Remember the problem I had with the fork (blew a seal), well it turns out it is more tragic that this. The compression damper is also buggerred, so needs replacing. Of course this means the Trance is spending a week in the bike shop getting fixed.
So, out comes the mighty Apollo (LSX 1.2 to be precise). Purchased back in the late 90's, when rear suspension was for motor bikes, and front suspension was only for high end bikes. Yes, this was a higher end bike back in the day (it came complete with VERY ordinary - by todays standards - Mojo forks).
Recently I removed the old suspension fork and replaced it with a CroMo rigid fork purchased from a flea market. I also decided to make it into a cool single speeder, complete with flat bars and V-brakes, just perfect as a "house bike".
Well, now it is a rigid single speeder, with flat bars and V-brakes, AND with some chunky knobbies, all ready to shred some trails. It actually looks pretty good; almost "retro". Kind of reminds me of my very first mountain bike.
I had an itch to ride some single track over the weekend (sick of bitumen and 4wd tracks) and decided on a Sunday blast around Mt Gungin.
My wrists are still sore from the pounding (and having to pull so hard on the damn brakes), and my ass feels like I've been sharing a prison cell with Bubba. But .... there was a certain amount of accomplishment knowing I rode ~30k's of pretty rough single track on a rigid SS with flat bars and V-brakes.
Holy hell, what a difference front and rear suspension makes (maybe I'm just spoilt). I'll never bemoan the 4.2 inches of travel on the MIGHTY Trance again ...... EVER.
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