We first got a glimpse of a uniquely-shaped 2nd generation Rondo Ruut carbon gravel bike nearly a year and a half ago. And then followed up with more details at last summer’s Eurobike. But while those bikes looked finished, there was still some refinement to be done on the design. Now finally, Rondo officially launch their new Ruut CF Gen 2 carbon gravel bike, and you can get it at your local dealer now.
So what makes it special (and what’s changed) besides the fact that it’s kinda missing the lower half of its seattube?
We rode the new gravel bike to see how it stacked up against the original adjustable geometry gravel bike!
Rondo Ruut g2 CF unique 2nd generation carbon gravel bike
When we got a first tease of Rondo’s gen 2 Ruut, its interrupted seattube was the big news. Especially, coming a day after we saw the strikingly similar Specialized Angled Strut design patent that became their Sirrus commuter. That first rideable Ruut v2 prototype of Rondo’s brand manager was showing off the unique new styling to their Polish dealers.
But the design work wasn’t quite complete, featuring dramatically asymmetric chainstays that didn’t make it into the final design.
Later, last summer at Eurobike we got a closer look at an updated boxy carbon frame and massive forks – following the likes of Rondo’s rough off-road Mylc & Ratt all-road bikes with their decidedly anti-aero flat headtubes. But even then, those show bikes
What’s unique?
Instead of the couple of triangles that make up a traditional bike frame, the new Ruut intentionally opts for less geometrically-stable polygons. By redirecting the seattube forward midway, there’s more opportunity for vertical flex, without necessarily losing stiffness in all other directions. To get the most flex out of the almost-parallelogram rear quadrilateral (sorry, no more triangles, here) the new bike also gets super dropped seatstays to match the now symmetric dropped chainstays.
Rondo describes the unique look as a move to bring some vertical compliance into the otherwise boxy carbon frame. But also just to create a bike that looks different in a sea of same-ness.
Rondo calls the new bike both “significantly more comfortable and stable”. Comfort mostly from its unique shaping, and that added stability from completely reworked geometry.
All-new adjustable gravel geometry
The Ruut’s gravel geometry hadn’t really changed much at all since its groundbreaking debut back in 2017. Already then, Rondo offer the uniquely adjustable geometry with fork flip chips to let you pick a Race or Endurance feel to the bike. It was a smart move ahead of its time, letting early gravel adopters get both a race-ready and bikepacking-ready bike in one.
What has changed in this update is relatively minor, including extended frame Reach and higher Stack with taller headtubes for a more comfortable position, presumably inspired by the Mylc. Plus, a 0.5° slacker head angle for a bit more stability, with the same short 420mm chainstays and some extra standover clearance.
But just as big news, is the addition of a new fifth size, the new XS with 650b wheels takes advantage of the longer/higher rider position to squeeze one size back in, either for smaller riders or those who prefer the shorter/lower fit.
Tech details
The new boxy carbon frame features a kinked toptube, interrupted seattube, and symmetric rear end. Cable routing is fully integrated internally, through the massive new CNC machined in Poland alloy stem and into the Acros headset.
Up front is an ultra-deep redesigned TwinTip fork, with a giant non-driveside wing that smooths air over the flat mount front brake. The new fork carries over Rondo’s unique TwinTip flip-chip offering 10mm of axle-to-crown height & 10mm offset adjustment that alters your head angle by 0.7°, reshaping the gravel bike’s ride character.
There are plenty of mounting points for accessories. Two sets of cage mounts on top of the downtube will fit 2 full-size bottle on Medium and larger frames. Then, there’s a set of mounts under the downtube and a toptube bag mount. Plus, there’s a 5th set of mounts above where you would normally find a front derailleur, where we’ve been told a custom bolt-on bag could be placed. There are even mounts for full coverage fenders, but it’s gonna be a pretty custom setup due to the unique frame shaping.
The new Ruut is obviously 1x only with no place to hang a front derailleur, right? Wrong… apparently Rondo will make some form of custom hanger to make a 2x drivetrain work.
The frame features a new integrated wedge-style seat clamp for a good old 27.2mm round seatpost. It gets an asymmetrical T47/77 threaded bottom bracket, that is SRAM power meter compatible. And now there’s a UDH for T-type drivetrain compatibility. With 12mm thru-axles and flat mount brakes, max tire clearance is now 700c x 45mm or 650b x 50mm.
Riding Impressions
I had the chance to ride the new Ruut G2 CF1 earlier this spring on familiar fast but often rocky Spanish gravel roads. And a bit contrary to Rondo’s descriptions, I would say that it was one of the stiffest riding gravel bikes I have ridden in recent memory. That’s not entirely a good or bad thing, but something to keep in mind.
With that said, the stiffness felt like it was mostly coming from the front end. It starts with that massive new fork and boxy headtube. And stiffness carries through the stiff machined stem into a quite rigid alloy bar.
As much as it is a strong visual, I don’t feel like the interrupted seat tube offered much noticeable vertical compliance. At least not compared to a more conventional bike design. That’s not really a huge surprise. I suspect the redirected seattube design probably simply offsets extra stiffness from the massive boxy carbon tube shapes everywhere else.
Fast-rolling 40mm tires are certainly a good choice for speed. But there’s plenty of room up front to get a bigger tire here for more comfort and even improved grip. And I think that if this were my bike, it would greatly benefit from a more compliant handlebar and/or stem. And of course larger volume tires.
All relatively simple tweaks to make.
2024 Rondo Ruut g2 CF – Pricing, options & availability
The new 2024 Rondo Ruut g2 CF now comes in four complete 1x builds. The top tier will be the new Rondo Ruut g2 CF0 with a complete SRAM Force AXS Xplr (10-44T) groupset, a Easton SC70 AX carbon bar, and a set of 42mm deep carbon Hunt Limitless Gravel aero wheels.
I tested the 5000€ g2 CF1 with a SRAM Rival AXS Xplr (10-44T) groupset. But Rondo fits the CF1 with an alloy Spank Wing 12° bar and alloy Hunt Gravel X-Wide wheels.
There’s also the more affordable 3800€ Rondo Ruut g2 CF2 with a mechanical Shimano GRX groupset – an RX812 derailleur paired to a MicroShift 11-42T cassette, plus house brand alloy bar & wheels. And Rondo will also offer a similarly priced CF2 option with mechanical Apex Xplr in the near future, as well.
And lastly, another cyclocross-inspired build. The Ruut g2 CF X gets SRAM Apex AXS, tighter 10-36T cassette, aero carbon bar & Hunt Aero Wide alloy wheels.
The new 2nd generation Ruut CF1 & CF2 are available now through your local Rondo dealer. The others will come later this summer into autumn.
