(upbeat music)
- Today we're out here on the trails,
and we're going to talk to
you about suspension lockout.
We're going to tell
you exactly what it is,
how it works, and when
you should be using it.
(bike skidding)
Most suspension forks have
externally adjustable damping options.
Common ones are compression and rebound.
Rebound is usually found at the bottom
of the fork, just down here,
and compression is found
at the top of the fork.
This particular model of
fork is a RockShox Lyric,
and its got a very simple
single dial on the top,
just to close the low-speed
compression damping.
We'll fully open it.
So, low speed compression damping
is the sort of damping that you want
to stop the fork moving to your movements,
and also to help keep the fork extended.
Like, keep it up a bit when you're
riding through turns and stuff like that.
Quite often you hear us refer to lockout,
if you run this fully closed.
Makes the fork feel a bit more firm,
so if you're climbing
up a hill for example,
Antler Saddle, you'll stop
it bouncing around too much.
Just controls the stroke,
firms it right up.
Again if you open it,
becomes a lot more plush,
straightaway.
The same thing applies to shocks,
and there's different
settings on the shocks.
So the same adjustments can be found
on a lot of rear shocks.
On this one, I've got rebound adjustment,
which is this clicky dial here.
Again that's to control
the extension of the shock.
But for compression, its got a three-stage
lever here, and it's kind've indexed
like the gears are so
you can easily find those
indented positions.
So there's fully opened, there's midway,
and then there's closed.
So open, you want to use that when
you're just riding sort
of rooty, rough trails,
where you just want the suspension
to give you the maximum
control and grip out there.
The mid setting becomes
really useful for climbing,
where you just want to keep the bike
sitting up slightly so you're not
going to strike your feet as often,
but still allows a lot of
traction to the back wheel.
Fully closed, or, locked-out,
is the sort of setting
you want if you're riding,
perhaps, on the road,
or, on a fire road.
The perfect sort of thing
for an Enduro event climb.
Okay so a rooty climb like this is the
perfect way to demonstrate
how effective lock-out can be.
I don't really want to
lock out the suspension
fully, because it's quite rooty,
and I want the maximum traction I can get.
If I run it fully open, it's
going to give me that traction,
but, as the suspension is actuating,
my feet are going to be really close
to striking these roots.
I need to get the best of both worlds,
and that is that mid setting, and it works
really well for this sort of occasion.
So, engage your mid mode.
Make sure you're in a
nice low gear, and then,
hopefully I can get up this
without any, sort of, strikes.
As you can see here,
look how close my pedal is to this root.
You imagine if my body
weight on this bike,
and the, sort of, sagging
motion that you get
when you're actually really
digging in that climb,
you're gonna strike that.
Running in the mid setting is really,
really helpful for this.
Just to keep the bike a little bit higher.
But I'm still getting suspension use,
so, still getting the most of the traction
to the back wheel.
- So this is my Nukeproof Mega,
and I've got lockout options
on the front and rear,
but do I use them?
Well, actually, yes and
no, which I'll go into now.
So, this is an Enduro bike.
It's 165 millimetres travel.
To me, it feels like a mini downhill bike.
So, I do take it on those
sorts of rides where,
there maybe one big climb, and
then I'll ride a pretty much
downhill track, and then
do that big climb back.
It's by no means a cross country ride,
where I maybe would use a
lock-out on and off quite a lot.
With this, it's either one or the other.
So I open it up for the down hills,
and then I close it for that
big climb back to the top.
It's also a reason why I don't feel
I actually need a remote lever,
for this lockout, on my handle bars,
because I'm not using it that much.
Like I said, it's on or off.
I've got a two-stage one.
It's either open or firm,
as Dotty's Explained.
When I put it to firm, for pedalling,
it just firms everything up,
makes that bike more efficient.
But, something that I also like is
it keeps me in that nicer
position when I'm climbing.
So I'm not sagged in,
I'm still sat up on the
bike in that good position.
However, I do also have
lock-out options on my fork.
This Fox 36 with that fit for a damper.
I've got open, mid, and then closed.
And that close is fully lock tight.
But, I don't use that to be honest.
Again, this is an Enduro bike.
I feel like that is enough for me.
Just locking the shock helps me climb
that a little bit better, and I don't mind
leaving it in that open
setting all the time on fork,
cause' it just sags in that little bit,
and again, keeps me in that
good position for climbing.
- Right, when it comes to
my Scott Genius 700 Tuned,
this has a remote lock-out
system right up top here,
which actuates both
shock, front, and rear.
So, it starts out, it's 150 mil of travel,
but then you click it, like this,
and it goes down to 110.
But, this is a clever little system.
Scott called this traction control,
and it's pretty unique little system
because that adjusts
the dampening in there
to give you a little bit more traction
on those technical climbs.
And then, with one more click,
that is fully locked-out.
And that is great for those flat surfaces,
AKA fire roads, long tyre roads,
anything with no bumps at all.
It kind've locks it out so you can
get as much power down to
those wheels as possible.
So, Neil and Dotty Are
using their lockouts,
and it's perfect for them for climbing.
For me, this is a little bit different.
I like to use it when it comes to jumping.
I tend to flick it straight to 110,
and that kind've stiffens it all up,
to give me a little bit
more pop on those jumps,
because I don't really want to run it
at 150 on these little steep jumps,
where it kind've sags in.
- So for me, I really do
like having a lockout.
It makes the bike so versatile.
You can have, actually, a
pretty long travel bike,
and turn it into, almost, a rigid bike.
And it does make a big
difference for climbing.
- Yeah, just a flick of a
switch or a turn of a dial
can really change the ride
characteristics of your bike.
- For see some more
videos, click over here
for a tack from the
EWS, where the mechanics
talk about how they set up the bikes.
- Yeah, and if you want to find out about
how to tune the air spring in
your bike, click down here.
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