santa cruz bullit what like riding uphill?

need to buy a new bike.

would like to get a nomad but looking bit out of my price range.

how does riding a bullit compare to am bikes? Is it really just suited for going down or is it a decent uphill?

Appreciate comments and thoughts.

It all depends on you and your level of fitness, i rode one everywhere 10 or more years ago, its a single pivot as you know, i used to have a 5th Element shock on it back in the day and it bobbed about quite a bit.

In comparison to a modern up to date AM bike they are hard work, heavy and quite slow to pedal, energy sapping shocks of the same era would need some fettling.

Would be interesting to see how it would perform with a more modern shock?

They are robust and pretty heavy by to days stamdards, I would personally suggest you would be better of with a heckler, Cracking single pivot bike, Start messing about with a Bullit and getting a Shock shim stacked, lowering the height and prob weight off the forks at the front end and you will be into early Nomad territory.

If you are near to Nomad territory i wouldnt hesitate and get one of these, they will be better than a Bullit of the same era, likewise a Heckler of the similar era would be better than a Bullit.

I’ve got a riding buddy who has one.
It’s a heavy bike, very robust but quite an old-skool steep head angle so not fantastically stable downhill.
Much improved (up and down) by fitting a CCDB coil but you’ll be looking at a near 40lb bike if you build it up beefy and fit dual-plys.
The only bike he’s not broken (yet) mind.

cheers for that. I live near the peak district so that’s main ride zone.

I was thinking a heckler would be lacking on the rear travel as I want something a bit more burly for the peaks down sections ala Nomad but was aiming towards a bullit as a cheap option but obviously wondered what I would be losing out on going up.

I previously had a Blur – great for going up but lacking a bit of weight when going through rockier down sections.

perhaps I need to get off my santa cruz addiction.

I had the last model one for a bit. You can ride it up hills but like xyeti says a Heckler would be a much better option for trails and any kind of hills. The Bullit is pretty much a freeeride bike and is heavy. The Heckler is a trail bike and much better suited to trails and much more comparable with a Nomad in respect to what its designed for.

To be honest I didn’t really like my Bullit. I got it as a DHy bike, which it most definitely isn’t, and found it too steep and short. My heckler on the other hand was a great all round trail bike and highly recommend one!

I took them both out to the alps on separate occasions and rode pretty much the same DH trails on them and there was not that much difference. The bullit was a bit better but there wasn’t a whole lot in in. For the Peaks a Heckler should be great!

If you’re not fussed about climbing, see it as just a means to an end, then something like a Bullit is probably not as bad as you think for climbing. You just winch up and have the mental expectation of slow and steady progress.
Obv it’s going to be good on any serious downhill.

Problem is with all the rest of the ride – it will absolutely suck balls on all the ‘across’ bits – the majority of the ride that is not a significant climb or descent. You’ll be riding a heavy, wallowy, dated pig bike, and it doesn’t even say Orange 5 on the downtube. Awful choice for the Peak.

Yeah I was hearing about the shortness of the frame on the bullits and i guess that would affect dh riding.

Might give a bit more thought on the hecklers. I guess 2013 onwards the hecklers look more serious for riding down.

Yeah I’m scratching the bullit. Its starting to feel like a bike that is stuck between an am and a dh bike and the negi is outweighing the posi. Still looks a fun bike in many ways.

A heckler is a good choice. Does it have to be a Santa Cruz? I went from a Heckler to a Remedy and I find the Remedy a lot better. Its pretty much as fast as my Dh bike was on stuff like Snowdon and climbs really well. I want to go 27.5 and am debating whether or not to as its great.

I borrowed my mates for a race at penmachno, it was hard work on the ups but not impossible (34t front ring didnt help!) but on the down it was a right hoot, it did have 180mm coil 40s on it though.

Does it have to be a Santa Cruz?
What about Yeti, Turner, Pivot, Transition etc?
If you’re looking at a Bullit you’re looking at “pre-loved” there are loads of great pre-loved bikes for sale at good prices in particular 26″ wheeled!!!

