Ne1 from an EVO to a SC Bullit?

[keen]

  Has anyone went from an EVO to a Santa Cruz bullit? I currently have an 01' Way Big Disco monkey and am considering a Bullit/ 5th element. My DM weighs about 34 pounds not sure what an XL Bullit weighs. I ride agressive XC and wonder if the bullit is worth the switch? Thanx

[slowride]

I have an Evo now and have ridden my friend's (now retired) Bullit a number of times. We also ride aggressive xc. The Bullit is not ideal at that kind of riding. With the 5th in the back it gets about 7 inches of travel, so it's fairly sloppy to pedal (the 5th stops the bobbing, but at the expense of small bump absorption, and you need about 3.5 inches of sag back there for the 5th to work right). Plus, the Bullit is fairly slack (I think the head angle is 68?) and heavy (frame weighs over 8 pounds and possibly over 9 pounds in the larger sizes). It's a great bike if you want to do drops or downhill runs, but for trail riding, you would probably be better served by a Heckler with a 5th Element (AKA Bullit Jr.). Just my $.02.

[numbnuts]

I remember someone did and actually set up a Bullit forum inspired by this one, i am gonna search for it in the archives. Unless your idea of aggressive XC is enormous drops i reckon that a new Heckler would be a better choice. The Bullit is a bike that i would set up with a DC fork but for me it would'nt be as practical as an Evo. Why don't you just get a 5th element for the Evo, if you don't like it you could sell it to me at a hugely discounted price!! Bear in mind that having never ridden a Bullit i am speaking out of my ass, but i did ride a Heckler once, nice but i don't think i prefered it over my Evo.

[d1sc0ver]

I know not many mtb'ers consider it a real style, but I ride 'All Mountain'...literally, as opposed to XC, DH, FR etc.  I burn a lung climbing up every mtn. I ride down, and in the high desert of so. AZ that's all there is.  I'm usually climbing loose gravel/shale or washboard fireroads, on the way down is sweet single-rack w/ drops, roots, logs, boulders, rattlers, javalina etc.  More than aggro. XC but less than FR.

The Heckler is 'THE' way to go for these types of conditions, hands down over the Bullit.  If you do 'any' climbing at all, you will hate your Bullit before too long.

I've been pounding my poor 856 over this terrain for a year now, but she just won't die.  I chalk it up to the beefy components...an 856 shouldn't weigh 30+ lbs. [smiley=doh.gif]

[jimbo]

We have a some of Bullits here in group that I occassionally ride in.  All of them are built with single crown (Z1 usually) forks.  Tires are in the 2.1 - 2.3 range.  They ride aggressive XC with occassional FR/DH trails.  I tried one in the parking lot over curbs and stuff.  It felt like my Evo but more plush.  There's one Bullit that is fairly light.  The owner threw a lot of money into it.  Fox air fork, super light disk wheel set, etc.  They do seem to be popular as more and more are showing up.



A couple of friends came back from the Whistler Gravity Fest.  One of them took his Kona Stinky with him while the other rented bikes.  The guy who rented bikes made an interesting comment.  He had rented a Specialized Enduro for a morning cross country ride.  He was suppose to rent a Big Hit for the afternoon session at the Whistler Bike Park.  He decided to try to save some money so decided to use the Enduro for the Bike Park.  He said the Enduro was great for the XC, but it felt like a hardtail in the Park.  He made sure he had a Bighit for park the rest of the week.  He did try to rent a Bullit, but couldn't find any for rent.  

[dmc]

You should have a look at this, I will be replacing my EVO with one hopefully at xmas. http://www.keewee.co.nz/index.asp?PageID=2145823170 (and they are cheaper than a bullit)
dmc

[GrimJack]

Ok, I'll speak up here.

I've owned an EVO, with both stock Noleen and aftermarket Fox shocks, and now I ride a Bullit.

The rear suspension with the Noleen is noticably stiffer, as in, not nearly as plush.  The Bullit weighs more for the frame alone - but the extra weight is not noticable for a freeride build kit like I run.  This might not be the same if you were building up an XC or trailbike style rig.  If you're worried about the weight, the heckler is the frame for sure.

Oddly enough, the Bullit with a 5th pedals better than an EVO with the Fox.

BTW, if you can get your 5th setup perfectly, you only lose bump absorption on really smooth bumps & pedal bob.  I had to mess with mine for months, and eventually got it setup just right for me.

[keen]

  My buddy has the Bullit w/ the 5th. After I purchased my EVO I was bitten w/ the upgrade bug. Everytime I purchased a new component I heard " shoud have bought a Bullit"  I tried to test ride his Bullit but the frame is too small, block stem, different weight set-up -I couldn't get a feel for it @ all. I currently have a Stratos Helix Pro in the rear and a Psylo XC (4" mode) in the front soon to be swapped for a Marzocchi Z1. I have only owned 2 full suspension bikes - My EVO and a Proflex Beast. Maybe I am falling prey to different may be better. Most of my fellow riders say" K2 don't they make Ski's" Well I feel my bike does pretty well but I havn't ridden anything to compare it to. Thanx