This is the updated Calibre Bossnut Evo from sporting megachain Go Outdoors and it's got a strong claim to being the best value new mountain bike on sale today. For a grand, you get an aluminium frame with suspension at either end, impressively modern geometry plus an 11spd drivetrain and other high-value bits of kit bolted to it.

• First Look: Specialized Women's Diverge E5 Comp
• Buying your first mountain bike: the complete guide
• First Look: Mondraker's Foxy Carbon RR SL looks splendid - and is very spendy

The new bike builds on the first and second versions of the Bossnut, with a few tweaks here and there to further refine it. It keeps the same 130mm of travel front and rear but you now get a wide-range, single ring SRAM NX 11spd drivetrain, cable routing for an internal or external dropper post, better brakes, wider bars and more aggressive tyres on broader rims. On spec alone, it's capable of shaming bikes that are significantly more expensive.

Of course, shiny bits bolted to a bike aren't much use if the geometry is rubbish, but the Bossnut delivers here, with a decent slack 66.8º head angle and 18mm bottom bracket drop with the 27.5" wheels. There are four frame sizes from small to extra-large, with a large frame having 446mm of reach - that's not huge by any means, but it's not as drastically cramped as many more affordable bikes often are for some unknown reason.

It's also good to see a dinky 50mm stem paired with broad 780mm bars, as this is an area where brands often spec over-long stems and narrow bars to save costs at the expense of handling.

Okay, so while the RockShox Recon RL fork gets a 15mm through axle for extra stiffness, there's still a quick release out back - but it's rather churlish to complain at this money. The rear shock is a quality RockShox Monarch R and like the fork, it's air sprung and has external rebound adjustment to make setup easy.

When it comes to bikes that can compete with the Bossnut at this price, they're few and far between - only Boardman's MTB Team FS and the Jamis Dakar A2 look to get anywhere near. That said, we should point out that the list price of the Bossnut is actually £1,300 - but buying a £5 Go Outdoors discount card gets you the healthy 23% off that brings it down to a cool grand.

We're going to put this one through the wringer anyway, so keep your eyes peeled for a full review soon. 

• Go Outdoors

You might also like:

• Buyer's guide to mountain bikes - get the best MTB for you
• Five mountain biking myths that just aren't true