Argon 18: The Pinnacle of Performance on the Track

If you watch any major international track cycling competitions, you may notice that several national federations are all riding the same bike: the Argon 18 Electron Pro. For a small Canadian company based in Montreal, being this well-represented on the world stage is part of an exciting story of innovation, engineering, and determination.

Since its founding in 1989, Argon 18 has brought together a team of cycling aficionados and R&D specialists, all driven by the goal of offering the best possible cycling experience to racers and riders of all kinds. With bikes on the roads, tracks and trails of more than 70 countries worldwide — and sponsoring professional and national cycling teams and professional triathletes the world over — Argon 18 has become a benchmark in the international cycling community.

The company’s involvement in track cycling reaches back to 2016 with the Danish National Team. Argon 18’s premium track bike, the Electron Pro, is now a staple of all major track competitions.

“We’re thrilled to consistently be chosen by the top teams globally, and to be able to deliver the machines that are trusted by some of the most powerful athletes in the world,” say Martin Le Sauteur, CEO of Argon 18. “The stiffness, power transfer and aerodynamics demanded by top track riders results in some of our most ambitious engineering challenges – and the Electron Pro is the result of our team rising to meet those challenges.”

Founded in 1989, Argon 18 launched its first 100% carbon fibre frame in 2001. While the company focused on high-performance road frames for many years, it launched onto the track with a major splash in 2016. In that year Argon 18 co-developed, with the Danish Cycling Federation, the Danish National Track Cycling Team’s Bike for the Summer Olympics in Rio. Danish riders went on to win two bronze medals on the newly introduced Electron Pro, and Lasse Norman Hansen from Denmark broke the Olympic record in the Individual Pursuit.

In 2018 Argon 18 became the official bicycle supplier for Cycling Australia. In the same year at the Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Berlin, the Electron Pro filled the entire podium for the Men’s Team Pursuit:

• Gold: Australian Cycling Team
• Silver: Denmark Cycling Federation
• Bronze: Cycling Canada

At the 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszków, Poland, Cycling Australia’s track team members won six rainbow jerseys on the Electron Pro in the Women’s Team Sprint, Women’s Team Pursuit, Men Team’s Pursuit, Men’s Scratch, Women’s Sprint, Women’s Individual Pursuit and Women’s 25 km points races. Also at Pruszków, Cycling Australia Men’s Team Pursuit rode the Electron Pro to a new Team Pursuit World Record with a time of 3:48.012.

In 2020, Denmark broke that world record at the Tissot World Track Championships in Berlin, posting a new time of 3:44.672. In fact, the team broke the record three times in two days: first in the qualifiers, then besting it again in the first round, and finally posting the new record time in the final to win the world title. Alongside that record, the Danish men’s Madison team also took gold.

Australia also had a strong showing in 2020 with three medals, abord the all-new Electron Pro TKO which was developed with the team:

• Silver: Women's Team sprint - Kaarle McCulloch and Steph Morton.
• Bronze: Women's Keirin - Steph Morton.
• Bronze: Men’s Team sprint - Nathan Hart, Matthew Richardson and Thomas Cornish.

Also at Berlin, Canadian athletes Allison Beveridge, Jasmin Duehring, Annie Foreman-Mackey and Georgia Simmerling set a new national record in the women's team pursuit aboard the Electron Pro.

In 2021, the Electron Pro (both TKO and RIO versions) is the bike of choice for the national teams of Australia, Canada, Denmark, and Ireland. At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the Electron Pro was ridden to six medals overall:

• Gold – Women's Sprint, Kelsey Mitchell, Canada
• Gold – Men’s Madison, Denmark
• Silver – Women’s Madison, Denmark
• Silver – Men’s Team Pursuit, Denmark
• Bronze – Men’s Team Pursuit, Australia
• Bronze – Women's Keirin, Lauriane Genest, Canada