2007 Santa Cruz Bullit Review

[C.C.]

Over the last month, I have had the opportunity to ride my new bicycle in all types of conditions. I’ve taken it for cross-country rides at UBC, shore rides on Fromme, a couple of dirt jump sessions and a bike park ride at Whistler. Here are my thoughts on the new Bullit.

Specs and geometry
I’ve built up my Bullit to be an aggressive, do it all bike. For me, this means with the flick of a quick release, I can go from a cross-country climber to a gravity-assisted descender. The bike as pictured weighs 16.55 kgs (36.5lbs). It’s speced with a 150mm (5.9 inches) Travis up front and a 178mm (7 inches) DHX AIR in the back. Although some skeptics might argue that the suspension travel is uneven, I just tell them it rides and flows like a fine mullet, business in the front and party in the back.

The size small frame with 135mm dropouts, seat collar and headset reducer cups weigh in at 3.79 kgs (8.35 lbs).

With a 150mm Travis, the Bullit has a head angle of 68 degrees and a bottom bracket height of 355mm (14 inches). Props to Ian “Axx” Nelson and Caps bikes in Richmond for building up my sweet rig.

Updated with the world's biggest and blurriest pictures. Enjoy!





Climbing
With the invention of platform dampening, full suspension bikes have come full swing from complicated linkages back to simple single pivot designs. I’ve never been a big fan of over dampened suspension (cough 5th element cough) and run my propedal three clicks from the off position. While seated, the bike exhibits very minimal bob and is very climbable for a 178mm travel bike. It’s the perfect bike for slow (at least for me), seated and gradual climbs. Out of saddle climbing does cause the rear end to bob a bit. Cranking down on the propedal would probably reduce the amount of suspension bob, but it’s not a big deal to me as I’m not much of an out of saddle climber.

Descending
Descending on trails like 7th secret provide a good testing ground for slow, but flowy riding over small rocks, roots and rock faces. The Bullit descends well and can turn on a dime despite its 430mm (17 inch) chainstays. The 356mm (14 inches) bottom bracket height allows for ample bottom bracket clearance. With its 68 degree head angle, I feel confident descending down slippery rock faces. It should be noted that it seems as though more riders now prefer to have a slacker than 68 degree head angle.

When I firmly apply my rear 160mm (6 inch) Juicy 7’s, the rear suspension performance decreases and exhibits noticeable stiffening. I’ve heard a few rumours that an after market floating brake is in the works. Although this is a definite draw back, it has encouraged me to brake less over the rough stuff and let my suspension do more of the work.


Jumping
I am pleasantly surprised at how well the Bullit dirt jumps. It pops off the lips and is as predictable in the air as any big bike I’ve ever ridden. With the main chamber pumped up to 240 psi, and the bottom out dial cranked on full, I was surprised at how easily the Bullit went through all of its travel. Despite the high psi in the main chamber and the cranked bottom out, the travel still felt very linear.

As a disclaimer, it should be noted that taking a 178mm travel full suspension bike to go dirt jumping is like taking a machine gun to go squirrel hunting.

Whistler
Last week was my first trip up at Whistler. It was muddy and the conditions were slippery. That being said, I had the time of my life. Coming off a slalom style bike with half the travel of the Bullit, I was in big bike heaven riding full speed (at least to me) over the rock section on A-line.

Although not as light or fast out of the corners as my previous bike (Intense Tazer), the Bullit still cornered well. Carving from berm to berm felt natural and relatively easy for a larger travel bike.

The Bullit felt stable and handled very predictably in the air. Staying neutral in the bike helped the bike feel balanced when the wheels left the ground.

Hopefully I’ll be in Whistler again soon. Now all I have to do is add some style and turn my ¾ bar turn into a full X-up.


Pros
Good climber
Reasonable weight
Single crown friendly-down tube clearance
Visually appealing (especially in small)
ISCG 05 mounts
Optional 135/150mm dropouts
Decent stand over height
Full seat tube length
Huge 20mm main bearings
Optional 1.5 head tube


Cons
Hard braking affects rear suspension
Angry rear derailleur cable rub
Linear travel

[sleeper]

Sweet do it all rig for sale.
and nice write up to boot!

[Dantes Inferno]

Sooo, its pretty much the same as the years before then isnt it.

