A bicycle fork consists of two active components. The first and most important one is the component that absorbs the shock from an impact. This is the part that saves the rider from sudden jerks. A fork smooths out an impact using compressed air or a spring mechanism. However, after absorbing the shock, now the spring or the compressed air has to release it. Otherwise, the fork will bounce back in the other direction causing nasty vibrations. It is the damper inside a fork that does the job of releasing the energy of an impact while minimising the vibrations.