Cinelli’s latest HoBootleg combines contemporary geometry, massive 3-inch tyre clearances, a UDH-compatible dropout, dropper post routing and Columbus steel.
The 2026 HoBootleg Geo looks like a mash-up of classic steel tourer and singletrack-capable gravel rig. With prices for complete bikes starting at £2,199, I believe it could be one of the best new steel gravel bikes for 2026.
Full builds and a frameset option are available now.
- Read more: Best gravel bikes in 2025: top-rated carbon, aluminium, titanium and steel gravel bikes reviewed
What is the HoBootleg Geo?
Cinelli’s original Bootleg bikes came from the burgeoning fixed-gear rat racing scene in the brand's home city of Milan.
The first HoBootleg was released in 2013, an adventurous take on those original rat racing steel bikes. It was a modern interpretation of the classic touring bike in the vein of the Genesis Croix de Fer and its ilk – a bike capable of taking larger-volume tyres and built for a bit of rough road riding.
Cinelli is pitching the HoBootleg as a near-unkillable self-sufficient world-traveller. The geometry has been tweaked to take on singletrack and technical mountain riding beyond where the trail ends.
HoBootleg Geo details
The HoBootleg frame, made from Columbus double-butted steel replete with reinforcing gussets, has geometry derived from classic rigid mountain bikes. That means complete builds with short stems, wide bars and zero-offset seatposts. The bottom bracket shell is a robust threaded BSA standard.
At the front, it features a Columbus Futura Adventure carbon fork with a flip chip, enabling the rake to be switched between 45mm and 50mm. The frame is corrected for a suspension fork. The fork is also dynamo-ready with routing on the left side.
The bike has semi-integrated routing for a gravel dropper post for when you want to get into really technical terrain.
The frame and fork have all the mounts for a transcontinental trip, with triple anything mounts on the fork. There are rear rack mounts, five down tube mounts (three above, two below), two seat tube mounts and mounts for fenders/mudguards.
With 29-inch wheel compatibility and massive three-inch tyre clearance, is the HoBootleg GEO setting a new standard for tyre clearance or a step too far? Time will tell.
The £2,199 complete bike comes with Shimano’s 11-speed CUES groupset and WTB ST rims laced to Shimano hubs. It gets WTB Ranger tyres, and Cinelli’s own Adventure Curve bar, Cinelli alloy stem and 27.2mm-diameter seatpost, as well as Selle Royal’s short SRX off-road saddle.
The new Cinelli HoBootleg Geo is available in Desert Mud colour, with framesets starting at €1,300 and full builds from £2,199 / €2,500.
Specification highlights
- Frame: Double butted steel (UDH & dropper post compatible)
- Fork: Columbus Futura Adventure (dynamo compatible)
- Groupset: Shimano CUES 1x11 mix (hydraulic disc brakes)
- Wheelset: WTB ST Rims / Shimano hubs
- Tyres: WTB Ranger 29x2.25in TCS
- Saddle: Selle Royal SRX
