Today sees the launch of the new Calibre Sentry – a big, slack, aggressive and surprisingly affordable new enduro bike.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new Calibre Sentry from GoOutdoor.
Read our full, in depth review of the Calibre Sentry right here.
Calibre Bikes have carved out a great reputation for making very affordable mountain bikes – their Bossnut brought ‘proper’ mountain bike suspension and geometry to anyone on a low budget.
A few weeks ago, we met up with Mike, Calibre’s designer, to meet a brand new bike for their range – the Calibre Sentry.
The Sentry goes way beyond that “ok performance, great price” reputation that Calibre have earned. It’s actually a proper, aggro, fast mountain bike with an eye on enduro and downhill racing.
We’ll have a full review online later today and an interview with Mike but for now, here’s everything you need to know about the new Sentry.
Long and Slack
Calibre have set out to create a bike with geometry and travel to match bikes five times its price and, by god, they’ve done it.
The Sentry has an alloy frame. It has 150mm travel. It has 29″ wheels. It’s built around a 160mm fork. It costs just £2000 for the base Sentry model or £2800 for the Calibre Sentry Pro with a coil shock and various upgrades.
The suspension is pretty simple. It’s a single pivot design with a link to make the travel progressive (it gets firmer the deeper into the travel you go). Calibre have worked closely with RockShox on the set up and tune of the shock, working through various iterations to get it to a place they’re happy with.
Calibre Sentry Geometry
The really exciting thing about the Sentry is the geometry. Calibre have set out to make a bike that costs the same as a post wheelset with geometry to match bikes five times its price.
The Sentry is, without doubt, a proper, progressive, long-low-and-slack bike with some really big angles.
It’s not just showing off though. Calibre believe that big, long, slack bikes offer riders of any level a it of extra security on the trails and help keep you safe in wild terrain. The name ‘Sentry’ is a little nod to that.
The 64° head angle, lofty reach numbers and low stand-over genuinely add up to a bike that feels roomy, fast, aggressive and comfortable on big, fast trails. More on that in our review later today though!
Calibre Sentry
The base model, simply named the ‘Sentry’, is the lower spec of the two options. This is the version we’ve had on test and will cost you £2000.
It comes with a Rock Shox Deluxe R rear shock and a new Yari RC fork with 42mm offset.
Group set is the excellent SRAM NX Eagle with Guide RE brakes and 180mm and 200mm rotors.
Wheels are WTB ST with a WTB Tough High Grip 2.6″ tyre up front and a Trail Boss 2.4″ on the rear.
Calibre Sentry Pro
The Sentry Pro will cost you £2800 and includes a few choice upgrades.
The frame set is exactly the same but suspension moves up to a RS Super Deluxe Coil with a grip-shift style remove lock-out. The fork is upgraded to the Rock Shox Lyric RC2.
Gears are SRAM GX Eagle. Brakes are Code R with 180/200mm rotors.
Again, it’s WTB wheels with no change to rims or tyres between the Sentry and Sentry Pro.
Getting your hands on one
The Calibre Sentry and Sentry Pro will be available at GoOutdoor at the end of April.
You can register your interest with GoOutdoor and they’ll let you know when they go live.
Register your interest for a Sentry here and a Sentry Pro here.
