Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

ahah, tagging @YaniKani who is very happy with his rondo

Very happy with the Rondo HVRT. I got it second hand and rebuild it with different components. Running two wheelsets, one 700 for road and another 650b for gravel. Didn't ride gravel before, I only had a road bike, so just the fact that this bike opened that route for me is amazing. I wouldn't say its any slower on the road either, compared to my previous road bike (caad10). You do get two bikes in one, not the best gravel or the best aero, but certainly quick/capable enough for me.

Was this affected by the fork recall rondo did?

this is not a rondo mutt

Phew!

Nope, that was the Rondo Muut I think. The HVRT model being the 'aero' type has its own fork design, quite elongated and 'aero' and not too gravel, other than the tyre clearance of course.

Putting aero in inverted commas as I dont think the frame design is driven by any wind tunnel science.

650B x 47 in Mason Resolution:

https://twitter.com/firsthippy/status/1298568986494476288

#willitroll - no

42mm looks like it would fit but it would depend on the style of the tyre and what shape it takes when inflated. The chainstay isn't squeezed in the right spot really for 650B

Merci chef. Clearances aside, I'm assuming you rate Mason?

I take it all back, this is actually really cool.

Yeah, I raced it in TABR, TPR, TCR and Transiberica last year and a Hyper SR so I put it to pretty heavy use basically immediately. For road and baby gravel stuff it's been great. I had trouble getting the rear caliper flat - it's meant to be reamed/chased/faced whatever from factory but maybe mine had some excess paint on it. Anyway I got @scherrit to clean it up but it's only been on the turbo this year so I've not needed brakes anyway.

There is gravel in the south of France luckily:

Corrrrr, where abouts is that? Just got back from a non-cycling trip there and was sure I was surrounded by the good stuff.

where abouts is that?

Lespinassière. Not really a cycling trip for me either, just brought my bike with me in a stroke of wisdom.

This was fender recall nothing to do with the fork.
I should know as I am the Producy Manager that f*up the fender mount design :/
Marcin

I’m still looking at this option
How are you getting on with yours ?

Absolutely love it. It's not going to compete with a modern carbon road bike for out and out speed up hill but it's still plenty fast enough. But it's a joy to ride and just puts a smile on my face. I've done quite a few longer rides on it now and it's renewed my enjoyment of road riding which was waning in recent years. And I'm also loving the simplicity of 1x.
I'm really happy to have it as my only road bike.
TL:DR - get one.

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looks like great riding!
sad not to have you over here this summer..

Sure is!

I've asked before but can't find the answer. Any idea what is the max cassette size for a RD-R8050 GS? I have an 11-32 on there but I think for alpine offroad I want bigger if I can.

Can’t you just stick a Wolftooth on

Here you go;

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/ultegra-r8050-di2/RD-R8050-GS.html

If you want bigger; get smaller chainset (48/31, or 46/30).

Mate runs R8000 GS rear mech (non Di2) with 11-40 XT cassette. I agree with edscoble though, 46/30 chainset neater solution. Also for the long climbs on TNR a couple years ago v my weedy legs I swapped to a M785 38/24 chainset and M785 front mech (RS685 shifters, 6800 rear mech & 11-36 cassette).

Did the road shifters play nicely with the MTB front mech? Sounds like it could be an improvement on my current set up (road mech on MTB chaninset).

are there any sub-compact for Ultegra that aren't AbsoluteBlack oval? Or am I just biased because I think they look awful?