Can using the lockout damage your forks?

.blitz

My mate is a big fella and consistently uses the lockout (Motion Control air Recon Race) on the descents to stiffen up the fork. I don't like to preach so although I've casually mentioned things like reading the manual and setting up the fork properly, my mate continues to use the fork in this way.

Do you think the fork will be damaged if he carries on using it like this? I always thought the lockout was just for keeping the fork steady on the climbs :?

largephil

He locks out for the decents :shock:

?

ride_whenever

Nah, it's a hydraulic lockout with a threshold on it so he'll probably end up with it fairly open most of the descent.

He is however a numpty.



For xc and general trails i rather like leaving my sids locked out with a low threshold set just above my sprinting out of the saddle bob. Nice solid pedalling platform but still move when needed.

.blitz

largephil wrote:

He locks out for the decents :shock:?

Yes I know :roll:

The forks have like 190 psi in them but my mate is the wrong side of 100 kg and likes the way the forks behave on descents with them locked-out-and-releasing if you know what I mean.

The RS webby describes all the wonderful features of the fork but doesn't say much about how to make the best use of them.

ride_whenever wrote:

Nah, it's a hydraulic lockout with a threshold on it

So no real issues if he is continually riding down rock steps and steppy woodwork with forks locked out? Other than brain damage?

Mental Mickey

ride_whenever wrote:

He is however a numpty.

^^^ This.

jairaj

if its got the floodgate thingy then it should be fine.

designed to work like that. ie stays stiff until it senses a big bump and opens up. Although the fork won't work at its best in the extreme case your mate is putting it through.

Can he not just put more air in to stiffen it up or is 190 psi the max? If it is dual air, can he keep the -ve pressure below the +ve, should make it less supple and make it stand up more in the travel?

xtreem

I think he'll be better with a rigid.

BorisSpencer

Surely the whole point of these forks is you can set them up how you like them.
He's simply found what he likes. In some respects I can see his point.
I assume he's riding a hardtail?

.blitz

Yes his previous bike was a rigid hardtail and he seems to prefer a...err stiff front end. He finds the geometry changes as the fork compresses and rebounds more unsettling than the vision-blurring, teeth-rattling ride of his old bike.

I was just concerned that the lockout would fail if used like this all the time :?

Alex

Riding with the lockout on can have amusing effects, as it's not designed to cope with constant high speed compressions.

I wouldn't entirely recommend it.

Bar Shaker

The oil will get very hot and you will get damper fade, but other than that, it won't damage them.

supersonic

I sometimes ride steep trails with lockout on with Motion Control. However this is not always without some problems as Alex says. MoCo is a decent system, but basic, and you are relying on the blow off valve to completely bypass all compression damping.

MTBR has some good info on the sytem and thresholds.

MountainMonster

I rode once with my lockout on, and it scared the living daylights out of me on the descent. Literally couldn't think because I was getting rattled so much. How can he even survive?

BorisSpencer

MountainMonster wrote:

I rode once with my lockout on, and it scared the living daylights out of me on the descent. Literally couldn't think because I was getting rattled so much. How can he even survive?

The same way we all used to when we rode rigids or 50mm elastomer sprung forks, that were pretty much rigid in the cold anyway.

supersonic

MountainMonster wrote:

I rode once with my lockout on, and it scared the living daylights out of me on the descent. Literally couldn't think because I was getting rattled so much. How can he even survive?

Not all lockouts are the same ;-)

MountainMonster

supersonic wrote:

MountainMonster wrote:

I rode once with my lockout on, and it scared the living daylights out of me on the descent. Literally couldn't think because I was getting rattled so much. How can he even survive?

Not all lockouts are the same ;-)

Ah ok. Still, I can't even begin to imagine what it was like riding without forks back in the day. Scares me haha.

booldawg

I'm running Dart 2s' (still) and theres not much difference between having lockout on/off :oops:

Struggling with tennis elbow at the moment, bumping over tree roots is fairly painful. I think decent forks should be available on the NHS!

altern_8

booldawg wrote:

I'm running Dart 2s' (still) and theres not much difference between having lockout on/off :oops:

how long have you had the dart 2's,mine lasted about a year,maybe thats why there is no diff between lockout on/off .....i now have some tora 302's fitted and like the extra travel