Calibre Dark Peak
 

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Calibre Dark Peak

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For £650 it looks good. I paid £750 for my Pinnacle arkose2. 

It should be a solid towpath bike with pleasant road capability. 

Components will be cheap to replace as well. 


 
Posted : 12/05/2025 5:57 am
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Looks decent for the price, full carbon fork but QR wheels.

My standard suggestion is have a look at secondhand Boardman ADV 8.9s as well, should get a good one under £500 and they have Shimano hydraulic brakes.


 
Posted : 12/05/2025 7:36 am
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Fork has a thru axle, which is good - many don't at that price.

I'd prob look for something s/h with a grx drivetrain, would be about the same price, but that's a decent bike.


 
Posted : 12/05/2025 9:41 am
chakaping reacted
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I have cable pull trp spire brakes with sora levers and they work well. Im glad I  haven't got any of the potential hassle than can be associated with hydraulic brakes on the gravel bike. I rarely ride technical downhills on it. 


 
Posted : 12/05/2025 11:48 am
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Bit weird to have 135qr rear and 12mm bolt-through front, presumably that's just frame and forks from a different source though?

Calibre ime are very good at producing an excellent "core bike", if you like, Halfords and others tend to make a more well rounded overall bike at the price point but when you get down below £750 or so that gets very hard to do everything well, Calibre tend to put the money into the most important parts so you get a good frame etc, and cut corners on easily replaced bits, it's a pretty good model IMO- my Dune had <just about> good enough mechanical brakes and cheap 7 speed gears but it all worked well enough to ride around on, while all the really key stuff is really good, I'm still riding the frame and forks and even the original headset, for a £600 bike it basically felt like a £600 frame forks and wheel and some free crap attached.

(I have no idea how the standards stack up with flatmount, but with the QR rear and 12mm front is it possible to fit an old uncool mtb disc wheelset, or did they design in uncompatibility? There's a lot of unloved, high end stuff out there for cheap)


 
Posted : 12/05/2025 12:58 pm
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Budget has just increased to £1200. Will have a look at a new Boardman ADV 8.9.


 
Posted : 20/05/2025 11:38 am
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Boardman CXR 8.9 is on offer at £960 at mo.

 

If you fit a medium, £1249 plus postage will get you a GRX 400 hydraulic brake GT eGrade Bolt from PaulsCycles.


 
Posted : 20/05/2025 11:58 am
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The CXR is a proper cyclocross race bike, probably best avoided for this application. 


 
Posted : 20/05/2025 12:02 pm
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The CXR is a proper cyclocross race bike, probably best avoided for this application. 


 
Posted : 20/05/2025 12:02 pm

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