Quote Originally Posted by SadieKate View Post
The top valve cover might be a good investment. Bubba and I will frequently carry an airshock with us on the trail if we're trying to fine tune a fork or not sure about the conditions. If your fork is running a little soft and you suddenly find you're taking bigger hits and bottoming out, it sure is nice to pump up the fork a bit. Having to carry the needle and sort it all out on the trail sounds a bit complicated when there is a simple solution that makes your fork compatible with standard pumps.

Think carefully about putting money into a lock out. IMHO, it's just money and weight. They generally blow out anyway because you forget to unlock them before hitting the trail.

I have lockouts front and rear on my Racer X and never use them. I did a couple times on pavement when the bike was new but then realized it's just a good excuse to work on smoothing out my pedal stroke. Racer X's excell at climbing anyway so you shouldn't need one climbing on the trail. I mean, the first thing I noticed about my Racer X was she was going up the hill with me or without me so hang-on!
All good points - thanks! I got a lot more detailed info from the mtbr.com forums since I last posted. Turns out I need more than a regular needle adapter; I need a special SID adapter, made only for '99-'00 SID forks. I found one online at airbomb.com for only $4.38! But in the meantime, DH was able to rig one up from a needle adapter and a plastic cap, and pump up my fork with his air compressor. Wow - it's so much firmer. He said it was pretty much completely out of air, so no wonder I was pogoing like crazy!

The reason I am considering a fork with lockout eventually is that I frequently ride fire roads with LONG climbs. However, now that I have my fork pumped up properly (since I'm doing a fire road ride tomorrow), hopefully it will be much better than my last pogoing experience. I also have my rear shock pumped pretty firm. My mtb buddies recommend front forks with lockout for this type of situation, but you do make a good point -- better not forget it's on before hitting a singletrack trail!

I'll have to think about buying the valve covers; I'd need to spend about $50 to get one for each side of the fork, and then there's still the negative air chamber in the bottom of the left leg of the fork that I wouldn't be able to deal with on the trail; but I could at least pump up the positive air on the fly with my shock pump with these (though I currently don't carry it with me when I ride -- nowhere to put it! Just not sure I want to spend even $50 if I plan to buy a new fork next spring. I won't be doing a lot of riding over the winter -- that's hiking season for DH and me.

Emily