Custom craft in carbon fibre – Argonaut RM3 review

What makes a dream bike? Sometimes it’s the bike that won the Tour de France, ridden by a sporting idol. Sometimes it’s a custom-made piece of rolling art, crafted from titanium or steel. Occasionally it’s the product of a bike brand with a compelling story or a magnetic frame builder at its heart. In recent years, though, there’s emerged a growing divide between the very best Far Eastern mass manufacture frames – boasting lighter weight, better aerodynamics – and the homegrown custom forever frame built with love.

Argonaut, a North American bespoke bike brand, makes a bright proposition – a bike with all the weight-saving, precision manufacturing of factory-produced “monocoque” carbon moulding, but handmade, homegrown and with a carbon layup bespoke to the very last fibre.