A cold, wet and windy November’s day isn’t an ideal time to truly appreciate a machine in the mould of the Argon 18 Gallium Pro but when the call came from the Canadian firm’s UK distributor, i-ride, we hot-footed it to Ditchling on the South Downs for a spin.
And lucky we did as it’s a lovely bike. The headline is the weight – at 6.2kg in this build it’s the lightest bike we’ve ridden this year – but it’s a suitably stiff and smooth ride, too.
As ever, this first ride comes with a disclaimer: it’s just that – a first ride – and not a full review, but instead our first impressions after a 35-mile loop from i-ride HQ.
The Gallium Pro is Argon 18’s top-of-the-range bike and has been in the range for some time but this is essentially a new frame for model year 2014. It’s gone a diet, dropping the weight to a claimed 790g for a size small, and that puts it in super-light company close to better-known contemporaries such as the Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod and Trek Madone 7-Series, which have claimed frame weights of 750g and 725g respectively.
Argon 18 have also sought to improve comfort by switching to a slimmed-down 27.2mm seatpost – the go-to diameter for manufacturers who want to add a little compliance with a narrow post which offers more flex – while the seattube has been beefed up, flaring significantly at its junction with the BB86 bottom bracket, to boost stiffness.
Out back there are super-skinny seatstays – again to build some comfort into the back-end – which contrast with the oversized asymmetric chainstays. It has all the hallmarks of a modern, high-end carbon fibre frame.
Our route took us north briefly before switching south to complete a five-mile warm-up before hitting the climb of Ditchling Beacon. We didn’t need to reach the climb to know, however, that the Gallium Pro was going to prove as good a weapon as any heading uphill. It responds immediately to pressure on the pedals, both on the flat and when the road rears up.
Still, Ditchling Beacon, a one-mile climb which averages nine per cent and with short sections steeper, remained the best opportunity to see how the Gallium Pro survives in such terrain. Even with a lowest gear of 39-25t in this build, the frame’s super-light weight and inherent stiffness immediately came to the fore, particularly on the climb’s steeper gradients, though an extra sprocket at the back would have allowed me to tap out a rhythm at my preferred high cadence.
There was a decent amount of additional ascending to come, 2,677ft over the course of 35 miles, which is a fairly high ratio for these parts, and the Gallium Pro’s climbing ability to continued to impress more than this rider’s form, particularly on the shallower ascent back over Ditchling Beacon from the south, which enabled me to get on top of a good gear and pick up genuine momentum.
The Gallium Pro’s handling is as you’d expect: fast and sharp, but, on the whole, sure-footed. We were buffeted by some very strong crosswinds coming off the sea, and the Gallium Pro’s lack of mass made that short stretch of road a little unnerving before we turned back in-land, but these were fairly exceptional circumstances.
The geometry is suitably aggressive, with a medium/56cm frame having a 13.9cm headtube. However, Argon 18’s ‘3D Headtube’ allows the rider to add an additional 2.4cm to the headtube in 1.4cm and 1cm increments without, they say, affecting front end stiffness. It’s a modular concept not dissimilar to that we saw on the recently-launched Parlee ESX aero road bike.
Comfort is impressive, too, with the frame soaking up much of the vibration kicked upped from the road to good effect. Argon 18 say that their Horizontal Duel System, whereby they essentially draw a diagonal line through the frame, sees them tune the top half (namely the toptube, seatpost and seatstays) for comfort, and the bottom half (the headtube, downtube, bottom bracket and chainstays) for power.
We’ll have to take their word for it until we get to spend more time with the Gallium Pro on familiar roads. It’s fair to say, however, that our short time with the Gallium Pro has left enough of an impression that we’re keen to pencil it in for a more extended test once the weather picks up.
i-ride offer the Gallium Pro as a frameset only for £2,099.99, in a Shimano Ultegra mechanical build for £3,499.99 or with Ultegra Di2 for £4,149.99. Both builds come with Fulcrum Racing Quattro wheels, 3T finishing kit and a Prologo saddle.
The bike we rode, with Campagnolo Super Record and Fulcrum Racing Zero hoops, comes in at £4,999.99, and while it’s a distinctly top-end build, there’s room, if you’re a dedicated weight weeny with a deep enough wallet, to swap in lighter components which could result in a sub-6kg build.
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