Not heard of Rondo? That’s probably because it’s a new gravel specific brand. Well, not gravel but ‘new-school drop bar riding’, as the people at Rondo are calling it. New-school, old-school rediscovered, or just more fun, whatever you want to call it, the people behind Rondo have been riding bikes for years and are now putting their eggs in one chicken and launching a brand and bikes just for all you #dirtydropbargoodness lovers.
The bikes come in carbon, steel or aluminium frames and will be on sale in early summer 2017.
Among the founders of RONDO are the people who created NS Bikes (who recently launched the RAG+), and also Creme Cycles, makers of classic urban bikes sold worldwide. With more than 15 years of experience in making and playing on bikes they decided that it was time to enter the drop bar world.
The Ruut CF1 – top of the line Vario Geometry gravel bike built around a carbon frame designed in-house.
The Rondo press release says:
“With our feet firmly planted in the mountain bike world, we took a road bike, tore off the conventional solutions, added open-minded thinking, focused on the most important and progressive features and created tough, 100% purpose-built all-road bikes with a clear racing character and maximum functionality. Apart from making sure the tech was dialed we also designed them to look unlike anything else on the market.”
Rondo’s ‘TwinTip’ fork
The Ruut features Rondo’s ‘TwinTip’ fork, so you can switch the geometry between “racing” and “endurance” and tune the position to your riding style. We’re interested to see how this works in theory and in practice – we’ve asked for a bit more info and will update you when we get it.
The Ruut CF2.
You can fit 700C tyres up to 42mm wide, and fat 2.2” 650B tyres as well.
The Ruut STL – a tasty Tange steel frame.
The bikes come with carbon, steel and aluminium frames and will be on sale in early summer 2017. Watch this space for pricing info, or keep an eye on UK distributor Hotlines…
The Ruut AL.
The Ruut AL won’t burn a hole in your pocket, and with those big fat tires the alloy frame won’t send shivers down your spine. The full carbon TwinTip fork is also included in this package, but the bags are not.
For more information on these bikes, keep an eye on their new website or their Facebook page. For now, their website features just a short film, which features slightly scary music, and much cold. Brr.
