Why no lockout?

[Beekeeper]

Wife just got an Access Pro 500. But can’t get the lock out to work.
Both dials say preload. I think this is odd.
No matter what I try and do I can’t get the forks to lock.
Any ideas?

 

[Frankieboy]

Sounds like you have a fault. I guess it’s new, have you considered about taking it back to your lbs?

 

[Beekeeper]

Sounds like you have a fault. I guess it’s new, have you considered about taking it back to your lbs?

I’d just be very interested to know if anyone with either a Reaction hybrid pro 500 (2019) or Access hybrid (2019) has lockout or not. The 2018 bike do that’s for sure.

 

[Frankieboy]

I’d just be very interested to know if anyone with either a Reaction hybrid pro 500 (2019) or Access hybrid (2019) has lockout or not. The 2018 bike do that’s for sure.

My wife has an Access Hybrid Pro 400. Having checked Cubes website I believe they have the same forks. I can confirm my wife's forks has lockout and it works.

 

[Frankieboy]

CUBE Access Hybrid Pro 500 black´n´mint 2020

Fork spec states lockout.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Wife just got an Access Pro 500. But can’t get the lock out to work.
Both dials say preload. I think this is odd.

Both dials say preload is a bit odd ..!??!?! Maybe they ran out of stickers, it's not like you can have two left fork legs by accident Unless you have two left inners by accident ... is that even possible ? Two for the price of one ! double sprung and damped !

Either way, I have to say I was quite obsessed with being able to lock out my forks on my last two bikes, neither of which actually "locked" but just "reduced" - which seemed a bit pointless after they'd gone to all the effort of a remote handlebar mounted lockout. I found I sometimes locked out, and then forgot to unlock .. leading to some scary descents until I realised why

Now I've gone the otherway ... I have 180mm both ends and I'm too lazy to lock out either - mainly because with the e-bike, it doesn't actually make much difference. I rode with a guy the other day on an acoustic and he was constantly unlocking and locking to get the most efficiency, I just saved my energy to shout encouragement to make him pedal faster... Lazy bugger ....

 

[Gary]

Wife just got an Access Pro 500. But can’t get the lock out to work.
Both dials say preload. I think this is odd.
No matter what I try and do I can’t get the forks to lock.
Any ideas?

This:
Details - SR SUNTOUR Cycling
It's a very basic (cheap)fork.
you can't expect to get a lot of adjustment on suspension an entry level Emtb. The manufacturers have to make substancial savings to offer Emtb at the sort of price the Cube retails for.
if you really want lock out you'll need to upgrade to a higher spec fork . I can't honestly see why you would do that just for a lockout function though. I don't think I've used true lock out on a fork in my entire life.
Increased compression damping for dirt jumping and skatepark use but lock out. no.

 

[Beekeeper]

My wife has an Access Hybrid Pro 400. Having checked Cubes website I believe they have the same forks. I can confirm my wife's forks has lockout and it works.

Interesting. What year bike does your wife have? 2018 or 2019?
This is really puzzling me as the access (2019) I have here just has 2 preload dials and no lockout. In fact every 2019 picture online I see on those bikes I just can’t observe a lockout switch. I’m sure I’ll get to the bottom of the mystery soon and the. Won’t have to send the bike back

 

[Gary]

I rode with a guy the other day on an acoustic and he was constantly unlocking and locking to get the most efficiency

How on earth did he think it was increasing efficiency?
Just because you have a knob doesn't mean you should always be playing with it

 

[Beekeeper]

Both dials say preload is a bit odd ..!??!?! Maybe they ran out of stickers, it's not like you can have two left fork legs by accident Unless you have two left inners by accident ... is that even possible ? Two for the price of one ! double sprung and damped !

Either way, I have to say I was quite obsessed with being able to lock out my forks on my last two bikes, neither of which actually "locked" but just "reduced" - which seemed a bit pointless after they'd gone to all the effort of a remote handlebar mounted lockout. I found I sometimes locked out, and then forgot to unlock .. leading to some scary descents until I realised why

Now I've gone the otherway ... I have 180mm both ends and I'm too lazy to lock out either - mainly because with the e-bike, it doesn't actually make much difference. I rode with a guy the other day on an acoustic and he was constantly unlocking and locking to get the most efficiency, I just saved my energy to shout encouragement to make him pedal faster... Lazy bugger ....

