Yes, but here the explanations for these points was much more subtle and sketchy — and ultimately not (universally) correct.
A simple energy balance argument is as easy and direct as it gets, and is bullet proof. You could measure the heat dissipated by the shocks in both setups. That’d be energy in addition to what you measure at the cranks. The only way the efficiency were similar is if you can show that in the closed position the energy dissipated in the shocks will be dissipated elsewhere in addition. A gas exchange experiment could also accurately measure the total energy produced by your body.
That experiment would give no relevant data, because it is not about force, but about energy = power over time = force parallel to direction of travel times distance. So if you want to measure forces, you must measure the share of the force vector, which is parallel to the direction of travel. Pushing very hard on a wall costs no energy(*).
(*) It does cost human muscles energy to push on immovable objects, because of the way they work. But mollusks and other animals with different types of muscles can do that at no energy expense to themselves.
A suspension consists of two parts, a spring and a damper. A spring stores energy (in practice very little energy is lost due to friction). But a damper is designed to dissipate energy into heat, this is literally its job. That is energy lost to propulsion. You can literally measure the change in temperature with your hand (if you have been using your shocks for long and vigorously enough).