My new Argon 18 E-118

[Wookiebiker]

This is replacing my old Fuji Aloha 1.0 aluminum TT bike (from 2006?)...so it's quite a change. I have had the bike out for one 35 mile ride so far and it's a pretty impressive bike overall. Handling seems to be just a little twitchy for a TT bike while on the drops, but smooths out while in the aero bars.

The ride is good and absorbs chip seal type bumps well, but is a little harsher over sharper impact. The bottom bracket and front end are plenty stiff for a TT bike and out of the saddle efforts on short rollers.

Braking is surprisingly good given what I've heard about V-Brakes on TT bikes, but adjusting the brakes for different wheelsets is difficult since there is only an adjustment screw on the front brake...and no quick release on the wheels (there is one on the back but it's impossible to reach with the cover on...so you have to let the air out of the tires to switch them.

Cable routing is fairly smooth overall and routing through the bars isn't as difficult as it could be, though using an old spoke to pull the cables through helps

The aero bars are "Super" adjustable and should be easy for anybody to get a food fit on them. I did end up re-routing the rear cable from the lower mounting hole, to the top which moves it out of the air-flow and behind the bend in the bars.

I did change out saddles to one of my road bike saddles that I like more, and adjustments to the fit include raising the saddle nearly 1" which gives me nearly 14cm of saddle to bar drop (unexpected, but still very comfortable for me).

So far I'm pretty impressed with the bike...even picked up a couple of flat land Strava KOM segments on the first ride even though it was more of a recovery ride and I never pushed it hard. I can't wait to get it in a full on race TT.

[aengbretson]

YES. I love the look of that bike! I haven't seen a 118 from multiple angles before and hot damn it is sexy. I'm hoping someone will order one so I can build it up, I've done an E-116 this season and it was surprisingly nice to work on compared to most other modern TT/tri bikes. On a related note, unless the rear brakes are substantially different between the 116 and 118 or you are running a 25mm tire in the back, I've found that I can set up the rear brake to get good feel and modulation but still have easy removal of an inflated tire...

I have an E-112 from last year and I almost regret getting it before the 116 and 118 came out (but then again I got a closeout deal on it).

[Wookiebiker]

YES. I love the look of that bike! I haven't seen a 118 from multiple angles before and hot damn it is sexy. I'm hoping someone will order one so I can build it up, I've done an E-116 this season and it was surprisingly nice to work on compared to most other modern TT/tri bikes.

I haven't worked on other modern TT bikes, but overall...it's not hard to work on, but part of it is a pain. The rear brake actually has a quick release on it (and it has the same brakes as the 116)...however there is a cover over the rear brake for aero reasons that eliminates the ability to use the quick release on the road.

I'm running 22c bontrager R4 tires on the bike. On the back of the bike with a wider rim on the RENN 575 disc it comes out with no need to adjust the calipers, but the front has an old Zipp wheel (same as a SRAM S60) that I have to loosen the pads up or let the air out of the tire to get the wheel out since there is no quick release on the front brake.

Using my road training wheels with Open Pro's and 23c tires...I can't pull the wheels on and off with out letting the air out of the tires and re-inflating them.

Then there are differences in rim width that complicate things further...so unless you are running 23mm wide rims with 23mm or smaller tires, switching wheels can be a pain in the butt. Down the line I do plan on making that switch though (To HED wheels with 23mm rim widths and clincher tires)...which will make changing wheels easy to do.

I will say that there is a lot of adjustability with the aero bars...but I do wish they would use different holes for routing the brake cable. If they had just given it an out near the frame it would save a bit on the aero side of things by keeping the cable closer to the frame instead of out in the wind. That's my only complaint with the bars.

I'm not sure how their headset works overall (though I have a good idea from diagrams I've seen), but they could have done a better job with it's overall design that would have allowed a lower stem (the same height as the top tube) and allowed the use of a full steerer tube instead of a metal rod down the middle. I can think of a much simpiler design that would work just as well and give an option of forks if somebody didn't want to use the stock bayonett fork (for whatever reason). It would have been more aero and more versitile in the end without an increase in cost.

