Patent ID: 7722069

Claim:
A bicycle suspension system comprising: an upper tube including a top portion and a bottom portion; a lower tube including a top portion and a bottom portion, with the bottom portion of the lower tube being telescopically mounted with respect to the top portion of the upper tube to form an internal area of the upper and lower tubes; a damping unit disposed within the internal area of the upper and lower tubes, the damping unit including a damping piston defining an upper internal chamber and a lower internal chamber, a damping force adjustment valve which selectively adjusts a fluid flow rate of fluid passed the damping piston, and a damping lockout mechanism axially arranged with respect to the damping piston to selectively prevent fluid flowing through the damping piston, the damping piston having a fluid flow port that is axially spaced with respect to a fluid flow passage of the damping lockout mechanism such that an axial compression flow path is formed in an axial direction of the internal area by the fluid flow port of the damping piston and the fluid flow passage of the damping lockout mechanism when the damping lockout mechanism is in a non-lockout mode; and a damping control unit including a first actuating member operatively coupled to the damping force adjustment valve and a second actuating member operatively coupled to the damping lockout mechanism, the first and second actuating members being independently operable such that the damping force adjustment valve remains in a set position when the second actuating member is being operated.