any which you don’t get brake fluid on.

when you get the new pads, don’t touch the pad-bits with your fingers at any point or allow any grease on them. then I would always lightly sand (with very fine sand-paper) and clean the disk rotors and then i always run them in again. (i.e. go out to a big hill and roll down, and almost, but not fully stop, smoothly, about twenty times on each disk, to coat them smoothly in brake pad stuff.

haha – there’s the topcashback sales rep dude again!

it’s great – i got £37 more off my bike with topcashback, and all i had to do was give them my soul. (which they can then sell on to every insurance, sales, marketing, advertising company in the world, who can then following me around for the rest of my life demanding tiny bits of my life from me…)

Bargain!!

oh, and thanks for all the advice and welcome’s etc everyone. i’ll post up some photos when i get the bike and start using it in anger….

oh (no. 2) – is there any reason, if i replaced the back cassette with a 9-speed i have, with associated rear mech and shifter, that i couldn’t just keep the front cranks and replace the big ring with a bash guard – i.e. a simple 1×9 set up?

i think what i would look for is a feeling that I am getting to go on routes that are really special – going to places that are unique in some way, that by using your knowledge I can go somewhere off the beaten track that no-one else knows about.

that, and a fire in the evenings to sit around a discuss stupid things.

pretty cool idea. AND, if you had a little simple lever you could connect it to the wire and simply operate it with a couple of fingers, then you could get rid of the wire across the handlebars!

yes, it really is a ridiculous price for what, but all accounts, is a pretty light, good frame, (very similar to the scott bike) which is fully upgradable in terms of 4.8 wheels, thru axels, tappered steerer etc.

i got these brakes from Germany: http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/deore-disc-brake-br-m615-set-88973?lang=en

£80, very well reviewed rock solid hydros. They have already arrived, now i just have to wait a few weeks for my bike to arrive….

Price for the Claibre just went down £100! £499 for now, plus that funny cashback discount thing from Topcashback. I phoned up and Go Outdoors are going to refund me the £100, so from origianlly paying £599, i have ended up paying £462. That pays for the new brakes and a (Decathalon) dropper post. Awesome!

Mine will be a large. I’m just on 6 foot – don’t suppose I will be the tallest though, but I will let you know how it fits.

The only shame is that it no-longer comes with Jumbo Jims, but Jugganaught Pros, which are supposedly very draggy….

Ridgeback for my kids. Same as an isla bike (simple and light) but much cheaper. Not got the same resale value though….

yes! posted on page 21:

“nickgti – Member

Attention Caliber Dune owners!

I’ve found a rear mech hanger that fits, the Scott Big John appears to be the same frame.
I’ve bought and tested one from here:

https://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/scott-big-jon-replacement-derailleur-hanger-p298404

You just need to swap across the black end cap. “

so..i cancelled my order and then reordered through topcashback. saved £37 quid, which should go towards getting a new tyre or two at a later date. (if the jugganought turns out to be a watt-sappingly draggy as the test here suggests: http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/ )

Hello everyone. Babble here with my first post ever.

Wow, what a fantastic thread. Really useful for me and overall just a nice positive helpful chat! I’ve just spent the last two days working my way through it and by page 18 I had ordered my Calibre Dune on line. I seem to be the only person here who has paid full price (£599), but I am thinking about cancelling my order and waiting and/or signing up to this Topcashback thing n0b0dy0ftheg0at keeps going on about. Then again I need the bike before the end of October as I am heading off to the Alps (where the bike will live from then on!) and I want to take it with me.

I had started off looking for a second HT MTB with a budget of around £500 as a spare for my friends when they come to visit. (I was looking second hand) Then i thought, why not get something a little different from what you have so you have some variety in your stable…so then i looked at full suspension bikes, but they are pretty pricey, then i came across the fat bikes. I thought it seemed like a gimmick, but this thread has convinced me that it is more than that, they really do seem to be genuinely good fun and something a bit different. Where I will be living in the future, in the foothills of the Alps, there is plenty of lovely open space, national parks, single track, possibilities of wild camping, snow in winter, etc. can’t wait to get out there and ride.

good work – thanks to you all. (for the advice on upgrades, tyres, etc. etc….)