Ghost Lector 2025: total renovation for a mythical hardtail bike that becomes lighter and more versatile

Mountain bike 11/04/24 11:48 Migue A.

Ghost completely renews the Lector to move towards a model with less radical lines. The new version of the brand's flagship hardtail embraces modern geometries and the trend towards increased suspension travel. The range consists of four builds, keeps the weight below 10 kilos, and starts at 2,299 euros.

Ghost Lector 2025: changing without giving up anything to remain an XC symbol

Ghost is intimately related to the Lector; it is impossible to understand the brand's trajectory without understanding the relevance of one of the most traditional and iconic hardtails in the market. The Lector has witnessed the major changes that have shaken up XC in the last three decades - quite a lot - and has especially become one of the benchmark bikes in the discipline since the creation of the Ghost Factory Racing Team.

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The professional team - where cyclists like Anne Terpstra, Nicole Koller, or Caroline Bohe now pedal - was one of the flag bearers in resisting the arrival of full suspension bikes. And even though they finally took the step in 2020, the Lector remained a symbol in the commitment to make hardtails more than just about reactivity and lightness.

But sometimes even symbols need to be renewed. If 2020 marked the year of the last revision of the Lector, last season the prototype was already seen that is now being unveiled on its thirtieth birthday.

The new Lector represents a change in aesthetics and concept: now the inherent qualities of hardtails - responsiveness and low weight - are important, and the model embraces current trends in suspension travel and geometry.

The frame has become narrower and the brand distinguishes between Ultralight Carbon - for the top-of-the-line versions - and Light Carbon. The renovation has achieved both objectives: increased stiffness in the bottom bracket and head tube area, and a weight reduction of 24% - a whopping 885 grams in the case of Ultralight Carbon.

Ghost has taken a ruler and compass in hand to redesign the geometry of the Lector. Thus, the numbers are more in line with the measurements that now prevail in the discipline: increased reach to reach 484 mm, seat tube angle more pronounced reaching 75.7°, 68° head tube angle, and 430 mm chainstays.

The curved seatstays were one of the distinctive features of the previous version of the Lector. Ghost wanted to maintain part of that identity, despite significantly reducing the curvature. Other novelties are in the internal cable routing and the arrival of the dropper post.

The suspension travel remains at 120 mm for sizes L and XL, although from now on the other sizes increase it to 110 mm.

The Lector World Cup 30 comes with SRAM XX SL Eagle Transmission, Rock Shox SID Ultimate 3P fork, integrated handlebar - with a stem of only 65 mm - and DT Swiss 1501 XRC 1501 wheels.

Additionally, it has the capacity to carry two water bottles in all sizes.

Ghost Lector 2025: setups and prices

The new Ghost Lector is available in five sizes - XS, S, M, L, and XL. Below, we detail all the builds and prices of the four models in the range.