

Calibre Bossnut V2 Details



• Intended use: trail, enduro

• Travel: 130mm F+R

• 27.5" wheels

• Non-boost hub spacing front and rear

• 6061 hydroformed alloy frame

• RockShox suspension

• Sizes: M, L, XL

• Weight: 14.9kg / 32.8 lb (XL, no pedals, with tubes)

• Price: £999 / $1,300 USD approx.

• www.gooutdoors.co.uk

• Intended use: trail, enduro• Travel: 130mm F+R• 27.5" wheels• Non-boost hub spacing front and rear• 6061 hydroformed alloy frame• RockShox suspension• Sizes: M, L, XL• Weight: 14.9kg / 32.8 lb (XL, no pedals, with tubes)• Price: £999 / $1,300 USD

Geometry and Details

I opted for the XL and the seat tube height was on my height limit with a 33" inseam. This could be an issue for some riders looking to upgrade to a dropper post. The Bossnut's geometry lines it up against some big sellers.

Bargain price bike, but still comes with an up to date tapered headtube and fork.

External cable routing throughout for the Bossnut.

Branded parts on a sub £1000 full suspension bike, we were surprised too.

Suspension Design

A small rocker link helps to keep the swingarm inline when driving the rear shock. The RockShox suspension front and rear did a fine job.

Specifications

Specifications Price $999 Rear Shock Rock Shox Monarch R 190x51mm Fork Rock Shox Sektor Silver 130mm travel with tapered alloy steerer and 15mm bolt through maxle Headset FSA Orbit tapered No. 57E Cassette Sunrace 11-36T Crankarms Shimano Deore 36x22T Rear Derailleur Shimano Deore 10 speed Shadow Plus Front Derailleur Shimano Deore 2 x 10 speed Shifter Pods Shimano Deore 2 x 10 speed iSpec Handlebar Ritchey MTN Trail 760mm width, 20mm rise Stem Calibre trail (45mm for 17.5"and 19.5", 60mm for 21.5") Brakes Shimano M506 levers with M447 calipers, Shimano 180mm centre lock front rotor and Shimano 160mm centre lock Hubs Formula 15mm bolt through 32H / Formula 32H Rim WTB ST i25 32H tubeless ready Tires WTB Vigilante 2.3” front, WTB Bee Line 2.2” rear Seat WTB Volt Sport Seatpost Calibre trail 30.9mm 350mm length Compare to other All Mountain/Enduro/XC

















Three Questions with Mike Sanderson, Calibre Brand Manager.

Calibre is a name you're probably not familiar with, but one that we might be seeing more of in the future. The in-house brand of sports retailer, Go Outdoors, in the United Kingdom, Calibre is focused on bringing a quality ride at an affordable price. The Bossnut promises a trail-focused alloy frame, RockShox suspension, a Shimano Deore groupset and a finishing kit that is chosen to get the job done and allow riders space to upgrade in the future.The 130mm travel Bossnut retails at £1,300 GBP, but sign up for the Go Outdoors discount card, which costs a nominal £5, and the Bossnut V2 is all yours for £999. The bikes are only available in person in the UK from Go Outdoors stores, but they also offer free delivery inside of the UK and ship worldwide for a small fee, for example, £9.95 to the USA.I went for the XL sized Bossnut which has a 463mm reach, 66.8º head angle, a 73.5º seat angle and a 436mm chainstay; numbers that clearly line it up against Stumpjumpers, Fuels, and Trances from the big brands. The first thing I noticed was the 546mm seat tube, which is close to my limit given my 33" inseam. Trying to upgrade to a decent dropper post could be an issue here, depending on model, the length of drop, and your height.The Bossnut has full external cable routing, a tapered headtube, BSA 73mm threaded bottom bracket shell and PM160 brake mounts. A 31.6mm seat tube is just waiting for a budget dropper post to be installed with external routing available underneath the top tube.For the price, the Bossnut comes with a solid spec and there's nothing that stands out as corner cutting. A Shimano Deore groupset, RockShox Monarch R shock and a Sektor Silver fork. WTB i25 rims are encased in Vigilante and Bee Line rubber from the same brand and laced to Formula hubs, WTB also take care of the saddle. There's a 760mm wide Ritchey handlebar mounted to a Calibre's own 60mm stem and Entity single lock on grips to finish the build.The Bossnut employs a single-pivot design with the main pivot located just above the bottom bracket, a secondary link is found above the rear wheel axle on the seat stay, which is connected directly to the shock. There is a small link mounted to the seat tube that should increase stiffness and keep everything in line as the suspension cycles up and downThe main thing that the Bossnut has going for it, in terms of suspension, is that it's well specced with RockShox air springs front and rear. This means that all riders should be able to get pretty close to a good setup within a few minutes. Many budget bikes are supplied with coil suspension. If the spring rates on those coils aren't a match for your weight, they are likely to stay that way for the remainder of your relationship with the bike.

