We had the chance to test ride and review one of the earliest Argonaut Cycles carbon road bikes. Even being such a young item in the brand’s stable, it was clear the bike is something special. Each is custom made for the rider, from sizing to carbon layup, and it makes for a great bike. Now, a couple years on and having won several awards, their flagship road bike is getting some important updates. Most importantly, they’re switching to the flat mount disc brake standard, making the rear dropouts thru-axle compatible, and spearheading the change to the new T47 threaded bottom bracket standard.
See how all those changes affected what’s already one of our favorite road bikes…
Up front, the frame stays the same, able to be customized for mechanical, hydraulic or electronic systems as needed.
The big changes come on the back half of the bike. Starting with the BB, Farver worked with the folks at Chris King and their house bike brand, Cielo, to develop a replacement for press fit bottom brackets. The problem with a pressed-in design is you’re reliant on everyone getting the tolerances just right (component and frame manufacturers), and having those items stay in tolerance as they wear. Too often, things aren’t, or don’t stay, as tight as they should be, and we end up with creaks or added friction from misalignment. While these guys were discussing a solution, White Industries, Engin Cycles and Enduro were also working on something and fortunately the stars aligned in time for everyone to work together.
Chris King’s new Press Fit 30i is one option, and the one Argonaut will include with their new frames. Hit the link above for more options from the other brands and the complete story behind this new design.
By offering a small selection of internal or external bearing cups and a handful of adapters to reduce the inside bearing diameter from 30mm to 24mm for Shimano cranks, the new T47 BB standard accommodates virtually any crank on the market.
The original Argonaut frames carried over the two-piece dropouts from their steel bikes. When they decided to switch to flat mount disc brakes, it provided enough reason to redesign the dropouts specifically for the carbon frame. And that gave them the opportunity to make them compatible with both standard QR and thru axles by simply swapping an insert.
The compact flat mount brake caliper sits snugly inside the rear triangle, and hose and wire ports to rear moving parts are all tightly spaced to maintain the clean appearance.
The driveside dropout is the same on both rim and disc brake bikes. The non-drive side dropout for disc brakes is molded as a longer single piece that includes the flat mount bolt holes. Both sides use aluminum contact points in the dropouts to protect the carbon from the hub axle being slid in and out.
Soon, Argonaut will also have a complete paint shop in house, too, letting them customize your bike from start to finish inside their Bend, Oregon, facility.
