NBD - Argon 18 Krypton Pro
 

Picked it up Saturday, and got 2 rides for a total of 70(ish) miles this weekend,
A couple of quick pics, and I will get something more out there when I have a bit of time... first impressions, immediate and planned changes / modifications, etc.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...61f020b733.jpg
Freshly aquired
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...11c583b9aa.jpg
In the wild, first ride.

Beautiful Bike. I've been looking at Argon 18 for a gravel bike purchase.

Very nice. I have been looking at one of those myself.

That is one good-looking bike. Love how the bottle cages echo the red around the logos.

Really love that bike

Nice bike. The only thing that ruins it is the HED decals. It is the white highlighting of the decal that ruins the aesthetic. Other than that, it looks like a great bike. Nice choice.

Sweetness! How does she ride?

Congrats on your new bike purchase. Looks great!

I like the wheels. :) But I’m biased; I have the same decals on my Jets.

I am intrigued by this bike and build. Could you do an update. It looks like the stock build with Ultegra Di2. I would be interested in where you purchased this bike. I'm in New Mexico and there are no dealers here.

How is the ride?
What is the size of frame and weight of the build?
How much?

Thanks,
Michael

Yeah, I started to do an in depth discussion of how I landed on this bike, and then the impressions etc, but it got really long and rambling. long story short, I have about ridden it about 700 miles so far. It would have been more, but I lost some weekend days due to air you could barely see through (smoke and agricultural dust). It handles well, and I am a much better descender on this bike. I am kind of a Philistine, not very discerning, but I think it handles the rough roads much better than my 8 year old Pinarello. Those might be due to the wider tires, geometry, etc. The only thing I am not sold on is the Prologo saddle... I want to like it, but I can never string together enough rides to get used to it. Having to take off a week and start over is making it tough.
mschenck42 About the bike, it is bone stock, size small. For reference, I m 5'7", and i like my jeans with a 29" inseam. I got it from Wrench Science, which is about 80 miles from where I live, but 90% of their sales are mail order. weight is unknown, but a British publication did a review and their actual weight for a medium was 7.55g (review). My handy calculator says 16.65 lbs. all I know is when I picked it up, I was stunned how light it was.
Price wise it retailed for $7500, and that was stretching my budget a lot. I negotiated that price, including sales tax, so $6850 or so.

If you want any details or specifics, PM me and I will answer all your questions. BTW, I used to live in NM, loved it there (Los Alamos, yeah I guess I am a nerd)

After two glowing reviews I was really interested in buying this frame but the price was a bit high for me. I looked at the Krypton GF which seems to share the same design as the Pro but I assume has lower grade carbon. I assume this is like the difference between a Trek SL and SLR or Specialized Fact 10 and 11. Argon 18 are a company that mostly seems to fly under the radar so can't find any info' on the GF. Did you consider this model as well?

yeah, the main difference is the level of the CF in the frame, and alloy vs CF components and wheels. That and the $2250 price diffidence for the pro and the GF in DI2.
To be honest, I had a budget, and I started looking at a totally different bike. In discussions with the guy at Wrench Science, we drifted from a custom Campagnolo build of a different bike, and fit and budget considerations changed the direction of the whole thing. I never intended to buy a bone stock bike, and i am not a lover of the sloping top tube / dropped seat stay ascetic ... but here I am. I guess all of that doesn't really matter.
You can get the GF DI2 for $5249, and the GF mechanical for $3999. which is probably what I should have done. I really don't need a super light (~16 lbs) bike at all!
What I do like, that is shared across the Krypton range, is the whole interchangeable spacer system (they call it 3D+) that allows you to change the stack depending on the spacers/ top cap used from 0mm, to +15 mm to +30 mm.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fb8bb527fd.jpg

Any new realizations or discoveries on this bike after more time and rides with the Krypton Pro? I’m heading in for a fitting to order that bike today. Won’t likely see it for months given the market over the past year plus entering the riding season.

My primary questions are what little nagging issues have you discovered and if this bike didn’t exist what would you have ended up with?

Im looking at either the SuperSix Evo or this. Despite them not being in quite the same category.

Daevos Sorry, I didn't see your question. So far no issues or problems. Still love the bike. I am still on the fence about the saddle, but i am pretty forgiving of any saddle. I have many 40-60 mile days on it, although most are just 30 miles or so. with the pandemic, I haven't really had the chance to do a lot of climbing so far, but my fitness is so so too.
One weird thing about it, is the through axels screw in from opposite sides front from the drive side, and rear from the NDS. it is annoying on the trainer because i am swapping my bike and my wife's bike back and forth several times a week. the trainer is close to the wall, on the drive side, and to get it on the Kicker Climb, it is a bit of a reach around. works out great for access in my in vehicle bike rack that I made using Rocky Mounts Hot Rod holders and some MDF though!
This thing is stiff, fast, comfortable, and a sweet descender. I like the tires it came with so much i still have 2 new GP5000s I bought when I bought the bike. I am sure you will enjoy it!

Thanks for the info. I haven’t heard back from the bike shop so we’ll see if I end up with a Krypton or not. The trainer deal is odd but I never could get my wife to use it so I’m good on that front.

I have wanted a smart trainer for a couple of years, but I couldn't justify the expense. I also like gadgets, so I was curious about the climb as well. Then my wife says we should buy a trainer, and she sees the climb on a YouTube video, and says we need one of those too! Now I leave her bike on the trainer, and switch when i need to do intervals. Win win.