Anybody ride one? What can you tell me about it?
I had one.
It rides great, quite stiff and ridgid, People complain it is too heavy, but you have to consider that the 2-300 grams it is heavier than other frames are in part due to the extended seattube.
BUT i could not live with not being able to use 23mm tires. The did not tell me that when i bought it and it was not on the local distributors website promoting the frame (it IS on the official Argon18 website). 20mm are too harsh to ride for training and hard to get in clincher version too.
So i sold it again.
I have one, my complaint is the paint job is terrible, it scratches very very easy, they do not provide touch up and they also would not sell me another sticker set so I could get a decent paint job on the bike.
They are a smaller canadian company. I have never riden one but I have heard they are pretty good. I think that for smaller builders Guru has a more impressive product range but if Argon has a bike that you like I am sure it is well made.
What would you compare the bike to?
Here we go! I can’t believe that it took this long after Thunder Bear’s ride for it to appear. Are you selling a Kuota to buy it? 
Seems like a very well built bike. A friend of ours has one. He’s a big strong guy with a high torque low cadence masher pedal stroke. He needs a solid bike and the bike seems to suit him well.
That’s what I was thinking when I saw this post!
A friend of mine has one (the older, all aluminum) and has been quite happy with it. Never complained about a harsh ride, and his splits were a lot faster this year than last year. Could be the bike, could be the training… He said his big reason for getting it was so that he could recognize his bike in transition. Not sure if he was joking or not, but his yellow bike does tend to stand out amongst the dozens of Cervelos.
Chris
Interestingly enough, I believe the very first version of the Kuota Kalibur was an Argon 18 frame rebadged for them. Probably 3 years ago or so. But it was the same frame, down to the carbon stays if I recall correctly.
actually, I think it was the other way around. If you look at the chain stay of the argon18 Mercury it says “K.I.S.S. Kuota Integrated Stay System”.
I believe the K. stands for Kevlar. The stays are Kevlar reinforced.
nope. Look on the frame. It says… Kuota Integrated Stay System.
Guess that makes me only half right;) I was pretty sure they were the same for a bit.
Now I am going to have to go home to check on my Argon. I know on the drive side chainstay it references Kevlar reinforced.
well, you did notice that the rear triangle of the Kuota and Mercury look the same… (well identical).
Is the Kuota’s seat tube an aluminum\carbon combination? The Argon 18 Mercury bonds aluminum and carbon down the entire seat tube.
Oh, they’re dead sexy. Plus, it’s made in Canada, so it has to be good.
I believe that Kuota is all carbon. Look at the shape of the rear triangle of the Mercury vs Kalibur. It almost looks like the rear triangle of the Kalibur was vut off and then glued to the aluminium seat post.
I have the old Argon 18 Xenon, 500 bucks and it works great.
I picked up one once… and it was enough for me.