Distributor: Steve Cramer Products

Contact:

Ph - (03) 9587 1466

Email - craig@stevecramerproducts.com.au

RRP - $699

The .243 Racing (that's pronounced "point two forty-three racing") frame caused quite a stir when it arrived here in Australia, with many of the frames in the first shipment already sold on back-order it seemed the land down under couldn't wait to get it's hands on some Canadian steel. Recently, thanks to Michael at For The Riders and local A-Grade ripper-extraordinaire Luke Wolfik, Farkin.net got the chance to blast a freshly built .243 around the streets and trails of Brisbane to see what all the fuss was about.

The Frame

.243 Racing is based in Vancouver, British Columbia and when they set out to build a hardtail that wouldn't just handle the local terrain, but dominate it, they didn't mess around. The .243 Racing Frame is built from oversized straight-guage 4130 cromo tubing which means there is no internal butting of the tubes like there is on some high-end steel and aluminium frames. This makes for a stronger, but heavier frame than average, with the .243 tipping the scales at 3.4kg (7.5lbs) for a bare frame.

The front end of the bike is one of the most serious chunks of steel you are ever likely to find on (or above) the trails. The head tube is 5mm thick milled cromo and is attatched to the top and down tubes by a massive box gusset. The frame comes with either a BMX or MTB bottom bracket shell and a set of clever horizontal dropouts with an integrated axle positioning system. The dropouts allow you to run chainstay lengths anywhere from a super-short 399mm / 15.7" to a more sedate 420mm / 16.5"

The .243 comes in small, medium and large sizes, all share a 13" seat-tube but offer top-tube lengths of 21.5", 22.5" and 23.5" respectively. With a 5" fork the .243 we tested had a 69 degree head angle and 72 degree seat angle, just like the number listed on the .243 Racing website.

The Ride

If the geometry of the .243 looked promising our medium frame certainly didn't dissappoint. The 22.5" top-tube was roomy enough to be comfortable without stretching you out too far over the front of the bike and struck a good balance between a dirt jump and street-friendly length and something that could be comfortably trail ridden if needs be.

We ran the chainstays in the middle drop out position for the duration of the test, which measured out to a bees-dick over 16". In this setting the bike was a manualling machine, I am by no means good at manuals, but this bike literally found the balance point by itself and allowed me to reel off some of the longest manuals I've ever done.

My only opportunities to ride the .243 were a short street ride and a skate park thrash. On both these rides I found the combination of long top tube and short chainstays made the bike an awesome performer in both situations. With 5" forks the head-angle was perhaps a couple of degrees too slack for seriously technical street or park riding, but this could be easily fixed with a set of 4" or 3" forks if that was your intended use for the bike.

At the time I tested the bike I was learning manual-to-barspins and the .243 allowed me to nail a few of these both on flat land and off some small drops on the first night I rode it, which is testament to how quickly I felt comfortable on it This is probably due in part to the fact that the .243 shares almost identical geometry to the DMR Trailstar I was riding at the time, just with my 2 gripes over the DMR (chainstays too long, top tube too short) fixed.

Given the choice between the two frames today, I'd definitely choose the .243 even though it weighs over a pound more than the DMR. Through the fact that it's geometry is so damn close to being perfect, the .243 rides like a much lighter frame than it actually is.

Dom chips in some words on the .243's cross country performance...

Yeah I know what you're thinking, who the hell takes a .243 setup for everything but XC out for an XC test ride? Well for the 4 hr window I had the bike I couldn't find anyone to ride with and having consumed large amounts of pizza the night before I decided to do my yearly xc trail adventure with Ty and Tash. With a roomy 22.5" TT and kitted out in this instance with a super short BMX style stem, the geometry for riding anything up hill was a suprisingly pleasant experience.

I managed to climb everything at Gap Creek fine even with it's tankish cromo bulkness. This may have been assisted by the XC tyres which Luke had chosen for his build for less rolling resistance however, the cockpit also felt comfy during the climb which was a factor in giving this bike a good review.

The short chainstays and sensibly positioned BB also allowed for some great descending once you had busted your lungs and certainly would impress the hardtail DH crew for a weapon of choice. If I was looking to start DH racing specifically in the "Hardtail" class then you cannot go past the .243's angles. Ive heard many reports of .243's being kitted with dual crown forks and the reports have been very positive, especially with how the .243 handles the higher front end and increased travel.

As Ryan has said above, the geometry on the .243 is spot on the money and is definately worthy of your "all riding" duties. If you are of the taller variety then I would probably suggest the larger sized frame if you frequent the trail riding scene but for my 178cm height the medium would easily be a great machine for either DH, trail riding, urban and dirt jumping.

The weight factor shouldn't really affect the normal rider and with the added bulk you're going to gain from pushing this puppy up the XC trails youll be able to back flip your local 6 pack in no time! Overall I had a very "fun" 4 hours of riding on the .243 and if clever geometry and smart thinking in frame design is something you look for in your purchases then you cannot look past the value of .243's cromo frameset.