Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 457
Likes: 0
From: Chapel Hill
Bikes: Canfield Yelli Screamy, Pivot Mach5, Specialized Roubaix, '65 Hercules, '79 Schwinn Stingray Lil Chic, '68 Schwinn Stingray Fastback, '89 Specialized Allez Epic, '86 Battaglin World Champion
I think what you are noticing is the air not quite overcoming the force of the negative spring. Try this: pump your fork up to 100psi and compress/release. You should notice that the fork extends to full travel, instead of leaving that few mm's sucked up. Basically, what you are describing is a non-issue.
The lockout is also nothing out of the ordinary. Some forks do include a lockout force adjust, so you can really firm it up or even dial it off more. The fork does have a blow off to save the internals of the damper in case you do forget to unlock.