A bullit isn’t a good bike for the Peaks at all, I’d definitely get a Heckler and as you say the last ones had a slacker head angle and a nicer rear end, now is the time to pick up a good bargain, Wait till it dries out and more folk will scratching the itch,

There is some truth in the fact that 26″ Wheeled MTB’s are cheaper, There is also some truth in the fact that some folk don’t even know there are 26″ wheels on a MTB let alone 29″ and one In between the two, most of my friends think road bikes have one size wheel and MTB’s another.

Incidently, My mates on the look out for a last spec Nomad in ally, 142mm rear end and stealth cable routing. He’s quite particular in that he knows what he wants and will pay a premium to get one,

TBH I want to have some burly fun so was looking at the bullit as opposed to the more expensive nomad. I am pretty loyal to SC having used them in my skateboarding years…!!

But, I am questioning that at the mo. Ellsworth Momentum (thanks Jack Reading) and Nukeproof Mega AM are coming to mind. transition looks tempting as well.

The money equation comes into it and from looking at the price of a decent 2nd hand nomad i could get an AM bike and a DH bike. While I’m attached to SC it feels like a bit of a no brainer.

Thanks for the replies and input guys.

You can pick up a decent Dh on pinkbike and a new bird aeris or similar for about 2500,£3000 and you will get really well spec’d pair of bikes!

I picked up a spec status for 700 a few months ago and its awesome!

The nomad is nice but is it nicer than having 2 different bikes?

Bullit too heavy to enjoy the Peaks properly, i rode a heckler round there for 2 years and loved it. As said above does it have to be santa cruz? If you like the nomad how about a Commencal Meta Am? Or a specialized enduro 29? I went from (2003) old upgraded heckler with 150mm travel to a Camber evo but the enduro would be more your cup of tea i reckon. They were 3k in dark orange with Pikes about 6 months back so you could probably get a bargain soon if they havebt dropped in price already.

I had one for a while and it was great fun despite the short and steepness. I never felt I was under biked. Used it in Whistler Bike Park for a summer and also rode all the valley trails on it. Just a fun bike. It’s not ideal for climbing but it can be done. I did snowdon on it (with boxxers) with the aid of a granny ring.

I thought it climbed better than my current Scott Voltage at any rate.

Damn all difference in weight between a Bullit frame and a Heckler. Depends what wheels and components you throw on them and how fit you are. Laughing like a drain at some of the “wont be good for the Peaks” comments. I did some huge mileages on a Bullit in my mid forties and found it a great bike.

Miss my mk1 Bullitt, it’s sat in my shed with a broken swing arm next to my broken Horst link RFX. Can’t bare to bin either. It won’t climb brilliantly and won’t be that stable at high speed but i do remember doing drops I wouldn’t even look at these days.

Might give a bit more thought on the hecklers. I guess 2013 onwards the hecklers look more serious for riding down.

Having had 2 hecklers from 07 & 09, there is nowt much wrong with them down a hill. They both served me well in the lakes/peaks and alps and racing some DH on them. There isn’t much in the peak where I would want to suffer a bullit for the 90% that makes the 10% that much better!!

Hated the bike, went from Turner rfx Horst link to the bullit, climbed as if a dead donkey was attached to the rear, it was not the most stable bike just so may bad memories, the rfx was outstanding compared to it. After a year and half of self inflicted misery, I sold it and went back to a heckler, better climber better descender but as with all Sc bikes short in the top tube.

Far far better options out there, good luck.

I had a Bullit 2.0 for a while, got it for the Alps so it had dual ply tyres, Mavic 729 rims and Boxxers, I took it out on the South Downs once like that just to make sure it was all running ok and I was surprised how well it climbed. Just like any other bike you need to winch up a hill really. It was not good on the flat though, pig to get going but not surprising considering the spec. I found it great in the Alps, really solid bike, the rear stays were about the same size as the main tubes on my 90s mtb. I’m sure the frame is just over a pound heavier than a Heckler, the Heckler’s much better for average riding but I think you’ll struggle to get one of the 2013s with the tapered headtube and slacker angles – I’ve been trying to find one for a few yaers!

Nomad 2 frames seem to go for reasonable prices sometimes and they will take a 180mm fork and any combination of steerer. I’ve also taken my Nomad to the Alps, coped fine, not as solid as the Bullit but the Nomad gets used here too.