Calibre

A very capable hardtail that’s fun and future-proof with desirable spec for an impressive price

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Calibre's revived Rake competes with bikes twice its price

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The Line T3-27 marks a welcome return for the Calibre brand to one of its most successful old stomping grounds. With its sloping top tube, progressive trail geometry and large volume 27.5in tyres, there’s been clear inspiration from the Whyte 909 trail bike. Which is no bad thing, given that Whyte has been at the forefront of trail hardtail design for over a decade now.  Calibre’s 6061 alloy frame looks sharp and contemporary from its collar to its cuffs. There’s a tapered head tube, slender top tube, square section down tube and forged dropouts clamping a bolt-through rear axle. Best hardtail mountain bikes: reviewed and rated by experts Mounts for both a water bottle cage and a tool strap adorn the frame, while the cables are all routed cleanly along the underside of the down tube. This keeps them rattle-free and easily accessible for maintenance. There are four frame sizes available and, given that our medium test bike compares favourably with the large frames of its rivals, it has the most progressive sizing.  Calibre launches all-new, UK designed Line hardtail range Suspension The RockShox Recon Silver RL fork has a dial atop the right leg that gives you some control over the compression damping. Turn it clockwise and each click makes the fork firmer, until it completely locks out. But there are only a couple of settings where you can actually feel a difference, so it’s more of an on-off switch than a variable adjuster. The Recon also needs to be overinflated to stop it falling through its full 140mm of travel. We went up to 115psi for our 78kg bodyweight, which helped keep the geometry stable but didn’t seem to sacrifice much in the way of small bump sensitivity.  Components Calibre has got its priorities right on the Line T3-27 by fitting an excellent KS Rage-i dropper post. It has 125mm of drop accessed by a durable alloy remote lever under the handlebar. Retracted, it lets you fully exploit the low top tube to hustle the bike around corners and down technical descents. And once extended it complements the steep seat angle to give a climbing position that makes it easy to balance steering control at the front with traction at the rear wheel. We’re also fans of the service-friendly threaded bottom bracket and strong two-piece SRAM cranks. SRAM also provides the Level T brakes and NX rear mech and shifter, but Calibre has made savings by fitting a KMC chain and SunRace cassette. The main compromise being that you don’t have as low a gear for climbing as the On One Scandal and Voodoo Bizango Pro.  Performance With that dropper post and the most modern sizing and geometry, the Calibre was always odds on favourite to shine brightest in the dirt. But what was truly blinding was just how much more comfort and control it boasted compared to its rivals. Best mountain bikes under £1000: brilliant bargain bikes And it’s the chunky 2.6in Maxxis Rekon tyres that make …Continue reading »

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