Originally Posted by
cpach
Because entry-level mountain bikes sold at bike shops commonly are used for multiple purposes, including commuting and casual leisure riding, they pretty commonly have fork lockouts on otherwise not especially great forks. On higher end mountain bikes, true fork lockouts are actually a little less common because a true, hard lockout is not frequently helpful for real mountain biking, outside of cross country racing where the ability to sprint out of the saddle is important.
If you never want suspension, I strongly recommend just buying a bike without any suspension as it will be far lighter, stronger, and more reliable.
I haven't come across many rigid bikes so far. I'm a newb and the only things I've seen are some hybrids and some fat tire bikes, but I admit I have been searching in a pretty limited price range. 500-1000$.
The covid situation just changed and I plan to go to a bike shop later this week, so I will finally be able to try a bike rather than just read about them. It's better this way.
Originally Posted by
Darth Lefty
As the price increases, enduro and trail bike forks lose their lockouts when they get adjustable compression, because those two features go in the same place. It depends on the model, too. Rock Shox RC dampers had it, Charger does not. Cross country racing forks absolutely do have lockouts and provisions for a handlebar lever. Rear shocks usually have a lever on the side for lockout. Some cheaper ones do not, I had a bike with an X-Fusion that only had rebound adjustment. Some XC racing ones have a remote lockout that goes to the same handlebar lever as the fork.
Thanks man. I appreciate the education.