Canadian Cycling Magazine

Rondo Hvrt CF2

A road bike that craves big adventures

- reviewed by Philippe Tremblay

A road bike that craves big adventures

It was the Tuesday-night worlds. I was doing my best to drop some serious watt bombs on my friends during our weekly hammerfest. As we sped down familiar roads, I put in some good efforts, pushing myself to the limit with the Rondo Hvrt beneath me. A few days earlier, that bike faced a very different test as colleague and I explored the Simcoe County Loop Trail, which is about 150 km north of Toronto. The Rondo Hvrt was up for the challenge each time.

In Simcoe County, we encountere­d 160 km of gravel rail trail. Throughout two days, this sort of surface would be exhausting on a pure road bike, especially loaded up with bar, frame and large seat bags. The Hvrt isn’t just any road bike; it was outfitted with 650b wheels and 2.1" tires for our bike packing trip. The crushed-gravel trails were tamed thanks to the cushy rubber mounted to the 650b Industry Nine Ultralite 235 tra wheels.

For the road ride, I was able to swap those wheels easily for a set of Rondo’s 700c hoops (made in collaborat­ion with Hunt wheels) with 28-mm-wide tires that suited a fast two-and-a-half-hour drop ride much better. The Hvrt CF2’S carbon tubing is aero, too. It’s versatile, however, not confined to a narrow definition of aero road.

Rondo’s Twintip fork enhances the bike’s versatilit­y. The Twintip allows the bike to have two geometry settings by changing the position of the front axle on the fork. The “lo” position results in a higher stack and generally slacker angles. For bikepackin­g and adventure riding, it’s a more stable position. The “hi” setting results in a steeper head-tube angle for a more aggressive setup for fast rides. It let me get into a more aerodynami­c position on road rides.

Despite the Twintip fork and generous tire clearance on the Hvrt, the bike was designed primarily as a road machine. The handling isn’t as tight, even in the “hi” position, as on more traditiona­l road bikes, but that’s the trade-off of giving the bike such extreme versatilit­y. On the road, the frame feels stiff and fast. Every pedal stroke through the Shimano 105 groupset transfers into speed.

While some do-it-all bikes struggle to have an identity, their abilities slightly dulled in one department or the other, the Hvrt is a good fit for a rider who spends most of the time on the road, but gets a little adventurou­s, and who doesn’t want to purchase a gravel, cyclocross or endurance bike. The Hvrt will let you thrive on the weekend rides. It’s perfect if you plan to sign up for a fondo or charity ride, but aren’t the type to target a full race season. In spring and fall, you can make some adjustment­s and be equally prepared for a gravel event or even perhaps a cyclocross race or two. After a bikepackin­g trip and a speedy drop ride, I was wondering what other adventure I could tackle on the Hvrt.

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