RONDO RUUT AL DISC
£1,699
Until recently Rondo’s name was largely unknown in the cycling world and, with Rondo based in Poland (not a country exactly renowned as a hotbed of twowheeled technology), their debut bike took many bike fans by surprise. That their HVRT took our sister title Cycling Plus’ 2019 ‘Bike of the Year’ crown was equally astonishing. The Ruut AL is like the HVRT’s little sibling – or maybe cousin – but it has a lot of the same qualities and is a total blast.
The HVRT costs £5,600 and comes with Dura-Ace, hydraulic disc brakes and Hunt’s deep-section carbon wheels. The Ruut AL has a much more real-world build. The custom-formed aluminium frame is decked out with SRAM Apex 1x, with an 11-42 cassette and 42T chainring. The seatstays are radically sculpted to provide
room for the 42T ring. The Ruut has the full Apex set-up with its always impressive hydraulic brakes.
The wheels are Rondo’s own tubeless-ready design and come with 43mm Panaracer Gravel King tyres. These have a raised square and rectangular block treads run pretty well on tarmac and are great off-road, even coping with muddy post-storm gravel with aplomb. The wheels also look great, each having four spokes in a swirling, whooshing ‘oil slick finish’ that also adorn the front hub.
THE HI LO COUNTRY
The above ignores the Ruut’s – and Rondo’s – USP: the TwinTip fork. This patented oval insert lets you swap between two different geometries, subtly altering stack, reach, length, fork offset, head and seat angles for a
racier set-up or a more relaxed one. You undo the thru-axle with a hex key, pull it out, remove the wheel and then use a T25 Torx to flip the TwinTip. An adaptor adjusts the angle of the brake rotor and the whole process takes only a few minutes to complete.
The differences between the two riding positions aren’t that great – only a few millimetres either way. But in the Lo axle position you’re a little more stable; in the Hi axle position the head angle is steepened slightly, which quickens the handling. This was the position we used for our long commute on tarmac, swapping to the Lo for tackling towpaths and tracks.
Admittedly, you’re not going to be shooting along tarmac with those 43mm wide Gravel King tyres – which live up to their name on stony tracks, but still roll pretty well on the road. And you could always swap for something slicker and narrower if you ride mainly on the smooth roads.
COMFORT IN SPADES
The tyres also mean you’re not going to soar up steeper slopes, but the SRAM 1x gearing comes into play here. Yes, you’ve only got 11 gears to play with, and some may find the top gear a little low but the 42 x 42 bottom gear means that even with its weight you’ll get up hills comfortably. And comfort is something the Ruut has in spades (43mm rubber will do that). The flared bar offers great control off road and the Fabric Scoop Flat saddle is one of our favourites.
Rondo’s Ruut also has all the fittings for bike packing, it’s good on road, great off road, SRAM’s 1x gearing and brakes are excellent, the wheels tubeless-ready. And it’s fabulous fun, which is a theme with this issue’s test bikes. Who needs carbon when alu is this good?
“The Gravel King tyres live up to their name on stony tracks, but still roll pretty well on the road”