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Sinister Simon Bar 29

H

helimech

Chimp
Aug 17, 2006
28
0
Psychic Pimp.
WOW that collonade place looks awesome, its a bummer that wasn't there when I lived in seattle. So its sounds like the simon bar can handle the hard stuff, thats great.
Just got done building up the rear wheel for my EMD. Can't wait to swap everything over to a simon bar in the future. Later.
 
RD3

RD3

Monkey
Nov 30, 2003
661
14
PA
I have a few hundred miles on the FTW Sinister Simon Bar now so I wrote up a small review of how it rides.

After every ride I've gone on with the Simon Bar covering different terrain and riding spots on the east coast, the bike impresses me more and more.

At first I wasn't sure if I would like how it was going to ride, being an aluminum hardtail (I like steel or ti for hardtails). But I was pleasantly surprised that frame does a good job of dampening the ride. Probably due in combination to the design of the seatstays, chainstays and the use of a machined 27.2 seattube that is sleeved down into a larger diameter tube. The frame is good at dampening the ride, but also provides a efficient pedaling platform, flex while standing and pedaling hard never once crossed my mind.

Another concern was how was the bike going to handle the downhills. Some 29ers that I've rode felt twitchy and unstable when at speed, the Simon Bar will have none of that. I found myself asking for more rocks and logs to fly over on the downhill sections of trail. The angles that the Simon Bar uses make the bike eat up downhills. I was happy to find the bike takes to the air easily, feeling very balanced in flight.

So is it as good on the climbs? Yes, once you find the right spot to distribute your weight over the bike, climb away. I found myself having an easier time with the climbs, especially rocky ones.

This may sound strange but the Simon Bar seemed to have better maneuverability than my 26" wheeled bikes on tight turns and technical rocky sections. Perhaps it was just rolling more efficiently over obstacles making it easier through the tight spots, I never had the feeling like these big wheels are getting in the way, like I have on other 29ers.

I can't really think of anything negative about the frame, maybe a full suspension version would be nice... FTW are you listening :)

I am already looking forward to the next ride on the Simon Bar... the east coast woods killin 29" machine that is handmade in a small shop in VT by a guy that might just know a thing or two about welding... :)













Thanks Darrell for the awesome custom Sinister head badge.
 
Bullitboyz

Bullitboyz

Monkey
Mar 12, 2003
371
0
CT. USA
i have to agree with Rob's review 100%.

i rode mine back to back with a friend's Niner and even WITHOUT mentioning the annoying creaking of his EBB, his bike was noticeably more flexy and vague... the SBS inspires all kinds of confidence and invites abuse. it's one of those frames where i know the bolted-on parts will fail me long before the frame will.

maybe i shouldn't have been so hasty to sell my spare frame: once i let my girlfriend take a spin on the Simon Bar, she wants to ditch her 26" Ti singlespeed and get a 29er!:poster_oops:
 
Psychic_Pimp

Psychic_Pimp

Chimp
Sep 2, 2003
95
0
On the corner pimpin' psychics
Bullitboyz said:
i have to agree with Rob's review 100%.

maybe i shouldn't have been so hasty to sell my spare frame: once i let my girlfriend take a spin on the Simon Bar, she wants to ditch her 26" Ti singlespeed and get a 29er!:poster_oops:
Click to expand...
I for one am not sorry you sold your other frame. :monkeydance:

I agree with his review also, and it isn't only good on east coast trails, it rocks on this side of the rock, too.
 
RD3

RD3

Monkey
Nov 30, 2003
661
14
PA
Here are a few photos from last weekend at Roaring Run in Apollo PA, everything is starting to get green. I have been running the Pace 29er fork for the last couple months, but I am looking forward to putting the Reba back on. The bike still makes me smile everytime I ride it.



 
tozovr

tozovr

Monkey
Jan 16, 2006
409
0
Rob, I'd say send up the Pace for some lovin, but I have a new Maxle-lite reba due in any day:)
 
greenchris

greenchris

Turbo Monkey
Jun 24, 2005
1,381
0
DA BEARS.
^^^
I really can't wait until I get my hands on one. I'm always pestering a friend of mine about when I'll have one. Need to get a front wheel built asap..
 
RD3

RD3

Monkey
Nov 30, 2003
661
14
PA
I picked up some Conti Mountain King 2.4 tires for the Simon Bar. I am very impressed with them so far. The rear has better traction when climbing than just about any other 29er tire I have tried. Cornering is also great, the knobs perched over the side of the casing let me push harder thru the corners.
There is plenty of clearence for the 2.4 rear tire, no worries of tire rub.
Both tires weighed in at 735-740g.




