One of our clients had been riding his older Argon 18 E-114 and wanted to get a little more serious about long course racing for the 2015-2016 season and asked us to build him a seriously fast machine. We were only too happy to help!!! Starting with one of the best looking and aero frames frames on the market at the moment, the Argon 18 E-119 Tri+ we then added the incredibly clean and pretty electronic groupset on offer from SRAM, being the eTap 2 x 11 aero set up.
The Argon 18 E-119 Tri+ frame is a thing of beauty, designed in such a way that all cables, regardless of the groupset being mechanical or electronic are hidden away inside the frame. This improves aerodynamics and makes for a much sleeker looking bike. Keeping aerodynamics in mind, both the front and rear brakes are hidden behind removable panels and feature very clever pulling mechanics to make sure you stop quickly. To ensure that looking good doesn’t compromise the ability to work on the bike, both brake covers have small holes to allow for the brakes to be adjusted if you are changing from training to racing wheels. This frame from Argon 18 is supplied with base bar and aero extensions as poart of the integrated front end. There is a ton of adjustment in the front end as well as a bento box which flows beautifully from the stem and holds your race nutrition. To keep you hydrated, Argon teamed up with Torhans to provide the fastest aero bottle on the market as part of the deal. Sitting centre of the bike is a SRAM Red 165mm crank to give maximum opportunity to generate power while in the aero position. At the end of the each crank arm is a Garmin Vector 2 power pedal to keep the rider abreast of the effort being exerted. To enhance the groupset a little further we swapped out a pair of the Blips for a set of Clics that mount into the end of the aero extensions allowing for changing gears with your thumbs over the ends of the bars. The second set of Blips were installed near the brake levers under the bar tape to keep them hidden and safe. Sitting atop the integrated stem is the blipbox, the brains of the eTap groupset. Finishing off the back of the bike are the dual bottle cages and large storage box specific to the E-119 with an Adamo Time Trial saddle bolted atop. Putting power to the ground is a carbon clincher wheelset which the customer bought from Flo Cycling. This comprises a 60mm carbon front, a 90mm carbon rear and a full carbon disc wheel for the rear as well. We wrapped these wheels in a set of Michelin Power Endurance 25mm tyres which have been really well received and reviewed since they were launched in 2016. Here’s some the images we took of the bike post build and right before the customer took delivery. Click on the image below to go through the rest of the pictures in the gallery.
