Argon 18 E112 TT bike sizing?

on-yer-bike

A used Argon 18 E112 TT bike for sale has come my way. Not having ventured into the world of TT bikes before Im not sure if it will fit. It seemed okay when I sat on it on a turbo. Its a size small but my road bikes are 55-56. Im 5-10 with longish legs. The TT bars have spacers for the skis and the stem is 100mm and easily changed for a longer one. Anyone got an Argon TT bike and can advise?

mfin

I don't know if they changed the geometry, but I know someone 5ft 10 who rode one in Small when they looked like in the pic below. I actually tried it for fun and i'm 6ft dead, unless they've changed the geometry I reckon Small could work well at your height, plus as you say you tried it and it felt alright, that sort of backs it up.

What road bikes are you riding at 55/56cm by the way?

noodleman

I have a E116 in small. I'm 5'9 and a 32 inside leg. It fits me fine and could easily fit someone taller. Can't imagine the geometry is much different on the E112.

on-yer-bike

mfin wrote:

I don't know if they changed the geometry, but I know someone 5ft 10 who rode one in Small when they looked like in the pic below. I actually tried it for fun and i'm 6ft dead, unless they've changed the geometry I reckon Small could work well at your height, plus as you say you tried it and it felt alright, that sort of backs it up.

What road bikes are you riding at 55/56cm by the way?

Pegoretti 55, Colnago 52S (56), Cervelo R3 56. I could ride a 50s (54) Colnago but would need quite a few spacers. Same for the Cervelo which is 2008 before they made them with taller headtubes. The drop on my bikes is 80mm I have longish legs and shortish arms. The Argon was too low at the front but appaerently the 3T skis can be jacked up with spacers.

mfin

Hmm, just trying to get and idea of the fit/flexibility of you. I'm assuming the 52s is a C59/60, how many spacers are you running on that and what's your seat height from centre of BB to saddle top, also stem length? ...only asking as it might shed a little light on your sizing etc as I have a 52s C59 as a frame of reference.

You should be fine on that Small, but the measurements above might reveal that you ride unusually sat up for your height whereas riding the Small Argon TT might be a too aggressive choice which you'll be forcing to fit a little. Your height isn't the problem in itself though.

Of course, the above info if you can measure it might shed a bit more light.

on-yer-bike

mfin wrote:

Hmm, just trying to get and idea of the fit/flexibility of you. I'm assuming the 52s is a C59/60, how many spacers are you running on that and what's your seat height from centre of BB to saddle top, also stem length? ...only asking as it might shed a little light on your sizing etc as I have a 52s C59 as a frame of reference.

You should be fine on that Small, but the measurements above might reveal that you ride unusually sat up for your height whereas riding the Small Argon TT might be a too aggressive choice which you'll be forcing to fit a little. Your height isn't the problem in itself though.

Of course, the above info if you can measure it might shed a bit more light.

C59, 52s. large headset cap and 10- 15mm of pacers. Saddle height is 753mm. Picture of me on said bike below (saddle may be slightly too low).

mfin

What stem length are you running on that C59?

I still think you can get it to work by the way. Have you ridden many TTs yet on road bikes to see if you get the bug for doing them by the way?

(Your C59 I would have thought you'd have got a 50s at your height, but you're running a 52s quite high at the front, so that says to me you're not very flexible and like being sat up more, the Small Arg18 would be about right if you were flexible. That said, there's room on that one to raise the stem up more and get the pads and extensions up for you).

Is that an Aura bar setup running just the 10mm spacers by the looks of it? If so and it comes with all the gubbins you should have a set of 20mm spacers and bolts, and bolts so you can run the 10mm ones and the 20mm at the same time.

on-yer-bike

mfin wrote:

What stem length are you running on that C59?

I still think you can get it to work by the way. Have you ridden many TTs yet on road bikes to see if you get the bug for doing them by the way?

(Your C59 I would have thought you'd have got a 50s at your height, but you're running a 52s quite high at the front, so that says to me you're not very flexible and like being sat up more, the Small Arg18 would be about right if you were flexible. That said, there's room on that one to raise the stem up more and get the pads and extensions up for you).

Is that an Aura bar setup running just the 10mm spacers by the looks of it? If so and it comes with all the gubbins you should have a set of 20mm spacers and bolts, and bolts so you can run the 10mm ones and the 20mm at the same time.

Ive ridden quite a few 10 mile TTs, some with aero bars. Something to train for. I have 80 mm saddle to bar drop and i ride with bent arms. Im flatter than most of the people I ride with. The stem on C59 is 120mm. I need 30 mm of spacers on a 50s. Im not that flexible but Im also quite old. If I was younger I would definitely ride a 50S. The stem on the Argon in the picture is only 100mm. The price on the Argon with a Head disc wheel is quite attractive and it has me wondering. The Head front wheel in the picture is not on offer. I think its an Aura.

mfin

Well you'll definitely be able to get it to work with some sort of stem/bar/raiser setup of course. If it's a really good deal you can't go too far wrong in that respect as you could always move it on without losing much. The advantage in you doing mainly 10s is that you should be able to cope with a relatively aggressive position anyway, some people shy away from getting used to riding in a good flat position though. You could treat it as a learning curve for a first TT bike if nothing else.

Why not see if you can take it for a spin on the road (maybe you have?). You will feel the wheelbase seems a bit short I think (and you might feel that front wheel seems a bit tucked under you, but you'd get used to it), but when I tried one in small I did find it to be nice and stable and controlled. I found the power transfer very good on the E112 by the way, I liked it. It's not the most aero frame, and it weighs a bit more than some, but it is by no means slow.

You just have to decide if you'd rather ride a medium with less spacers and a bit less stem, but you can make the small work. (In truth there are probably other TT bikes in certain sizes which might suit you a bit better, nowadays you do see a trend to taller headtubes driven by the commerciality of selling a lot of TT bikes to Triathletes you see).

My gut says go for it if it's a really good deal and suss the front end setup out.

Also, see what Noodleman is saying, if the geom on the 116 is the same, there you go.