 
MMcG

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
I'm running a Mountain King in back and a Racing Ralph in front and agree the Mountain King kicks butt for a rear tire. May have to buy a second one to try out as a front as well. They are good tires indeed! :thumb:
 
tozovr

tozovr

Monkey
Jan 16, 2006
409
0
Jimmy_Pop said:
sweet bike. amazing details.
Click to expand...

Hello my name is Jimmy Pop and I'm a dumb white guy,
I'm not old or new but middle school fifth grade like junior high,
I don't know mofo if y'all peeps be buggin' give props to my ho cause she all fly,
But I can take the heat cause I'm the other white meat known as 'Kid Funky Fried',
Yeah I'm hung like planet Pluto hard to see with the naked eye,
But if I crashed into Uranus I would stick it where the sun don't shine,
Cause I'm kind of like Han Solo always stroking my own wookie,
I'm the root of all that's evil yeah but you can call me cookie,
:biggrin:
 
Bulldog

Bulldog

Turbo Monkey
Sep 11, 2001
1,009
0
Wisconsin
RD3 said:
The slope of the top tube might make the front end look higher than it is.
Click to expand...
No I'm pretty sure it's the fact that the bars look to be about 4" above the seat! That's a sweet ride though. I don't think I'll ever do another aluminum hardtail for lots of seated offroad use, but man I wanted a Ridge for so long. FTW frames are so nice!
 
MMcG

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
singletrack pig said:
Does anybody know where I can pick up a Med Simon Bar? They're out of that size and the Lg is too big. Used is fine.
Click to expand...
Might be mighty hard to find a used one. I suspect those that have one, are enjoying the crap out of their Simon Bar so there won't be many on the used market. Especially since there aren't a ton of them even in existence yet.

But if I hear or see of something I'll let you know.

Best,

Mark
 
ByStickel

ByStickel

Chimp
Nov 8, 2007
38
0
WNC (via nj,ca,tx,in,&va)
Local bikes: thousands of miles fresher.

And thousands more expensive, but the kiddos can always do the G.I. Bill thing...

(was it me calling you smelly and uncouth that has caused this rift between us?)
 
RD3

RD3

Monkey
Nov 30, 2003
661
14
PA
Here are the latest round of updates for the Simon Bar. I changed the rear tire from a Mountain King 2.4 to a Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4. The MK was a great tire off road, but the bike has been seeing more use on pavement in an effort to save gas. The rear 2.4 MK on pavement seemed like it was trying to claw its way into the road. I have 2.2 size MK on other bikes and it rolls much smoother on hard surfaces than its big brother. The Racing Ralph rolls almost effortlessly, gets good traction, is light weight, and has a big big air volume. The rear tire has more air volume now than the front, but the front has more what I would call tread volume, this makes the ride even more comfortable in the seat. I kept the MK on the front because it keeps me going the direction my front wheel is pointed. I put a Maxxis fly weight 26" 95g tube in the rear and usually air up to about 25 psi.
I decreased stem length from 90mm to 70mm and slid the seat back a little on the rails. Now the front end pulls up with little effort and the bike has a really sweet spot for manuals. I put the Dark Cycles Arachnid pedals 440g on the Hood and got a set of Wellgo MG-1s with titanium spindles, they are crazy light at 312g. The lock on grips are gone in favor of DMN cork grips, they are cheap and light, and make me want to ride without gloves as they feel really great.




 
tozovr

tozovr

Monkey
Jan 16, 2006
409
0
ByStickel said:
That head angle looks STEEP! Hard to tell on a monitor, but it looks like 73+, and it's nearly identical to the seat angle. Looks like the steering will be razor-sharp.
Click to expand...
73°-ish seat and 72° HT if I recall correctly...I'm drunk on bad rum now so you must forgive...
 
ByStickel

ByStickel

Chimp
Nov 8, 2007
38
0
WNC (via nj,ca,tx,in,&va)
(I did the old 'put a piece of paper over the screen, trace the fork angle, then measure using my trusty protractor thing, so I could be off by a bit. I don't even need rum to skew my results!)
 
RD3

RD3

Monkey
Nov 30, 2003
661
14
PA
The ha as others said is around 71.5-72. It's probably just the angle of the photo that makes it look steep. I don't like bikes with steep head angles and this does not feel steep when on the bike.

Here is another photo I posted last year, same bike but looks slacker. Just different angles of photography.

 
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