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Lad is hammering my old spesh xc, loves it rides it every day, it's a bit old school, triple ring, 26"etc 120 travel. Christmas is coming, I suggested as a big treat we could get him a new bike which he completely wouldn't expect which is the bit I like.
It's a penny off a grand and that's a lot of money on a Christmas present. He's 13 5,7 ish and I'm wondering, is he going to wreck it within months which will require upgrade after upgrade or is it a solid bit of kit that will last him a few years?
Has he wrecked the Spesh?
its a decent bit of kit, but I suspect your biggest issue is hormones, and what they will do to the size of the lad, relative to any expensive purchase now...
No he hasnt wrecked the spesh, it stood up to 4 years of me hammering it, but I went through 2 wheels and a set of forks in 18 month's so they got upgraded. Mrs ws will have my stones on a plate if after spending a grand I need to start spending more. I appreciate he's not going to stop growing and I'm almost certain he'll be on a large come 16/17 so hopefully this would do till then and then he can make the decision to invest some of his own money in a better bike if he's still well in to riding.
I have the Triple B and love it. It really is excellent value for money and I nearly bought the Bossnut Evo myself.
Nothings fallen off or destroyed itself yet, and it was a blast at Aston Hill on Sunday.
I would check the bike over once its bought though as Im not to sure how thorough the PDI process is.
In fairness to GO Outdoors, they did a good job on mine. Im just OCD with bike prep and check everything 🙂
I've had mine a couple of months now. It is a fantastic bike for the money and rides better than the Radon Slide I had at almost double the price.
It's not perfect though. Out of the box it'll need decent prepping. Also factor in the cost of a dropper and upsizing the brake rotors.
Paint is thin so it'll look tatty quickly. I found the caravan & Camping club voucher code online which took 10% off and almost covered the upgrades.
I've used mine on a variety of trails (local plus a week in Wales). Currently in the Alps and it's going a treat!
Only annoyance is the rear mech but a bit of fiddling has seen that shifting smoothly again. Oh and no lockout on the rear shock. Irritating for long road or gravel climbs.
Sounds good. He's only a whippet of a lad so won't create much Bob in the shock. I've got a promise of a free replacement dropper from crc when it's back in stock so that is that covered.
Cheers.
One of my son's friends has one. Its a solid looking bit of kit - a bit Orange 5 agricultural looking.
Everything works as it should and has taken some abuse. The only weird thing is sizing. He'd 5'9" and on a large which doesn't look too big for him.
Really like mine (Bossnut V2). I’m a smidge under 6 foot and 13.5 stone, so I have the rebound on the shock fully open. I’ve found running lower pressures and quicker rebound works for me. Your lad may be a fair bit lighter, so plenty of room for adjustment for him. The evo is the same frame as the V2. It’s more broadsword than rapier, not massively elegant, but it more than gets the job done. I’ve ridden it on the rockiest stuff I dare at what I think is a reasonable pace and (once I got the suspension set up properly) it has coped with everything and feels like it still has something left if things get really hairy. For the money, I don’t think it can be bettered.
One of my bikes is the Bossnut V2.
Really like the bike and use it a lot.
Pre-assembly from Calibre bike was very crappy. Fixed the stuff and don't have problems since. Like the Deore 2x10 drivetrain. The "Evo" has 1x11 now.
RockShox did a nasty Job putting the Sektor fork together. Was no lube in the lowers. But guess that's a typical RockShox issue with lower budget forks so.
Put 5 ml oil in the lowers and greased the seals and foam rings with pm600 grease since that day the fork is good.
The shock works very good but the shock mounting hardware needs attention. Same with every full suspension bike?
Full suspension bikes and kids:
We have in our biking group a couple very talented mountain bike kids. No matter which full suspension bike they have - there is always a lot of work to do on those bikes. But they jump a lot and are every day in the woods with their bikes. The bikes are good - but the kids are hard on them...
If you know anyone in the Emergency Services ask them to get a Blue Light Card as you'll get another 10% off.
Money on kids bikes is money well spent. Anything that gets them out of the house away from the internet and xbox.
