Calibre Bossnut vs. Kona Kitsune - first full sus bike

Star1793

Hi All

I am looking to get back into mountain biking, it's been a few years but I previously used a Giant hardtail and now think
I want to upgrade to a beginners full suspension. Budget is about £1000 and I have been looking for the past month and based on google reviews I was set to go for the Bossnut but then went to my local bike shop on Monday and saw this Kona which looked to be a similar spec for the money. So I have narrowed it down to:

Calibre Bossnut Evo
http://calibrebicycles.com/bike/bossnut-evo/

or

Kona Kitsune
http://2013.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=kitsune#2

They both look pretty similar spec to me. The Kona is a 5 year old model hence the discount, but the frame has a lifetime warranty and it's a bit lighter, and is more established name. I could be wrong but the Rock Shox Sektor forks on the Kona are not a good quality as the Recon on the Bossnut? The other thing I'm not sure about is that the Kona is it has 26 inch wheel, but don't know if this will be a problem? Also, Bossnut is a 1x11, Kona is 3x10, I would be using the bike mostly on trails but also sometimes on the road. From my research it looks like the 3x10 is less knotchy (or however you put it??) and has higher gears but both would be fine for climbing.

Have riden both and both felt good, most noticable thing was wider bars on the Bossnut.

Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreciated as I can't distinguish between the two at the moment
Any other suggestions also welcomed

robertpb

The Kona is not a similar spec for the money, things have moved on in 5 years. The Kona would have a much tougher upgrade path as well.

slc123

Definitely the bossnut. Better spec and will likely have more modern geometry.

If you’ve got a little more check out the Calibre triple B.

No choice in my eyes.

Star1793

Ok looks like it will be the Bossnut then! I did have a look the Triple B when I was in the shop, to be honest the Bossnut will be a huge step up from my previous bike and should more than handle the stuff i'm doing at the moment. But then again it could more economical in the long run as a dropper alone for the bossnut would be around £100. I'll have to mull it over!

Thanks for the advice.