So I finally got this built up earlier this week and was able to snap a couple shots on such a wonderful day today. This will be my race bike for the year replacing my Madone. Let me tell you this bike is a joy to ride. The bottom bracket and headtube are way stiffer than my Trek plus the Gallium fits me much much better. I have heard some people complain about how the Gallium Pro is too rigid and makes for an uncomfortable ride over imperfect roads, but honestly I found it fairly compliant. My Madone glides over crappy roads like butter and I thought this came pretty close. I am running Conti 4000s 23's on both at 100/105 psi on both so it could be the C-24's but who knows... Overall I'm very impressed with the frame. As far as weights go the frame wasn't too heavy but the seatpost was a little porky. Still need to slide my seat back a a good bit, but as far as overall fit goes its perfect.

Now on to the group. The new Dura Ace is sublime. Some of the things that really stand out to me is the modulation of the brakes, the front shifting is great, and they really weren't kidding about how easy and effortless it is to shift up the cassette. Really am digging the new lever/hood shape as well. Absolutely hated the previous generation Dura Ace, was using SRAM before, and the new levers themselves definitely had a little more girth to them when compared to SRAM, but I like it.

As far as upgrades go I will eventually get a lighter seatpost and possibly a new saddle. Was planning on changing out the Deda stem and handlebar for a Ritchey BB C260 stem and classic handlebar and black bar tape, but I was impressed with how the white Deda stuff fit in. I am welcome to any suggestions/comments.

Total weight came out to 6807 grams with the C-24s on the scale
Haven't had a chance to weigh or take pictures with the Zipps as they are currently being converted to 11speed (such a pain)

Individual weights are as follows:

Part - Weight (grams)
Argon 18 Gallium Pro Frame Side Medium 968
Argon 18 Fork w/ Compression Plug 376
Argon 18 3D Headset 126
Argon 18 Seatpost 236
Argon 18 Seatpotst Clamp 19
Bontrager RXL Saddle 175
Zipp 303 Tubular Front w/ Vittoria Corsa Evo Sc 766
Zipp 303 Tubular Rear w/ Vittoria Corsa Evo Sc 894
Zipp Aero Stainless Skewers Pair 77
Shimano SM-BB91-41B BB86 73
K-Edge Road Chain Catcher Black 9
Dura Ace 9000 Crank 172.5 53/39 632
Dura Ace 9000 Brake Front 152
Dura Ace 9000 Brake Rear 145
Dura Ace 9000 Front Derailleur 65
Dura Ace 9000 Rear Derailleur 159
Dura Ace 9000 Cassette 11-25 173
Dura Ace 9000 Shifters Pair 365
Dura Ace 9000 C-24-CL Front 595
Dura Ace 9000 C-24-CL Rear 822
Dura Ace 9000 Wheel Skewers Pair 128
Shimano Dura Ace SPD-SL Pedals 248
Deda Zero 100 SC Stem 130mm 128
Deda Zero 100 Handlebar 44mm 258

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viewtopic.php?f=10&t=112392 -Gallium Pro
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=100286" -Trek Madone

That looks great, well done.

The looks of the DA 9000 crankset are starting to grow on me, too.

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My Bikes

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looks good!

Oh, looked better than I thought, well done

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/jonas l
http://cerrol.wordpress.com (my cyclingblog)

That is HOT. nice build

First Argon that I actually like! Gratz

Thats a great looking bike. Can you compare it to any other bike out there? i know you said you owned a madone. how it responds on out of the sadddle sprints,climbs, and long rides.

So after some good time riding and racing on this frame I would say I have a pretty good feel for the bike. Overall headtube and rear end/chainstay stiffness are phenomenal, big step up when coming from my madone. Comfort is better than I expected. The madone I rode before was great; it really felt like you were riding on a plush cloud. I could literally ride that bike all day and never be uncomfortable. The Gallium Pro on the other hand is stiff but still feels very connected to the road, but is never too rigid for my liking. Still, I would have no problem riding this for 6+ hours. Also, my weight is better distributed over the Argon than it was on the Trek, so that could have some influence on overall road feel. One quick gripe I have with the frame is the design of the rear seat stays. Never have I seen a bike that has "outward bowed" (couldn't think of a better set of words) seat stays. It seems counter intuitive to what would you would want for compliance. Maybe they were going for "snappyness?" to return to their original shape after you hit a bump/or out of the saddle efforts. I can't say it has a negative effect on comfort or handling, just seems weird.

Since I built up the bike I have changed the saddle to a Prologo Nago Evo with the Ti rails, switched the setback of the seatpost from 25mm to 30mm (nifty feature I guess) but I still am planning to upgrade the post in the future, and decreased seat height after a fitting. The dura ace group has been amazing, never skipped a beat, perfect smooth precise shifting 100% of the time.

sancle1: I test rode a Bmc SLR01 and a Cannondale Evo before settling with the Gallium Pro. The Bmc was just too soft for my liking. The evo is a great bike and I probably would have gotten it, but I couldn't find a frame that fell within my price range. Overall I would say the Gallium Pro is a good blend of those two frames. It is stiff and is has a good snappy acceleration like the Evo but is comfortable like the Bmc. The Argon 18 really responds great out of the saddle and in sprints. It does a great job climbing as well. Never had a chance to take either the Bmc or Cannondale on any long climbs but when compared to my madone it really does feel like it handles power and quick jumps out of the saddle better. I cant tell if there is any difference in bottom bracket stiffness between the two, but the madone definitely had a softer rear end which was noticeable climbing and sprinting. Hope that was somewhat helpful.

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viewtopic.php?f=10&t=112392 -Gallium Pro
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=100286" -Trek Madone

Very nice and judging your bar/saddle setup, seems to fit you as well.

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“I want to clear my conscience. I don’t want to be part of the problem any more.”

Fantastic looking machine. Except for the bulky seatpost. Why not go for a more svelte looking Deda post to match the cockpit? Wouldn't change the ride but I think it would improve the looks.

Oops! You're already considering a different seatpost. Perfection is on the way then!

Well done! I've a particular spot for Argons!

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http://www.roadiemanila.com

Me gusta

Very nice build. I love the frame.

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Cannondale Supersix '10

Great bike! DA 9000 looks really nice on the frame!
I've also got an 2012 gallium pro, DA wheels, but with ritchey components and DA 7900. Amazing ride, really stiff but also pretty comfortable on the crappy roads in Flanders. However for the rides with lots of cobbles I prefer my Wilier escape, mostly because I fear to break the argon!

I still remember the first ride I did, the first acceleration after a corner was just insane, amazing stiffness in the BB. Just kept smiling the entire ride, great bike!

Pretty bike !

which models are your bottle cage ?