Long Term Review of the Cinelli Hobootleg Easy Travel 2025

🌍 Disclaimer: This is an automatically translated version of my handwritten German post. I hope it still provides you with good value!

After several months on my new speedster, I’m writing down a few of my impressions of this great bike – also because I could hardly find any reviews of it.

I need a new bike – but how do I choose a good one?

In short, I needed a new bike because my old Kona Sutra was stolen in Turin. Since it was the most comfortable bike I had ever owned and I had grown fond of it in the short time I had owned it, I honestly didn’t feel like looking for a new bike – but then again, I didn’t want to give up cycling, so I had no other choice 😅

Criteria for my new bike

So, I sat down and determined the following characteristics that I would be looking for:

• Versatile: Good for everyday use (20 km commute to work twice a day) and for short to medium-length tours. For touring, this meant good loading options with bags, etc., and a good gear ratio, even with low gears, so that I can easily climb hills.
• Suitability for the road: Good for asphalt and off-road on agricultural and gravel paths
• Material: Probably steel: robust and feels good when riding – albeit a little heavier. It could also have been aluminium, though.
• Handlebars: Probably drop handlebars again, like the Kona, which seemed to me to be one of the comfort factors, as it allowed me to switch between different hand and seat positions.
• Gears: Drop handlebars = either bar end shifters again or, for the first time for me, a switch to brake shift levers (STI shifting levers). That was one of the only things about the Kona where I thought it might be a bit more comfortable. Shimano or SRAM – what else?
• Brakes: It should have disc brakes so that you feel safe even in the rain and with luggage.
• Appearance: I just have to like it.

In terms of type, I was mainly looking for touring/trekking bikes with a similar geometry to the Kona Sutra, but I also looked at various gravel bikes and alternative bikepacking techniques in general. Ultimately, I often find gravel bikes to be somewhat lacking in low gears, meaning they are not sufficiently equipped for mountain riding, and I felt comfortable with our Ortlieb bag setup.

The search

At first, I focused on second-hand offers on Swiss platforms such as Tutti or other online and offline bicycle exchanges. I searched again for a Kona Sutra and many other more or less well-known brands – but unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything that would have fit my size.

It should also be noted that after my bike was stolen in mid-April, I only had about two and a half months to find a new one, as we were planning our family cycling trip to Denmark and Germany for summer 2025 and delivery times for new bikes can sometimes be a little longer.

Exciting find: the Cinelli Hobo (Hobootleg)

Although the Italian brand Cinelli is probably best known for its racing bikes, I stumbled across its touring bike model Hobootleg (a.k.a. ‘Hobo’) a few times in bikepacking videos:
A deliberately uncomplicated, no-fuss touring bike with tried-and-tested, simple components and good basic equipment, all in fiery red:

I thought it had something! Good, solid basic equipment, the colours look wild and would look great in nature. I wasn’t quite as keen on the rim brakes and the Microshift gears – I’d never heard of the brand before. Then there was also a ‘Hobootleg Geo’ version, which is designed to be a bit more off-road and is equipped with Shimano GRX.

My new bicycle: the Cinelli Hobootleg Easy Travel, a modern touring bike

And then suddenly I found something else: a modernised version of the Hobo in a pretty green colour with disc brakes, brake levers and good basic equipment – with the somewhat awkward name ‘Hobootleg Easy Travel’:

I really liked the look of it, its geometry wasn’t far off from the Kona Sutra, it had good provisions for attaching luggage and thus covered pretty much everything on my wish list above. When I found an online shop that could deliver it within a short time, I jumped at the chance – and a few days later I received a big parcel 🥳.

