I have had the Argon-18 Subito e-road for 2.5 weeks now. Here are some impressions and things I have learned. Some may be repetitious to some of you but not to others so here goes:
1. Overall impact on my riding:  Sneaky fast. At same level of effort I average 2 to 2.5 km/hr faster, while almost always using the lowest boost.
2. To my surprise, I feel it is just as helpful, maybe even more helpful, on false flats as opposed to obvious climbs. Also great for accelerating from a stop.
3. Extra weight is not noticeable to me when riding. BTW, extra weight compared to the Marinoni is only about 5 lbs, compared to a carbon road bike maybe 7.
4. Range is quite impressive. I just finished 115 km on a single charge (not all in one day) with 5% of the battery juice left. The route was flat for Victoria but did include Kangaroo and Lindholm. Probably about 2500 ft of climbing in total. I kept it in low boost the whole time except maybe 4 km in medium and 1 km (Lindholm) on max boost.
5. I am planning to try a much hillier route, say Observatory Hill and Willis Point, to see how it makes out with more sustained climbs.
6. Not specific to this bike, but for my fellow short people, I had this bike set up with 165mm  crank arms instead of the standard 170mm. It has cured the feeling I used to have of my knees and armpits competing for the same space when pedalling hard. I honestly think anyone under 5’ 3” should consider the change. Don’t know why this isn’t standard for XS frames.
7. This particular motor setup allows normal freewheeling and back pedalling, so you can use normal rotating brush chain cleaners, which you cannot do with mid-drive motors. Maybe a small thing but it matters to me.
8. I don’t think I have the ideal boost settings established yet (you can play with this via a phone app that sends instructions to the motor). I can do most things on low, but medium doesn’t seem too add all that much power, leading you to go to high boost. Only an issue for very steep sections of 12% and up, but my intent is always to use the lowest amount of boost that I can.
9. I think it is a very attractive bike. The location of the single control button does mean you cannot mount a Bento 🍱, so I have ordered a frame pack that mounts in the corner made by the top tube and seat tube. I will lose use of the second bottle cage but I will live.
10. Changing a flat with the motor in the rear hub is do-able, but you do need an 8 mm hex wrench. The only one I have is HUGE and a pain to take with you on a ride so I will be looking for a new one.
That’s more than enough info.
Cheers,
Hilary
