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TECH NEWS

Go Outdoors Calibre 2016 bicycle range expands with new cyclocross and road bikes

New Dark Peak cyclocross bike, Loxley women's road bike and £299 Rivelin road bike

Discount outdoor retailer Go Outdoors first started selling bikes under its own Calibre last year, and for 2016 it has expanded the range with the Dark Peak, a disc-equipped adventure and cyclocross bike, and two new road bikes.

The new bikes have been designed and tested in the UK, with the model names come from places, features or people in the Sheffield area.

- GO Outdoors road bikes – a buyer’s guide to the Calibre range

Dark Peak

The new Dark Peak costs £699 with a discount card (£799 without) and features a frame made from double butted 6061 aluminium with a carbon fibre fork and geometry intended to provide a relaxed and comfortable ride position. It’s available in three sizes, 50, 54 and 58cm.

Cyclocross is really popular at this time of year with races all over the country, but these bikes, with all their ruggedness and capability, are also ideal for exploring, adventuring, touring and commuting. The frame has three bottle cage mounts should you decide to head off into the wilderness, and there are mudguard and rack mounts as well.

The Dark Peak gets the brand new Shimano Tiagra groupset with an FSA Vero Cross Compact (46/36t) chainset and 12-28t cassette, a setup which should get you up most hills. Tektro Lyra mechanical disc brakes with 160mm rotors are fitted with extra cross-top brake levers.

The bike doesn’t skimp on the finishing details. WTB CrissCross 19 rims are tubeless-ready and fitted with the excellent choice of WTB’s Nano 40mm tyres, which provides a good road and off-road balance. Ritchey aluminium handlebars, stem and seatpost and a Selle Royal Seta saddle complete the impressive specification of this new bike. More info.

Loxley

The Loxley is a new women’s specific road bike, costing £299 (with discount card) and features an aluminium frame with a geometry designed to provide a slightly more upright riding position. There are three frame sizes to choose from, 49, 52 and 54cm.

The frame is nicely finished, with shaped seatstays intended to improve comfort, and an oversized head tube, features normally reserved for much pricier bikes. There’s also a carbon fibre fork and rack mounts make it an ideal commuting option if you want to use a pannier bag to carry your luggage.

The Loxley is finished with a Shimano Claris 8-speed transmission and FSA Tempo compact chainset with shorter 170mm crank arms, and Tektro dual pivot brake calipers. Aluminium 28-hole hubs are laced to aluminium semi-aero rims and Schwalbe Lugano 23mm tyres. Claimed weight for the whole bike is 10.9kg (24lb). More info.

- GO Outdoors selling £800 and £1,000 carbon fibre road bikes

Rivelin

Lastly there is the new Rivelin, £299 with a discount card. It’s got an aluminium frame with an oversized down tube to provide extra stiffness and a carbon fibre fork. Making it suitable to commuting duties is the addition of rear rack mounts.

The Rivelin has the short of geometry, shorter and higher, that is designed to make it suitable for new cyclists. Gearing comes courtesy of Shimano’s Claris groupset with an FSA Tempo compact chainset providing a usable range of gears.

The bike is finished with aluminium handlebars and a Calibre road saddle, and Schwalbe Lugano 23mm tyres. More info.

See the full range at www.gooutdoors.co.uk/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/calibre

- Best road bikes under £300

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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3 comments

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LarryDavidJr | 8 years ago
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Presuming that Go Outdoors hasn't suddenly invented a whole design and manufacture process, it would be interesting to try and find out who is behind these (i.e. anyone we might already know, or if it's just some 'off the shelf' geometry from some faceless far east supplier).

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LarryDavidJr | 8 years ago
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Any chance of them sending you these to try out, so we can get an impression of what they're really like? The budget end of the market is really starting to expand lately, and as much as I like £5k bikes this is the end of the market that can really appeal to people.

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dave atkinson replied to LarryDavidJr | 8 years ago
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LarryDavidJr wrote:

Any chance of them sending you these to try out, so we can get an impression of what they're really like? The budget end of the market is really starting to expand lately, and as much as I like £5k bikes this is the end of the market that can really appeal to people.

yup, we'll be getting some in to test

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