The Hook EXT C is a carbon-framed, adventurous all-road gravel thing with 650b wheels, big clearances and more bosses for accessories than even the most hardcore rando nerds will know what to do with.
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Bombtrack has made its name with achingly trendy track bikes and quirky, versatile steel machines with a strong bikepacking and gravel bent. The newest Hook fits in with the second theme, but with carbon taking steel’s place.
650b wheels are appearing on more and more all-road machines, the logic being that the rolling diameter of a fat 650b tyre (the Bombtrack comes with 2.1s as standard) is pretty close to that of a moderately wide 700c road tyre, but you get the benefits of extra grip and traction, as well as much lower pressures.
So what about those bosses?
Having lamented the dearth of carbon bikes that take mudguards in the recent past, it’s incredibly gratifying that they’re becoming more common. The carbon Hook has a full complement of bosses front and rear, meaning you’ll be able to mount proper mudguards, a rack (or possibly multiple racks), and as many lights and other gizmos as you could possibly want.
In addition to eyelets at the fork dropouts, there are three outward-facing bosses on each fork leg, plus a rear-facing one at the crown.
There are also extra cage or tool bosses under the down tube, in addition to the bottle mounts in the usual places.
The build
Bombtrack’s standard build gets a SRAM Rival 1× groupset but the frame will accept a front derailleur, so you could in principle run whatever weird gearing combo your cycling niche demands. Whether or not the Hook will also be sold as a frameset alone remains to be seen, however.
The wheels are Hunt Adventure Sports, which have a healthy if not huge 20mm internal width, making them a good match for chunky tyres. They're secured with 12mm thru-axles front and rear, while flat mount calipers bring them to an abrupt halt when required.
The bike ships with 2.1in WTB Nano tyres as standard, which offer a useful trade-off between low rolling resistance and general off-road ability.
Pricing and availability
The Hook EXT C comes in six sizes and retails at £3,000 / €2,999 in this SRAM Rival 1 spec. It’s expected to be available in the UK imminently.
