Is remote lockout useful (as against normal lockout)??

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Cubist

Still wavin'
Location
Ovver 'thill
Well, put it this way, the poploc remote costs about 70 quid extra. For that you could upgrade Deore mechs to SLX
 

Cubist

Still wavin'
Location
Ovver 'thill
People have been stopping to drop their posts since long before I discovered MTB'ing. Have they all been doing it wrong?
We once had the "honour" of being accompanied on our club run by one of group member's husbands. He was on a nice enough XC bike and usually rode with the senior whippets group, but turned out to be a complete smart-arse. Completely unable to help himself he criticised everything Cubester did, openly, and was especially scornful of Cubester's long travel hardtail. He clearly didn't realise I was his Dad, and when Cubester stopped at the top of a particularly nasty descent to drop his seatpost he came out with the classic "If you have to drop your seatpost you're clearly getting it all wrong." I then made sure I blocked him in, got off and lowered my seatpost, smiling cheerfully at him.

I then stopped Cubester from going first and waved Captain Codpiece past me to go first down the descent. He set off, perched on the back of his saddle, and made it to the first bend where there's a lovely stepdown into a half-brick littered bend. Cubester took this opportunity to blast past him, front wheel in the air and I saw a lovely little wobble as Mr Gobshite regained his line. It was too late by then as I rolled the drop past him, hanging off the back of the bike. He'd stuttered to a halt and had to carry his bike past the bend as he couldn't restart with his saddle all the way up. ^_^
 

Cubist

Still wavin'
Location
Ovver 'thill
Does that upgrade really buy you anything in performance, ease of use on the trail or longevity?
Yes. And a nice warm feeling in the car park.

Much better to have a lighter, rugged spec kit than what I have discovered is a bit of a gimmick. On a Deore specc'd bike that 70 quid would also buy an upgrade to decent tyres.
 

Norm

Guest
I've got fork-top lock out on mine, as did the original forks that came with it. I've had no problem with that, nor have I felt the need to get a remote lock out, probably because I lock the forks so seldom that it seems a bit of a waste.

If I used the bike on mixed trails more, I might consider a remote lock out a nice-to-have but a smooth pedalling technique means the whole idea of a lock out is a nice-to-have, so blowing another £70 to put a lever on the bars seems a tad unnecessary, for my riding routes and technique.
 

GrumpyGregry

Here for rides.
Yes. And a nice warm feeling in the car park.

Much better to have a lighter, rugged spec kit than what I have discovered is a bit of a gimmick. On a Deore specc'd bike that 70 quid would also buy an upgrade to decent tyres.
Regret that, as I ride a Boardman the nice warm car park feeling is denied me.

£70 quid for a groupset upgrade and tyres? Quite cheap tyres then?

Surely something is only a gimmick if you either don't use it or it doesn't prove itself useful no?
 

GrumpyGregry

Here for rides.
Maybe I'm cynical about stuff but it seems to me that folk think what they use defines the benchmark and all else is, frankly, pants. Things I've been told are gimmicks, forcefully at times, by aficionados, in the time I've been mtb-ing include...

Carbon components
Carbon frames
Aluminium frames
Hand made custom steel frames
Bar ends
Riser bars
8 speed transmission
9 speed transmission
10 speed transmission
V brakes
Disc brakes
Elastomer suspension forks
Coil spring suspension forks
Air sprung suspension forks
Rear suspension
Suspension seat posts
Dropper posts
Remote lockouts
Long travel forks
Double yoke forks
Freeride bikes
All mountain style bikes
2.1+ tyres
2.0- tyres
29 inch wheels
twist type shifters
downhill bikes
maxles
et cetera
et cetera

Still it wouldn't do for us all to be the same but cyclists are a funny bunch.
 
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