Rondo Hvrt CF2
A road bike that craves big adventures
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.