#Argonaut-Cycles

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The Radavist Product Awards and Top Ten Articles of 2023

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The Radavist Product Awards and Top Ten Articles of 2023

While our favorite stories are always ride and event coverage, people love flocking to The Radavist for our opinion on products. We view ourselves as the bike industry’s press corps, offering nuanced takes on hot items each year, while pushing back ever so slightly on the long arm of the industry’s marketing. This year, we cracked a lot of hard nuts but walked away with some compelling products—some of which deserve extra recognition—all while deciphering the world of bikes we know and love, and penning opinion pieces that garnered lots of eyes throughout the past twelve months.

Let’s check out The Radavist Product Awards and our Top 10 Articles of 2023 below!

Petor’s Favourite Products of 2023

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Petor’s Favourite Products of 2023

Longtime contributor, product tester, and Bespoked co-owner Petor Georgallou shares his list of Favourite Products of 2023. With an eye for aesthetics, function, and alternative uses, Petor’s top picks run the gamut of what you might expect to find on this site, from boutique bikes to a lowly notebook. Read on to learn how he hacked a Wizard Works bag, made use of a “smiling butt kit,” a look at a couple products he’ll be reviewing next year, and two playlists he recently assembled for Bespoked…

2023 MADE Bike Show Coverage: Part 03 – Argonaut, Bantam, Destroy, Heavy, Ignite, No22, Onguza, Retrotec, Sim Works, and Wolfhound

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2023 MADE Bike Show Coverage: Part 03 – Argonaut, Bantam, Destroy, Heavy, Ignite, No22, Onguza, Retrotec, Sim Works, and Wolfhound

We’re here in Portland, covering the 2023 MADE Bike Show, looking for bikes that we thought you, the readers of The Radavist would appreciate. Josh and John have been scouring the halls of the show for bikes to document, and we’ve got Part 03 of our coverage for you to enjoy…

Thanks to 1-Up USA for sponsoring our continued 2023 MADE Bike Show coverage!

A Last Minute Chance: Win this Argonaut Cycles and Chris King Fundraising Raffle for Maui

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A Last Minute Chance: Win this Argonaut Cycles and Chris King Fundraising Raffle for Maui

We interrupt your Friday evening with a special announcement from our friends at Chris King and Argonaut Cycles:

“WIN this bike! Help the communities of Maui devastated by recent wildfires by entering this raffle to win this custom @argonautcycles RM3. It’s a truly one-of-a-kind bike, painted to match our Splash LE component color. The winner will also receive a color-matched @brooksengland C15 Carved saddle, and a really special Network MIPS helmet from our friends @smithoptics (there’s only one of these!).

Here’s the link to the raffle tickets.

All proceeds will go directly to the Hawaii Community Foundation. Winner will be drawn at the @made.bike happy hour tomorrow night(Saturday, 8/26, 9pm) must be present to win. Don’t miss your chance to win this unique build!

Come down to the MADE show to see it in person at the Chris King booth.”

Bikes of the 2022 GiRodeo: Argonaut, Battaglin, Belle, ENVE, Mosaic, OPEN, Repete, Rizzo, and Scarab

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Bikes of the 2022 GiRodeo: Argonaut, Battaglin, Belle, ENVE, Mosaic, OPEN, Repete, Rizzo, and Scarab

Aside from pristine days of riding, the GiRodeo was also a semi-nomadic bike show. The Service Course has long-term collaborative relationships with a number of builders, working together to pair builders and customers appropriately. I say “semi-nomadic” because the majority of builders rode their bikes, but also because the bikes that were not being ridden magically popped up in restaurants and breweries or wherever else events were held as part of the show. This is a rundown of my favorite bikes, many of which were part of the GiRodeo, and others were part of The Service Course’s furniture.

My First Rodeo: 2022 GiRodeo with The Service Course

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My First Rodeo: 2022 GiRodeo with The Service Course

Four hours into the drive from London to Girona, I began to question my life choices in having decided to drive rather than fly. Eight hours down the road—winding through the mountains with the cruise control set to 140kph with lunatic focus on the pool of tungsten light illuminating a patch of road ahead—I began to see its value. I needed this focus. High beam, dip beam, high beam, dip beam. The solo drive that started off listening to audiobook recommendations from Josh Weinberg had descended into a white knuckle ride against the clock to beat the dawn and shut myself in a dark hotel room to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before my first GiRodeo. It would be, in fact, everyone’s first GiRodeo. The inaugural edition of ENVE and The Service Course’s collaborative framebuilder roundup gravel extravaganza G-Rodeo, but in Girona. The GiRodeo.

