Argon 18 Bike Review by P&P Club Presidents
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| Argon 18 Gallium |
ARGON 18 GALLIUM
When I first heard of Argon a few years ago, I initially thought that they were a boutique triathlon specific bike company. The fact is that their owner and principal designer is a former road racer and quite an accomplished one at that. What did attract me to them were a couple of things: they are Canadian, their bikes were light and, that Former Tour de France podium finisher Steve Bauer likes his and uses them for his cycle tours. Good enough for the best Canadian EVER at the tour, good enough for a week-end warrior like me.
I was curious what Gallium was so I did a little research. Gallium as a periodic element is a bit of an unknown. It has various uses from electronics to the ability to melt itself into other metals. I thought that was pretty cool.
Boy was I surprised when that Gallium came to the shop.
My Extra Small frame came in one box with the parts in another. The first thing I did was the old pick up the frame test just to see how light it was. The claimed weight on the site was spot on (995grams!!). Man that makes for a light start to my build up. Initial look at the frame revealed some rather cool finishing touches that I would later realize weren't just for cosmetics. More on that later. The one thing that took some getting used to was the amount of advertising on the frame. By the time I built it up, it was hard to notice all the times the name Argon is on the frame.
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| Gallium's Headtube |
For starters, the headtube has some nice shapes sculpted into the sides for what I suspect allows better airflow and to decrease the weight while adding some stiffness to that area. Argon supplies their own house brand fork which not only does an excellent job soaking up the bumps while still supplying a sufficient amount of stiffness to the front end. There is very little fork chatter when applying the front brakes firmly for emergency stops. Anytime I have had a sub 15 pound bike, they tend to be one of two things, really stinking stiff or sloppy like an overcooked wet noodle. The carbon layout at the bottom bracket provides for an impressive stiffness under hard sprints. Chainstays on my frame were short and allowed for only vertical compliance. Nice touch when you hit the occasional pothole.
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| Argon's Carbon Seatpost & Specialized Toupe saddle |
I went with the ever popular Dura Ace groupo. It is always hard to find anything wrong with what the BIG S churns out. Wheels were Mavic Ksyrium ES wrapped with Michelin Pro Race 2 tires. Argon supplied their own in-house carbon seatpost which was quite light and had a very nice offset to it. I went for a Specialized Toupe carbon saddle with ti rails. By the way, if you are looking for a new saddle, I would highly recommend it. I have rode on for the last 2 years and have spent over 7000 kms on it. Man is it comfortable. Handlebar is the new FSA K-Force shallow drop carbon handlebar. Light and has a traditional drop. Great for small hands. Total bike with pedals weighs in just below 15lbs with bottle cages and computer. Now that's a light bike.
Fit is the most important thing when getting a new bike and even though I used to fit custom road bike for professional road racers and triathletes in the past, I wasn't sure that this bike would fit within my very specific fitting needs. This was the first time I had gone to a bike so small. What you need to take into consideration is the toptube length. Argon has a system called AFS. This essentially means that one should make sure that the horizontal measurement of the bicycle is factored into the overall fit of the bike. It is probably the most important measurement as it will affect all riding characteristics of the bike.
Climbing on this bike is a dream. No flex laterally for standing sessions and just enough vertical flex for some of the longer seated sessions up Seymour. Coming back down the mountain at over 80km/hr, the bike handles excellently and corners like it is on rails. I can easily lay the bike over on its side and just point it around a tight 180 degree turn with the knowledge that it will hold, stomp on the pedals out of the apex and know I can get it back up to speed quick enough to run out of gears and back into the tuck.
Argon has done an excellent job making a bike that will not only make the transition from full on race bike to Ironman Tribike to week-end warrior. Job well done.
This is one bike that's staying in the stable for quite a while.
Check out Argon's website for all their technical info. It is worth a read into all their reasons for the design of their bikes. Several models to choose from to fit the needs of all.
PROS: light,light, light, quick, responsive, stiff AND compliant?! Euro look with all the graphics (I love the Euro look. You may not)
CONS: non that come to mind
More pictures are available here.
Jay Irwin.
Ride Leader, JH Road Crew.
LIVE TO RIDE (and if you do, try it on an ARGON18!)
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| Argon 18 Helium Frame |
ARGON 18 HELIUM
What a ride, sweet as can be! I've been riding this bike for the last month and am very impressed with what little time taken to get this bike dialled in to the way I like to ride. You can ride forever on this road bike, with a comfort level at 10/10 and to feel the power going into your riding being completely transferred to the pedals and to the road is super satisfying. This bike makes it easy to go!
The Argon 18 Helium, defines a balance between a performance bike and a comfortable ride. Riding the roads of the lower mainland, you will not even notice you aren't riding on freshly paved streets.
I chose the black raw carbon frame, and so thrilled with my super light, shiny frame! The unique design and fantastic colours make it easy to feel super confident when on the road.
Of the bikes I have ridden, it certainly ranks on top!
Erin Irwin
