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Potential Argon 18 e-116 Upgrades
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Hi ST,

Looking for some suggestions on potential upgrades to my current bike and setup. I have a 2014 Argon 18 e-116 that I've had personally for the last 2 years. So far I've just been focused on 70.3s, and the next year will be the same, though potentially planning on doing my first full distance in 2022. Have been fairly successful in 70.3s, went to the WC in Nice, qualified for Taupo, will be competing at St. George in Sep (Covid willing). Currently setup is as shown in the image.. Ultegra/105 mechanical, Flo 60/90, PD Aero HC hydration upfront, bento on top tube (with velcro since there isn't a mount), 2 bottles BTS with one holding my flat kit and the stock PD front end. I've added an aero bottle to the downtube since then. I have run full liquid nutrition, with concentrated mix BTS and mix with aid station water as I put into the BTA bottle. Some backup gels and sodium on my top tube.

Currently going back and forth on whether to spend some money upgrading my bike now and what that would be, or just saving up money and potentially purchasing a new bike in 2022 with my eye on the full distance. Part of it is due to that I feel I've sort of maxed out the storage on the bike.. there is only one cage mount within the frame, anyone have any ideas where I could stash my flat kit somewhere else so I can run 2 nutrition bottles BTS? Would a new front end like the TriRig Alpha be a worthwhile investment over what I am currently running? Disk wheel? Would spending a bit of money on this bike now $1000-2000 be a smarter idea than buying something new in the $5000 range next year.




Strava
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Re: Potential Argon 18 e-116 Upgrades [mstewarttri] [ In reply to ]
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My vote would be:

1. Get a disc cover for your rear wheel. It's just such a budget friendly and cost effective upgrade.
2. Cockpit upgrade. Biased, but the Alpha One, like you mention, is the best option out there. This is has the obvious benefit of being faster and the less obvious one of allowing you to play with your position for potentially more comfort/additional aero benefits. EDIT: You may even be able to add a Delta cover if you go the alpha one route. Haven't seen one on an Argon before but I don't see a reason it wouldn't work. May even hide the front brake cable.
3. Go down to one bottle BTS. May not be possible if you can't rely fully on the G-endurance or whatever the on course nutrition is, but two bottles sticking up vertically like that are definitely adding some drag.

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Last edited by: realbdeal: Jan 25, 21 9:02
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Re: Potential Argon 18 e-116 Upgrades [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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realbdeal wrote:
3. Go down to one bottle BTS. May not be possible if you can't rely fully on the G-endurance or whatever the on course nutrition is, but two bottles sticking up vertically like that are definitely adding some drag.

I'm, still rocking an E-114 and Taupo is my 'local'. Did the full in 2008 as a tourist from Pommieland, then moved over in 2010. Hope we are able to host you soon, it's an amazing venue.

But, two words of warning. First the course is a really rough surface, and so one of the big issues I have is with my E-114 I'm locked on narrow tyres, which is of course pretty harsh after 4.5 hours. Second, the entire course is littered with bits that have fallen off bikes by the end - bottle cages, spare kits, a lifetime of CO2 cartridges that have come out of the screw in holders. I've lost bar end shifters and aero bars on training rides there too. So in terms of your setup, then consider that you want something that's fairly robustly mounted to withstand the vibrations. And finally, the volunteers at IMNZ are legendary. Really are. However, no matter how well prepped you are, taking on course nutrition is a lottery. One year (2013) they didn't stir it properly, so essentially you got water with slight hint of Horleys (the nutrition at the time). Hence lots of people bonked, I needed to swap to a plan b of taking coke from lap 2 of the bike as oppesed to lap 3 of the run. Was the only time I relied on the on course nutrition and it bit me. And although I'm not racing this year, then IMNZ has been, in my opinion, pretty poor in terms of athlete welfare the last two runnings (2019 and 2020) in terms of announcing the nutrition supplier. 2019 they moved to their own branded stuff, which wasn't available in New Zealand until mid January (for a March 1 race). And then changed the on course hydration 2 weeks before the race I found out I was allergic at about 10km of run). And last year they changed the suppliers of hyrdration and energy very late again.

My point being for a full, and especially your first, then if you can find the storage to have it all on the bike then you are setting yourself up for the best day. I run a dual behind the seat, the one on the frame and a torhans aero bottle (can't run a torpedo on the E-114 bars). Behind the seat are my tools in a half bottle and a pure water from aid station. Then in the frame is a bottle of 4x concentrated energy mix. Aero is drink at right mix. So that gives me 5 bottles worth of drink. I add the cocnetrate to teh front then top up with plain water from the aid station - if I want more water then I take a glug from that. Special needs has another bottle of concentrate in case I drop my main one on lap 1 (and some spare tubes/ co2) - otherwise I just ride past, but it's part of my Plan B.

(But I' still thinking of that E-119 disc. I'm getting old and 22mm tyres at 110psi for 180km of rough chipseal are becoming less fun with each lap of the sun).
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Re: Potential Argon 18 e-116 Upgrades [Duncan74] [ In reply to ]
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I actually had my spare kit eject from my bike on the decent in Nice last year, so spent the last 30km of the bike just praying I didn't get a flat haha. I've actually replace the mount BTS and the new one allows them to be a little more tucked in behind the seat on an angle. Next time though I'm definitely taping my spare kit secure if I continue to store it BTS.

Strava
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Re: Potential Argon 18 e-116 Upgrades [mstewarttri] [ In reply to ]
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Yep, I tape it in and that means I've got some tape with me for botch repairs too.
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