Just replace things with minor upgrades as they wear out, don't shell out for bling upgrades - let him spend pocket money on those if he wants.
One thing...... "calibre" has zero brand cachet compared to Specialized..... even if it is a better bike. These things matter to 13 year olds.
Thankfully he's not of the materialistic ilk just yet and has an eye for a bargain when it comes to bikes and bike kit. I'm sure the equivalent specialized would be at least another 500 quid if not double the price. Mrs ws has okayed the purchase so I'm now looking for a bike at the 1000 pound mark which will no doubt require another post at some point.
My work colleague has the Evo which he got on a 15% off deal so £850 which was a bargain. he is 5'11" and rides the large. As others have said, the rear mech needs a fiddle and the colour is gopping, the welds are very 'chunky' and it feels heavier than the specs suggest but for that kind of money you can't go wrong. Other than a dropper my first upgrade would be the brakes which are pretty ropey, or at least upsize the discs
When he first got it I was tempted to get one too as I don't have a FS at the moment but I decided that I would spend too much upgrading it to make it worth it and I think I'll get the Escarpe which has a nicer shock arrangement
However for your lad I reckon its a good buy, especially if you can get another 10-15% off
Just replace things with minor upgrades as they wear out, don’t shell out for bling upgrades – let him spend pocket money on those if he wants.
Looking back I'm amazed how little 13yr old me spent on bike parts. On my first proper-ish mountainbike I was serving the hubs fortnightly (unsealed cup and cone). I think the only upgrades were a new bike after about 2 years (yea I killed that first one), and a bling donor bike with a tatty frame that donated Z4's, XTR drive chain and Hope C2's to the new bike (and sold the frame for what I paid for the bike).
That was a £300 (more like £600 today) hardtail though, I'd have given my left testicle for something like a Bossnut! But I was the only one really into MTB's in my family so dad wasn't going to be buying nice bikes to go on rides together!
However for your lad I reckon its a good buy, especially if you can get another 10-15% off
Yes - the core of the bike is excellent.
Read some shiney magazine type reviews and they near enough rave about how good it is for the money, however as per the post I wanted some real world, big lad, ham fisted, crash it down anything, type reviews and it would seem to be all really positive too.
Thanks guys, looks like wsjnr will be smiling away come Christmas morning.
Now to find a discount code....
Your lad is going to have one hell of a Christmas day! 👍
Any kid in the scouts, or doing DofE can get 10%. Scout leaders get 15% off- if you know anyone.
Marin hawk hill can be had 999.. I’m 5’7 and preferred the fit.. just an alternative..
10EMERG for 10% off online through bluelight card.
Collect only I'm afraid. Takes it to £899 though.
I have a v2.
Weakest part of the bike is the wheels. Maybe I got a bad set, but I think they are flex and keep snapping spikes. The rear hub engagement is poor as well. After a dropper the next upgrade.
The rear hub engagement is poor as well.
The "sizing" (25 mm) on the V2, WTB rims is good - but these hubs... yes, they are "Formula-stuff"...
Bought the Bossnut V2 - knowing that the Formula hubs are crappy. (But you find them on 2k bikes as well...)
Formula produces lousy quality and no spare parts available for the end customer. Yes - the hubs/wheels are "upgrade items". The rims itself are o.k..
Other upgrade item: the pedals. The original pedals are o.k. - but as soon as you start jumping you need more grip on those. But other bike manufacturers ship their bikes without any pedals...
Saddle: didn't expect such an o.k. saddle on an 1k bike. There are 2k bikes around which have terrible saddles. The V2, WTB Volt is really good so!
Like the overall V2 design. Great trail bike. Some complain that the BB is a bit high - but for trail biking this Bossnut BB is great I think. Uphill and difficult trails: no problems at all with rocks and roots and stuff - that's different from many "so called modern" bike geo's where the BB is 20 mm too low....
Mate of mine is just about to get an Evo for his 16 year old son.
If you've bought online using the blue light or camping and caravan club codes, don't they ask for proof of membership when you collect?
Never mind, he's just let me know they're in the shop and have just bought one. No discount, but a years interest free credit.
Great!
Fun.