For the most part though...it's a quality bike that has a lot of adjustability and seems to be very fast on the road. Even compared to my old Fuji that's has a nearly identical position set up...the Argon feels much faster and more comfortable...when on it I just feel more powerful (probably a bit of difference in position, but I can fee a difference in wind drag as well).

I'm 2.5 weeks away from putting it through it's paces at the state ITT championships and can't wait to see what I can do on it ... the wait is driving me nuts right now

[Wookiebiker]

Made a few changes to the bike and dialed in my position from the State ITT championship race (a few things were off).

I have my new Flo 90 front wheel (and have another for the rear and training) and switched saddles out to an ISM Adamo Race saddle.

Love the way the bike feels now and am very surprised at how much I like the Adamo saddle. I like wider saddles (usually ride 155mm on my road bikes), but have found the Adamo to be very comfortable and gives me space now to be USAC legal should I wish to race outside of Oregon (assuming they check the bikes).

Can't wait to get in some training time in the spring ... and hopefully light up the road in the TT's next year

[Ventruck]

out of curiosity, you never tried getting your hands on a SRAM TT ring yet?

[Wookiebiker]

out of curiosity, you never tried getting your hands on a SRAM TT ring yet?

Nope ... No SRAM TT ring yet.

I wouldn't mind one, but have other priorities before I get to that. Gearing wise I don't really need it with a 53x11, but a 55 would be good for some of the downhills in the TT's around here.

[Britt819]

Argon 18 E118 owners running Dura Ace Di2.......I found this article on Slowtwitch showing how to route your Di2 module into the stem to keep everything hidden. Pretty slick if you ask me.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Sl...-116_P4212306/

[Britt819]

I would like to see a quick review on your Flow wheels when you get a chance.

[Wookiebiker]

I would like to see a quick review on your Flow wheels when you get a chance.

I haven't been able to put as much time as I'd like on the Flo Wheels ... but from the miles I've put on them (about 100 or so) I really like them.

Overall, they are stiff enough for most riders. I have a Clydesdale build on the rear wheel (28 instead of 24 spokes), which gives a bit more strength to the rear wheel, but I'm not sure if I really needed it at just under 200 pounds (190 race weight). The front wheel is plenty stiff with 20 spokes.

The rims are "Wide" with an outer width of 24.4 mm. I was running Bontrager R4 tires which are 22c, but they were too narrow to fit the tire beat properly. I switched to R3's which are 23c and the fit is a lot better with very little gap between the "Aero Wing" and the rim. The additional volume should give better cornering and a better ride with a little less air pressure in the tires.

I will say the 90 mm front wheel does catch some wind in cross winds, but it's not too bad, just enough to notice it (10 mph or so cross winds). The hold their speed well and fitting tires isn't very hard as most go on without too much of a struggle.

Build quality is good with the wheels coming in perfectly true and round ... so no issues there. Also, no pinging during the first rides from the spokes settling in. The bearings are great and I don't see a real need for the ceramic bearings. With just a small spin of the wheel ... they keep going and going and going. Pretty crazy really.

The fit of the fairing to the rim is good, just a small .5 mm gap or so between the edge of the rim and the fairing ... but the holes that the spokes go in are fairly large which can allow for very small objects or dirt to get in the fairing. When riding it's not an issue but if you hold the wheel up and spin it slowly you can hear it dropping around the spokes if you get something in there. If it's small you should be able to take the tire off and pull it or let it drop through the tube valve hole.

Overall ... I like them as much as any other deep carbon rimed wheel I've used and the aero properties are good. For the price, they are really hard to beat. I like them so much I picked up a 60 mm wheel for training and high wind racing. I also hope to get a rear disc next summer, but will race the early season on my older Renn 575.

In addition:

With wider wheels and TT bikes, the rear wheel fit can be an issue sometimes and it seems reading about older Argon 18's they are a tight fit.

With the E-118 I have about 4 mm - 5 mm clearance on each side of the chainstay with the Flo wheels, which is more than enough. There is no rubbing of the wheel on the bike even under high power.

I did have to modify the brakes a little by switching out to some used pads that were about a 1/4 worn down and modified the holders just a little so they were easier to fit and a little flatter overall. It wasn't hard to do, but kept the brake arms in out of the wind.

[Britt819]

I haven't been able to put as much time as I'd like on the Flo Wheels ... but from the miles I've put on them (about 100 or so) I really like them.

Overall, they are stiff enough for most riders. I have a Clydesdale build on the rear wheel (28 instead of 24 spokes), which gives a bit more strength to the rear wheel, but I'm not sure if I really needed it at just under 200 pounds (190 race weight). The front wheel is plenty stiff with 20 spokes.

The rims are "Wide" with an outer width of 24.4 mm. I was running Bontrager R4 tires which are 22c, but they were too narrow to fit the tire beat properly. I switched to R3's which are 23c and the fit is a lot better with very little gap between the "Aero Wing" and the rim. The additional volume should give better cornering and a better ride with a little less air pressure in the tires.

I will say the 90 mm front wheel does catch some wind in cross winds, but it's not too bad, just enough to notice it (10 mph or so cross winds). The hold their speed well and fitting tires isn't very hard as most go on without too much of a struggle.

Build quality is good with the wheels coming in perfectly true and round ... so no issues there. Also, no pinging during the first rides from the spokes settling in. The bearings are great and I don't see a real need for the ceramic bearings. With just a small spin of the wheel ... they keep going and going and going. Pretty crazy really.

The fit of the fairing to the rim is good, just a small .5 mm gap or so between the edge of the rim and the fairing ... but the holes that the spokes go in are fairly large which can allow for very small objects or dirt to get in the fairing. When riding it's not an issue but if you hold the wheel up and spin it slowly you can hear it dropping around the spokes if you get something in there. If it's small you should be able to take the tire off and pull it or let it drop through the tube valve hole.

Overall ... I like them as much as any other deep carbon rimed wheel I've used and the aero properties are good. For the price, they are really hard to beat. I like them so much I picked up a 60 mm wheel for training and high wind racing. I also hope to get a rear disc next summer, but will race the early season on my older Renn 575.

In addition:

With wider wheels and TT bikes, the rear wheel fit can be an issue sometimes and it seems reading about older Argon 18's they are a tight fit.

With the E-118 I have about 4 mm - 5 mm clearance on each side of the chainstay with the Flo wheels, which is more than enough. There is no rubbing of the wheel on the bike even under high power.

I did have to modify the brakes a little by switching out to some used pads that were about a 1/4 worn down and modified the holders just a little so they were easier to fit and a little flatter overall. It wasn't hard to do, but kept the brake arms in out of the wind.

Thanks for the review on the Flow wheels. Regarding the rear brakes. On my E116 I used regular pads and just removed some of the brake pad spacers on both sides in order to fit new pads. Seemed to work for me instead of using used pads.

[Wookiebiker]

Thanks for the review on the Flow wheels. Regarding the rear brakes. On my E116 I used regular pads and just removed some of the brake pad spacers on both sides in order to fit new pads. Seemed to work for me instead of using used pads.

I actually changed the spacer that was there to one that was a bit narrower, but made adjustments "Much" easier.

The smaller pads were used to keep the brake arms inward as new pads can push them out into the wind, especially on the front fork. I'm sure part of this depends on the pad being used and I know some people have sanded down the stock pads on their bikes (not just Argon's).

With the new wave of wide wheels it's all "Trial and Error" on many TT bikes when it comes to getting the wheels to fit since manufacturers are just starting to make adjustments to frames.