[stinkydlux07]

sweet ride and good review. how do the XTR cranks work for freeride?

[Air Supplier]

I saw you at the espresso trail maintainence day with that bike! its pretty sweet!

[miufahkiu]

Nice and comprehensive review. What adapter are you using to run the 1 1/8" CK headset on the 1.5 headtube?

[gotham]

Where can I get me some bar ends like that?

[IFO]

so did u sell that sweet tazer ???

that bike was pimp..

[C.C.]

Originally Posted by Dantes Inferno

Sooo, its pretty much the same as the years before then isnt it.

Not sure, I don't have any saddle time on the previous Bullit.

Ride quality aside, this years Bullit has a 1.5" headtube, 20mm main pivot bearings, ISCG 05 chainguide mounts, an X-up friendly down tube, beefier rear end, and a 135mm/150mm spacing option. So in a nut shell, it's pretty much the same

[zahgurim]

Originally Posted by gotham

Where can I get me some bar ends like that?

Made by Dangerboy.


Nice Bullit!

[C.C.]

I had a good multiple quote response, but got logged off. Here comes another attempt.

Originally Posted by stinkydlux07

sweet ride and good review. how do the XTR cranks work for freeride?

Thanks! I got these cranks second hand and have about a years worth of riding time on them. They are strong, light and have a very high quality bb. They're a much higher quality bb than ISIS Raceface and Truvativ which seem to get gritty and crappy fairly easily. I did have to really tighten down the cranks initially, but since then, they've been solid.

I almost replaced them with the new outboard bearing XT's in order to save weight. I was surprised to find out they weigh nearly the same amount. No new crank upgrade for me.

Originally Posted by miufahkiu

Nice and comprehensive review. What adapter are you using to run the 1 1/8" CK headset on the 1.5 headtube?

I'm using a generic set of reducer cups. My one beef with them is that they add to the bottom and top stack height of the bike. I would have preferred a slightly concave set of reducers so the King headset could sit flush into the frame like a regular 1 1/8th set up.
I believe E13 makes a concave shaped set of reducers. Unfortunatley, they are $ and no bike shops had them in stock at the time of my purchase.

Originally Posted by IFO

so did u sell that sweet tazer ???
that bike was pimp..

In the process of. I'm going to miss my sweet little Tazer. Such a fun bike to rip around on.

[C.C.]

I forgot to mention in my review that the tight clearance on my bb axle combined with the beefy new rear section can lead to calf contact with the rear end of the frame.

Of course with a slightly longer bb axle (118mm), or a calf muscle diet, I'm sure this problem will go away.

I'd like to hear some feedback from people who've purchased the bike with 150mm rear spacing. I suspect the chainline might be even better with the wider spacing.

[C.C.]

5 month update.

After having a full season of Whistler riding and a half dozen shore rides under my belt, I thought I'd post up a few more thoughts.

1) The 150mm dropout definitely creates a better chainline. If possible, spend the coin to get a 150mm hub. I'm definitely looking into this option. If you've got a 150mm Hadley hub that you want to swap for a 135 Hadley hub, now's the time to chime in!

2) Definitely add 3M tape or carbon fiber patches through the swing arm where the shifter cable runs through. Cable rub can be excessive.

3) The DHX Air shock took a good 30 hours of break in time. I suspect the seal tolerance was on the tight side to ensure a longer interval service time. Now the rear suspension tracks well in the fast small stuff too.

4) I started to notice a few more new Bullits this year at Whistler. It'll probably be next year's Shocker/Totem combo. Too bad as I was happy cruising around with a unique ride.

5) I bumped into a few new Bullit riders who have complained about bottoming their rear tire into the back of their seat tube. Anyone else had this issue?

6) I've gradually changed my style of riding. Ironically, I find my riding style smoother than when I rode a short travel bike. The single pivot design has forced me to look for lines where I don't have to brake as often. I find I'm pumping and flowing my bike more naturally now....Yeah!

[J-Kwon]

Originally Posted by C.C.

The single pivot design has forced me to look for lines where I don't have to brake as often.

explain.

[IFO]

Originally Posted by J-Kwon

explain.

brake jack... hard braking will cause the rear end to stiffen up and essentially become a HT, esp in areas with alot of small brake bumps in a row..