It’s been a while coming, but today Argon 18 has chosen its home race, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, to unleash its brand new Nitrogen Disc, the disc brake version of the Canadian company’s aero bike that was first introduced in 2014.
The Nitrogen Disc has been developed from the ground up, the company hasn’t just added disc brakes to the regular Nitrogen, at least that is what they are telling us.
“This new Nitrogen Disc is way more than a Nitrogen with disc brakes. Sure, it does offer great braking power and modulation, but it’s the increased torsional rigidity that really makes it shine especially in out of the corner accelerations. Its internal cable routing, ease of maintenance, adaptability to different riding styles along with its great ergonomic adjustability are other key elements that make the Nitrogen Disc an exceptional modern race bike,” explains Martin Faubert, Head of R&D, Argon 18.
In other words, the company has designed the new frame and fork to take full advantage of the disc brakes, in pursuit of the desired stiffness and weight targets with no weight penalty.
Want some numbers? It’s telling us there’s a massive 80% increase in lateral stiffness with the new fork compared to the previous version, with no impact on comfort.
You’re getting a full carbon fibre frame and fork with the now standard 12mm thru-axles and flat mount interface for the brake callipers, and all hoses are internally routed to reduce drag as much as possible.
There’s increased tyre clearance, a common benefit of disc brakes, with the bike accepting up to 28-30mm tyres.
Argon 18’s clever 3D System remains, providing three head tube heights for every frame size which the company says preserves front-end stiffness and rigidity compared to the more conventional stack of spacers.
That’s all we know about the new bike so far, and this is the only photo we have at the moment. When we get more we’ll update this story. But what do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.
David has worked on the road.cc tech team since July 2012. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds.