gearhead82

I'm looking to add a mountain bike to my fleet and I'm leaning towards a Kona Kahuna. I test rode one yesterday. The fork is a RockShox XC 32 TK 100mm and I noticed that when I switched the lockout on, the fork firmed up significantly, but it didn't completely lock the fork. Is this normal, or should the fork become completely rigid when locked?

Mvcrash

Mine does not become completly rigid either. When I stand on the pedals and it is locked out I get a bit of flex. When it is not locked out, the front end bounces considerably.

skol

you will always get a little bit of movement despite being "locked out' it will allow the shock to absorb some bigger hits still while providing little to no movement while climbing etc..

bikeme

The Kahuna is a sweet hard tail.

Zephyr11

I've found lockout to be overrated. I never use it on my bike that does have lockout, since the fork is efficient enough that I don't really lose that much power, and don't miss it on my bike that doesn't (in fact, that fork without lockout is an upgrade from what came stock, and an awesome fork). At some point, you'll inevitably forget to turn it off, and better to ride smooth with it off than try to bomb down a tech section with it on.

That said, yeah, when it's "locked-out" you still get a little bit of movement to keep the fork from breaking if it takes a decent sized hit with lockout turned on.

gearhead82

I test rode several bikes and they all felt the same with the lockout on, so I assumed it was normal. I ended up buying a Trek Stache 8 with a Fox fork. You're absolutely right about the lockout being overrated. My last MTB bike was a 15 year old Trek 6500 and the fork on that bike bounced like crazy all the time which is why I thought I needed a lockout. The fork on the new bike is sooo much better and I barely notice a difference with the lockout engaged when riding it on smooth surfaces.