NAHBS 2016 -

We had to start somewhere, may as well go big.

Ben Farver was featured in Volume 10 where we learned what his favorite ice cream flavor is.  We've followed him closely as many of you have, but each time we get hands on his frames we fall in love all over again.  This year, though, Ben really flexed some design muscle with an updated dropout design as well as flaunting his new-installed paint booth.

Let's talk about that dropout first.  Argonaut has evolved very organically with their designs and their early carbon dropouts were an evolution of their previous steel version.  While outrageously beautiful, there was room to trim them down and make them lighter.  Ben also seemingly saw this as an opportunity to continue to remove metal and replace it with even more carbon.

Now available in disc or caliper brakes, Ben is showing off his new direct mount rear end when you opt for disc version.  Slimmed down, it now looks like a road setup rather than displacing a mountain bike caliper on a road frame.

ISP or seatpost, electronic or mechanical shifting, all pretty standard options from many builders.  But, what you'll see here is the new T47 standard, and more specifically, a cup designed by Argonaut to make T47 Campagnolo compatible!  Well done, Ben.  If someone doesn't make it, do it yourself.  It looks great, is flexible in its design, and with threads, should reduce or eliminate any of the issues we've come accustomed to.

This black bike had another little secret which wasn't frame-specific, rather a testament to Ben's level of detail: the Di2 routing.  You may or may not have noticed a lack of Junction A box under the stem, it'd be easy to miss as we've gotten to used to them hanging there.  But no, it's gone. 

While on the floor shooting I spotted the box under the saddle, an interesting choice and a very clean place to mount it.  Glued to the bottom of the saddle, it's out of the way yet perfectly accessible during tuning.  We're lucky enough that Di2 so rarely needs adjustment, but when it's needed the Junction A box is there for you but out of the way the rest of the time.

Keep an eye on the site for coverage of the other builders as well as a stunning white Argonaut with Campagnolo using Ben's new T47 Campagnolo cups!