Argon FR - the right bike for me?

[pewe]

Hi everybody,

hope it's OK to write this in english, my German isn't up to date...Anyway, I'm looking for a nice hardtail to match a Rock Shox Pike. I mainly ride in the swedish woods with a lot of singletrack, up and down. But I also try to get away to Lake Garda a couple of times a year for some nice riding with friends. And sometimes I need to ride on the road aswell for an hour or so. Is the Argon FR the right bike for me (not interested in a full suspension bike)? I guess I'm looking for a "all-mountain"/"aggressive XC"-bike, whatever that means...

My biggest concern is that the Argon FR is to beefy and heavy and that it's more oriented towards freeriding with a lot of jumps and stunts which I never do.

What's your experience?

Thanks for helping me out!

Patrick from Sweden

 

[elendil]

I would recomend either Nicolai Argon FR (in deed a bit heavy) or the new Pace RC303 XCAM: https://www.pacecycles.com/product.asp?catID=1&subcat=459

 

[Mucki]

Hi pewe, I'm a owner of the new Argon FR since one week now... and I have to say, that this bike isn't as heavy, as many people think. My one weights exactly 13,48kg with an RS Pike 454 Air U-Turn in front... I only rode it twice, but it's defenitly the best Bike for your type of riding... With right choice of parts, you should reach a similar or even better weight. If your interested on my Setup, check my "Fotoalbum" http://fotos.mtb-news.de/fotos/showp...17039/cat/2 and http://fotos.mtb-news.de/fotos/showp...0/ppuser/20346

I hope, to see an other beautiful Argon FR soon...

Best regards, Jürgen

 

[elendil]

Well:

Argon FR frame: ~2kg
Pace RC303 XCAM: ~2kg

So there is no big difference.

(geändert wegen falscher Information...)

 

[pewe]

Hi Jurgen (and all other),

I've seen your pics and have saved them to my computer if thats OK with you! Great looking bike with good components and a cool color. Is it a large? I also saw a bronze Argon FR on this forum not long ago, looked like it was more in my size. A medium perhaps?
Anyway, thanks for your input! I'm sure the Pace is a great frame but somehow it doesn't do it for me...The Nicolai does! But are you sure about the weight, 2,3 kg? I was told via email by Nicolai that the Argon frame is somewhere around the 2 kg mark.

Jurgen, I'm leaning more and more towards the Argon with a Pike and I think that I will get used to the wight thing. You can always go for a fairly light build. I've been riding for many years but always on skinny xc-bikes but now I'm in Gardasee every year and for that I must have a "bigger" bike with more travel, big discs and slacker frame angles.

I've also considered the Cotic Soul, a Cove Hummer and perhaps the Banshee Viento wich I think looks good. Decisions, decisions...

Thanks for your input!

Patrik

 

[Falco Mille]

Argon FR size L, anodized: exactly 1,93 kg, weighted on a calibrated digital scale a minute ago. (a powdercoating finish is about 100 g heavier)

Regards, Falco

 

[pewe]

Thanks for sorting us out Falco!

Regards, Patrik

 

[Mucki]

Hey Patrick, my Frame is a XL, im about 1,93m and it fits perefect to my height... The saving of my pics is totally ok, I'm proud if anyone is saving my lovely bike on his PC...

I'm pretty sure, that you'd have much fun with this bike, but it's your hard decision.

The Pike matches perfectly to the Frame and is an awsome Fork.

Regards, Jürgen

 

[pewe]

Yep, I actually first had alook at different forks and then was looking around for a matching frame....The Pike was best for me (Maxle, stiff, U-turn, OK weight and good looks).

So it's a XL fram...That explains why it sure didn't look like it would fit me, I'm only 174 cm so it's abit on the big side for me. A quick question if you have time: can you describe how the bike feels to ride? Is it stiff as hell or is there some comfort on longer rides? Can this bike be OK for long tours in the Alps with a lot of climbs and downhills. I'm asking because I'm not really sure what to expect. And those categories; enduro, all-mountain, freeride etc. Makes no sense to me!

Thanks!

/Patrik

 

[Mucki]

Hey Pat, it's one of the stiffest Hardtails I've ever ridden... but it's not uncomfortable, the riding position is very relaxing and you can defenitly do long trips of severeal hours without any problem... my first ride on the bike was a 4 hour Trip with 116km, about 30km of the whole distance were Singletrails... the rest of the distance was asphalt and normal forest roads. The bike climbs trough its stiffness almost like a XC Racing Bike (for a better Uphill/Downhill Position I mounted the Syntace VRO Stem/Bar Combination, this set is a very good choice for a Bike like this) and on Downhills, you can go as fast,as you want to go. The Bike is very agile, but trough the various chainstay lenght, it's very variable, so you can find your prefered setup.

For further information about the Frame you can also send me a PM or send me a Mail.

Regards, Jürgen

 

[pewe]

Vielen Dank, Jurgen! I'll send you an email if I have more questions. I'm actually looking for two bikes (one for my riding buddy aswell) and since I'm with the most experience in mountainbiking I'm the one who is doing all the research. But it looks like we are getting two Argon FR:s!

Thanks again and talk to you soon!

Patrik