Suspension stiffness on new bike

ubiquitousuk

My girlfriend and I recently (ca 3 weeks ago) bought two B'Twin Rockrider 540s as our first toe in the MTB water. They come with 100mm Suntour XCR LO forks. But the forks on our two bikes feel very different: I can easily compress her forks a good way with just the strength in my upper body and they feel very smooth. Mine, on the other hand, feel stiff and even maximum exertion with my full weight only compresses the forks about 20mm (the lockout is disabled and I have turned the preload adjuster in the – direction for several full rotations, although that doesn't seem to do much).

When I go out for a ride, even on a fairly level dirt track, I find that my hands start hurting quite quickly, and I suspect that this might be because the front suspension is not doing its job.

So my two questions are (1) how should forks feel when they are set-up and working properly, and (2) is there anything I can/should do to make sure they are set-up/working properly?

cooldad

There might be a little seal stiction with new forks, but not the way you describe. I would take it back and have it looked at.

Paul0975

Sounds like yours is locked out. Have a look at the top of the right fork leg to see if there is a dial with markings something like "open and lockout"

The Rookie

Plus the indexing can be out, move it to unlock, pull the knob off, refit in the lock position and see if it will unlock more.