RONDO BOOZ

£1499 > Belt driven urban speedster

The Booz combines a classy steel frame with aggressive cross-country mountain bike style geometry with the adjustable fork from their brilliant Ruut gravel machine. The steel frame also features an eccentric bottom bracket so you can adjust and get the tension exactly right for the beltdriven drivetrain (it also means the Booz frame would make a great basis for a single speed or fixed gear build). The 650b wheels are shod with fat slick WTB Horizon skinwall slicks and driven by a 46-tooth chainring driving an Alfine 8-speed rear hub. The gearing is very mountain bike, but proved more than enough for the road bar a couple of fast descents where we quickly span out the bottom gear. That said, the ride experience of the Booz is brilliant: its contact points, the wide bar with mushroom-style Octane grips and the legendary Fabric Scoop saddle make for superb levels of comfort. The handling on- and off-road is sweet and you can change the geo between steep and aggressive or a little more laid back on the head angle thanks to the fork. We spent most of our time heading off road at every opportunity and that more relaxed angle meant it was better equipped for steeper drops and rolling singletrack.

It comes 650b as standard but it can take a 700c wheel (with up to 32c tyres) if you fancied something swifter on the road. The Booz is one of the best commuter bikes we’ve tried, from the simplicity of its belt drive, to the full complement of mounts for guards and racks, not to mention its adaptable nature.