.243 Racing - Two Forty Three - 4130 Cromo - Hardtail

This is a very rare and desirable steel hardtail frame, for DH, street, dirt jumping or aggressive trail riding. Currently up on the popular auction site.

.243 are handmade in small quantities in Vancouver BC by Eric Fox. He doesn’t actually make frames for off-the-shelf sale anymore, you have to order them as a one-off, so this auction really is a rare opportunity! I visited his workshop in Vancouver where he designs and makes bike parts, custom parts for drag motor bikes and metal sculptures. I have owned the frame from new.

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 attached to the top and down tubes by a massive box gusset.

This is the 'long' size, with a 13" seat-tube and a top-tube length of 23.5". With a 5" fork the .243 has a 69 degree head angle and 72 degree seat angle. The bottom bracket is MTB type. Can be used with 24" or 26" wheels, with disks or V-brakes. The rear dropouts are basically horizontal type, but include plates which allow the rear axle to be locked in one of several positions to vary the chainstay length, or alternatively the plates can be used as variable horizontal dropout chain tugs for running single speed. The dropouts allow you to run chainstay lengths anywhere from a super-short 399mm / 15.7" to a more sedate 420mm / 16.5".

I have built the frame up with 4 and 5” single crown forks for dirt jumping and street duties, but also spent a summer riding it with an 8” dual crown DH fork, including a trip to Whistler.. Let me tell you, that was a blast, so maneuverable, and the hardtail frame airing easily while the front end could be weighted to smooth out the rough stuff!

The frame is in good used condition with no real dings or dents. The paint is scratched/chipped/rubbed off in places but certainly no damage beyond the cosmetic.

A few reviews:

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/article2134.html

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/article1236.html

http://www.rotorburn.com/article/08be56/243_Racing_Frame_Review