its not locked out for sure, also because I can additionally lock it and then I feel a difference, when I do the lean over "test" as you suggest (and it does not move at all). But >when unlocked<, it goes down, however in my opinion its not exactly smooth, feels like some extra initial force has to be placed to see movement. Be the judge - I made this test while standing on a scale, I weight 64kg, the spring is rated <63kg, to make an initial movement in the suspension, I need to put 25-30kgs of my weight right over the handlebars. Sounds like this could be an indication of some stickiness in there?

Before, I had a Merida with very basic Suntour fork XCT 26 100mm and I recall using the lock out option frequently, because even on smaller bumps, I could take advantage of unlocking the fork and feeling the dampening. Some people are suggesting to me, that I simply expect too much from XC fork, but it just seems weird to me that a 3x cheaper suntour could do it better.



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ok, so I googled how to test the sensitivity " " of the fork properly, removed the front wheel, put it on a scale with the legs of the fork, pressed on the handle bars. The first compression occurred at around 10.5kg, which should not be so bad. When I have time, I will have the fork professionally services and then see, if it leads to any improvement.