“This year we expand the gravel crushing Hook family with the introduction of our suspension-equipped flagship, a turbo-charged alter-ego to our established Hook EXT bike: welcome the Hook ADV.” – Bombtrack
“The Hook ADV takes everything we loved about mountain bikes in the 90s and transplants it into a fun, modern, drop bar package.”
“It’s inspired by the John Tomac-era of our youth when pros would still race cross-country on drop bars, but its geometry is designed from the ground up to be a hyper-gravel bike.”
“With 40mm of front suspension from MRP, a dropper post from KS lets you slam the saddle down for technical interludes, huge tyres from WTB, and a Ritchey cockpit, we reckon it’s the most specific Bombtrack to date…”
“The Hook ADV will land between end of September and end of October 2018 (depending on the territory), the overall production amount is very limited. ”
Geometry and Specs
I like the idea, however it weighs almost 5 lbs more than my ds Yeti 4.5 mountain bike. 🙁
I suspect it won’t be light.
If you want a bike like this and want it to be light, take a light carbon MTB and put drop bars on it. All the tire clearance you could ever want. Dropper? Sure! Why not? Front suspension? Sure! Lauf, Fox AX or even step cast (32 mm x 100 mm w lock out), etc. Drive train options would also be virtually unlimited.
Definitely going to need – and use – that 38×42 granny gear with a near-30lbs. bike.
Slow metamorphosis of a universal bike into a mountain bike. I guess there is a market for everything nowadays.
Might as well ride a racy hardtail mountain bike with 100mm of real travel. Then lock out the fork on the road. Maybe put some light gravel specific tires on it. You can buy some nice ~24 pound hardtails for about $2000.
As ageing gravel cyclist, who doesn’t race anymore….the only weight I worry about is my own, not the bike’s. Sure, I’m not as quick as I was, but I stopped worrying about that when my ego and adrenaline dried up a few years back. This bike is just right for what it’s meant for: challenging courses where speed isn’t the number one priority, chill out dudes ☺️
Super niche product for the very few who have to have something unique regardless if it makes sense IMO. I like new stuff and am not exactly a “Get off my law you damn kids!” type but I cannot see how this would be better than a nice light hardtail (or full suspension) XC bike converted to drop bars? It looks great but makes no practical sense to me, I agree with all the Negative Neds for once.
I’m really happy that I got a 2018 Hook EXT, as the new model is heavier and I wouldn’t want the suspension or dropper post. Might be great for some, but overkill for my needs. Will be interesting to see if they still make a bike that is closer to 2018 EXT.