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Looks lovely, fashionable wheel size, suitably slack, good geo, German goodness.
Anyone got one or ridden or even seen one?
Reviews are a little hard to come by, any information would be appreciated, especially around sizing, options, colours, whatever (any colour suggestions must be accompanied with a pic!)
Am I mad considering one over, for example a Kingdom Vendetta 2, PP Shan, Switchback etc?
A friend of mine has one in 26". It's stunning to look at in an industrial engineering sort of way as he has the raw finish which is bare aluminium. Angles are spot on if you love slack hardtails and it's tough as old boots. The down sides are they are not light and the ride is very harsh as it's an extremely well made aluminium frame. Rides like a dream on smoother trails and handles the roughest/steepest trails but only if your body can take it! A Nicolai guy did the mega avalanche on it and placed really high up so that gives you a clue as to how tough and capable it is.
A more individual hardtail that's as good as anything out there. As well designed, engineered and made frame as you will find anywhere.
Be prepared to wait months for it to be made.
It's essentially a posh Chameleon.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, I loved my Cham, but it's an awful lot of money for a Alu HT.
Wrecker I've got a Shan, if you're near Oxford, you're more than welcome to borrow it for a bit
Thanks nick, but the argon is nothing like a chameleon. Less so than a shan in fact!
Having owned all three (currently a Shan) I'd beg to differ, but you know, opinions an all that.. 😉
You've had the new 650b argon AM with the 65deg HA?
The geo between the Cham and the AM looks markedly different, the am is longer, lower and slacker by a fair bit. Apart from them both being alu, I can't really see what they have in common.
I have hankered after a shan for a while, but the BB puts me right off, and the new colours are a massive disappointment!
Nah, my Argon was a few years back, and wasn't as 'radical' as the new one.
What bit about the BB don't you like? the press fit? It's been no different that any other BB I've ever used. The height? don't notice anymore.
Yeah, the press fit gubbins. I could just see me flogging them to death rather than change them regularly. I might well have overlooked it if the 650 models were as stunning as the 26 were though!
The new AM looks a different beast to the previous models, hence my interest in it. Spensive though.
Saying it's like a Santa Cruz Chameleon is nonsense. They are both hardtails and that's where the similarities end.
The Chameleon is 2.3 degrees steeper and takes a max fork of 150mm and is lighter than the Argon. The Argon's latest incarnation was inspired by a rider that wanted as tough a hartail with as low a bottom bracket and slack head angle as possible but still be rideable. He then won the masters category of the mega avalanche on it. Nicolai's are hand made to order by craftsmen in Germany.
Nothing wrong with a Chameleon, great bike but it won't take any where near as much punishment as an Argon which is definitely more about the downs and can take a 160mm fork.