Hello there,
I am building up my first ever XC Fully as I get more into racing off road than on the road. My old Orbea HT is lovely and delivered me to a podium this season but upgrades are always nice.
Now to my real question : I can more or less only get a shock with on the shock lockout at the moment (shock will be mounted under the toptube) . Do you think that this will we fine for racing?
I am looking at getting a Sidluxe Shock at the moment to go with my Sid fork.
Any input is welcome.
Which bike/frame? Some bikes need the lockout more than others. I would say I had an Anthem for 10 years that I didn’t lock out for anything on the rear shock. I’d occasionally reach down to the fork lockout if I remembered and the climb was long, and smooth, enough to warrant it.
Orbea Oiz frame . I do have a remote lockout for the fork but will be hard to get my hands on a shock with one.
Yeah I think the Oiz uses a proprietary (or near proprietary) ‘i-line’ shock (40 or 45mm stroke) for cable routing reasons. The default is locked-out with this shock, the remote opens it. They occasionally come up on eBay.
I am under the impression that the Oiz pedals well, you might consider not bothering.
I leave my XC bike fully open 100% of the time on the rear. Only occasionally lock the fork (and have considered removing it).
It’s bike dependent. I’ve only put a remote lock on one of my bikes, it was a very active design and really needed the support from the middle mode. On undulating terrain, I found reaching for the switch to be too cumbersome. On my current bike, there is just no need, as there is adequate support in the open position in most situations. Spend some time with the bike on terrain you enjoy and decide from there.
Studies have shown locking out your suspension doesn’t make things more efficient.