How did you decide upon the geometry numbers for this bike? It looks like the Bossnut is lining itself up against some big sellers like the Specialized Stumpjumper, Trek Fuel and Giant Trance?

Really it came from riding bikes like these, reading reviews and seeing the direction of the market. Then on the opposite of this, I looked at what was out at the price point I wanted to hit and not seeing geometry or spec that I felt would give riders the best ride or time on their bike. Once I had this a test bike was built and ridden in the Peak (UK) by a few of us and we tested several different shock tunes and then the rest is history as they say.

What type of rider is the Bossnut aimed at?

Honestly, I started this project with fairly new or returning riders in mind, but the first Bossnut quickly surpassed that so with the ‘V2’ I wanted to upgrade the frame with things like the increased reach, shorter stem, and increased tyre spacing so they could be ridden at UK enduros or the Alps etc.

Why would a rider choose the Bossnut over a well maintained, used bike of a similar price?

Climbing and Trail

Descending

Technical Report





Shimano Deore Brakes:



I mentioned earlier that I have tested brakes that cost as much as this entire bike. But the Shimano Deore brakes offer ridiculously good performance for the price of a pair of new tires. So cheap you could almost buy a new pair instead of changing the pads when they are worn out and makes us question why would you spend more?







WTB Volt Saddle:



Saddle choice is personal, and the WTB Volt definitely wasn't for me. I normally have my saddle tilted forwards for climbing, but the high nose of the Volt meant I had to tip it even further forwards than usual.







WTB Vigilante and Bee Line:



The WTB tires aren't a bad choice, the Bee Line rolls well and the Vigilante bites into soft dirt. We would be looking to change these to something with a heavier carcass and softer rubber to get the most out of this bike after a number of punctures. Another cheap upgrade and the chance to get the right tire for your trails and conditions.



Front Derailleur



I have never been a front derailleur fan and probably never will be (I haven't ridden with one by choice for twenty years) and the chain kept falling off. That was annoying, and yes I did check the setup of the front derailleur on the direct mount and it was at its lower limit of adjustment. They should be relegated to the recycling bin and here's why:



For: It gives riders a wider range of gears, especially helpful for beginners/weaker riders for climbing.



Against: They clutter the handlebar with another shifter. It's another moving part to tune and service.





Pinkbike's Take:

The Bossnut is a bargain bike that can be made into a competitive machine with a few small changes. Add a single ring, budget dropper post, and some grippier rubber to this bike and you might think you were riding something that cost three, four, or even five times the price — Paul Aston

About the Reviewer

Stats: Age: 31 • Height: 6'1” • Ape Index: +4" • Weight: 75kg • Industry affiliations / sponsors: None • Instagram:

Paul Aston is a racer and dirt-jumper at heart. Previously adding to the list of non-qualifiers at World Cup DH events, now he attacked enduro before it was fashionable. Based in the UK, but often found residing between mainland Europe and New Zealand allows him to experience a huge variety of terrains and trails. Age: 31 • Height: 6'1” • Ape Index: +4" • Weight: 75kg • Industry affiliations / sponsors: None • Instagram: astonator

