Simon Bar at Play

I haven't much wanted to ride since the PMC, but today I got off early and tool Lil' E out for some play bike time. He wanted to ride the Dells, so who was I to stop him.

As a result, I had a photographer for some of my favorite moves in the Willow Dells.

I put the Simon Bar through it all, and it pretty much shrugged it off. After doing multiple drops and power climbs on a SS hardtail, rather than suspension, my back and knees are telling me about it just a little.

This is really the primary role for the Simon Bar in my mind: Play hardtail.

This roller always makes me pucker a little, but it was a non-issue.



This drop I have only done less than 10 times and it scares the crap out of me. This is the biggest I ever anticipate going with any bike. It is pretty uneventful on the Box, just muster courage and hit it. The Milk Money handles it pretty well also. I tried it once on the Rig and whipped my neck hard enough to say to myself I would not try it on a hardtail again. Well, I am stupid so I hit it twice on the SB today, and it went fine. The landing is hard, but very manageable, probably more so as my technique improves.



This is more typical of the little two foot stuff I enjoy and that is just fun on any bike. The SB could do this all day long.



This is probably more of the typical terrain I will use the bike for: singletrack intermixed with interesting rock gardens. I really enjoy riding this frame in this stuff.




Burst at the 3 foot wall and trust speed and momentum to carry you to the top.



Then come down and do it again.



Ride outcropping and hop off the end.









Sprint at wall and hope you have enough speed to carry to the top before you fall over.







Roll back down





The photographer felt he needed a few photos taken as well:













(A little Banshee love in the above photos)

So anyway, I am pretty tickled with the Simon Bar. I absolutely did not know what to expect when I bought the frame and am very pleased with it in every way. Time will tell how it holds up, but it will not be ignored, that is for sure.