Argon 18 Road Bike and/or Epic Cycles - Opinions Appreciated

stevie.

Hi, I'm new to this site and road riding (but not mountain biking) in general so "Hello all".

I wondered if anybody had any experience of Argon road bikes and/or Epic Cycles? I'd be very interested in any opinions of one or both.

I'm about to buy a road bike via my company's Cycle Scheme and the Tiagra equiped Argon has really caught my eye. http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/Argon18_Radon.html

I've researched the groupset and I'm aware Tiagra is equivelant to Deore and that the wheels are functional rather than nice but for the price, it all looks good.

I'm particulary interested in Epic Cycles free bike fit. I feel this woud prove invaluable for me. I'm 200 miles away from the shop so it would not be an easy thing to get there. It would be a shame to go to the bother if the bike and/or shop are not much good.

Thanks in advance.

schlepcycling

Epic are.......well Epic!, great service, I bought my wilier from them in 2008 and drove all the way from Maidenhead for a bike fitting. They had a test bike all ready for me to take out, well worth the trip.

keef66

I did a 400 mile round trip to Epic (slight detour from a business trip) and found it really worthwhile.
Very impartial advice, no pressure to buy anything, proper test rides, very thorough fitting session. (Phone first to book a session, and go on a weekday)

I was there for over 3 hours. Specified every component. Back in a fortnight to collect the built up bike. Better seatpost than I'd paid for, and a Deda dog fang fitted

Later emailed them cos the carbon post was slipping down, and I quickly got

a) the manufacturer's recc torque for the clamp
b) my seat height measurement so I could accurately reset it
c) a sachet of carbon assembly paste foc (this fixed it!)

Essex Man

300 mile round trip for me to visit. Well worth it - great range of bikes and great experience.

ilm_zero7

stevie.
Feel as though this is getting like a loop tape - Epic are great - bought both my bikes there - they have to be very good to by a bike from them at a distance of 3600miles!

raymc

Hi,
bought my Bianchi Infinito from Epic Oct '09 and as everyone has already commented they are an excellent LBS (well for me anyway, in Hereford).

It doesn't end with the initial sale either, I returned to Epic as I couldn't get on with original saddle. Spent several hours trying different saddles, out on test rides, etc, even had my choosen saddle on trail for 2weeks! Doesn't get any better than this.

I have no connection with Epic other than an impressed customer.

Ray

inseine

The Argon18s look nice but I wouldn't spend a grand on a bike with a 9 speed groupset and even the 105 has already been superceded. Just my opinion, but they're both already our of date.

stevie.

Thanks for the replies guys. An unequivical thumbs up for Epic Cycles then. That's very reasuring.
A good point that I hadn't considered with regard to the 9 speed groupset Inseine. I'll gve that some thought now that you've brought it to mind.
Thanks again all.

rolf_f

Another plus 1 here - I made three round trips in the end - 3 and a half hours driving each way from Leeds to Tenbury. What particularly really worked for me were the test rides. I had a potential choice of a Look or a Scott. I road the Look down to Bromyard and back, then the Scott to Bromyard and back and then finally the Look again - to Bromyard and back. After 45 miles of test riding, I knew which was the right one for me! Chris had also kitted the bikes out to make the bikes as harsh as possible to simulate the feel after a longer ride. May not have made much difference but the attention to detail is there.

Even got to see my bike being built

fred22

They're great, But I just don't like their 10% surcharge for cyclescheme purchases.

gwillis

+1 for epic, I wont witter on as the above posts mirror my thoughts

hopper1

Another positive post from me, too... And a 420 mile round trip.
Very happy after 14 months with my Cinelli Willin'
Thinking of using them again for a new TT rig...

stevie.

"No hidden fees : We charge neither employers nor employees any admin fees to use any of the third party schemes (such as cyclesceme.co.uk, onyourbike, Bikes-for-NHS etc.). "

Taken directly from Epic Cycles website Fred22. Maybe they've changed their policy?

I'm really grateful for the comments about Epic Cycles. I'm definitely going to order my bike from them. A free full bike fitting and they'll deliver it for free so I only need go there once.

I've also been thinkng about the 9 speed groupset. I'm forming the opinion that I could probably live with 9 speed and then upgrade to 10 speed as the comonents wear out.

Any more opinions on the Argon 18 frame?

Thanks again everybody. It's most appreciated.

fred22

Ring them and ask. And then let me know. If their policy has changed I would be even more annoyed as I had to pay a ten percent surcharge in May this year there. I just think that things like that leave a sour taste on a big purchase like a three grand bike.

giant_man

I haven't got a clue about Epic not having bought a bike from there, but I can vouch for Argon 18. I still ride a 7 year old carbon Platinum and it's been great. I doubt you'll be disappointed with any of the current Argon range. Recommended.

rolf_f

Nobody paid a 10% surcharge at Epic. The surcharge is 10% of the tax discount you get (effectively). You pay, say, 1k but only get the tax benefits off £900. So you end up about £35 worse off. Not ideal but certainly not a 10% surcharge. Certainly not enough to warrant leaving any sour tastes on a 3k bike

fred22

Not so. I had to pay a cash surcharge of 10% of the full price of the bike. It wasnt added to the cyclescheme voucher -it was a cash payment.

It does leave a sour taste Rolf-if they were bargain basement I could sympathise more, but they would admit that they aren't. I'd also be a bit more tolerant if every bike shop did it; they don't, so this levy just seems a way to have your cake and eat it

andy_nD

The 10% is the fee that goes to Cycle Scheme - so, on a £1000 voucher, the scheme takes £100.

To put it another way, while you pay £3k (gross) for the voucher, the shop only gets £2700 - given Epic's policy regarding discounts I didn't really have any problem with paying the extra, especially since most other shops I spoke to were doing similar things to recoup the cost (e.g. charging full price for sale bikes).

I think this varies according to the particular scheme you're signed up to - Epic's own scheme doesn't charge an admin fee, hence the terms are different.

orbeaorca

Round trip of over 400 miles for me to visit Epic and purchase my Orca.
Fantastic service, Chris was great and spent around 2 hours with me making sure everything was right, you wont go wrong with Epic

weapons

+1 I did the round trip from London to get an Orca from Epic. Can't fault the service and it makes a great day out anyway.

In terms of the bike fit, I thought it was very good, far more than you would get from most other bike shops, though not quite as thorough as you would get from a dedicated bike fitter. They will get your position there or thereabouts which is fine for most, but I had a knee injury at the time and went to a dedicated bike fitter who altered Epic's bike position fairly significantly which eradicated the knee problem.

stevie.

Thanks for all the comments, they're very much appreciated.

I really like the look of the Argon 18 bkes, Epic are clearly highly recommended and the bike fit is going to be at least as good but almost certainly better than my local bike shop fitting service.

I'm formimg the opinion that as I can get my bike through Cyclescheme I'll save some money (maybe not as much as I could have prevously under the scheme), get great service and the reassurance of some very good after sales service I can stomach paying 10% if I'm asked to do so.

Thanks again all.