Introducing the Argonaut Cycles GR3 Gravel Bike, Shop Visit, and Interview with Founder Ben Farver

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Introducing the Argonaut Cycles GR3 Gravel Bike, Shop Visit, and Interview with Founder Ben Farver

Over the years, we’ve done a lot with Argonaut Cycles, from documenting its first shop location to photographing its race team at the Rouge Roubaix and shooting bikes at various showcases. The brand has come a long way in that time and today, after three years of design, testing, and research, they are releasing the GR3, a next-gen custom carbon gravel bike.

While in Bend, OR, recently, Josh caught up with the Argonaut Cycles team for a tour of their facilities and sat down for an interview with founder and designer Ben Farver. The conversation covers the brand’s fully custom in-house carbon frame and component production methods and more. Below, find Argonaut’s GR3 introduction, Josh’s interview with Ben, and an extensive photo gallery detailing the Argonaut fabrication process!

The 2021 ENVE Builder Round Up: Prova, Naked, 44 Bikes, Spooky, Retrotec, Argonaut

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The 2021 ENVE Builder Round Up: Prova, Naked, 44 Bikes, Spooky, Retrotec, Argonaut

Continuing on with our 2021 ENVE Builder Round Up coverage – we posted the first Gallery on Friday – today we’re featuring the show-stopping work of Prova Cycles, Naked Bicycles, 44 Bikes, Spooky, Retrotec, and Argonaut Cycles. Each of these builders brought something special to the showcase and a few raised the bar considerably in various ways. There’s a lot to go over here so let’s get to it!

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the Service Course: Argonaut Cycles

Our friends at the Service Course are working with Argonaut Cycles now and are the exclusive distributor for the UK, Europe, and Australia customers. Here’s a quick video profile on the brand, introducing their new partnership:

From humble beginnings building steel frames by hand, Ben Farver and the team behind Argonaut Cycles now produce some of the finest custom carbon bikes in the world, controlling the entire process from raw material through to final build at their high tech composite facility in Bend, OR.

Taking inspiration from F1 race cars and aerospace engineering as much as the personal connection forged with every Argonaut customer, their latest creation is the RM3: an “argument” to the wider cycling industry as the most complete road bike imaginable, uniquely tuned to the exact requirements of each rider.

See more at the Service Course!

The 2019 Chris King Open House: 333fab, Allied, Argonaut, Breadwinner, Caletti, Davidson, DeSalvo, Isen

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The 2019 Chris King Open House: 333fab, Allied, Argonaut, Breadwinner, Caletti, Davidson, DeSalvo, Isen

This year’s Chris King Open House chose 18 builders from all over the world to display their new colors for 2020: Bourbon and Violet. Thanks to ENVE, Santa Cruz Reserve, SRAM, Brooks, and Spurcycle. these bikes were built out appropriately for such a showcase. Below is a gallery of half the bunch, in alphabetical order for your enjoyment, with each builder’s description of the bikes. Make sure you comment on your favorite because there is some gold in these galleries!

The Beautiful Bicycles of the ENVE Open House Part 02: Sklar, Falconer, Sarto, Sage, Argonaut, Moots, Retrotec, Legor, Bastion

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The Beautiful Bicycles of the ENVE Open House Part 02: Sklar, Falconer, Sarto, Sage, Argonaut, Moots, Retrotec, Legor, Bastion

ENVE has been supporting frame builders, both in the US and internationally for years now and has developed a symbiotic relationship with these artisans, who choose to put their forks, bars, and wheels on customer’s build kit lists. With this catalog of talent at their fingertips, they decided to have an Open House to celebrate not only their factory and offices in Ogden, Utah but the frame builders who choose ENVE to build out their complete bikes.

Continuing yesterday’s coverage are Beautiful Bicycles from Sklar, Falconer, Sarto, Sage, Argonaut, Moots, Retrotec, Legor, Bastion.

It’s the Last Day to Enter For the Builders for Builders Giveaway with a $10 Raffle Ticket!

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It’s the Last Day to Enter For the Builders for Builders Giveaway with a $10 Raffle Ticket!

Friday is payday! Spend $10 of your hard earned money for the chance to win a balleur custom bike from Mosaic CyclesStinner FrameworksArgonaut CyclesSklar Bikes, and McGovern Cycles! Today is the last day – the fundraiser ends at Noon PST – so head on over to the Builders for Builders fundraiser for more information and check out these dream builds in our Reportage!

 

The 2019 Builders for Builders: Frame Builders Supporting the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship

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The 2019 Builders for Builders: Frame Builders Supporting the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship

Once again, the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship is the beneficiary of Builders for Builders. Bicycle frame builders for bicycle trail builders. The formula is simple and effective! This year at the 2019 Lost and Found gravel race in Portola, California, the Builders for Builders raffle and fundraiser returned, bringing in the five builders offering up the winner of the raffle a decked-out, custom frame of their choice. You have from now until June 7th to donate $10. This donation enters you to win a custom bicycle from your pick of builder: Mosaic Cycles, Stinner FrameworksArgonaut Cycles, Sklar Bikes, and McGovern Cycles.

The 18 Beautiful Bicycles of the Chris King Open House

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The 18 Beautiful Bicycles of the Chris King Open House

For the past few years, Chris King has opened their doors to the public as part of an entire weekend of events dubbed the Chris King Open House. This event’s intent is to be coordinated with a product launch of their new colors for the year, as well as to showcase what makes their operations tick, and to display a selection of custom bikes, built by some of their best builder customers.


the two new colors for this year: matte turqoise and matte mango.

This year, they sent out an open invite to 30 of their best builder accounts, offering up discounted pricing to them to build a bike for the show, passing on the discount to their customers. Out of those 30 builders, 17 showed up, and they were displayed alongside a Pegoretti bike, which we looked at on Friday. These bikes lined the halls of the Chris King factory, where visitors could look at their features in great detail, chat with the builders about their process, and if they were so inclined, purchase their dream bike.

I was invited up to the Open House to document these bikes for the builders and for Chris King, as well as offering up an ultimate dream bike gallery for you, the readers of this website. Please enjoy! Which bike do you like the best and why? Oh and if you’re interested in one of the bikes showcased here, be sure to reach out to the builders, who are linked in the bike descriptions below.

2018 Grinduro: Argonaut GR2 Disc All Road

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2018 Grinduro: Argonaut GR2 Disc All Road

The GR2 is the latest bike from Bend, Oregon’s Argonaut Cycles. After years of design, development, and testing, Ben and his team are finally rolling these capable models out the door. With a racing geometry, lightweight layup, and in-house paint, the GR2 is a veritable dream bike.

For Grinduro this year, Argonaut displayed this beautiful build with SRAM Red eTap, Zipp, and WTB 38mm tires.

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Follow Argonaut Cycles on Instagram and Grinduro on Instagram.

Argonaut Introduces the GR2 Gravel Racer

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Argonaut Introduces the GR2 Gravel Racer

Never one to jump the gun and always one to deliver the perfect bike, there’s some big news from Argonaut Cycles today, who debuted this bike at the 2015 NAHBS, winning “Best in Show” and this morning, it’s finally live on their website. Weighing in at 16lbs complete, with a rider-specific geometry, and a rider specific layup, the Argonaut GR2 is the newest deep custom frame from the Oregon-based builder. Utilizing their industry-leading layup procedure that delivers a ride customized to the customer’s spec, these bikes are designed to move like the client wants them to.

Check out more specs below and more information at Argonaut.

Win an Argonaut Road Bike and Support Oregon Adaptive Sports

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Win an Argonaut Road Bike and Support Oregon Adaptive Sports

It’s not every day you get a chance to win a bike like this!

“Donate for your chance to win an Argonaut! We’re excited to be partnering with Oregon Adaptive Sports in association with the Best of Both bike race to help people with disabilities enjoy the outdoors.

Argonaut along with the help of Chris King, Shimano, and others TBA – are donating a complete custom road bike to be awarded to the drawing winner, which will be held Saturday June 16th during the Best of Both afterparty. 100% of proceeds go to Oregon Adaptive Sports.

A single entry is included with a donation of $50.00, and three entries are included with a donation of $125.00. There is no limit on the number of entries an individual can receive by making a donation.”

Enter now at Argonaut Cycles.