Technical specifications

Size	M / 55 mm
Colour	Forever Green
Wheel Size	28″
Frame Material	Steel
Brakes	Tektro MD-C605C, Disc Brakes
Rims	WTB ST i19 TCS2.0, 36 Holes
Geometry	BB Drop: 75 mm Chainstay Length: 440 mm Head Angle: 71° Wheelbase: 1053 mm Seat Angle: 73° Reach: 385 mm Stack: 587 mm Head Tube Length: 135 mm Seat Tube Length: 550 mm Recommended Rider Height: 172 – 178 cm

Shifters details

Skip photos – continue with my impressions and conclusion

My impressions of the Cinelli Hobootleg Easy Travel

Over the last five months, I have mainly been riding this bike, touring Denmark and Germany and cycling to work in Zurich many times – enough kilometres to share a few impressions:

The whole package – frame, handling, geometry, equipment

All in all, I am really happy with my purchase – there is nothing about the bike that bothers me. It rides very smoothly (idling is barely audible), the tyres have great grip on and off the road, the brakes work well and I am growing to like the slightly crazy Cinelli design more and more every day.

In terms of geometry, it’s relatively similar to my previous Kona Sutra, which I found extremely comfortable. I still had to experiment a bit until I found a setup that allowed me to go on longer rides without getting pain in my wrists – but now it seems to be just right. I think another factor to consider is not to overload one side when I only take one bag with me for the ride to the office.

The Microshift Sword groupset

The component I was most unsure about was the gear system: Sword is a mechanical gravel gear system from the Taiwanese manufacturer Microshift. Although I admit I don’t know much about gear components, the names Shimano and Sram are on everyone’s lips. So I did some research and found quite a few positive reviews, though not an overwhelming number. The conclusion was mostly: this is a simple, surprisingly good quality gear system – with a very good price/performance ratio.

On the Hobootleg Easy Travel, it is fitted as a 2x 10-speed gear system with:

Shifters	MicroShift Sword SB-G7020
Front derailleur	Microshift Sword RF-G7020
Rear derailleur	Microshift Sword RD-G7025
Crankset	Microshift Sword 48/31
Casette	Microshift CS-H105 11/38
Tyres	Kenda 700X35c

In practice, I am very satisfied with it: reliable shifting, balanced gear selection, I can easily climb hills with luggage using the approximately 22 gear inches.

I had virtually no experience with brake/gear levers up to that point, so I can’t really compare them. The upper, smaller lever clicks precisely and firmly, while the lower, larger lever is ‘very soft’ and can or must be pushed quite far. It can also shift several gears at once if you push it further or faster.

After getting used to it, I find the gear shift very practical and perfectly suited to my needs. Compared to the handlebar end switch on the Kona Sutra, it is definitely a clear advantage to be able to shift gears and steer at the same time.

Costs and adjustments made

I ordered the bike from the german online store Bike-Components for €1,590 (approx. CHF 1,470). On top of that, I spent another €225 on accessories (helmet, bottle cage, luggage rack, platform pedals and black screws), which I also had to replace due to the theft.

After receiving the bicycle, I made the following modifications:

• Mudguards removed: the rear one rattled and was therefore removed after the first ride; the front one would have been fine, but I removed it for the summer holidays as I expected it would otherwise be damaged during air and train travel. I may well put them back on for the often wet winter months for my commute to work.
• Two bottle holders fitted
• Luggage rack for Ortlieb bags and with tension straps
• Pedals fitted – without them it gets annoying
• Brooks leather saddle – I wouldn’t want to be without it, it’s comfortable even on long rides.

My conclusion on the Cinelli Hobootleg Easy Travel

For me, the Cinelli Hobootleg Easy Travel is an all-round harmonious package for anyone who likes to go on short or long bike rides with or without luggage – or who simply wants the flexibility to decide whether to ride on or off the road on their way to work.

I can also recommend it to anyone looking for a bike that is pretty much ‘good to go’. Simply attach your luggage using one of the many mounting options and you’re ready to go!

Photos of the Cinelli Hobootleg Easy Travel in action ⚡

Finally, here are a few photos of the green bicycle in full swing or beautifully displayed So it’s clear: it rides great on and off the road, in dry and wet conditions, in Switzerland, Germany and Denmark 🙌🏻
Ride On!