Argon 18 includes a stout machined aluminum collar on its top-end Gallium Pro frame.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Technically speaking, the seat stays use a wishbone-style configuration though the shaping is more akin to a dual stays with a webbed connection in between.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Lucas Euser's (Team SpiderTech p/b C10) fi'zi:k Pavé CX saddle is bolted atop a PRO Vibe carbon seatpost.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Argon 18 curves the seat stays a bit to allow the rear end to flex vertically for additional rider comfort.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The Shimano Dura-Ace rear derailleur is bolted to a replaceable aluminum hanger.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Lucas Euser (Team SpiderTech p/b C10) is using Shimano's aluminum-bodied Dura-Ace SPD-SL pedals.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Argon 18's Horizontal Dual System separates the bike into upper and lower halves with the idea that the former should be designed around comfort while the latter is focused on stiffness.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Lucas Euser (Team SpiderTech p/b C10) is using Shimano's standard Dura-Ace mechanical shift levers fitted to his Argon 18 Gallium Pro.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Argon 18's smallest listed spacer for its unique 3D head tube system is 10mm but Lucas Euser's (Team SpiderTech p/b C10) Gallium Pro has a 5mm spacer fitted.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Argon 18's Gallium Pro carbon fork features a tapered steerer tube.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The rear end of the Argon 18 Gallium Pro is finished off with tidy alloy dropouts.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Lucas Euser's (Team SpiderTech p/b C10) drivetrain is an all-Shimano Dura-Ace affair.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Lucas Euser (Team SpiderTech p/b C10) uses an alloy handlebar clamped in a carbon-wrapped aluminum stem.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The Shimano Dura-Ace brake calipers are fitted with the company's latest blue-compound carbon-specific pads.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The bulky bottom bracket shell still accepts standard threaded cups.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Hutchinson Carbon Comp tubulars are glued on to 50mm-deep Shimano Dura-Ace carbon wheels.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Canadian-registered UCI Pro Continental team SpiderTech p/b C10 has decided to keep things in the family so to speak, outfitting its riders with Argon 18's new top-end Gallium Pro flagship including resurgent California native Lucas Euser.
Argon 18 claims a number of stiffness improvements as compared to last year's standard Gallium owing to the new asymmetrical chain stays, more bulbous head tube area, and other shape refinements: 15 percent at the head tube, 22 percent in the fork, nine percent in the bottom bracket, and 13 percent in the chain stays, all combined with an impressive 920g claimed weight for a medium-sized frame.
Adding to the stiffness story is Argon 18's unique 3D head tube system, which substitutes conventional headset spacers with thread-in head tube extensions that instead adjusts the position of the upper headset bearing - thus minimizing the amount of relatively unsupported steerer tube subject to flex when torqueing on the bars and boosting cockpit stiffness by up to 11 percent.
Curiously, though, Euser's bike goes without and instead sticks with standard carbon fiber spacers. Other trademark Argon 18 elements are still included, however, such as the unusually generous bottom bracket drop for additional high-speed and cornering stability and the company's so-called Horizontal Dual System design philosophy, which splits the frame along a diagonal line drawn between the rear dropouts and head tube and adjusts the tube shapes, carbon fiber types and lay-up schedules for either stiffness or rider comfort depending on which side of that line each tube section falls.
Technically speaking, the seat stays use a wishbone-style configuration though the shaping is more akin to a dual stays with a webbed connection in between. Photo: James Huang
Aside from the fi'zi:k Pavé CX saddle and Hutchinson Carbon Comp tubular tires, Euser's bike is a 100 percent Shimano affair, including a complete Dura-Ace 7900 mechanical group, aluminum-bodied Dura-Ace SPD-SL pedals, and 50mm-deep Dura-Ace carbon tubular wheels. Cockpit components come from Shimano's PRO division, including the Vibe 7S Compact II aluminum bar, Vibe carbon-wrapped stem, Vibe seatpost, and even the bottle cages and bar tape.
Total weight as pictured (without bottles) is 7.32kg (16.14lb).
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Frame: Argon 18 Gallium Pro, size S (H1) Fork: Argon 18 Gallium Pro Headset: FSA model 62 integrated, 1 1/8-to-1 1/2in tapered Stem: PRO Vibe, 11cm x -10° Handlebars: PRO Vibe 7S Compact II, 40cm (c-c) Tape/grips: PRO Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-7900 w/ Shimano blue-compound carbon-specific pads Rear brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-7900 w/ Shimano blue-compound carbon-specific pads Brake levers: Shimano Dura-Ace STI Dual Control ST-7900 Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace FD-7900-F Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace RD-7900-SS Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace STI Dual Control ST-7900 Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-7900, 11-25T Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace CN-7900 Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace FC-7900, 170mm, 53/39T Bottom bracket: Shimano Dura-Ace SM-FC7900 Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace SPD-SL PD-7810 Wheelset: Shimano Dura-Ace WH-7850-C50-TU Front tire: Hutchinson Carbon Comp tubular, 23mm Rear tire: Hutchinson Carbon Comp tubular, 23mm Saddle: fi'zi:k Pavé CX Seat post: PRO Vibe Bottle cages: PRO Bottle Cage Deluxe (2) Computer: Garmin Edge 500
Critical measurements:
Rider's height: 1.7m (5' 6") Rider's weight: 58km (130lb) Saddle height, from BB (c-t): 714mm Saddle setback: 49mm Seat tube length, c-t: 490mm Seat tube length, c-c: 450mm Tip of saddle nose to C of bars (next to stem): 535mm Saddle-to-bar drop (vertical): 88mm Head tube length: 109mm Top tube length: 540mm Total bicycle weight: 7.32kg (16.14lb)
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