{"id":184725,"date":"2025-10-02T10:10:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T10:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/184725\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T10:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T10:10:07","slug":"argon-18-nitrogen-aero-bike-first-ride-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/184725\/","title":{"rendered":"Argon 18 Nitrogen Aero Bike First Ride Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Argon 18\u2019s new Nitrogen. Fast and light, can you have it all?<\/p>\n

In the past 12 years of this job, I can pretty much count on one hand the bikes that have seriously excited me: BMC\u2019s lively lightweight rim braked TeamMachine SLR01 I tested back in about 2017; Ritchey\u2019s calming Road Logic; Cervelo\u2019s original S5 that felt like it wanted to roll all day; and more recently Orbea\u2019s new Terra race, a gravel bike that wants to be thrown about. And for the second time in 2025, another bike joins the list, Argon 18\u2019s new Nitrogen. All these bikes had a character to them that, if I had the money (and garage space), I\u2019d love to add to my fleet.<\/p>\n

But first, before we get to that review, let\u2019s delve into some details on the new 2026 Nitrogen.<\/p>\n

\"\"It\u2019s not just the frame and bars that the engineers have worked on; they\u2019ve included working with Scope on developing a specific wheel for the bike.
\nThe details<\/p>\n

The Nitrogen, as mentioned, is Argon 18\u2019s aero optimized road bike. When compared to their all-around race bike in their range, the Sum Pro, the Nitrogen is claimed to be 24 watts faster at 45kmh. To achieve these differences, the engineers behind the bike have focsued not just on the usual frame details, taking into account the latest updates of the UCI rules, but also on what is now becoming a bit more standard: looking at the bike as a complete package. But they\u2019ve taken it a step further by also also delving into examining how wheel and tire combinations could aid in achieving a slippery frame. To do this, they partnered with Scope to help produce a specific wheel set designed and only available with the Nitrogen.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Attn wheelset is 1.3mm wider than the standard Scope version, and designed to work alongside Vittoria Corsa 30mm tires.<\/p>\n

The wheelset in question is a tweaked version of Scopes\u2019 \u201cScaly\u201d Artech 6. Argon 18\u2019s version of this wheelset comes under the new \u201cparts\u201d brand, Atten (18 in Dutch). The difference between the standard Artech 6 and the Atten Artech6+ is that externally, they are 1.3mm wider than the standard version. The updated design is claimed to improve airflow, but only when combined with their preferred 30mm Vittoria Corsa Pro tubulars. So, yes, if you want the best performance out of this bike, you need to stick with the Corsa Pro tires. Not too much of an issue in my eyes, as it\u2019s a pretty delightful tire to use. Expensive, yes, but great performing.<\/p>\n

Weight-wise, it\u2019s not your usual aero bike, with the frame coming in at a slender 950g, only 100g more than the Sum Pro. Builds can get down to as little as a claimed 6.95kg, although on display in the Argon 18 HQ was a medium Nitrogen at a whispy 6.5kg, albeit with a raw carbon finish.<\/p>\n

\"\"Horizontal dropped stays, a carryover from Argon 18\u2019s track bikes.<\/p>\n

Frame design is what you\u2019d expect from a modern aero frame, taking all the cues from what the current UCI rules allow. Deep head tube and down tubes, a massive bottom bracket area that is claimed to be 18.5% stiffer than the Sum Pro, though just as comfortable. And then there are the excessively low dropped stays that certainly hint of design flourishes taken from their popular track bike. Other notable updates include proprietary bottle cages, which, unlike some other brands\u2019 bikes, accept standard bottles.<\/p>\n

Bars come under their Atten range too, in this case, the one-piece Atten CHB-01 Aero Handlebar. With a three-degree inward flair at the hoods, allowing the levers to have a natural inward tilt and a more aerodynamic position, this, mixed with a slight arrowing and narrow central front section, makes for a comfortable position. More on that in the video.<\/p>\n

\"\"I usually dislike narrow bars; the Attn cockpit was a pleasant surprise.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the model I rode came with a Repente Quasar CR saddle and the SRAM Red AXS groupset. The Nitrogen also comes installed with a CeramicSpeed\u00a0bottom bracket and CeramicSpeed SLT headset bearing.<\/p>\n

