Like shooting fish in a barrel – I spotted a new Argon18 aero gravel bike while trying to have a beer after work at The Traka

Argon18 gravel bike.

Spotting new bikes at The Traka is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. Simply ambling around the start paddock you’ll see an unreleased Ridley with monster tyres and a road-like aero package, or a prototype Canyon, but beyond the walls of the event one can easily spot the latest and greatest gravel tech just by keeping your eyes open around town in Girona.

Walking home on Thursday, flush from spotting a plethora of cool stuff for my upcoming tech gallery, I sat at a cafe with a frosty European lager for some editing when something caught my eye: a brand new Argon 18 gravel bike.

I shan't drop the rider into hot water, but they were kind enough to let me lean it up against a wall in an alley for five minutes while she chatted with a friend. We’ve had no details yet from Argon 18, despite asking nicely, so we will have to wait and see what the actual situation is, but it’s clear it’s ordering from the set menu for new gravel bikes, and drawing inspiration from the latest Nitrogen Pro road bike.

Big tyres? Check. Aero tubes? Check. Huge BB? Check. (Image credit: Will Jones)

I'm a real sucker for details, and this equation is top notch for nerdy tech spotters like me. (Image credit: Will Jones)

It's clear the new bike is drawing from the brand's aero rad bike, the Nitrogen Pro. Deep head tube, truncated tubes, but paired with huge tyres. (Image credit: Will Jones)

Much like the Ridley I spotted earlier this week, the bottom bracket is huge, and naturally it seems to be a 1x only machine. (Image credit: Will Jones)

MTB tyres are gravel tyres now, and the fork can swallow tyres measured in inches not millimetres. (Image credit: Will Jones)

The combination of a narrow headtube and hyper-wide fork makes for quite a front end. (Image credit: Will Jones)

We will have to wait and see the actual details, but this is certainly a cutting edge machine. (Image credit: Will Jones)