Ready for winter…
Rondo HVRT CF0 PRICE £5599.99 UPGRADES £1330 (INCL £271.15 ON 650B WHEELS), TOPEAK NINJA BOTTLE CAGE WITH TOOL KIT, BONTRAGER AEOLUS PRO V3 TUBELESSREADY CARBON WHEELS, CONTINENTAL GP5000 TL TYRES MILES RIDDEN 915
Recently, I’ve been concentrating on getting the HVRT back out on the road. While I’m more than impressed with the deep section Hunt x Rondo carbon road wheels that the bike came with, I’ve opted to switch in a set of Bontrager’s impressive new Aeolus Pro 3V TLR wheels. These weigh in at an excellent 1590g a pair and are set-up tubeless with Continental’s brilliant GP5000 TL tyres. The Bontragers are much shallower than the Hunts and, as we are now in the depths of a windy, wet winter, the 3Vs are better at coping with adverse conditions. With the super-wide (25.2mm internal) rim profile pushing the tyres out beyond 30mm they also help keep things comfortable with it. I also like that the 3Vs are not overtly expensive at £549.99(F) and £649.99(R), which is a fraction of the price of premium carbon wheels at a similar weight.
The Topeak Ninja cage incorporates a pouch for patches, a multitool and integrates tyre levers too. Next on my agenda is to switch up to tubeless for the bike’s gravel setup.
I’ve changed up the fork setup a couple of times putting it in a more comfortable endurance ride position thanks to flipping the chip in the fork, which switches it between an aggressive fast, aero road bike and a comfortable, more endurance ride position
I’m on the lookout for ’guards. I think the new single-spar design units from Chicken Cycles may be the answer. The Quickguards replace your standard thru-axles (or QRs on a rimbrake bike) and have a single-spar leading up to a full ’guard. The simplicity of the design impressed me over a Raceblade, which has too many bits to lose when refitting them.
“Flipping the chip in the fork switches it between an aero and an endurance bike”
WARREN ROSSITER