An evolution of their more road-oriented Road Rage gravel bike, the new Asket is more of an adventure bike with bigger tire clearance, slacker geometry, and more comfort. But it still comes in a full gamut of different build options – whether you are looking for a flat bar urban commuter, an off-road adventure bikepacking rig, or some fast gravel racer in between…
Ghost Asket Advanced EQ fully-equipped adventure gravel bike
The Asket name isn’t new to Ghost, and its mountain bike hardtail origins hint more at its current leanings in this latest evolution. Originally adapted as a more fun version on their Lector cross-country race hardtail, this new gravel Asket gets a hint of the Lector with its thin, curved seatstays for comfort, plus geometry that’s something of a happy medium between that XC bike and the Road Rage.
Now, Ghost calls the Asket a “road bike with off-road benefits”.
Tech details
The new Asket AL family all mostly share the same hydroformed aluminum frame and full carbon tapered steerer fork. The only difference it seems is that 1x Advanced models omit the welded-on front derailleur tab of the other models.
Ghost specs most of the Asket family with 40mm rubber, but official tire clearance is up to 700x50mm / 29×2.0″, or 27.5×2.2″.
The frameset has plenty of adventure-ready mounting points with 2 regular sets of bottle cage bosses inside the main triangle, plus a 3-pack of Anything cage mounts under the toptube, a cage mount under the downtube, a set of toptube bag mounts, Anything cages mounts on each fork leg, and tabs for full coverage fenders front & rear.
The bike features conventional modular internal cable routing in the front triangle, flat mount disc brakes, 12mm thru-axles, and a 27.2mm seatpost with stealth dropper routing.
Geometry-wise, the Asket combines a longer fork, longer wheelbase, and overall slacker head tube than the Road Rage for more stable handling off-road. Chainstays are just 5mm longer than Ghost’s road-focused gravel bike, but frame Reach is 25mm longer for the same size bike, with a 35mm higher Stack for a more upright position on the bike, too. Overall, the new Asket is still quick for gravel with a 70° headtube and a steep 73.7° seattube that should help keep weight forward on the bike for solid handling on & off-road.
Ghost Asket Advanced EQ spec & pricing
The Ghost Asket Advanced EQ is to most expensive in the family at 2400€, but with that you get the alloy frame, carbon fork, a Shimano GRX 1×11 drivetrain with an XT 11-42T cassette, WTB ST i25 wheels with 40mm Ravager Exo tires, and the set of bikepacking bags.
The Czech-made Acepac bikepacking setup includes a sized-to-match Zip Frame Bag (scaled down to a TopTube Bag on the XS), a 2-piece Saddle Harness + Saddle Drybag, and Bar Roll handlebar bag.
The Asket Advanced is also available in the same spec without the bikepacking bags for 2200€.
Ghost Asket – Other options, pricing & availability
A lower-cost Asket Essential build gets GRX 2×10 for 1900€. A commuter-friendly equipped version Asket Essential EQ keeps the GRX 2×10, but adds full-coverage fenders, a rear rack, and rechargeable Lezyne LED front & rear lighting for 200€ extra.
The absolute entry-level just-Asket sells for 1600€ with the same frameset, but a Sore 2x9sp group. Or pick up the Urban Asket with the same Sora group but a flat bar build. The entry also gets a commuter-equipped dropbar option – the Asket EQ with Sora, fenders, rack, and lights for 1800€. There’s also a flat bar
It’s nice to see a company say their bike is suitable for commuting or bikepacking, and then actually offer it with all the gear you really need to do that. That’s not to mention that getting a full set of premium bikepacking bags or a full commuting setup for 200€ is a pretty decent value, too.
All Asket gravel bikes are available through your local Ghost bike shop, with real availability of the Asket Advanced EQ expected by the end of March 2023.
