# 1st Bike--Do I need a fork w/ lock out?



## strohman (Dec 22, 2011)

I'm in the early stages of looking for a bike. Most of my time has been spent riding on the road and I have a nice road bike, but I would like to try out a mountain bike. In my town, I have access to 2 shops that sell Specialized and Cannondale. If I want Trek, there is another shop less than an hour away. 

My road bike is a Specialized, and I like that shop. The owner recommended a base model Hardrock to me, and I can't complain about the price at all. The only thing it seems to really lack is a lock out feature on the fork. This seems like something that could really come in handy. Would I be better off buying a a more expensive bike that has that feature now, or is it not a big deal? 

I plan to use the bike on some light trails and maybe a bit of local commuting. I still have my road bike for longer rides on streets or paved surfaces. 
By the way, I rarely ever see any decent used bikes on Craigslist. I look all the time and most of the stuff posted came from Wal Mart, so that doesn't appear to be an option for me.


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## rkj__ (Feb 29, 2004)

No, you don't need a lockout. If you are riding aggressively on smooth terrain, it is nice.


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## joe_bloe (Nov 18, 2010)

My weekly ride includes a long gravel road power-line climb out at the end. I'm beat, and I just want to get up that goddamn hill as quickly as possible, because beer. The lockout definitely makes it *feel* easier to get up that godforsaken hill. Whether or not there's an actual difference, I guess would require a powertap or some other sort of high-tech instrumentation.


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## jackspade (Jul 23, 2010)

I ride steel rigid and just change to hardtail 4 months ago mostly steep and long uphill, at first I thought I need lock out but actually I am fine without it.


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## raleigh5 (May 30, 2011)

given the choice, i would not put a fork on my bike that did not have a lockout. it makes a definite, positive difference in going up hills. not a huge difference. but all the little things add up and i will take any advantage i can.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

don't need it. I ride a full suspension bike with lockouts front and rear that I never use, and I put some pavement miles on the bike riding to the trails.

for some people, as you see, it becomes a "nice to have" feature, but not everyone that has them even uses them.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

You definitely don't need a lock-out on your fork. On steep smooth climbs where you're out of the saddle a lock-out is nice - as it prevents the front end from bouncing up and down. However it's not necessary, and unless you spend a lot of time out of the saddle it isn't important at all.


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## mimi1885 (Aug 12, 2006)

If you are buying new then there's no need to get a lock out feature. If it comes with lockout feature you don't have to use them. Not only it allows the suspension to do its job of tracking that why you want suspension in the first place.


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

I always forget to flip the switches if my bike has any.... so have gone for a rigid singlespeed 

When I had a fork with the ETA system (flip a switch to make the fork lower and stiffer), I often remembered to activate it going uphill. Then I forgot to release it for the rocky downhill


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

^^^
I'm sure I'd do this too. Until Strava came out, I could never get good times on pieces of road or trail I wanted to use for time trials because I can't push the right buttons on a stop watch at the right time. I'm very glad not to have a lockout, and not to have some kind of stupid drivetrain configuration in which making a mistake causes me to break the chain.

I can imagine a tunable lockout being useful - set and forget. But one that requires frequent rider screwing around seems to me to be a band-aid solution better solved with either a rigid fork or a suspension fork with a damper that works.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

perttime said:


> I always forget to flip the switches if my bike has any...


Same here, I generally remember to turn off the lock-out after the first big hit on the downhill. 

I think that unless there is a remote to operate the lock-out, it's not really worth having a lock-out (in my opinion).


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## mimi1885 (Aug 12, 2006)

laffeaux said:


> Same here, I generally remember to turn off the lock-out after the first big hit on the downhill.
> 
> I think that unless there is a remote to operate the lock-out, it's not really worth having a lock-out (in my opinion).


That's one of the reason why I think DT Swiss/Pace fork lock out feature is the most useful. It unlock after the first hit.:thumbsup:

Forget the Fox terralogic, if you have multiple bumps the lag time would just kill you.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Have you been on new Terralogic?

I hear it's a lot better. While it's unlikely that I'll be getting one in the next few years, it certainly caught my interest.


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## mimi1885 (Aug 12, 2006)

AndrwSwitch said:


> Have you been on new Terralogic?
> 
> I hear it's a lot better. While it's unlikely that I'll be getting one in the next few years, it certainly caught my interest.


No doubt, same goes with the Spechy brain shock, they are much better. The only problem is you can be riding without knowing or noticing anything but once you feel/notice the lag it'd keep bugging you until you turn it off.


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## moosington (Jul 15, 2011)

I think its more important to have an air shock and disk brakes than fork lockout


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## heyyall (Nov 10, 2011)

I would remove the lock out (remote or on the shock) from the required feature/selection list. That is to say, if you find the right bike without it (as it appears you have), then be happy and don't worry about things. 

