CALIBRE BOSSNUT EVO

£999 (w/ £5 card) Absolutely kills it if £1,000 is your limit

Calibre blew the £1,000 bike scene apart with the original Bossnut and then the V2. They’ve taken all the feedback and used it to create a hat trick of three-figure full-sus domination.

The frame

The Evo frame is largely unchanged from the V2, apart from the addition of external and internal dropper post cable routing. That means you still get a (redundant) front mech mount, 135mm QR rear axle and imperialsize RockShox Monarch shock. While no dropper is included, you at least get a QR seat collar for rapid manual adjustment. A tapered head tube and short one-piece forged rocker link keep tracking obedient despite the relatively narrow main pivot. The rear pivot is on the seatstays, not the chainstays, so the wheel moves in a simple arc, but the rocker slightly modifies the shock rate.

The kit

Calibre have put together an outstanding package for £999. While the Recon fork isn’t the latest Boost-width (110mm) version, its 15mm through-axle adds welcome steering accuracy and security compared to a QR. The WTB rims are wide for extra tyre support and easy to turn tubeless, and the tyres are acceptable for the price. Shimano’s Deore brakes offer better modulation and power than their M300-series anchors, and SRAM’s clunky NX 11-speed shifter and rear mech are relentlessly reliable. The Kore bar and own-brand stem match the handling well. You even get lock-on grips.

The ride

Your initial contact with a bike is always important, and the Evo’s 780mm bar and 67-degree head angle give a reassuringly safe feel, without being super-wide or slack. The 45mm stem ties everything together nicely, so the steering is light and obedient but the bike doesn’t need to be pointed downhill and moving fast for it to make sense.

With a relatively short 445mm reach and 1,145mm wheelbase (large), it doesn’t feel as unshakably stable through rocks and roots or scythe through high-load turns like the longer bikes here. It’s quicker and easier to change direction in tighter situations, though, encouraging you to play with trail features rather than plough through them. The 67-degree head angle means the fork doesn’t flop around like a sulky teenager on steep climbs. In short, the geometry works just fine for what most people spending £1,000 are going to think of as mountain biking.

The Calibre’s back end isn’t as rock-meltingly smooth as the

Vitus’s or as taut and pump-happy as the Sonder’s but it does a good job of minimising impact force while keeping the bike level and the rear wheel connected. The simple Monarch R shock has better peak oil flow than more complex compression-adjustable dampers, so the 130mm of rear travel will swallow surprisingly large blocks and drops before things get sketchy. Although there’s no lockout lever for climbs and road sections, the Evo pedals well enough that this isn’t an issue. The Recon fork retains control a long way down rocky descents before your forearms start to blow up, and is easy to adjust for rider weight, too.

While Calibre have done a truly outstanding job with the design and equipping of the Bossnut Evo, it unsurprisingly hits its limits slightly earlier than the 40 to 50 per cent more expensive Vitus and Sonder. The cheap WTB tyres on wide rims perform as well, if not better, than most you’ll get on a bike at this price, but they slip sooner than the topspec rubber on the Escarpe and Evol and lack stability at lower pressures. There isn’t quite the same tautness to the frame as on the Sonder, and the suspension isn’t as sorted as the Vitus’s when you’re right at the ragged edge, so it’s ultimately not as upgradable. If you’re after a really easy to ride, remarkably controlled and permanently enthusiastic and playful trail all-rounder at a ridiculous-value-for-money price, though, nothing else we’ve ridden comes close for under £1,000.

ITS RELATIVELY SHORT REACH AND WHEELBASE ENCOURAGE YOU TO PLAY WITH TRAIL FEATURES RATHER THAN PLOUGH THROUGH THEM