It's been about month and a half since getting the Trance and lately on my rides, I've thought that my cardio was suffering and going down hill(age factor?)... or that since I've started my bike commute, maybe my legs were developing faster than my lungs. I've always thought that my legs outpaced my lungs. Initially, i thought i was getting sick because I was so out of breath... more so than usual. Today, I took out the Talon, just to relook at the difference between HT XC and FS Trail. The Trance is a slightly heavier bike but never thought the weight difference would tax on my cardio that much because today I rode HM on the Talon as I knew I could as far as endurance was concerned. That cardio mystery was solved.
Without going into the obvious, after riding the Trance for a bit, I realized I got better on the Talon on the technical stuff. That still doesn't mean faster but I've improved by getting smoother. I think it's because I got more conscious of the fact that I need to pick my lines better on the HT. I look further ahead when on the FS because I can risk it to take a more rowdy and bumpy line and I am going faster. I looked down more on the Talon and have to make decisions on which way to go. Consequently, slower in the Talon and not to mention, its not as stable so I'm not comfortable going as fast on the HT.
Another reason why I took the Talon was to see what I wanted to do with it. I thought about slapping on a rigid fork and drop bars to make it a CX bike. This is not going to happen. I am going to keep it as is and alternate between the 2. If I feel like riding lazy and fast, Trance will get the call. If I feel like gaining some elevation, it will be the Talon. When riding with others, Talon will get the call as well so that I can make better attempts in trying to keep up. But at the end of the day, I like lazy and fast so Trance will prolly get more mileage. I guess my want for a CX bike will have to wait.