?? I’ve been trying to suck up as much info on this tonight as I can. I’m like a bee hoovering up nectar. I basically need to know if I’ve been sold a defective bike or if the 2019 cube reaction pro / access pros were just plain weird. In all the pics those silly twiddly dials on both sides look identical and the same colour and even on a German review I looked at tonight the guy described it as “left and right bias” as opposed to lockout. The mystery deepens. The 2018 models clearly have lockout on the right side as I have ridden those.

 

[Zimmerframe]

This is really puzzling me as the access (2019) I have here just has 2 preload dials and no lockout. In fact every 2019 picture online I see on those bikes I just can’t observe a lockout switch. I’m sure I’ll get to the bottom of the mystery soon and the. Won’t have to send the bike back

I hate to say it, I completely agree with Gary .. it's a kinda pointless e-bike function listed as a good thing on entry level bikes .. which you really never need ..

How on earth did he think it was increasing efficiency?
Just because you have a knob doesn't mean you should always be playing with it

Well .. interesting that you should say that .. firstly .. whatever he's doing with it, he's doing correctly because on one breathless climb he announced he was going to be a father ! (really)

Secondly, he climbed 960m in 16km's as fast as me on my Kenevo (in Eco), on his old "clunker" as his Enduro was at home. So in fairness, I think the reduced suspension movement with the effort he was putting in paid off. He did say he might have to buy an e-bike though ... purely to save the knob juggling ...

 

[Beekeeper]

I hate to say it, I completely agree with Gary .. it's a kinda pointless e-bike function listed as a good thing on entry level bikes .. which you really never need ..



Well .. interesting that you should say that .. firstly .. whatever he's doing with it, he's doing correctly because on one breathless climb he announced he was going to be a father ! (really)

Secondly, he climbed 960m in 16km's as fast as me on my Kenevo (in Eco), on his old "clunker" as his Enduro was at home. So in fairness, I think the reduced suspension movement with the effort he was putting in paid off. He did say he might have to buy an e-bike though ... purely to save the knob juggling ...

Thanks Zimmer,
But what about a steep climb with no lockout?
Surely the whole bike would be bobbing up and down like a yo-yo and wasting a shed load of energy?

 

[Zimmerframe]

The mystery deepens. The 2018 models clearly have lockout on the right side as I have ridden those.

If it helps .. on my suntour bike, no matter where I set the pre-load, it made absolutely no difference and even though it was 120mm fork, it never slid up more than 70mm . I think basically they're factory set for people of upto 150kg's and you just get on with it

 

[Zimmerframe]

But what about a steep climb with no lockout?
Surely the whole bike would be bobbing up and down like a yo-yo and wasting a shed load of energy?

You'd think so .. and sometimes you do get that, but from what I've noticed, it's actually just when I'm overly compensating for the incline and have my weight too far forward combined with using my upper body to try and pedal rather than my legs as if I was auditioning to ride a bike part in ET .

Though I'm sure @Gary will more technically correct that and point out that it's just because I'm crap ..

But still, with the Kenevo not locked out and riding more correctly (a few more weeks experience), I'm climbing faster unlocked than I was on my hardtail locked. Yes, I'm sure if they were not e-bikes it would be different, but with the e-bike you adapt and ride slightly differently and that unlocked suspension absorbs the bumps which would otherwise lift your front and cause more "worry"/"discomfort"/"terror".

 

[Gary]

he climbed 960m in 16km's as fast as me on my Kenevo (in Eco), on his old "clunker" as his Enduro was at home.

He's simply fitter than you and riding a lighter bike.

So in fairness, I think the reduced suspension movement with the effort he was putting in paid off.

Assuming his fork was set up properly and he can pedal smoothly I seriously doubt any inefficiency due to fork movement would have been negligible. For sprinting or stood up climbing more so but for steady off-road seated climbing an active fork should in a lot of cases actually be more efficient as the wheel can then track the ground better and allow you to hold a line better.

Most actual fit riders on a lighweight regular bike will outclimb a lazy (no offence) Emtb rider in eco.

I can't match many of my own (road) climbing PRs/KOMs from 4 or 5 years ago with my E-sommet in Boost. mainly done on an 18lb carbon roadbike with a 2st lighter "me" (but hopefully you see my point?)