If you get aggressive with the bike on the road, you'll feel a little bounce with the active shock but unless you are racing for your life on pavement, the added comfort of the active shock will be worth it. If you are pedaling smoothly (at any speed) you won't notice the active shock. Keeping it active also keeps you from forgetting to re-activate it when you should be using it. 

I also find it entertaining to see where that little sag rubber band ends up after a benign trip around the block. Sure, much of the movement is from braking, but even our paved bike trails have root bumps, freeze/thaw cracks, curbs, etc. Having come from a fully rigid mtb, I can say that while the efficiency of a rigid setup is nice, the added comfort of having a little action in the suspension is wonderful, especially for distance.


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## Andrew8404 (Nov 20, 2011)

I have 6 inches of travel up front and never lockout. I don't feel really any difference. And considering a hardrock fork is stiff already you don't need it.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

moosington said:


> I think its more important to have an air shock and disk brakes than fork lockout


I've owned some really nice coil forks. They're a little heavier than air, but work just fine. 

And nice disk brakes are hard to beat. But I'm happy riding rim brakes too. Depending on your budget, either could work. I would likely choose a nice set of v-brakes over a cheap set of mechanical discs (and the price of the two are similar).


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## FireLikeIYA (Mar 15, 2009)

I rarely use lockout. On my hardtail I even removed the remote lever because it just cluttered up the bars.


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## torreyaz (Jul 17, 2011)

Rarely use mine because I'll forget to unlock it when I need to. Can't tell much of a difference in my coil forks anyways.


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## will-lee wonka (Oct 26, 2008)

I use mine, but only on the road to get to/from the trail.

But honestly, if I didn't have lockout, I'd still ride the road just as happily and without a care. Hell, I used to ride the road to the trail long before there was lockout.

Point is...you don't NEED it...if you want it, then great...but definitely not a NEED.

And it won't change your life either. ;-)


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## CabinDweller (Aug 14, 2011)

My last bike didn't have a lockout... My new bike does. It may not be a necessity, but I use it when riding on the road and am happy to have it.


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## kapusta (Jan 17, 2004)

strohman said:


> I'm in the early stages of looking for a bike. Most of my time has been spent riding on the road and I have a nice road bike, but I would like to try out a mountain bike. In my town, I have access to 2 shops that sell Specialized and Cannondale. If I want Trek, there is another shop less than an hour away.
> 
> My road bike is a Specialized, and I like that shop. The owner recommended a base model Hardrock to me, and I can't complain about the price at all. The only thing it seems to really lack is a lock out feature on the fork. This seems like something that could really come in handy. Would I be better off buying a a more expensive bike that has that feature now, or is it not a big deal?
> 
> ...


A lockout can be nice at certain times, but for an entry level bike, it would be really, really low on my list of priorities. I would also not buy a more expensive bike just to get the lockout. Also, having the lockout feature does not mean it is a good fork. There are stellar, high-end forks without lockouts, and crappy forks with them.

I have a lockout of sorts on a Reba 29er fork. When I have the bike set up for pavement/dirt mix, I do like the lockout on the pavement. I also liked it for the few xc races I've done.

I'd rather commute on a road bike.


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## Bowen1911 (Nov 3, 2011)

I personally think a rear lockout is awesome for those long non-technical climbs. The fork lockout is good when I am bunny hopping for height around campus, and for riding in snow.


Around town, I ride without the lockouts locked out just to practice pedaling with a little loss of energy to increase my resistance.


On a trail, I want it soft (ish)


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## mhix01 (Apr 26, 2011)

here's why you might want a lockout fork: the Suntour XCM forks on the Hardrock with lockout have 30mm stanchions versus 28mm on the XCT non-lockout forks on the base models.They also have little extension dampers inside so when you lift your front wheel and the fork extends fully, it goes "thud" instead of "clunk". That's much nicer.

I have a Hardrock Sport Disk 29er with the lockout forks and I agree that lockout, in and of itself, isn't necessary. But the other added features you get with the fork are nice.


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## drmayer (Apr 19, 2007)

to me, a lockout fork is only worthwhile if it's remote actuated. Having to reach down to turn it on/off on a trail can be difficult.


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## Sideknob (Jul 14, 2005)

Do you NEED a lockout - no.

Remembering that for years we got by without such things.

A lockout can be nice on a plush, long travel fork if you are riding on the road and wanting to really get up over the bars and sprint like crazy on smooth surfaces. It stops the front bobbing around when you are sawing on the bars.

If you stay seated and spin nice and smooth a shorter travel fork won't feel like it's sapping any power from you.

I would not stress about a fork lockout, it's certainly not a deal breaker on an entry level bike. I'd sooner a fork with a nicer action and no lockout, that one that feels bad when it;s working but which can be locked out.


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