Ahh, that might be it then, I never stand on the pedals, I'm always sitting down. If it gets too steep for that, I get off.

I can see how they'd soak up the energy when standing up since you're basically putting your body weight in for them to operate, and in that situation, having the lock-out feature would mean the best of both worlds (suspension when you want it, but then you can turn it off if going into a sprint).

However I've never been that steady, and my bike is rather top-heavy, so I never stand on the pedals.

When I bought the Talon, it was suggested that I look into a commuter bike; the Seek 0, which had rigid forks, and at the time I wanted something for off-road. However, the question as to whether a rigid fork would be better on a commute has haunted me a little. By the sounds of things, I have my answer. :-)