Book of Paul H

Bear sighting at HM!!

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jk... Bronx Zoo :D
 
C8N said:
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.
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That was my same observation for my big travel bike vs. lesser bike. Goes downhill better but no so much uphill. But isn't that just the characteristics of each bike? In a perfect world, you would have your Defy, Talon and Trance, then tack on an Anthem, AnyRoad, and E+. Yeah and don't forget a fatback too....
 
qclabrat said:
That was my same observation for my big travel bike vs. lesser bike. Goes downhill better but no so much uphill. But isn't that just the characteristics of each bike? In a perfect world, you would have your Defy, Talon and Trance, then tack on an Anthem, AnyRoad, and E+. Yeah and don't forget a fatback too....
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I did wonder about how a XC FS bike would feel. Eh, maybe some light weight wheels later on.
 
I heard that if you color match, your bike goes 10% faster...

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Bar ends
Seat post collar
Dropper cable
Crank end sleeves

Since the paint scheme has all shades of green... It was relatively easy lol
 
The dropper cable is light green. There is a bit of black where it meets the switch but rest is green. Were u asking why it's so long?

The fork has blue highlights which is why I was thinking about getting a blue stem.
 
C8N said:
It will clean up nicely once I get a different dropper remote. Hate the Giant one that came with the bike.
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Ordered the Wolftooth dropper remote.... for $65. As soon as I order from Amazon, I see that Jensen has it for $56. Such is my life....that sh*t better be nice!

The rear wheel on the Trance has been suffering from a slow air leak. I was suspecting it was leaking from the sides of the valve and was thinking bad tape job by yours truly.
Today, I was feeling a tad bit achy from the couple of tumbles I had at Nassau yesterday. One clipless fail where I just lost balance over a small rock when coming to a stop and the other, I smacked my shoulder into a tree. Needless to say... the tree won. So.... no riding today and I decided to fix that leak. Took off the tire and saw that the cut I had made on the tape for the valve extended pass the valves. Remove tape, re-tape and instead of cutting an "X" I just punched a hole in the middle and shoved the valve into it. @Juggernaut suggested using tiny bit of silicone around the valve. Of course I totally forgot about it until I had already mounted the tire onto the rim. :mad:

Added some more stans, pop the beads, did the stans shake, pumped it up to 40psi, installed the wheel back on the bike, rode it around the block couple of times and so far so good.
Will have to check back on it tomorrow morning.... or next weekend. Been real lazy with bike maintenance these days. I should have cleaned and lubed the chains but too damn hot! I'm going to take a nap now. HA!
 
Checked on the tire this morning.
Definitely air lost... just enough air to hold shape. But that's expected right?
I guess I'll pump it up when I get home tonight.
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