If your budget can accommodate the high asking price, there is also a non-Pro Nitrogen, the Elite option, available. The frameset uses a less premium carbon, producing what they claim are the same ride characteristics but with a weight penalty of 200g. It, though, doesn\u2019t come with the Atten 6.A+ wheels, ceramic bearings, and bottom bracket.<\/p>\n

\"\"The top-end build with SRAM Red AXS isn\u2019t cheap. But that goes for many, many bikes today.
\nPrices<\/p>\n

Nitrogen Pro, including the Atten\/Scope wheels, will be available in a single color option and be offered in three builds.<\/p>\n

Dura-Ace: $13,000 \/ \u00a312,500 \/ \u20ac13,495
\nUltegra build : $9,800 \/ \u00a39,500 \/ \u20ac10,995
\nRed AXS: $13,500 \/ \u00a313,000 \/ \u20ac13,995<\/p>\n

The Nitrogen Elite will also be available in two colors, a fetching satin silver and a deep green. Again, three build options are available:<\/p>\n

105 build prices are $5,400 \/ \u00a35,200 \/ \u20ac5,595
\nUltegra build prices are: $7,250 \/ \u00a36,750 \/ \u20ac7,795
\nForce AXS build prices are: $8,000 \/ \u00a37,300 \/ \u20ac8,595<\/p>\n

\"\"If only I had deep pockets!
\nFirst Ride<\/p>\n

Now, as always, please keep in mind that this is a first ride review, a taster of what this bike is. With only 75km of riding on it on some lovely Danish roads and with (believe it or not) two outiders on motorbikes stopping traffic and allowing us to run red lights safely, it\u2019s a soup\u00e7on worth of a ride, albeit a lovely and safe ride that gives me an idea of the Nitrogen\u2019s performance. But saying this, it\u2019s become a bike that has more than piqued my interest, a bike that falls into the camp of few bikes where I\u2019d actually chase up the opportunity to put some miles on it seriously.<\/p>\n

So yes, the new Nitrogen is a lovely bike; it offers a lot for admittedly a lot of money, but for better or worse (definitely worse), all top-end bikes are expensive today. And yes, it\u2019s in that superbike territory, a place that is getting crowded, and you could argue that it is the higher echelon of that bracket, roughly $ 1,000-$ 1,500 more than your \u201cstandard\u201d race bike with the same components. But I would think that if you have $11,000 to spend on a bike, you\u2019re not going to be hard-pressed or worry too much about finding that extra $1,500, I\u2019m guessing. Then again, what do I know? I certainly don\u2019t fall into that camp.<\/p>\n

\"\"The weight even includes the integrated cages.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not the sort of rider who lusts after aero bikes; they usually don\u2019t float my boat. Perhaps it\u2019s because, over the past two years, I\u2019ve noticed they have become more extreme in design, and dare I say, some of the resulting machines are pretty ugly. They\u2019ll also be the fact that I live in a hilly area, and don\u2019t go fast enough to warrant the extra whoosh of a dedicated aero bike. But the Nitrogen has a heap of character and low weight that I can get behind, and get excited about.<\/p>\n

If you want a quick roundup, here it is: it\u2019s rapid, light, and comfortable for an aero bike, especially when compared to some aero bikes that seem to have overlooked this character of bike design. All-day comfort shouldn\u2019t be an issue on the Nitrogen. The engineers at Argon 18 have produced a bike that is more than just aero-focused, but feels closer to an all-around, everyday race bike, yet feels lightning fast when you get the power down and give it some juice.<\/p>\n

\"\"Don\u2019t expect to be able to hear yourself over the Scope hub; it\u2019s loud.<\/p>\n

Ok, so let\u2019s delve into the fine points.<\/p>\n

Rapid, yes. We can tick that one off the to-do list for this bike. They\u2019ve achieved it without worry, and as well they should, what with a vast knowledge of producing track bikes. You put the hammer down, and it goes and holds that speed. Its power transfer is up there with the best. But what makes it stand out in the aero category is the fact that it feels fast, at any speed, which can\u2019t be said for other aero bikes. I attribute this to the lightweight (which I\u2019ll get to in a moment) and what feels like a shorter wheelbase (for an aero bike). It has a constant nippy feeling to it. Rolling along at a sedate pace doesn\u2019t have the Nitrogen feeling like a battleship underneath you. It\u2019s a lively ride.<\/p>\n

