my 243. Normally, after this much downtime off the bike, I start to get a little grouchy. We've got some more rain coming through, and tomorrow's scheduled ride looks like it may get rained out. Of course, compared to weather in the Northwest, namely Portland, this isn't that bad. I have been spending a lot of the time thinking and geeking out on my bikes. If you've known me for a while, you know I regularly change out the set-ups of my rides in the process of dialing them in.

And now, my .243 racing frame is getting put back into service. I've got a lot of action planned for her. I had been trying to sell the frame for some time. The main reason? Weight. It's a medium size frame with a top tube(virtual) of 22.5. It weighs in at just under 8lbs. Portly! For a DH shuttle bike, or hucking hardtail, the weight isn't that bad, especially with DH tires, rims, and tubes. It's not like you pedal to the top. However, I now mostly use the bike for street riding, and like my bmx, bike weight has become an issue.

My co-workers like to laugh at me for being so concerned with the weight of a freestyle bike. However, not one of them has had to deal with the fatigue that comes with moving a 40lb. bike around. Ever try to bunny hop a 40lb. bike up some stairs? It's not easy. Every move has to be executed with full commitment, meaning you have to make your hop explode underneath you, every time. This translates to extremely sore shoulders the day after.

This is where my rant begins. Bmx freestyle bikes have lighten up quite a bit in the last few years. For some time the trend was towards 7-8lb. overbuilt street bikes. Big and burly was the key, for the big and burly moves. That trend thankfully, is now over, as bike weights have come down to the 6lb. range, and many weigh in at less than that with a Euro BB shell, and butted tubes.

The mountain bike hard tail companies will follow suit eventually as well. Right now most manufacturers seem to be confused about what the bikes are designed to do. Trials companies seem to be the only ones in the know, as they have been building purpose built frames for some time now. Light weight, with dialed geometry, intended for a very specific use. Some small companies, like Evil and .243 are on the edge as well, making frames for specific riding styles. Evil leans towards techier, park riders, and .243 towards Canadian hucksters. They obviously have employees that ride, giving input on frame design. I wish that could be said for the larger, main stream bike makers. Chain style lengths on the market range from 16.5 to 17 inches. Which is find for a Slalom or Mountain Cross Bike, but not as ideal for street/park use. A lot of companies are now building Slalom bikes out of heavy gauge tubing and labeling them as urban bikes, but apparently they don't know how to manual. (the most basic street trick, after the bunny hop) Their answer to making a frame manual better is to position the bar position higher. (hello Haro, Mongoose, and Cannondale! This is you!)

This is the normal trend for the bike industry though. The small companies lead the way, with larger companies copying them, and putting them out by making similar product at a lower price. The mt. bike hard tail niche is copying bmx history to a t. It comes down to supporting rider owned companies, like Evil, or 243, or Sinister. (End Rant)

Anyway, so far, I have the .243 down to 35.5lbs as a single speed. Check her out in her various incarnations:

This was the set up was was running in Ashland. Fun for shuttling and hucking in the playground, but heavy for street use. Note the 24" in the rear. I tried to keep the weight down by running non dh tires.

Here she is with 26" wheels. Still heavy, although mostly stripped down.

Replacing the DJ 1 with a RS Psylo and a wheel with a lighter rim has dropped the weight by a pound, but I'm not sure it's worth the weight savings. I mainly am trying the Psylo because the u-turn feature, which lets me set the travel at 100mm without the extensive modification the DJ would reqire. The taller adjustment knobs look like a possible clearance issue, as they could possibly come into contact with the down tube during bar spins. With the current gear ratio of 38-18, the chain is an ideal length, allowing me to place the wheel all the way forward in the dropouts, for an effective chain stay length of 16 inches. Because I run my bars lower, short stays are a necessity for manuals.

oooh, thats tight!

Update- 2/15/05

Switching forks helped get the .243 down to under 35lbs. (Still short of my goal of 32lbs.) By switching to aluminum cranks, I should be able to get it down further. However, I'm limited by the bmx bb shell the 243 was built with. It's designed for bmx cranks.

That said, I'm ready to throw in the towl, and I began putting the 243 back on Craig's List. The new Decline features an interview with Chris Donahue, who has a signature bike from Evil Bikes that just became available. I put my order in yesterday. At least we know that Industry Marketing machine is working, because it was a similar feature on Darren Berecloth that convinced me to order the 243 last year. I'm such a sucker for glossy paper.

Any one interested in picking up a solid dirt jumping bike?