The Rondo Ruut, PNW's Range Dropper, Granite's Duet, grips from Title and Tru-Tension goodies

Plus our round up of the best news stories of the week.

Liam Mercer

Jul 19 2024

In this week's Five Cool Things, we check out Rondo's newest Ruut gravel bike and the PNW Range Dropper Post, the latter of which was released only earlier this week. Furthermore, we've received a care package from Tru-Tension, and Granite Design has something it reckons is one tool for many jobs. Let's glance over this week's top stories.

It's been a chilled-out week in terms of news and releases but, as always, we've been working to bring you top content and guides to keep you busy. However, a few cool things have come to market including the PNW Components' Range dropper which is the longest travel dropper on the market at its price. We'll take a closer look at it a little later. Next up, the NBA collided with MTB with the Canyon and Lebron James collaboration.

Elsewhere, our Steve shows you exactly how to watch the Paris Olympics mountain bike cross-country and we bring you our collection of the best gravel tyres 2024. Ty has also completed a top to bottom of Wales, so be sure you read how that went for him in Bikepacking through Wales - The Wales Divide.

As for reviews, there's been plenty going on as we deliver our verdict on the Deviate Highlander II as well as the YT Industries Jeffsy Mk3 Core 4. Other reviews come with the Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Lace clipless shoes, being praised for their all-day comfort, and the Silca StripChips that claim to make immersion chain waxing simpler.

Rondo RUUT CF1 gravel bike

Only a couple of weeks ago Rondo unveiled its all-new Ruut and this time around, it's a vastly different-looking bike. Borrowing cues from the MYLC, the new RUUT is claimed to be more comfortable through greater vibration damping and the brand's geometry choices.

There's also a degree of geometry adjustment on the cards thanks to a flip chip in the Ruut's fork. This allows the rider to slacken the head angle and tweak the fork offset. As for the geometry, the new Ruut welcomes a 417mm reach on a large frame, along with a higher 594mm stack. There's then a 71.7-degree head tube angle.

This CF1 model boasts SRAM's Rival AXS drivetrain with Rondo X Hunt wheels that are shod with Vittoria Terreno Dry tyres. All but the XS frame run on 700c wheels, whereas the smallest frame size gets 650b hoops.

rondo.cc

PNW Range Dropper Post

£200

Although I say that this dropper post will set you back £200, I mean that the dropper post and remote lever bundle cost £200. For the post alone, you'll be spending £160 and that makes the PNW Components' Range Dropper Post one of the most cost-effective 200mm (there are other drops available) on the market.

Using a sealed air cartridge, the Range promises easy serviceability and good durability but it's available in 125, 150, 175 and 200mm travels. It can also be picked up in 30.9- and 31.6mm diameters, so it'll fit most mountain bikes around.

As for the new Range Lever, it borrows a lot from the Loam Lever, including the silicone pad but it uses a forged construction, rather than a CNC-machined build. As such, it's a little heavier and it's not finished to quite the quality. However, it costs £49, rather than the Loam Lever's £65.

pnwcomponents.co.uk

Tru-Tension Tungsten Bundle

£40

Although Tru-Tension may not be the first name in cycling when it comes to bike care, the brand is doing big things in its expansion into the cycling world. Having made its name for the Chain Monkey, a motorcycle chain tension tool, Tru-Tension believes that its bike care products and its small selection of tools are some of the best on the market, and here we've got its Tungsten Cycle Bundle, as well as a few other bits and bobs.

The Tungsten Bundle covers almost all of your post-ride needs, coming with a litre of its Gel Bike Cleaner, a can of drivetrain cleaner, the brand's Tungsten All-Weather Lube (which promises to prolong drivetrain life more than other drip-lubes) and a Muck Monkey Chain Brush.

We've also got the brand's take on a tyre lever that looks mighty different to any other tyre lever we've seen before. In a nutshell, its interesting design is shaped to stop the tyre lever from slipping when removing and installing a tyre.

Finally, there's Tru-Tension's Snow Foam which is a waterless bike cleaner that should be ideal for e-mountain bikes and those tricky post-ride situations where water is scarce.

www.tru-tension.co.uk

Title Form Carbon 35 handlebar

£240

We've been taking a look through Title's catalogue over the past few five cool things and the Form Carbon 35 may not be super blingy, like the stem or pedals but it looks to be impressively designed and priced to match. Available in 25 and 35mm rises, as well as 31.8- and 35mm clamp diameters, Title claims that this Form Carbon bar is the lightest weight DH-certified handlebar. It meets EFBE Tri-Test Category Five testing while set to weigh 194g in its starting weight.

To do so, it's built using a unidirectional carbon layup in a process that has allowed the brand to create a super-compliant bar without skimping on stiffness through the steering plane.

Moving on to dimensions, this Form Carbon 35 bar is 800mm in width and has an 87mm wide clamping area, so it'll work with wide downhill stems. There's a nine-degree backsweep and a five-degree upsweep. If you're a Renthal fan and run an Apex Stem, this bar isn't compatible.

www.titlemtb.com

Granite Duet Hex and Socket tool kit

£60

Last up, the Granite Duet tool is something we caught a glimpse of at Eurobike 2024 and it looks primed to be that 'anything tool' that'll cover common bike bolts as well as the occasional nut and bolt you'll find on bikepacking rigs, lights and fenders. But, with its range of sockets, it's capable of a bit more than just bike fettling.

Inside its metal case, you get a dual-ended handle tool, both of which get ratchet mechanisms but one's for use with the included socket set and the other is for the plethora of Allen bits. There's also an extender attachment in the box.

As for those bits, you get a number 2 crosshead screwdriver, 2mm up to 8mm Allens, and T15, T20, and T25 Torx keys. There are then 6m to 13mm sockets.

granite-design.com

Author block

Liam Mercer

Since beginning his mountain biking career while working as a resort photographer in Greece in 2014, Liam became a freelance contributor at off.road.cc in 2019. From there, he’s climbed the journalism job ladder from staff writer to deputy technical editor, now finding his place as technical editor.

Partial to the odd enduro race, heart rate-raising efforts on slim-tyred cross-country bikes, hell-for-leather e-MTB blasts or even casual gravel jaunts, there’s not a corner of off-road cycling where Liam fears to tread. With more than 40 bike reviews under his belt and hundreds more on MTB, e-MTB and gravel parts and accessories, Liam’s expertise continues to be cemented and respected by the industry.