 

[Gary]

If it helps .. on my suntour bike, no matter where I set the pre-load, it made absolutely no difference

all the adjuster does is compress (pre-load) the spring slightly. clue is in the name.
Pre-loading a suspension spring isn't even something you should ever be doing as it only REDUCES performance.

 

[Zimmerframe]

He's simply fitter than you and riding a lighter bike.

Assuming his fork was set up properly and he can pedal smoothly I seriously doubt any inefficiency due to fork movement would have been negligible. For sprinting or stood up climbing more so but for steady off-road seated climbing an active fork should in a lot of cases actually be more efficient as the wheel can then track the ground better and allow you to hold a line better.

Most actual fit riders on a lighweight regular bike will outclimb a lazy (no offence) Emtb rider in eco.

I can't match many of my own (road) climbing PRs/KOMs from 4 or 5 years ago with my E-sommet in Boost. mainly done on an 18lb carbon roadbike with a 2st lighter "me" (but hopefully you see my point?)

I do .. entirely .. to say he's a lot fitter would also be understating things. The guys doing a 24 hour 10000m climb 175km run in a couple of weeks.

Also, I was including his knob twiddling as a rough example - he was in fairness only locking his rear suspension not his front - which would actually of highlighted the pointlessness of worrying about locking the front suspension even better ..

I'm pretty sure you could beat your PR's if you didn't burn out the bearings halfway through each climb !

 

[Zimmerframe]

all the adjuster does is compress (pre-load) the spring slightly. clue is in the name.
Pre-loading a suspension spring isn't even something you should ever be doing as it only REDUCES performance.

So to surmise - you're basically saying that the two main "features" offered on low end forks "preload" and "lockout" .. are entirely pointless and I spent months knob twiddling for nothing !

 

[Beekeeper]

So to surmise - you're basically saying that the two main "features" offered on low end forks "preload" and "lockout" .. are entirely pointless and I spent months knob twiddling for nothing !

Ha Ha, I’ve been spending the entire evening trying to achieve lockout with two preloads ?

 

[Gary]

I spent months knob twiddling for nothing !

practice makes perfect man.
You never know what's round the corner and one day you may finally get the chance to play with a more useful knob

 

[Beekeeper]

Took the weird bike (with 2 preload dials) for a 10 min spin up a very steep road and kept the forks on the lightest setting just to see. I agree with Zimmer / Gary that it really doesn’t matter with these kind of forks. They were absolutely fine for the purpose. Lockout would not give much benefit in this case ??
All is well and we will keep the bike.
In fact the Suntour 34mm coil seemed a bit more robust and beefy than my 30mm Rockshox airs on my own ebike.

 

[Greny]

After 2 rides on it , I installed a Rs Judy gold , great fork for the money. The Sr was......no words for it....

 

[Beekeeper]

After 2 rides on it , I installed a Rs Judy gold , great fork for the money. The Sr was......no words for it....

I’ve got the Judy silver on my own bike. Is yours 30mm?

 

[Greny]

I’ve got the Judy silver on my own bike. Is yours 30mm?

It’s 32 , this one Fourche Rockshox Judy Gold RL Solo Air 29'' | Boost 15x110mm | Déport 51mm | Noir 2019 à partir de 299,99 € au lieu de 419,00 €
It’s ok , but since 3 weeks I have the stereo with the Fox , hmmm love the Fox fork ???

 

[Greny]

Took the weird bike (with 2 preload dials) for a 10 min spin up a very steep road and kept the forks on the lightest setting just to see. I agree with Zimmer / Gary that it really doesn’t matter with these kind of forks. They were absolutely fine for the purpose. Lockout would not give much benefit in this case ??
All is well and we will keep the bike.
In fact the Suntour 34mm coil seemed a bit more robust and beefy than my 30mm Rockshox airs on my own ebike.

Best to change to those bikes is get rid of the bad tyres , for around 160 € both bikes are on tubeless schwalbe tyres of top quality ?????? (No tubes rim tape , valves and sealent included )

 

[Beekeeper]

It’s 32 , this one Fourche Rockshox Judy Gold RL Solo Air 29'' | Boost 15x110mm | Déport 51mm | Noir 2019 à partir de 299,99 € au lieu de 419,00 €
It’s ok , but since 3 weeks I have the stereo with the Fox , hmmm love the Fox fork ???

My cube reaction race 500 has the 30mm RS Judy Silver Air. I hope 30mm will be strong enough for an ebike