The age old question, it’s up to the individual I suppose, but there is something nice about having a brand new bike with everything working at once, I’ve built many a bike when upgrading the frame with all sorts of horror stories. The Bossnut is also very well specced for the money and comparable to bikes much higher in price so it could be treated as a new bike but the same capability and spec of used bike.It's a tough job () for us tech editors at Pinkbike to test a bike from the lower echelons of the bike world. Normally we are blessed/baited by the most expensive, bling bikes, carbon this and lightweight that, high precision, tuned and ergonomically perfected steeds that in reality, sell low numbers. We report on how light, efficient, and smooth they ride, when the truth is that most riders purchase and ride the lower specced, heavier, clunkier models that can be in a different league of performance even though they are from the same range or family of bikes.So the Bossnut started its testing life feeling clunky, noisy and heavy compared to what I was used to, but I had to keep reminding myself that this bike literally cost 10% of some of the bikes we get to ride, I have even tested a pair of brakes that cost the same amount as this bike, one day upon the Bossnut I calculated that the kit I was wearing cost more than the bike I was riding; reality check.Then, I took it down the Pleney black downhill run in Morzine and got stuck behind a bunch of guys on top of the range downhill sleds. It was still noisy and clunky compared to something equipped with full XTR or XX1, and the chain kept falling off. But it did a remarkable job of getting on with it and down the hill. Game on.The Bossnut isn't a 20lb XC racer, but it worked its way up the climbs as well as anything else it is expected to compete with, even if the battle it's lining itself up for puts it into contention with bikes from the next price class, where the thousands listed on the price tags start with a 2,3, possibly 4 or even 5.The compression damping is firm and it doesn't wallow. There is no compression adjust lever to play with here, but I didn't actually feel the need for one. The cockpit is roomy enough and the saddle isn't positioned too far behind the bottom bracket at full height. As mentioned earlier, the 546mm tall seat tube was at my limit, and anything longer than installing a 125mm dropper would be out of bounds. The lack of dropper is acceptable for the price, but being used to an uppy-downy seatpost on every bike I pedal nowadays made me feel my riding was severely limited on the trail. A dropper should be the number one upgrade on the Bossnut.Overall the Bossnut does a good job when heading into the trails, the frame isn't overly stiff, and complies well to the terrain. The balance between front and rear suspension is easy to find, although choosing a click of rebound damping that wasn't either too fast or too slow took a few attempts. Compression and progression give the rider plenty to push against when railing corners, landing jumps or pumping peaks and troughs.The smaller M and L sizes are blessed with a 45mm stem, which is ideal for mountain biking. Being a lanky oaf, my XL was specced with a 60mm stem. I swapped it out for a 50mm model. That quick modification brought our descending position into the game. With my hands placed nicely behind the front wheel, it allowed me to drive the front tire into the ground to slow down and not constantly feel that over-the-bars sensation.As I mentioned earlier, the bike handled more than a few laps of the Pleney surprisingly well. The Bossnut took all but the most extremely steep or rough terrain in hand after a quick switch to a single chainring, a bit of rubber tape near the chain to keep things quiet and some heavier tires, which I strapped on after the original rubber suffered a number of punctures.The chain falls off or down into the lower ring. You need a longer chain, which also means more chain slap and they are noisy. The large ring stabs people with dirty, oily, pointed, metal teeth in the calf muscles (especially the beginners they are trying to help) when the chain is in the small ring. It's an added confusion and I don't believe weaker riders need super easy gears for technical or very steep climbing, as they are likely to be already out of their depth of skill before running out of pedal power.I ditched the derailleur and put on a 32t Superstar NW style ring that cost £30 and even made in the UK. The bike is already equipped with a Deore clutch derailleur, and I didn't drop a chain again after this. This also allowed me to remove a few links from the chain, added some rubber tape and this quietened everything down for a more peaceful ride. Problem solved