2014 Argon 18 Gallium (Frameset)

2014 Argon 18 Gallium

You feel the difference immediately. The terrain ceases to impose its will. Instead, you find a new sense of ease, your riding is fluid, your pedal stroke energized. Even on the hard rides, you stay fresher, longer. A product of Argon 18's cutting-edge technology and inheriting much of the 2013 Gallium Pro's technical developments, this year's Gallium is unique. With this bike, riding hard has never been so rewarding. A rare and very successful mix of race-bike rigidity and all-day comfort with superb handling, the Gallium offers a glimpse of cycling heaven.

Constructed of a new exclusive carbon formulation, 6100 HM, the Gallium is at home on any terrain. The new composite affords a 17% better stiffness-to-weight ratio versus the 2012 model and our AFS geometry ensures an optimal fit for riders of widely different physical types, thanks to intelligently graduated dimensions across the six available frame sizes. The Argon 18 exclusive 3D Headtube offers unprecedented handlebar positioning flexibility and amazing front-end rigidity. This versatility is extended further by the ASP-6000 reversible carbon seat post, which makes the perfect position easy to achieve. The Gallium brings you the sum total of years of Argon 18 Research and Development work, condensed into a state-of-the-art machine that will move you every time you ride.

AFS Road Geometry

AFS road geometry ensures that in every frame size, the dimensions remain proportional and well balanced, offering riders of various physical types equal ease in finding the optimal position. Furthermore, handling and stability are enhanced by proper weight distribution and frame/fork geometry, ensuring the optimal balance between quick, nimble steering and the necessary stability in fast descents and on rough roads. Regardless of size, the Gallium performs consistently, offering:

- An efficient, comfortable position

- Agile, sure-footed handling, in all frame sizes.

- Add a bottom bracket set 75 mm below the wheel axles. This lower bottom bracket lowers the cyclist's center of gravity and reduces head tube length, thereby improving rider control while increasing the frame's lateral rigidity. The end result is more accurate trajectories in turns, and more stability at speed.

HDS: Horizontal Dual System

The Gallium frame design was guided by our HDS principle, with structural properties that vary according to the stresses the frame undergoes. The tubes that make up a frame all have a different role to play in the bike’s performance. The required rigidity must be correctly apportioned in the most highly stressed parts, primarily along the lower areas, while a measure of absorbency is needed in the upper region to ensure comfort, while reducing weight throughout.

Power Zone:

- We’ve maximized stiffness with massive, asymmetrical chainstays as well as an oversized bottom bracket shell and head tube.

Comfort Zone:

- The frame’s upper areas feature smaller, thinner tubes that absorb and dissipate vibration from the road.

Whether training or racing, HDS construction lessens fatigue thanks to the enhanced comfort while the lateral rigidity maintains maximum efficiency, transferring every last watt down to the ground.

3D System

The Gallium features the revolutionary 3D Headtube system, an Argon 18 exclusive. Easy to install and adjust, 3D replaces conventional spacers with a structural mechanism that allows for handlebar height adjustment without compromising front-end stiffness. In conjunction with AFS, the 3D system extends positioning flexibility by offering three head tube lengths (heights) for every frame size:

A rider can fine-tune bar height without piling up an excessive number of conventional spacers, leaving the frame’s rigidity intact. Thanks to 3D, a handlebar set at a 15 mm height preserves 5% more stiffness over a similar conventional set-up, and this figure reaches 11% with a bar set at a 25 mm height. Since the 3D Headtube system offers three effective head tube lengths, a rider can set the right position initially, but can later revise this position as fitness, taste or riding style evolve over time.

6100 HM Carbon Composite

Formulated to maximize the benefits of HDS, 6100 Nano-Tech Carbon composite excels in terms of its strength-to-weight ratio, making for a stiff but light frame. 6100 HM and HDS combine for a perfect blend of rigidity and comfort, sparing the athlete excessive fatigue on less-than-ideal roads.

6100 HM is a very-high-performance carbon composite, capable of amazing stiffness in very light structures, perfect for the spare-no-expense approach we've taken with the Gallium. While the efficiency and stellar ride are partly down to the geometry and tube shapes, the light weight of the Gallium is largely the result of this carbon recipe.

Integrated Design

Argon 18 has designed the Gallium frame and fork as an integrated whole, fabricated in the company's proprietary molds. The new mold gives the monocoque frame superior rigidity overall, with massive, asymmetrical chainstays, a very large bottom bracket and a beefy head tube.

Apart from the frame, the Gallium Pro includes:

BB86 Bottom Bracket

The Gallium features a BB86-type bottom bracket shell. This non-threaded type of bottom bracket uses cartridge bearings press-fitted directly into the BB shell, eliminating traditional threaded and external-type BB cups. This improves bottom bracket stiffness and reduces needless weight.

Di2/EPS compatible

The Gallium is compatible with Di2 or mechanical components; assembly with these groups requires no additional parts.

Weight:

-Frame: 965 g (includes medium frame, paint and clear coat. Hardware (85 g) is not included).

-Fork: 410 g (cut to fit Medium size frame).

-Seatpost: 245 g, Argon 18 ASP-6000 carbon seat post, included.

-Seatpost collar diameter: 36.6mm.

-Bottom bracket: BB86

-Headset: FSA model 62 + 3D( 1’’-1/4 (top, 36*) and 1’’-1/2 (bottom, 36*/45*) bearings, FSA TH-883 preload expander included.

-Replaceable braze-on type front derailleur tab, compatible with compact cranksets.

-Replaceable forged rear derailleur hanger.