Argon 18 Gallium Pro
Worldtour team Astana’s favourite race bike gets a disc brake update
Ride quality and weight are often understudies to aerodynamic efficiency in aero bikes, so disc brakes have to a certain extent been easier to incorporate on that type of frame. A crude oversimplification that may be, but tweak the tube profiles to account for the new system et voila, the result is as fast as (or even faster than) its rim brake predecessor.
When it comes to lightweight race bikes, however, disc brake integration has been a trickier proposition. The heavier weight of the system and different braking forces it produces initially meant that frames were often overbuilt, meaning they were unable to match their rim brake counterparts for weight or ride quality. It was a danger Argon 18 recognised from the start in the design of its Gallium Pro Disc.
‘Through our R&D we knew that disc braking force would take a much greater toll on the frame,’ says Argon 18 director of R&D Martin Faubert. ‘We started by studying the reaction of the frame under that force to understand where and how it would make more sense to reinforce the structure. With this understanding, we designed a way to reinforce the frame to counteract this, without compromising on weight or ride feel.’
Argon 18 placed a lot of its focus on adjusting the carbon layup in the frame, rather than including more material, so it could use similar amounts deployed in different places.
‘That is the good thing about a carbon frame: we can reinforce only precisely where it is needed,’ says Faubert.
Argon 18 says it saw the UCI begin to make moves to accept disc brakes in professional racing as early 2014 so was able to commit to the project quickly. It gained significant experience before other companies were even thinking about producing disc brake race bikes. Therefore the brand claims the Gallium Pro Disc suffered from none of the flaws that plagued other race bikes released around the same time, which is why it hasn’t needed to change significantly since its release as some of its competitors have.
‘Disc brake technology is here to stay and is the future,’ says Argon 18’s president and founder, Gervais Rioux. ‘The transition of the disc is still in progress in the industry and the technology will continue to evolve, but our early commitment to it means we are well placed to be at the forefront of its development.’
‘We started by studying the reaction of the frame under that [braking] force to understand where and how it would make more sense to reinforce the structure’