Calibre Bikes – a great entry level portal to MTB

Mike Sanderson is the man behind Calibre bikes – a brand that might not ring any bells now, but when it comes to recommending a bike for some first time buyers you should definitely check them out.

Like many of you, Mike has grown up around mountain bikes and spends as much time in the saddle as possible. Mike designs and specs entry level bikes for the riders of tomorrow. He wants everyone one to enjoy mountain biking as much as they can, and designs MTB’s from the ground up to be the best bikes they possibly can be, not just to hit shop floor price points.

He believes that the first experience on a mountain bike is vital – if that first experience is bad, those riders might not take another look.

Come and meet Mike Sanderson of Go Outdoors…

Mike Sanderson is the Senior Developer for cycling at Go Outdoors. He’s also an experienced mountain biker who earnt his stripes in the early days at races like the Cheddar Challenge and the Malvern Hills Classic.

Mountain Biker first.

Like many of us, Mike grew up riding mountain bikes as the boom started, which naturally pulled him in to the sport…

“I started mountain biking when I was 13, mainly racing XC as that’s what there was. It was always the real racing, and DH was on the day after for fun –  all you did was put your saddle down and race on the same bike!

As the scene grew I started finding the limits, I broke a lot of gear – but because my Dad was an engineer in the RAF, it meant when stuff broke we normally fixed it ourselves!

I learnt a lot even then, about why things were built the way they are, and where corners were cut.

It really spurred on my love of bikes – but not just the riding side of things. I love bikes, how they work and what they can do for people. Understanding the technical side really pulled me in at an early age”

Progression

With a part time college job at Moulton bikes, Mike found his University years continuing on the same vein – dissertations were on suspension linkages and other technical elements, and it became clear his career would be in the bike industry. Like anyone with passion about a subject, Mike found a way of incorporating mountain biking in to everything he did, and before landing a job in the industry as a bike designer worked in bike shops and spent his weekends racing and riding.

“I was offered a position by Raleigh as a junior product designer for Diamond Back. I was there for nearly 7 years and worked my way up, learning a hell of a lot on the way.

It was fascinating to see the factories, and learning what they could do – and the limitations. It was eye opening and inspired me to think about bike production”

Details. The Dune is the fat bike from Calibre Bikes. And it retails for just £580 – it looks a hell of a lot of fun, and at that price could easily be a second bike for many. Mike and the Go Cycling team raced these at Mountain Mayhem this year – his team are all riders, and all game for a laugh!

After working with Diamond Back, Mike was offered a position with Go Outdoors – the enormous chain that cater for virtually all outdoor sports. They wanted to hit cycling properly, and Mike was the guy to help them do it. Go Cycling is the in-house cycling division of Go Outdoors, and they have a goal of offering the best bikes and accessories as a package.

In store, they have trained mechanics and staff that know bikes. The customer that buys a £1000 Bossnut will typically want a decent helmet, a riding pack and enough tools to take care of minor on the trail issues.

Go Outdoors carry the level of kit to suit the bikes they sell.

The strength of trail knowledge

Whilst many bike designers can get carried away in developing bikes with the latest geometry and features, Mike knows only too well the importance of looking at the what riders really need.

“When my wife and I had our son Rowan, riding time got harder so we visited a lot of trail centres as it was easy for me to fit a ride in, then spend time with my family somewhere nice.

When out riding I would see a lot of entry level riders out there – but far too many of them would finish their rides looking miserable. You should always finish a ride with a grin, no matter how knackered you are. It’s fun – and an accomplishment.

Looking at the bikes, it made me realise that poor entry level bikes really ruin the experience for a lot of riders – and that’s the difference between the cyclists that might go mountain biking, and those that become mountain bikers”

Calibre Bikes

Calibre produce mountain bikes from £350 – £1000, and all of them are designed and specced by Mike. But he’s really gone to town on the bikes to deliver something that will genuinely be good once out on the trail.

“My brief was to produce well thought-out bikes on both geometry and specification – but not just stuff that looks good on the shop floor. Even on the cheaper models I wanted a fork with damping that doesn’t top out horrendously, and tyres that roll fast but offer predictable grip. Decent brakes are vital too – there’s no excuse for shoddy safety gear on bikes”

The Calibre Gauntlet costs £600 and has a carefully chosen spec with quality parts throughout. Rockshox XC32 Solo Air forks; WTB tyres; SRAM drive train and Avid brakes. It’s a lot of bang for not much buck.

“But it’s not just about giving the customer spec that is good – the bike it hangs off deserves good geometry. I’m not talking radical geometry for hard riding – but decent geometry that is fit for purpose. Good geometry doesn’t cost anything.
As we all know, you can hang XTR off any bike, but it won’t make a bike with bad geometry handle well. It’s simply rolling it in glitter. Really, the entry level consumer is more important than the high end consumer.  Cheaper bikes are cast aside as things that don’t matter, but they really do”

Yeah OK, it’s a fat bike. But it’s less than £600, and does look like a great laugh for the right conditions!

Mike Sanderson has done a stunning job on the Calibre range to date, and Go Outdoors are on to a great thing with him at the helm. It would be nice to see other bike manufacturers follow suit and offer bikes that truly benefit the consumer.

Take a look at the bikes Mike designs, and remember when you recommend a budget bike to someone that Calibre Bikes are a great starting point. It’s all too easy to forget about this stuff once you’re in the world of high and low speed compression, advanced composites and 11 speed drive trains…

Was your first mountain bike a heap of junk? 

What would you recommend people to buy as a first time bike on a budget?

Let us know in the comments below…

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