2020 Argon 18 Krypton GF Frameset

Argon 18 created the Krypton GF to have a fast bike capable of handling all roads. Pretty much what you’d expect from a Gran Fondo bike, which is what GF represents. This is an evolution of their endurance platform to make it more comfortable, more capable, and ready for bigger tires. It also boasts disc brakes.

A good place to start is with the tires. Thanks to the design, you can now fit on 32mm wide tires, which is wide enough to go cyclocrossing. It also has fender mounts, so you can stick on fenders, stay dry, and fit 28mm tires. The ability to fit the wider tires is a hint that this bike should be stable and comfortable on rough and gravel roads. The trail is 61.7mm, long enough not to think about steering, but still short enough to move quickly. It also features pretty huge bottom bracket drop for a road bike, and a longer wheelbase than Argon 18’s Gallium’s. When the longer wheelbase is combined with slacker seat and head angles, shorter reach and taller stack, you’ve got a bike that is easier to build into a less aggressive position for your body.

The bike is also comfortable in the way the carbon is allocated and shaped. There are nods to aero shaping at the heat tube, the way the fork crown nestles into a notch between the down and top tubes, and the underside shaping of the downtube, but much of the work has gone into compliance. It starts with the curved fork blades and how they’re shaped to give vertically. The thinking also informs the wide and shallow downtube, the thinned sea tube, the dropped chainstays all contribute to great compliance. The seat tube is topped with Argon 18’s 27.2mm round seatpost, which is also tuned for compliance.

As Argon 18 has embraced their HDS, Horizontal Dual System, throughout their carbon offerings, the Krypton GF, too, sees more material on the lower spine to limit torsional flex, and less material on the upper sections for both cutting weight and adding comfort. The result, besides the great ride, is a light frame for its class, 1010g in a Medium.

Argon 18 has also adjusted their 3D headset system for the Krypton. It’s the 3D Plus here. This is a proprietary means of adjusting the head tube height without the flex of stack spacers. The bike comes with 15mm and 30mm stack extenders. that both sits in the head tube and secure to the top tube. Both more aero and more secure than the 3D system you’ll find on the Gallium’s. The upper headset race sits inside the extension, which is wider and stiffer than spacers. So if you’re going to have more than 10mm of stack from the top of the head tube, you might as well install one of the extensions.

And this kind of thinking you’ll find throughout the bike. The seat post has a reversible saddle clamp, allowing you to choose between 15mm and 25mm of setback. Choose the one that supports more of your saddle. There’s a chain catcher built into the BB86 bottom bracket shell. There are even two sizes of catchers that come with. one for 34-36 chain rings, one for rings larger than that. The bike comes with a full complement of cable stops, plugs, and covers, so you can run mechanical, electronic, or wireless shifting. If you go with a battery, it mounts inside the seatpost and if you go Di2, the junction box sits inside the downtube to keep everything looking clean. The bike comes with 12mm thru-axles, front and rear (100x12mm and 142x12mm). As they saw an excellent design made by DT Swiss, Argon 18 went with those. There’s an inlaid anti-chainsuck plate to protect the carbon of the chainstays. The brake caliper mounting is flat-mount for low profile goodness. They’re designed to work with 140 or 160mm rotors.

The Argon 18 Krypton GF is the bike you ride when you want to go fast and comfortable.