Calliber Bossnut 3 for total beginners
Hi All, and hopefully Rachel too since she did the tests!
I'm in the process of trying to buy a bike for my girlfriend, who, other than a couple of spins on various hired or borrowed bikes, is a total beginner but is keen to get riding more and prefers mountain bikes as she's not keen on traffic. I'd pretty much settled on the idea of something that was a hardtail, stable and confidence inspiring, 1x simplicity and not too heavy and thus probably not plus tyred. (something like the Whyte 802, Sonder Frontier etc). Then the review of the Bossnut 3 loomed into view while trawling through the 'Best Bike under £1500'. I was also hoping for the start at a reasonable price point with something thats easy to move on if she doesn't take to it, rather than start with a really budget clunker type bike.
My question is this, how suitable is the Bossnut 3 for a total beginner? I'm aware of the 'start on a hardtail for technique' arguments but I'm more interested in how easy is it to ride on forrest trails/cindertracks etc, i.e. is it really draggy and heavy or is it a relatively efficient all day kind of bike?
It's a bit tricky at the moment since it's impossible to demo anything, so all suggestions and opinions welcome.
Cheers!
3 comments
I've gone with a hardtail trying to answer this question for myself. Mostly, to be honest, because the Bossnut is barely available and I haven't seen one in my size for over 4 weeks. I'm pretty sure that I'll be buying one by the end of the year and selling the hardtail to fund it but for now it's about taking advantage of the summer weather and having something to ride (the hardtail is replacing a gravel bike because I've finally outgrown its tyre/grip capabilities). There's a slim possibility that I won't take to MTB so £400 on a hardtail was the right decision but I'm really conscious as a road rider that lockdown nirvana is over - the roads are full again and cyclists are becoming a rarer sight. Can see my autumn being a muddy one.
Hi Rach,
Thank you for the reply, that's really helpful. It's difficult picking a bike without being able to demo them first so great to hear direct from first hand users!
Will go see if they're still in stock!
Cheers,
Ben
Hey - Rach here!
The Bossnut will be fine for fire roads etc, it's not as efficient as a hardtail but it will be so much more fun on singletrack and I reckon, an easier introduction into mountain biking than a hardtail.
The 'hardtail first' argument is a valid one but if its miles and smiles for a beginner you're after the Bossnut will be a good shout! It's a great all rounder that will take the sting out of the tail of the rough stuff.
Hope that helps!
Rach