The all-new Bombtrack Cale is built for the backcountry

The Bombtrack Cale is an all-new trail hardtail which builds on the company’s experience with its Beyond+ range. The Cale frame is clearly an evolution of the rigid Beyond+ ADV. But with a more progressive trail geometry and a suspension fork, the Cale is positioned as a trail bike built for backcountry exploration. The Cale can be run with 27.5″ plus tires or standard 29″ rubber and is specced with an MRP Ribbon SL 120mm travel suspension fork. Here are the details that are available as well as a few photos that Cass grabbed during Groundwork, Bombtrack’s annual gathering and launch event.

Rather than simply releasing a version of the Beyond+ ADV with a suspension fork, Bombtrack carved out the all-new Cale with a particular niche in mind. In essence, the Bombtrack Cale gets a degree slacker 67.5° headtube, a 74° seattube, and a little longer reach than the ADV. With a these angles, and a moderate trail geometry, it’s pretty well suited to the “adventure trail” category that Bombtrack created it for.

The Bombtrack Cale frame features a double-butted 4130 steel tubeset with standard crimped chain stays to clear a 27.5 x 2.8″ or 2.4″ 29er tire. Additional frame specs include a 73mm threaded bottom bracket shell, a 30.9mm seatpost, rack mounts, triple cage mounts on the top and bottom of the downtube, a pair of bosses on the top-tube, external shifter/brake cable routing, and internal dropper-post routing.

The complete version gets the following build kit:

• frame 4130 double butted chromoly steel
• Handlebar 800mm Bombtrack Illusion 35mm oversized handlebar
• Stem 40mm Bombtrack Chase stem
• Rims WTB STi45 TCS 2.0 tubeless ready rims
• Tires WTB Vigilante 2.8” TCS tubeless ready tires
• Cassette SRAM Eagle GX 10–50t
• Crankset GX Eagle Boost/30t Direct Mount Chainring
• Bottom Bracket Sram Dub
• Brakes Magura Trail Sport hydraulic (4 piston front/2 piston rear)
• Rotors Magura Storm SL.2 180 mm rotors
• Seatpost 150mm KS E30i 30.9mm dropper post

All told, the new Bombtrack Cale seems like a solid, do-all trail bike with a bent for backcountry singletrack bikepacking on routes such as the Colorado Trail or Highland 550, where a tough, capable bike shines. The downsides are a relatively small triangle and the fact that it’s very expensive for a 4130 chromoly hardtail. However, it seems well-appointed for tough, off-road adventures with an 800mm bar, large brake rotors, mineral-oil hydraulic brakes, and an Eagle GX drivetrain… although we don’t have experience to speak to the MRP fork.

The Bombtrack Cale will be available in standard S/M/L/XL sizes, but it doesn’t come cheap. The complete version, as specced above, will be priced at £3300.00/$3749.99/€3399.99, and the frame will sell for £595.00/€649.99 but isn’t (yet) available in the US.

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