Product news: Rondo Ruut: New all-round cross gravel racer with adjustable geometry

Market: Yesterday evening, the Polish manufacturer Rondo presented its very first bike at the Beliner Fahrradschau - the Rondo Ruut is a universal gravel bike with plenty of tire clearance, a unique design and some technical refinements.

For us, too, who deal with the topic of bicycles day in and day out, it is always exciting when a new manufacturer dares to enter the highly competitive market. At this year's Berlin Bicycle Show, the Polish manufacturer Rondo presented its very first model; the Ruut is a universal bike, somewhere between cross, gravel, endurance and commuter. We not only find it exciting that the bike is available with a frame made of carbon, aluminum and steel, but also that the adjustable geometry makes a promising impression – at least in theory. Incidentally, the people behind Rondo are no strangers and have already gained more than 15 years of experience in bicycle construction at NS Bikes and Creme Cycles.

But of course - before we get to the technical details, the focus is on the optics. Here, the Poles have managed to establish their own design language right away with their first model, which differs significantly from what one is otherwise used to from this area. The kink just before the transition from the top tube to the seat tube is particularly striking on the carbon frames. This trick also has a technical background - it allows the seat tube to flex much more and the bike is more comfortable - but it is also a kind of design statement, as we were told. You just want to show that you have designed your own frame and have not used any open-mold molds or other "blank manufacturers".

This does not only apply to the carbon frames - the variants with aluminum or steel tubes are also completely in-house developments and are similar to their carbon fiber counterparts in terms of geometry. Speaking of geometry: It is quite sporty, with a low front, short struts and a rather compact top tube, the numbers promise agile handling and a low seating position. One of the technical refinements of the Rondo Ruut comes into play with the geometry: there is a flip chip in the dropout of the fork, which can be used to change the geometry of the frame in just a few simple steps.

By simply turning the chip in the fork, the seat and steering angles change by 0,5°, the cockpit and bottom bracket are lower or higher and the fork offset also changes by 13mm. A clearly noticeably different driving behavior should be the result. An exciting thing that has been practiced by one or the other manufacturer in the MTB sector for some time, but is (still?) a real rarity on the road.

A lot of attention to detail is shown not only with components that are color-coordinated with the frame design - even visually matching drinking bottles are included in the scope of delivery of the bikes. The Rondo Ruut models come standard with 700c wheels and 40mm gravel tires, but thanks to the ample space in the fork and between the stays, you can even mount 650b wheels and tires with a width of up to 2,1″. We find it a bit of a shame that there are no threaded eyelets for mudguards and luggage racks - this would have further underlined the universal character of the Ruut.

The Rondo Ruut models at a glance

All models will be available in Germany towards the end of May this year and will be sold to dealers via Sports Nut. We will try to get a test bike as soon as possible and will give you our first impressions.

Web

www.rondo.cc