Comfort-wise, it\u2019s more than adequate; it\u2019s a race bike after all, so it needs that stiffness, and no matter how many brands say that they can have comfort and stiffness in one package, I\u2019ve yet to find that perfect elusive balance. But saying that, this is a bike you can most definitely go and do big miles on, some aero race bikes I\u2019ve tested don\u2019t offer that: sacrificing stiffness and power transfer for any hint of all-day comfort.<\/p>\n

\"\"No bags of clearance, but enough for 32mm tires and the 30mm that they say work best with the Nitrogen.<\/p>\n

And as for that other factor everyone looks for in a race bike, weight, or lightness, well, yes, you can tick that off too. Or at least in the build I rode. At under 7kg for a fully built medium frame, with bottle cages, it\u2019s a bike I\u2019d love to test on some climbs. Obviously, something that wasn\u2019t possible on our test ride in and around Copenhagen, Denmark. Even so, you can feel the lack of weight in the bike at all times.<\/p>\n

One thing that I did get to test this bike out in, though, was crosswind action.<\/p>\n

\"\"The finish and details are also impressive.<\/p>\n

The deep tubing, deep wheels, light weight and a very windy day on the coast of Denmark should have had me thrown all over the place. But to my surprise, the bike handles exceptionally well in crosswinds. I found it a very stable bike. Which was even more of a surprise as I was using the 360mm Attn bars that come as standard. Now, I\u2019m no fan of narrow bars; I\u2019m of that age where they still feel like a trend rather than the gain they are, but the one-piece Attn bars took me all of about 15 minutes of riding to get used to. The depth of the drop was relatively traditional, the width obviously not, and the flair is very welcome and well thought out. Cramped, it is not. I know bars are a personal thing, but for me, it feels like they\u2019ve really done their homework in this area, and that includes the slight angle of the top, which is done for aero gains but also helps with wrist tilt (if that\u2019s a thing).<\/p>\n

\"\"The slight backwards lean of the bar helps with wrist position.<\/p>\n

As you can see, it\u2019s a bike I thoroughly enjoyed using. So what\u2019s wrong with it? What are the negatives? With only 75km on it, it\u2019s hard to really pinpoint any from the short time I\u2019ve had on it. Maybe if you\u2019re not a fan of Vittoria Corsa tires in 30mm, and because the engineers at Argon 18 have designed the wheels around that tire, you\u2019ll see that as negative, I personally love the suppleness and grip of a Corsa. The price will most definitely be a negative too for most, but there are less expensive builds. And I have already requested a low-end build for review. I want to see if the bike still lives up to my initial impression, even with mid-range components and the heavier Elite carbon lay-up.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also not had the opportunity to see how serviceable the bike is, as we all know, these integrated cockpits can be a slog to work on at times.<\/p>\n

\"\"If you don\u2019t like the Vittoria Corsa tires in 30mm that may be one of the only downsides of this bike.<\/p>\n

And lastly, Argon 18 doesn\u2019t have that \u201ccultural cachet\u201d for many. But does that matter? I don\u2019t think so, but the \u201ccool kids\u201d may. Is it a brand that\u2019ll wow them at the coffee shop? It\u2019s something that some may take into account, but certainly shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the bike; it\u2019s an impressive machine, and the two years that they have been working on it have not resulted in a half-baked, cutty cutter aero bike. It sits above many race bikes I\u2019ve had the opportunity to throw a leg over in the past few years, and not just aero bikes, but all-around race bikes. Ones that have had the aero aspects toned down to allow for better riding characteristics to shine, the Argon 18 Nitrogen seems to offer it all. The Danish\/Canadian company is on to a good thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Argon 18\u2019s new Nitrogen. Fast and light, can you have it all? In the past 12 years of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[92995,92996,92997,92998,49,48,61],"class_list":["post-184725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-aero-bicycle","tag-argon-18","tag-bike-and-cycling-gear-video-reviews","tag-bike-and-frame-reviews","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}