should I keep it locked or unlocked? I only ride on roads, so I had it locked, but one of my friends who rides alot said I should unlock it, so I did. But I keep reading that it uses up energy. Which way should I put it?

I assume you mean a front fork lockout? Although the answer is bound to be the same for either front or rear. The thought is that you use it locked on smooth surfaces, that is streets and trails etc. And UNlock it when going a bit more off-road or over rougher surfaces. I personally keep my front fork suspension unlocked at all times. I run into rough pavement and from time to time have to cross a dirt, stone or grassy section. I am also old and cannot soak up the bumps very well. I'll take the performance hit as a trade off for the comfort.

that's what I meant. And from your description, I think its time to lock it back up.

Note,if you keep it locked all the time,you can ruin the seals. The seals rely on the suspension's action to lubricate them.

I ride both on and off-road on my hybrid. I generally leave my fork open unless I'm climbing. That's when the lockout makes a big difference.

NOTE: Don't lock the suspension when riding. Step off the bike, and then lock it. According to the manual for my Suntour suspension fork, locking while it's compressed risks damaging it.

You can lock on/off the fork while riding. Just lift up/hop the front while coasting while flipping the lever, on the Suntour NEXi forks.

FWIW - I leave mine off for road / pavement. Dirt, curb hop's,sidewalk's on.

People keep saying that an unlocked suspension fork sucks up energy ... but this is wildly overrated.
If you are unable to ride without your suspension fork bobbing up and down ... then you should work on your pedaling technique.
For good efficiency, pedaling should be a circular motion.
There should, if you do it perfectly right, not be any force on the frame and the fork ... because all that force is wasted in frame flex, fork flex or tire flex.
You don't want that ... with or without a suspension fork, because waste is waste.
In fact ... a good way to improve pedaling technique is to do exactly that: ride a loose suspension fork and try to not bob it up and down while riding!
Your pedaling efficiency will improve.

It does indeed make a bigger difference there, but even while climbing it shouldn't.
The reason it does is because most people's climbing technique isn't good enough not to.
Think of it this way:
If you would have a rigid fork ... let's say an aluminum or carbon fork ... and you would pedal uphill the way you do ... that same technique that makes the suspension fork compress while you do it.
Where would that (excessive) downward energy go?
It certainly won't simply not be there anymore, right?
Would it go into propulsion? Probably more than with a suspension fork, but a lot of that energy will simply squish your front tire and will be lost on hysteresis there and decreased rolling efficiency.
You don't want that.
Try to ride your loose suspension fork uphill ... while keeping the fork as stable as possible.
It will seem difficult at first but after a while you'll manage and there you have it: pedaling efficiency resulting in more propulsion and less wasted energy.

The trick is to pedal in circles and at a high cadence.
Pulling up slightly on the upstroke, actively moving forward on the top, pushing down but not too much on the down stroke and pulling back like you're scraping your foot on the bottom.
All of this at 90+RPM.

Simply spray the seals with silicone spray from time to time.

Amen........well said, all your replies this thread.
Addition........to many cyclist have a gut,donut ring ab's........even with good legs. Strengthen your core at the gym and get your gut,shoulders,arms..... off the bars.
Last imo, the addition of two pounds durable, on/off tunable suspension fork as compared to carbon fork(not on this thread but often brought up) on a alum. frame, 700c x disc brake, 30# ish class hybrid, which also typically has a rack, trunk,pannier or back pack, tube,pump,multi tool,trip computer , light's..........and a less than perfect - fat to muscle body ratio human, for the motor, is ridicules compared to the benny's a modest front suspension add's from urban assault curb hop, pot holes to dirt.

Depends.. have a rough road with big hits, fire-roads, bad pavement?, not just chipseal..

You might welcome the front wheel absorbing the big bumps.

I'm just using a Thudbuster seat post , (2 bikes ) And bending my elbows for front suspension.

This is quite an insightful comment. I will have to pay more attention to my technique in the future.

Thanks for the tips. Time to go change and practice my form!

After switching from a full suspension hybrid to a totally non suspension frame, I kinda miss it. I felt extra soreness after the first two weeks. Especially on the hind side. With that being said, I am hoping to get a suspension seat even though I'm getting used to no suspension. I like to keep my wheels pumped close to max pressure so I tend to feel everything. I couldn't lock my front suspension on my other bike so being that I'm on street, I did take a spill when I locked up my brakes to avoid a car. My front springs did what they were supposed to but also threw me off balance and onto the street. For safety reasons, I prefer no front suspension. (That could also be my fault due to bad riding technique.)

i was riding the other day and came across this bike for free. i stopped and took a look, oh full suspension, not to interested and went on my way. 1 mile later i turned around for another look. seemed dirty with flat tires but good. what the heck give it try. i cleaned it up, inflated the tires and jumped onboard to find out what needs fixing, nada, zero i was amazed. now after 20 miles i kinda like it, i guess comfort has appeal @ 68 years.

I commute and ride my long distance rides via my portly mountain bikes. Two of my portly (36 & 32 pound) mountain bikes are rigid steel alloy frame 26ers, the other is my 35 pound 29er hardtail which doesn’t have a lockout feature, but I have no need for this feature.

When I go on my longer rides (126.5 miles through my recent 200-mile ride), I elect to ride my 29er hardtail since its front suspension in conjunction with its large volume 29” x 2.1 street tires yield a wonderfully smooth ride over all those miles and its smooth ride is particularly appreciated during gravity-bombing high-speed descents.

People are right that you require a good pedaling technique so you don't lose energy bobbing up and down. But then again, that pedaling technique is basically limiting the amount of force that you do to pedal. During my commute to school, I find that whenever I try to sprint from a red light to keep up with traffic, I bob up and down and end up deciding that I need to accelerate slower.

But when you have a lockout, you can actually sprint standing up without too much of a problem as I have noticed with stiff bikes.

Just think of it this way, advantage of suspension is comfort and traction (as the wheel stays on the ground as much as it can but not much of a difference) while it's disadvantage is losing energy due to giving a lot of force pedaling while trying to get the aid of gravity (thus bobbing up and down laterally). Having the fork stiff using a lockout will end up the converse of that.