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## [email protected] (Dec 3, 2008)

Iceman2058 said:


> OTB on a 4 foot drop sounds like more of a technique issue to me here. Shouldn't need a rigid fork to save that (in fact, as soon as you start hitting bigger/faster stuff, you will NEED that fork to compress to keep the front tracking upon landing).
> 
> And no, that fork is not meant to be taking hits with the lockout on.


yeh i did go wrong on the landing when i went over, im usually ok with the drops


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## [email protected] (Dec 3, 2008)

rollertoaster said:


> I'd reccomend not doing that. just pump it up really stiff. I managed to completely separate the oil into two separate fluids because of jumping my revelation on lock out. eventually my compression adjustment stopped working and so did the floodgate.
> 
> It will make your oil get nasty quicker and if it separated like mine did, you might damage the internals.


woops, thanks a lot for the info, i'll stick to leaving the lockout for the climbs now
its just annoying changing the pressure all the time, the jumps/drops here arnt really all in one place, plenty of xc in between them so its constant adjusting


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## cactuscorn (Feb 5, 2004)

its kinda surprising to me that folks need to ask if jumpin on locked out suspension or eta's designed specifically for climbing is detrimental to the life of the system or will affect their ability to survive the landing but sometimes i forget this is also a place to learn. still, common sense goes a long way.

climbing on big, heavy, cushy, long travel bikes is not always a good time unless yer a friggin animal, which im not, but its the trade off for the other side of the hill. retune if possible or live with the compromises. sometimes its just a matter of refineing technique dependin on the trail or the behavior of the bikes parts and design.

lastly, build to suit. go karts make lousy trophy trucks.


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## joelalamo45 (Aug 3, 2006)

I'm no expert at suspension and fancy shocks and stuff, but it sounds like a super idea to me. :thumbsup:


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## CaliforniaNicco (Oct 13, 2008)

instructions, thats what trees are cut down for...


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